LAS VEGAS DAVE

One of the problems with this project is it requires building a crate that is strong enough to protect the torque tube and ring and pinion that can be sent to Lloyd Young in Ohio. It also has to serve as the crate for Lloyd to send back the completed overdrive unit to the original sender. I had one built by a shipping company at a cost of 300 dollars. Quite pricey but I needed a good one and I don't have any wood working tools at all. If someone needs this crate for their assembly I would like to get back 75 dollars for the one I had made. I can ship it empty to them for cost from Las Vegas. If no one wants it I will bring it to the industrial yard of my former employer and they will find a use for it.

Thanks for the advice, I appreciate it. I have GL 4 hypoid gear oil which is made to not hurt bronze or brass. The hypoid just withstands more extreme pressure and Lloyd said to use it in the overdrive unit as well as the rear end. I am glad to know that a new solenoid is available if needed even if it is expensive. Mine is far from the exhaust so maybe no problem. I worked with another friend for about three hours and now the overdrive and torque tube and rear end with the suspension is back in the car. It was easier and quicker than taking it out. The backing plates and new brakes and the axles and wheels still have to be installed. After all that is done I will start on the wiring and cable installation. So far I'm extremely happy with how everything is going. I hope to get some more time tomorrow to keep moving forward but at least a big part is already done and it went very smooth.

I'm still planning on starting the installation in a few hours, weather permitting. I just took these pictures for those that are interested in a little closer look at the overdrive as it is bolted to the torque tube.

If I start to do the installation this afternoon I will take a few more pictures. Lloyd seems to be doing fine. Hopefully I'll have more to say tonight.

Today the overdrive arrived. I have it out of the crate now and maybe tomorrow afternoon I will start to install it. Its supposed to rain here so since I work outside I may have to wait. In any case its getting closer. Here is a picture.

Another option not mentioned in this particular thread is to install an overdrive. This gears it up for 70 mph cruising all day long while still maintaining the hill climbing ability of the stock gears. Probably less money and less work than an engine swap but still a lot of both.

According to the freight company the crate will arrive here in Las Vegas either Friday or Monday. i think tomorrow will be a good day to start replacing my brake shoes so that the backing plate assemblies will be done and ready to bolt back on to the rear end housing. I'm thinking that by the end of next week the underneath of the car might be finished. I have no idea yet about the electrics or the overdrive cable installation. Lloyd told me to call him as questions arise, he is very helpful. We take guys like Lloyd for granted but most of us are getting old and those with special skills like Lloyd are getting harder and harder to find.

Offer to buy it if he will leave it alone. The wood framed body is the best reason not to make it a hot rod. Try not to let it upset you, give it your best shot and then forget about it.

Thank you Dave, I appreciate the link and the info about Gl 4 and GL 5 gear oils. I bought the GL4 oil since that is what is correct for the 38 Buick.

I ordered some 80/90 HYPOID GEAR OIL from RESTORATION SUPPLY but it says not for yellow metal. I didn't realize that there was brass washers in the carrier. I can not find any EP4 hypoid gear oil. What will happen if I use the EP5 oil to the brass washers? I thought that yellow metal referred to brass bushings but maybe brass washers is also a concern.

I don't see where it would hurt any young guy to buy that car. He would learn to weld, bodywork, mechanical stuff, the value of a dollar, the art of buying and selling, how to drive without computer controlled anything, he actually would learn more than if he took out a student loan and enrolled in a school. I like all kinds of cars, but what does it really matter what I like. Right now I am thrilled as a little kid with a new drivers license over my bone stock 38 Buick with only 20000 original miles and still its original paint. I'm constant asked when I'm going to paint it. I've had good hot rods, bad hot rods, stock cars, modified cars, sports cars, trucks etc. I always had fun when I had them, I always dreamed of something better. The buyer of that car may someday be on here with a Pebble Beach classic, then again he may find he prefers collecting stamps. Personally I don't mind the post in this section and if I did I would just skip to the next, I won't let it bother me and by the amount of replies it has received at least many people have an opinion strong enough to post a reply about.

Did the all white 60 brougham have $26000 hidden in the drivers door panel?

As some of you know my current project is the overdrive mod for my 1938 Buick Special. I need to find the proper oil for the rear end. Does anyone have a suggestion, maybe a brand and where to order it. It calls for a hypoid gear oil.

Tom, I will post pictures when I get the assembly back from Lloyd. The best I can explain it is that Lloyd makes a casting he adds to the torque tube. The casting halves bolt together to make the torque tube one piece. When the halves are not bolted together the torque tube becomes a two piece and can be disconnected at the overdrive unit and removed. The actual driveshaft is also a two piece that can be split by the removal of a four row chain with a master link. Once the torque tube and driveshaft are out of the way the trans can be removed for a clutch replacement or whatever. The rear end never gets touched. Lloyd has done hundreds of these over the last 40 years.

Marty, the torque tube must and can be removed without having to remove the rear end and then the trans and clutch can be removed.

I just talked to Lloyd again a few hours ago. He now has my overdrive back from the machine shop and he is going to paint it and then repack it and ship it back to me. He said that mine had a tube inside the torque tube instead of a solid shaft like the others he has seen. He says that back in 38 Buick changed things and every car is not the exact same and that is why he needed me to send my torque tube assembly to him. The overall length can vary a little amongst the cars and the only way to get it perfect is to have the same one that came out of the car it was installed in. In any case it should arrive here next week or early the following week and then the fun begins again. I've learned a lot about overdrives since I started on this project. In a normal overdrive there is a governor on the unit that mechanically spins, when the car reaches 28 mph the governor actuates a switch that lets the overdrive engage. Lloyd removes the governors and replaces it with a button attached to the side of the steering column. The driver holds the button in momentarily and lets off the gas pedal and the overdrive will engage. The driver replaces the governor. Another GREAT improvement in Lloyds set up is the fact that never again does the rear end have to be removed to remove the torque tube. He makes castings that let the torque tube come apart right at the overdrive unit and the drive shaft is connected via two double tooth sprockets that are face to face with a chain connecting the two. The chain has a master link so it can let the sprockets separate. I wii take some pictures when I take the whole assembly out of the shipping crate.

YES, I WILL POST PICTURES WHEN I GET THE OVERDRIVE BACK BEFORE I INSTALL IT. I WILL ALSO SHOW THE ELECTRIC SWITCHES ETC NEEDED TO COMPLETE THE TASK.

Tom it was also the last thing I wanted to do. Its not even half over with yet but eventually it will be done. I also obtained a stock radio for the car so another project will follow the overdrive. In the end I think I will like the results and I'll forget about all the little problems that needed to be overcome.

UPDATE: I heard from Lloyd today. Lloyd said the machine shop will be done with it on Thursday and then he will go there and test it electrically and then repack it in my shipping crate and send it back to me. If I am lucky that's exactly what will happen. Still possible a problem will arise and set it back some, we will see.

Thanks Joe, I appreciate the tip.

I sent the torque tube assembly to Lloyd for my 38 Buick, I'm hoping to get it back and install it soon.

Thats what I thought but I don't think the 38 SPECIAL has hydraulic lifters. If it had hydraulic lifters it wouldn't have any valve clearance would it?

i think it has to do with the noise a cold engine makes prior to 1937 until it warms up. In 1937 the rocker arm brackets were changed from cast iron to aluminum. The short explanation of that benefit is that the expansion of parts between the pushrods and rocker arm shafts now is about at the same rate which keeps the valve adjustment that was adjusted when the engine was at operating temperature constant as the engine reaches operating temperature from cold. This results in considerably less engine noise according to the Buick engineers.

NICE JOB AND GREAT RESULTS, I KNEW YOU WOULD WIN.