Buickborn
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Posts posted by Buickborn
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KNUT -- Will do. Thank you kindly!
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I'm sure this topic has come up before, but a search has been fruitless.
My '54 76R has a considerable amount of play in the rear axle, resulting in a pronounced clunk and noticeable jerk when shifting into reverse. My understanding is that this condition is common in Buicks of this vintage, but in my car the play seems extreme: nearly 1 1/2" of back-and-forth travel at the jacked-up tire shoulder with the gear selector in Park and the opposite tire on the floor.
Not only am I concerned about a possible failure, but I'm wondering if the slop could likely be attributable to an issue somewhere in the torque tube rather than in the differential itself. Fortunately, I was able to obtain an entire rear axle/torque-tube assembly out of another car that appears to be tighter. But I'm wondering if it's OK to be driving my car until I can get that assembly evaluated, rehabilitated if necessary, and installed.
Thanks!
~ Charlie Manes
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The current catalog from Bob's shows repro stainless non-locking outside door handles as applicable to open '29-'30 models. Having bought some of their stainless items in the past for my '30 roadster, I've found the quality to be very good -- even had to wet-sand some of them to degrade the finish so as to match the original hardware still on the car.
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I clearly remember that car and the seller's efforts to find new home for it. Odd, but it doesn't look as hopeless now as it did then. But, IIRC, it's long gone -- a pity.
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1942 '40 A-series Specials ran a 118" wheelbase while the 40-B Specials ran 121" using the GM "B" body. Seems amazing that the better-proportioned B was not available as a convertible. No doubt it would have fetched a significantly higher price.
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In describing the browning of my Diamondbacks, which I replaced with Cokers, I wasn't suggesting that the Cokers were entirely free of similar problems. Of the 8 Coker tires that I purchased at that time, 5 have stayed acceptably white, 2 have browned very noticeably, and 1 is quite brown -- although not as severely brown as the Diamondbacks. 4 of the acceptable tires are of a smaller size, with a narrower whitewall, than the others. None have more than a few hundred miles on them, and they are always garaged.
Having grown up taking care of whitewall tires, I'm frankly mystified by these problems. None of the tires I looked after during the first decades of my life ever browned or yellowed, despite plenty of hard use and harsh weather. The only grief I recall with them occurred as my dad frequently scuffed them against curbs -- which I often suspected he did intentionally.
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Radials are a great idea, but stay away from Diamondbacks!!! I had nothing but problems with the set I put on my '54 76R a few years ago. Specifically: the applied whitewalls buckled at the wheel rim; the buffing-off of the original tire labeling left the black perimeter dull and tired-looking; and, worst of all, the outer edges of the whitewalls began to turn irremediably brown before the tires were even a year old. Nothing I could devise would brighten them up, and the condition worsened as time passed.
When I called the company to complain about the browning, they told me that I must have "stacked" the tires (that is, allowed the black of some of the tires to come into contact with the white of the others), which is categorically false -- especially in light of the menacing manner in which I minutely supervised the tire shop's installation in order to see that no stacking occurred,
A gent at Diamondback did graciously offer to look at my tires if I would remove them from my car and ship them nearly 3000 miles across the country at my expense. Instead, I sold them at half price with 546 miles on them and ordered a two sets of Coker Classic radials for the '54 and another car. While I can't claim to be thrilled with those tires either, they are worlds ahead of the Diamondbacks.
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Bob's has these. Catalog indicates $255.00
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This listing contains about as much slathered-on blarney as any eBay page I've ever seen. And the copy was obviously lifted from something else, as evidenced by the extremely wordy description of the car as a stick-shift version while the photos clearly show it to be a Dynaflow model. If this sort of hucksterism doesn't raise a cloud of red flags, then I'm at a loss as to what would.
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Wouldn't it be nice if decent, modest, workaday sedans like this were available at lower prices? Surely we'd all feel better if this hobby were more welcoming of those with little money but plenty of heart.
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On 3/19/2023 at 4:04 PM, B Jake Moran said:
No doubt you may be correct because it does not appear to be body color of green but I recall my Roadmaster and many more I have seen to be almost a “hammered” metallic grey. But admittedly it’s been maybe 10-12 years since I have seen a 49 Roadmaster.
Come to think of it, Jake, I'm sure you're right. I was reasoning as if the dash. etc., should be in the body color. But that was true only in the case of the convertibles and the Riviera hardtop. B-pillar cars used metallic gray regardless of exterior color.
So what was the idea of re-painting the dash as it appears? Maybe at some point the entire car had been repainted in that color?
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In another thread, Jake Moran suggests that the dash color in this car is wrong. But the dash is probably correct while the exterior color is wrong. That is, the dash and garnish moldings appear to be Cumulus Gray (which is actually greenish, much like pre-war Ford Cloud Gray), as was surely the entire car originally.
The closest factory color to the paint that's on the car now appears to be Gala Green -- a metallic considerably deeper in color than the repaint.
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Who's kiddin' who here? We all know that Hans needs this car, and (with his amazingly brave restorer's heart!) it needs him.
Hans, you have a reputation to maintain. Go for it!
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If there is anything I've learned in many long years of evaluating used cars in any category, it is the importance of taking the measure of the seller as well as that of the car. There is nothing in the text of this auction that even remotely suggests an honest, candid, respectful, or scrupulous seller. Instead, the clearly unjustified hype and huckstering here raise enough red flags for May Day in Moscow.
Caveat emptor.
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The question quoted here is a very common one; that is, why not simply pony up for what you want rather than undertake a costly and challenging restoration? Usually, the answer has to do with the satisfactions offered by a meritorious project.
But I suspect that a more pertinent matter applies here: spousal opposition -- a topic that does not seem to generate as much discussion on club forums as it surely merits.
Simply put, for those of us (and possibly that may be the majority of us) facing such problems, it is far easier to allay the objections of an oppositional or unsupportive spouse when a prospective purchase involves a smaller price than a larger one. And in the case of a car needing restoration, the ensuing expenses can be incurred gradually, so as not to appear so bright on the radar screen.
I'm sure I'm not alone in the sense of having to restore my way to a nice car because the domestic difficulties entailed with buying such an expensive item outright would make the purchase not worth the candle -- or even possible.
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On 1/27/2022 at 3:50 AM, alsancle said:
The 53 Skylark is cool, but plentiful and hardly rare. They are a bit like Corvettes in the sense that nobody ever sent one to the junkyard so survival rate is high. There are always at least 1/2 a dozen decent examples available for 75 to 125k.
This blue car requires 300k worth of professional restoration (and probably 5 years in the shop) or 150k worth of home restoration (and probably 15 years).
Why would somebody not spend the extra 50-75k to just buy a nice one if that is what they want? That is not the same as leaving it alone, which I understand.
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Surely there is no question that cars such as the Skylark are declining in value as older collectors age out of the hobby, to be replaced by a younger cohort more interested in later vehicles. Not only that, but it appears that convertibles in general are slipping in value, as modern driving conditions (i.e., freeways and thick city traffic congestion) take the fun out of open cars -- especially for occupants raised with airconditioning.
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Wow — interesting, thoroughly persuasive, positive food for thought, guys. I guess the only idea I’ve read here that has me scratching my head has to do with getting into discussions with a seller about the value of his or her car. My experience has been that to call the seller’s value claims into question (no matter how respectfully or diplomatically) is a first-class way to get the seller’s back up and end up at an impasse.
Probably the best approach is simply to submit an offer and leave the debating to the politicians.
In any case, for someone like me — admittedly a little jaded after quite a variety of unpleasant experiences with sellers — it is VERY reassuring to read here about the thoughts of sellers who are clearly conscientious, ethical, informed, and fair-minded. Nice to know you’re out there!
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Well, of course, Matt is 100% correct here. But I’ve found that expending a large amount of time and money to look at a car can place a buyer in a bad bargaining position, by virtue of signaling to the seller that he/she, the seller, has a hot prospect in hand.
Some years ago, I encountered a seller brazen enough to actually say, “I know you want this, or else you wouldn’t have come all this way to see it.”
Two years later the seller called me offering the car for a price far lower than his original “firm” figure, but by then I’d moved on — with considerable doubts about whether chasing across the country is any way to bargain for a car or anything else.
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On 12/19/2021 at 7:36 AM, Matt Harwood said:
I'd trust what the seller says as much as anything an inspector tells you, no matter how knowledgeable he seems. They're not there to help you. No, they're there to make their money and insulate themselves from any liability. You not buying the car is the goal, not a side-effect.
Trust what the seller says? Well, maybe, if you take care to translate into reality the self-serving baloney that the motivation to sell can generate. I think I figured this out when I bought a '41 Cadillac without an inspection on eBay some years ago, asking detailed questions and getting answers like:
"Smokes a little on coast" [translation: resembles a mosquito-spraying operation].
"Uses very little oil" [except when the engine is running].
"Strong performer" [up through 45 mph, because a stump-pulling commercial differential had been retrofitted].
"Seems to handle well" [because the rear springs had been replaced with heavily arched truck springs, causing the car to ride like a hay wagon and use tall lowering blocks to level the car].
"A few paint specks caused by nearby house painting on a windy day" [a few specks. The hundreds of others were caused by solvent popping due to incompetent re-painting].
"No sign of an accident" [because there are signs of several].
"A little Bondo on the fender skirts" [and a ton of it on the rest of the car].
"No visible rust" [unless you look].
Say what you will; no inspector possessed of two functioning synapses would have let me buy that car.
So, the next time I consider a purchase like that one, perhaps I can get someone here to refresh my memory as to why I don't need an inspector.
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Some sharp-looking convertibles in the background -- '58, '59, '61 (?) Cadillacs. These gents don't fool around with any junk!
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4 hours ago, TexRiv_63 said:
You need more than two photos to sell ANYTHING.
It's interesting to consider how a raft of photos has apparently become obligatory in posting items for sale. Back in pre-internet days, merchandise for sale by private parties was usually offered in the form small text-only classified newspaper or magazine ads, which prospective buyers would answer if the item interested them. Buyers didn't expect to be presented with chapter and verse about the item, for which the ad was only expected to convey enough information sufficient for a buyer to determine whether he/she was interested.
But then, apparently, that simple dynamic -- like so many others -- has been supplanted by the norms of a far more demanding age.
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Even without Deac's generous supply of information, the photos of this car reveal factors that remove its value from anywhere near the price range asked: incorrect upholstery (vinyl seats -- unpatterned, at that -- in a Roadmaster???); incorrect body color; visible problems with the window flippers; some sort of aftermarket switch installed in the lower left panel, etc.
All of which supports the point that carelessly buying into seller hype can be a mighty expensive proposition . . .
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1954 76R rear axle clunk
in Buick - Post War
Posted
Hi, Doug --
Thanks for your suggestions. BTW, my '54 still sports the excellent steering wheel I bought from you quite a few years ago now.