Wilf Sedanet

Hi Rondek, Thank you for your kind words. Which gauges are you having trouble with? Is it okay to have auxiliary gauges for the inspection? The gauges are quite simple so I’ll run through them here: Amp: The Amperage meter is in between the generator and battery. This makes them susceptible for temperature damage (and even fire hazards) when the car gets more and more after market (modern) stuff like audio amplifiers or auxiliary lights, and when the original wiring is still in place this will exacerbate the hazardous situation. Temp: this gauge is mechanical. It has a capillary tube which pushes on a spiral due to expanding gas (the needle is attached to it) and if that breaks somewhere or gets squashed or leaking it will not work anymore. I have been trying to rebuild one to electronic but the controllers I tried cannot step the servo good enough. Solution (for me): an auxiliary gauge underneath the dashboard. That one is also capillary and is installed in the upper radiator hose. There are special connectors/hoses for that. Oil: this is mechanical too. It uses pressure to push a spiral with a needle attached to it. If this breaks the oil will go anywhere you don’t want it. This is easier to fix than the temp gauge because it just needs pressure in stead of a gas. Gas: This works just like all the gauges until cars went and got computer everything. So it needs a few things: 1. The right voltage for the meter. 2. Good ground. 3. The right resistance. These ingredients make for a right reading. I am typing this on my phone and cannot check it now but I believe the Buick has a fuel gauge resistance reading between 0 and 60 Ohm. So there must be a good connection between the gauge and the fuel float in the tank and the tank and the fuel gauge itself must be grounded commonly like every other electrical part. If the fuel gauge works partially it could be a bad ground or bad voltage or a meter that’s out of calibration. If the meter is stuck it could be a bad float, a nonexistent voltage or nonexistent ground, or a stuck/broken meter. Speedo: When the speedometer is way off but working it may be a wrong speedo for the axle. If it isn’t working at all check if the cable is connected between the gauge and the tranny. If it is working but swinging up and down the gear in the tranny may be worn out. If there are noises coming from the speedo the wear is inside of the gauge. I hope this helps a little.

I raised my hand ?

Last Saturday night I drove Rosetta to a meet. She performed well and I was smiling all the way through. On the return trip it was dusk and I always love driving at dusk with an old car. Somehow it has something magical to me. ( at the McDonalds in between the meet and home - that sun though) (my girlfriend passing me by with her Dart) (The open road) 1EC37688-7C48-454F-9E43-F61954FCEEE2.MP4

It has been extremely hot this May (day & night are 20+ F higher than normal). Luckily last Saturday there was an evening meet. Actually I love driving old cars around dusk, it has something magical I think. (Filmed from a very nice ‘56 Oldsmobile Holiday two-tone) 1EC37688-7C48-454F-9E43-F61954FCEEE2.MP4

Thank you so much, that would be great!

For my ‘49 Buick I’m looking for the driver door lock assembly. I have a sedanet but I guess the front door of a 4dr will be the same. This is mine and it is quite broken…

Still looking

I have a ‘49 Super and had the same thing with my original fuel pump. The previous owner had installed an electric fuel pump which he said was only necessary to aid starting. After a while it would not start and run at all. The original fuel pump stopped working altogether and even got clogged so I had to bypass it, using only the electric from then on. I am now actually pondering to rebuild the original if it is economically viable.

After a weekend of test driving I got lot of enjoyment and some new things I know I want to change or what lies ahead in the future. We went to a rainy meeting called “Rock around the jukebox” with a lot of … jukeboxes and parts and stuff from the 50’s to 70’s. My girlfriend took a picture of me and Rosetta after an hours drive, first successful long drive after the garage work. ? I also installed the backup lights but because I wasn’t happy with the fitting I over torqued it (which didn’t help - the gap stayed the same). Only the inside bar warped in stead of the light fixture getting flush. No leakages though. And today I thought about painting the orange oil filler cap. After sanding off the paint I found that it’s made of aluminum and because of all the dents decided to leave it blank. I went a little overboard with commandant (polishing compound) and a cotton cloth though… now my fingers are black. ? Some bonus pictures: European cars are a lot smaller and so are our parking spaces. This is what it looks like with a ‘49 Buick ( I used to own a ‘71 Plymouth Satellite custom station wagon - that was even more fun ) : [edit] I couldn’t resist polishing just a little more… [edit again] I had some time this morning to drive by the Buick before going to work and put back the filler. I may be pedantic but even as I think this is much better than orange I do think I like the engine color even more. The shine looks a little out of place.

Today I did some test driving. It is cool to drive her again. The left door handle still has some issues, I desperately want an original one. ? The smell of burning rubber and fire is gone. The generator is just a little tighter now and the engine cleaning residue has probably worn off now too. I’ll test drive a little coming week(s) and then the next project will be wiring. I will not wait too long with that because of the poor dilapidated state the wiring is in now. The generator is now also generating a lot of amps when driving. Even when I drive 30 it’s loading full steam. It makes me wary of driving too fast; maybe the generator isn’t regulated good and extra amps trough the original wires is not a good thing. But most of all I’m enjoying driving Rosetta now. It feels good to have her back! We went out for some groceries and get a lot of attention from everybody. ? Here next to my girlfriend’s car (‘64 Dart) ? [edit] After driving a lot I noticed the ammeter gradually lowered so the battery probably needed all those amps.

Rosetta was ready for a test drive this evening. She purrs like a kitten with her now perfect cooling, correct valve lash, new spark plugs and correct timing. She stops and steers and drives off better too. The slippage is less too although I still have to floor it in R or D to get her on a slope. She rolls back otherwise. That tranny could really do with an overhaul… I got a little anxious from driving her around as I first smelled burning rubber and then a kind of plastic burn odor. It came from the new belt. Tomorrow I will ML the inside of the doors and put them back together again. One may notice the top top radiator hose isn’t new but the original one. That’s because it now features a working temp gauge. The temp stays 170 perfectly while idling. Nice!

I’m sorry I forgot to mention it. It’s 1:43. It’s quite rugged and especially the front is low in detail but the boattail back makes up for it. Also it’s a one piece model. No opening doors, hood or trunk.

This is the only one I got. It is a Brooklyn model of a 1949 Buick Roadmaster sedanet. 1949 Buick sedanet models are very hard to come by. I know there is an “American Models AM8” which is highly detailed but it’s also a Roadmaster and very expensive. Supers are as far as I know never built which is a shame because they have the best ratios. The Roadmaster is visually nose heavy.

I read about a ball and vacuum here but the switch on my ‘49 and the three spare ones that came of spare carbs I bought do not have a ball. The system on the straight eight carb is a metal strip with a hole in it, resting on a pawl attached to the gas lever. Inside the hole there is a spring loaded piston with various width. In off position the piston is thin and the metal strip can fall lower and make contact. Now if the engine engages one releases the gas pedal. Because the hole is now back in line the piston can be sucked in further by the engine vacuum and the strip cannot fall as low again, restricting it from engaging the starter engine.

I have cleaned and cleaned and used rust converter and metal degreaser and lots of water and put some primer on it at the end of the day. I have put in lots of hours today but I think it was worth it. I’m glad I put in the extra effort and started anew. I found some lettering by the way that intrigued me. I guess it is from the press dye. It seems to read (?)ANCE or (?)ANGE. Also I colored the inside for that extra enamel look, I am actually a little proud now … ? I got a photo from the garage with my newly painted parts and it’s looking good ? That orange oil filler cap will have to change color as well in the future.

Clean as a thistle. Still some pesky old rust thorns to harvest but I’ll manage. I’m gonna get me some rust convertor this time in stead of using the rust primer. Why? Because that rust primer takes a lot of drying time.

Well, that escalated quickly… I was on my way to bring the parts to the shop until the spark plug cover fell off the box and chipped. I sanded down the chips and started to spray primer over the dings. Then the primer started to dissolve the paint so then I tried to contain the spot but it just became a mess. So I went out and bought paint stripper to start all over again.

I visited Rosetta once again this weekend, my mech is changing out the sway bar bushings and the struts because he has nothing other to do until my parts are dry, and I have everything new so why not swap it out then? In the meantime I connected the wiper washer hoses. At first I wanted to use the after market T-piece but the original copper one has the two different sizes I need. Also I placed the decal on the valve cover today. I still have to clean the residue off of the letters and cover but I love the look of it already!

Actually I know a few RHD Buicks from 48, 49 and 50. They were sold to South Africa (those I know) and prolly to other (former) British territories. How are you faring with this project?

The color is more blue than I thought* but for a backyard** paint job it is looking good so far. Although the good weather, slight breeze and blue color do attract bugs and dust. * On the color chart in the paint shop it looked like this (they had to mix it themselves): ** okay, actually we don’t have a garden but a terrace

Yes I also tried searching for those but those are equally hard to find. Thanks for your replies.

The day wasn’t over yet so I went to Rosetta at the garage and dropped off the radiator and installed the new antenna. Then we assembled the door locks, the left side can be locked again. I also cleaned the inside of the door with a brush. Now I have to ship all the sand back to the desert. Next time I will ML the inside. I also reinstalled the wiper washer jar and prefitted the hoses and so found out I need new ones. I also installed a new rubber grommet for the speedo cable and while I was at it also installed a new speedo cable. Why not? It shrinks my new parts collection that is clogging up the house Not that there will be more space because all those original parts go back on the shelf ?

Whilst watching paint to dry I received a phone call. Naturally I said I was busy but then they snuck in it had to do with my radiator being ready. So I let the paint drying process go on unattended and rushed to the radiator shop. First thing I noticed is the weight difference. They forgot to put the 20 pounds of crud and rust back! But then I thought this would cool a lot better so I will keep it this way. By the way I am still in a relationship, my girl happens to be very nice. If one might ask why I’m suddenly working full time days on Rosetta. I still have work too, I worked too many hours so took some days off.

Today I was too lazy to be lazy. It didn’t start that way though. In the morning I went to a paint shop about half an hour driving, waited for them to make the paint and then returned home. Then I started to sand down the parts by hand. After lots of manual labor with sanding blocks I thought that I have a metal brush for my drill to speed things up. After looking for 15 minutes I thought: should I go out again to buy one new or just keep on going by hand? I was just too lazy to go out again. This is what I started with: Then after hours of sanding (after this picture I went on sanding and then cleaning): End of the day, three items in different stages of primer (rust inhibiter and epoxy in one: The coloring process will have to wait until hopefully tomorrow.

With the subject “That’ll do” at hand: my mechanic fixed the door lock with a bit of improvisation seeing an original is really, REALLY hard to come by: Broken Fixed (Springs and water pump have been delivered in the meantime too - have to bring the springs around still).