Hubert_25-25

Rod, Thanks for clarifying and correcting the title. The bearings need to be plastiguaged. These are babbit bearings. The shims were added prior to line boring. After the block is line bored, shims can be removed to compensate for bearing loss. So check the bearings with the shims in. Then you will need to determine if they need to stay or be removed. Hugh

Rod, I am struggling with the title of this posting. It uses "Standard" and "120"". Standard Wheelbase is 115", and Master Wheelbase is 120". Standard and Master are different motors. Different camshafts etc. Possibly different teeth count - so verify that the gear drawing in your Buick shop manual matches your car. Is your car a Master or Standard? Also attached is a link to my engine rebuilding notes. Also torque specs. I am using the numbers in blue as all the fasteners are earlier than 1942. I know we went easy on the main bearing nuts. 95 ft lbs. Hugh

John, These are the instructions for the timing cover. Vary all sizes for your application as this is applicable for a 1925 Buick Standard and you have the larger 6 cylinder - but it appears all the sizes may be the same. Also a good idea to add felt to the starter crank as mine did need additional packing. I have also installed lip seals on both front and rear axle wheel seals. A less critical application. The fan hub mechanism is rebuilt using sealed bearings. Hugh

I followed this procedure that I found on the internet. The key is to put a clear coat between the two colors. You wet sand the color that is over the letters. Then clear the whole thing. What I did wrong on my first attempt was I did not spray enough clear between the 2 colors. I sanded thru that clear, and you do not want to do that. That is why he recommends 5 coats of clear between. It makes a professional looking plate. License Plate Restoration (From the internet) I had a couple of pairs of plates that were in nice condition, but they had a few nicks and dings in them. The county tax office said that for the plates to be approved, that I had to touch them up. I decided to totally repaint them and this is the process that worked the best and looks awesome: Here is the plate I started with: http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f88/tommyzees/licenseplate.jpg Regular paint remover makes quick work of stripping the old paint off: http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f88/tommyzees/licenseplate001.jpg A wire brush gets all the old paint off: http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f88/tommyzees/licenseplate005.jpg http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f88/tommyzees/licenseplate007.jpg http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f88/tommyzees/licenseplate008.jpg Small dings can be worked out with a hammer and dolly. Filler may be needed on bigger dents. I used polyester primer to prime the plates: All dents must be hammered out. Use a small punch set. http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f88/tommyzees/licenseplate010.jpg http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f88/tommyzees/licenseplate009.jpg We now need to paint the plate. 2 coats primer. The numbers and letters are white so I painted the whole plate white with catalyzed urethane: 2 coats http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f88/tommyzees/licenseplate011.jpg When the paint is dry, I applied 5 coats of clear over the white: http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f88/tommyzees/licenseplate012.jpg When the clear was dry, I applied two coats of black basecoat over the clear: http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f88/tommyzees/licenseplate013.jpg The next thing to do is to very carefully sand through the black base coat to reveal the white numerals underneath. I use a sanding pad and 1200 grit sandpaper with lots of water: http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f88/tommyzees/licenseplate016.jpg Since we applied 5 coats of clear, there is no chance of sanding through to the white underneath. Start with one numeral at a time until the edges are as nice as you want them: I used 400 and 1000 sandpaper. A nice kit is ”Micro Autozip – First finish#9800-036. Use 400 until you are seeing some white, then switch to 1000. Pull the paper over the top coat rather than scratching it. Stay off the corners. http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f88/tommyzees/licenseplate015.jpg http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f88/tommyzees/licenseplate017.jpg http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f88/tommyzees/licenseplate018.jpg http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f88/tommyzees/licenseplate019.jpg When all the numerals are to your liking, you can apply a couple of coats of catalyzed clear over the whole thing. The clear will bring out the shine in the black and the white and protect the whole plate: I used automotive paint because it is catalyzed and dries quickly. Duplicolor spray is a good choice because of the color selection and it dries hard-not gummy like some enamels so it sands well. Duplicolor may be lacquer based. VHT Epoxy is good paint as well, but colors are limited.

Rod, This is a paper that I sent to Frank Freda. He could not get his Buick over 20 mph. He bought it from someone that could not get any power out of the engine. In our efforts, we found 2 problems. 1) They had installed the flywheel on the wrong bolts, so the 3-4 line on the flywheel was #1 and 6 TDC. So just needed to know that and we count teeth on the flywheel for setting up timing in a new place. 2) Cam was installed 2 teeth off. He did have to pull the camshaft and reset it in the correct teeth. The trick using paper in the valve gap is an easy way to verify that everything is set up correctly. The car runs great now. Hugh

Rod, Start with this older link, and if this does not answer your questions, please respond back. I have much more information on this, but this could get you what you need. Hugh

Rod, Attached is the timing page from the 1928 Buick Reference book. Also attached is the 1927 supplement. The original timing set up is not relevant to modern fuels and you leave a lot of performance unused if you set timing to factory specifications. I have also included notes to help you understand the timing and on setting and checking your timing using a timing light. It's always good to understand how to static time an engine, but you always want to put a timing light on the motor to verify the set up is correct. Hugh

I removed 1937 from the title as it appears that does not apply. Thank you for the correction. I appreciate seeing the fix that EmTee shows as I have wondered why the end of the hood prop has that short slot on the end.

Not sure of all the years this applies to, but I have a 1938 Buick in my shop. The hood prop seems rather dangerous as it merely likes to slide against the underside of the hood and then the hood wants to bang closed. I added these hood stops on either side using a single pop rivet each. Hopefully a good fix for someone else as well. Hugh

Stephen, Going to provide to you several pictures. Notice in the first 2 pictures that I used a bead of Permatex #2 on the bearing cap to try to make an oil seal between the outside of the brass bearing and the cast iron holder. I don't know if the factory ever did this, but I thought it would do a little for oil control. It does seem that the screw in the bearing cap goes on the outside, but it also has to fit in the bronze bearing one way, so see how it does rotated. Also as a check, there is a "Ring of brass" used as an oil splasher. There is one inside each water pump shaft bearing. These are often lost. If you need dimensions on these rings, I do have them. Please use the AACA Forum "Buick Pre War" section for your questions if you want quicker responses. Hugh

There is not a needle and seat in the vacuum tank. That is why it would be difficult to control the flow of a fuel pump with the vacuum tank still in series to the carburetor. The vacuum tank is a tank within a tank. There is a large float inside. The float operates a break over arm. The breaker arm directs the valves in the top of the tank lid to be either ONLY in vacuum or venting. So the vacuum tank is either under vacuum (open to the intake manifold vacuum) or venting (allowing fuel to be drawn out). There is a flapper valve between the 2 tanks to keep the vacuum from effecting the fuels ability to get to the carburetor. It's easier to install a viton needle and seat into a carburetor, than it is to retrofit a vacuum tank that never had a needle and seat in the first place. That said, if you installed a set of electrical contacts for the high level, and contacts for a low level switch, you could shut the pump power on and off to the fuel pump, rather than cycling by level. Then the switches have to be kept from fuel vapors or be intrinsically safe switches. Yes the "system" could be reinvented and all the more reason to carry a fire extinguisher. Hugh

This is the oil feed line to the head.

John, Why don't you start a new thread with a photo so we can see what you are working on. Hats off to you for doing the right thing and dropping the pan. I have a car in my shop where an owner did not do that, and his rebuild would have been less expensive if he had done otherwise. People don't understand non detergent oils. Non detergent oils let the sludge settle out. Pull the dip stick on a car with non detergent oil, and the oil looks really clean. But the oil pick screen is in the muck. In later Buicks, the oil filter was eliminated when Buick went to a floating suction. Not only does the muck settle in the sump, it also settles and clogs the oil passages. Be sure to closely inspect the screen on the oil pick up, and all the solder joints in the bearing oil feed tubing. Hugh

John, Using the word "Standard" in the description of your car is misleading. It is a 1924 model 45 Touring. You can also call it a 1924 6 cylinder. Master and Standard were not used as terms until 1925. If you do want to use a reference, Master is more appropriate as you have the larger engine. Your car has a metal needle and seat in the carburetor. These are quickly overrun with fuel pumps that have too high a pressure. The fuel pressure on these was based on a 2 foot liquid level of fuel coming from the vacuum tank to the carburetor. 1 foot of water is 1/2 PSI so the needle and seat only has to seal against around 1 psi. Low pressure 6 volt pumps are in the 2-4 psi range. These are getting harder to find. Most common are the 6 volt pumps in the 6-8 psi range. I do not know what pressure an SU pump puts out, but it is looking for a certain amount of back pressure on the needle and seat to prevent the electromagnet from toggling. Again, I think the pressure is too high. I do make viton tipped needle and seat kits for Marvel carburetors. You will need to go thru your carbutetor and replace the venturi as potmetal growth prevents the carburetor from working properly. Look into replacing the float as well. If you acquire and put the vacuum tank back in service, they work well, but you do need to watch for vacuum leaks. Hugh

Grant, Consider installing two electrical pumps in series. Whatever pump you buy will eventually fail. I did not install 2 switches, you could, but I am able to reach the pump from under the car and I just swap in the spade terminal on the other pump when I need to use or run on the other pump. These pumps have no problems connected that way. I dont mind getting under the car to switch the electrical wire, but its not so much fun dealing with fuel lines. Also consider the E8902 pump which is the 6 volt lower pressure 2-4 psi alternative and does not require a regulator or a relay. Note also that these have become very scarse, and you need to read the fine details from all the different sellers as many of them call their pump an E8902 when it is not based on the specs. Most are out of stock also. Onix EH902 is another variation, but read all the information closely before ordering as sometimes I see these listed with a higher pressure in the fine print which is another model. Hugh

Coker does not list the 22" tire on it's NZ website, but this company does. http://classic-tyres.co.nz/wp/ I would contact Coker in NZ and see if they could put what was needed in with one of their shipments. They may not stock them in NZ, but I would think they could do a special order and ship them along with another standard shipment.

Steffen, Here are more notes around working on the fan hub. Hugh

Thank you for the responses. I am not completely familiar with this year Buick. I will let the owner know that he is not missing any parts.

I have a 38 Buick Series 40 Business coupe in my shop. The running boards do not look right. Does anyone have any photos of what correct running boards should look like, or at least the ends. There is greater than a 1" gap between the fenders and the running boards. Thank you. Hugh

Dave, You do have to be careful about what you get off the internet. I recently went on a call regarding a Model A owner that had a stuck clutch. I followed the note from Chip Evans with the following exceptions. 1) I warmed the car up in neutral first. Then I shut it off. 2) I jacked up the rear of the vehicle and place it on jack stands. 3) I started the car in 1st gear with the clutch on the floor. Since it had a stuck clutch, the rear wheels started spinning. 4) With my foot still on the clutch, I gently applied pressure to the brakes and the engine never died, and the clutch started working. I instructed the owner to keep a 1 x 2 wood stick between the seat frame and the clutch, that would keep the clutch pedal 1/2 way down when the car was parked. This should prevent it from sticking in the future. Jumping on the brakes is a last resort. Better to try a gentler approach first. Start by pulling the inspection cover on the bell housing. Raise one wheel and have someone spin it in a gear while watching the clutch plates.

The lower pulley is convex. It is high in the center. So the belt must have a little suppleness, but most belts are made of thicker leather called harness leather. Leather takes a gentle stretch, but not a lot. With the engine off, if you try to spin the fan blades, it should slip on the fan pulley. Also asking if you have rebuilt your fan hub with sealed bearings?

Jim, Contact Don Hart (just outside Houston). They fix gas tanks and have a lifetime warranty. Hugh https://www.donhart.com

Pete, Change the title of this posting to 1926-1927 Buick Standard Radiator A few comments on this. - The shroud around the radiator will work for 1925 to 1927 Buick Standard. - This will fit a Buick Standard and not a Buick Master - This will fit 1926 or 1927. Buick Standard. 1927 got the thermostat, but a 1926 radiator will still function in a 1927 car. - This could fit a 1925 Buick Standard, if a person found a 1926 or 1927 radiator shell. In 1926, Buick increased the top fill nozzle to hold the same radiator cap as used on the larger 6 cylinder. So as an assembly (shell and radiator) from a later car can be used on the earlier model.

I thought Then and Now Automotive Parts was making these gears. Not sure if that is where you bought it. The new gears do not have the steel keyed hub, so they are all fiber. I know when I was getting ready to change mine, I did source a better water pump gear to avoid what you are showing.

I agree with Don. As long as the old bearings have no spalling or pitting, they are still good.