hidden_hunter

The 1926 operating manual actually tells you to limit the use of brakes and only use them in an emergency, it also warns you about the "efficiency" of the 4 wheel brakes and that other road users won't be able to stop in time.

You might get more success if you put the pictures up here in the forums, if you click "more reply options" next to the post button you should be able to attach photo's pretty easily

might be worth contacting them to see if they can do an international version of it, it's probably a one off piece that they make on demand anyway

If they're made here, it's possible that they're designed for the holden bodied cars rather than the fisher's

it might be worth putting some pictures here to give people an idea about your car

are they supposed to be nickle coloured, or was that an option?

I suspect I already know the answer to this one, but I assume that by 1926 Buick's were sprayed rather than brush painted?

We found it more time consuming than difficult, the main thing is having the right tool to support the gearbox (we used an engine hoist through the door with the floor out) as it's really really heavy - seriously do not underestimate how heavy that transmission is. Lining up the transmission shaft can also be a bit of pain, the engine hoist meant that it could be repositioned reasonably easily. I also seem to recall having issues finding somewhere to put the jack stands (the design of mine don't quite fit under the frame rails) and it's reasonably awkward to put them near the back of the car. We managed to do it in a weekend to give you an idea of timing. The shop manual suggests flushing it with kero (or gasoline) but it's very difficult to actually plug without ending up with flamable liquid everywhere. While you're down there, it's also worth checking your gearbox oil to see if it's still got enough and that it's the right grade

Don't know what the availability is like over there, but we run Penrite oils in our 26 They have a number of blends specifically for older vehicles, as well as steam cylinder oil and some of the other oil variants you need http://www.penriteoil.com.au/tech_pdfs_new/VVC_Brochure.pdf

Interestingly the local advertising material here for the 26 model stated that it was 75HP and 75MPH, with the stock gearing is it even possible to get it to 75mph - short of driving it off a cliff?

We did also notice a bit more oil on the ground than usual that appears to be coming from the back of the motor, not sure if it's coming out of the drain at the bottom of the flywheel housing or if it's dripping down from one on the fittings.

Thought I'd give you guys a quick update to how we went on our first long cruise after all the help that we've had from all of you guys on here in helping us get to this point The weekend was held in the regional Victorian town of Wangaratta and was organised by the local car club (which our car was actually a founding vehicle of 45 odd years ago!). It wasn't a specific buick or vintage car club and accepted any classic/vintage car, so there was a good mix of newish and old. We were also fortunate enough to meet up with the son of the previous owner, who helped fill in a few blanks on the history of the car (as well as giving us the parts book). The weather for the event was also perfect, sunny and around 80F all weekend. All up, we covered about 170 miles over the course of the weekend. The Saturday run was considerably more challenging for the cars, about 130 miles including quite a number of steep hills with a few stop offs along the way to see a few of the local attractions. We started out quite promising, with the first 20 miles or so dispatched with relative ease however after a while the car started to lose power before eventually starting to backfire before the engine stopped. We checked all the usual suspects and we managed to make it a bit further before the problem came back. After about the 4th time of it happening, we had narrowed the problem down to the vacuum tank not always supplying fuel so we made the decision by the side of the road to take it apart and see if we could see what was causing the issue. As far as we could tell there wasn't anything obviously wrong with it, asides from a bit of what appeared to be soot on the needle for the vacuum line so we gave it a good clean and reassembled it. Whatever we did by taking it apart solved the issue and we were able to continue on without any other unscheduled stops for the rest of the weekend. Asides from that we had no other issues, not even a single overheating problem for the entire weekend, so all of the various fixes we've picked up from on here seem to have done the trick. We managed to average around 35mph over the whole distance so we were pretty pleased with the performance, we touched 45mph at a few points but it didn't seem like it was particularly happy doing it. So thanks again for all the advice guys/gals and here are some pictures of the trip

Just around Wangaratta

It's been wet and cold here in Melbourne for seemingly months, we're just starting to get 70F days so should be starting to be more palatable to take the car out - in a couple of months when it's 100+ I'll probably be wishing for the rain again. Planning on going on a 50 mile run tomorrow now that we're back in business in preparation for 125 mile run the following weekend

Alright, we're back in business! Turns out the impeller from bob's was too tall from the pump housing (probably owing to all the different designs). I ground it down and it fits and is working perfectly in the car

I've got some spare time, so I thought I'd post the findings of our research for the next poor sap that has this problem and comes across this topic (credit to Roger and Erik!) Basically from what we have find is (some of this is repeated from above): 1926 has a different pump from earlier years (27 appears to potentially be different again)1926 has at least two different pump designs (mine with a round back and like the one above with a tear drop shape)1926 early pumps don't have a grease point on itMaster and Standard pumps are different

Looks like it would be interesting to drive in modern traffic, how long is it?

exactly - if that's what his plan is there seems like there would be better cars to do it to I saw a running studebaker president that someone was offering up for hot rodding...

Thanks for the offer! Roger has sent me a spare, so should be back in business soon!

Thanks for the offer, yep still looking for one - I'll send you a PM

kind of ironic that they weren't that popular back then, and it seems that fast forwarding 90 years they're still hard to sell!

I should be able to grab you some photos on the weekend, genuine Holden bodied car I haven't been ever able to find an equivalent for RHD cars, it's possible it exists but GM didn't own Holden until 1931 so they appear to have done their own thing in a number of cases

Some photos of the offending piece, can get measurements if that helps clarify?

Welding it back is plan B, probably a bit beyond my skill set so will need to send it away to get it done.

Hi guys, Our rear cover cracked in half on our water pump (screwing it up after rebuilding all the other bits with bobs kit!) - has anybody had one made or got a spare one that they're willing to part with? Willing to pay a fair price and cover the shipping here to Melbourne Only need the rear cover part, the rest of the pump is fine.