[39 Buick 46c restoration]

Your Buick looks wonderful!

I showed it to my wife. Her comment was “I like the yellow.”

A photo of her daily driver is attached.

 

 

[41 special fuel gauge stuck on full]

The link that Matt suggests is a good place to go.

I also recommend that you look in the shop manual, page 12-44 and page 12-45.

 

[Regalis Maroon Formula]

I had the same situation with my two-tone ‘41 Buick.

I gave the paint shop guy the original paint chips, original codes,
and some updated code cross references I found on the

internet.He could not use any of it. All outdated.

lt took 3 visits to the store with him coming outside to

match modern color chips with my car. Then I gave him

an engine bay panel that had a good preserved sample

of paint. After 2 weeks of intermittent tries he finally

got it right.

Note: some shops have an electronic device that ‘reads’

the color and attempts a match. He did not have that.

He did have experience and patience. 

[1941 oil filter]

Valk …. The two responses above are correct. You will find a complete

discussion of this here: 

 

 

[Using 12 volt Battery pak to run CB and GPS]

If you are running just the GPS you should get a full day (say 6 hours) out of it.

If you run the CB alone and leave it in receive only you should also be good for

most of the day. If you do any transmitting you will likely run the battery down

in an hour or so. Running both at the same time is not likely to last long. Give it

a test and see what you get.

 

The suggestions for computing your amp hour use are good. I really like the step up transformer

suggestion, especially if you intend to use the radio and GPS often.

 

I bring one of those 12 volt jumper batteries along just to run my cell phone or

a GPS on some occasions. I only plug in as needed.

[armored coil]

I don’t know if this answers your question but please check pages 12-26 and 12-27 of the service manual. I have attached a photo.

[Neil's '41 Super Model 51]

Looks good Neil. I especially like the light. That’s a smart solution, making it fused. I noticed your nice floor mat. Is that the original or did you buy repro.?

[My 25 Buick has been doing some Christmas Parades this year]

Very nice!

That warm weather you have certainly helps. No salt on your roads. Up here in New England it’s another story.

The car looks great.

[1941 Jack and tools - proper colors for restoration]

I have attached a photo of my jack. This is the way I purchased it, used.

I have every reason to believe that the remaining paint is correct.

If you look closely inside the rim support at the top you will also see the remains of the original yellow decal.

 

 

[1941 Buick: Starter Relay (solenoid) contacts normally closed or open?]

Interesting discussion. Whoever worked on my car before I owned it disconnected the vacuum switch. They installed a starting push button and a disconnect switch which I always had to turn on before starting. 

There is supposed to be a redundant system that prevents the car from cranking after it starts even if the vacuum switch hangs up. I don’t recall the details but I suspect it as Ben described.

 

I have a new carb installed with a functioning vacuum switch so I want to try out the original system. A couple of my friends who have the same system run a starting button to the vacuum switch just in case it gets stuck open. I may do that also.

 

Thanks for the comments.

[1941 Buick: Starter Relay (solenoid) contacts normally closed or open?]

I just looked closely at the shop manual. It seems to me that the two terminals on the side of the relay are connected to either end of the same winding which when energized switches in power to the larger starter motor coil. So, the contacts should be continuous with each other at all times. That’s my guess.

[1941 Buick: Starter Relay (solenoid) contacts normally closed or open?]

I am installing a new engine and dash wiring harness in my 1941 Buick.

While inspecting my work I noticed that the two contacts on the starter

solenoid relay (one connects to vacuum switch on carburetor and other goes

to voltage regulator G terminal) are closed, even with nothing attached

to them (and no battery in place). 

Are these 'normally closed' contacts? 

(note: the engine started just fine before I started this project so I suspect

the relay is OK. I just need to know I didn't mess anything up.)

 

 

[1941 Jack and tools - proper colors for restoration]

My jack has traces of green along with part of the original decal on it. I have seen several others painted green. Although I read somewhere that these also came in black it appears that green was the predominant color.

[Neil's '41 Super Model 51]

1 hour ago, neil morse said:

Speedometer

 

This is what my speedo looked like when I bought my car:

 

 

I had it rebuilt and recalibrated by a local speedometer shop, and did a cosmetic restoration that involved using a reproduction part for the plastic face.  It was okay, but the ivory plastic piece had a greenish tinge that I wasn't too happy about.  Then, just when I was getting ready to put it back in the car, I felt very fortunate to find this NOS face for sale online:

 

 

I substituted the new face for the reproduction, and I'm very happy with the result:

 

 

I'm just about ready to reinstall the instrument panel, and then I have to put the rest of the dash back together.  All in all, this has been a very satisfying project!

It looks great, Neil.  I like your attention to detail!

I have a way to go with the wiring. The harness is ‘in place’. Connections come next.

[Neil's '41 Super Model 51]

Great news, Neil!

All you have to do is button it up.

 

I am probably a week behind you. I am still removing

wires from under the hood. I identify and label as I go.

 

Your postings are truly helpful and encouraging!

Thanks for all your help.

[Neil's '41 Super Model 51]

 Neil, I am following your every move. I truly appreciate you taking the time to post all the details of the project here. I just started the install of my wiring harness a couple of days ago. I am still taking things apart. I’m on the light switches now (cramped in there). 

Keep it coming.  Thanks!

[1940 instrument panel engine turning]

On 8/31/2019 at 6:29 PM, neil morse said:

There's never been any question about the fact that the pattern is created on large sheets of thin metal which were then stamped onto the panel cores

 

I have seen a video where the craftsman mounted the panel on a rotisserie-style frame. He previously covered the piece with a grid (used a permanent marker) that marked the center for each machining process. An alternative would be to make an indexing jig for the horizontal and vertical movements of the drill press.

This YouTube video may be helpful if someone wanted to make a new ‘skin’ of aluminum, machine it, and then cement it to the panel.

 

[1927 Buick Model 27 - 27]

I have no experience with a 1927  Buick but I suspect there was crossover with other makes.

I once owned a 1947 Mercury station wagon and everything under the fabric roof was built very much as yours is.

The long slats (I remember there being about 13 of them) were made of basswood which is a softwood. The side rails and front and rear headers were made of maple that was made of thick laminated pieces.They were joined with complicated finger joints and bolts that were countersunk and then plugged with wooden dowels.

 

You can copy the pieces exactly as previous posters recommended. That is preferable. A good carpenter can do this if you preserve and possibly make dimensional drawings of the pieces.

 

Another method that some people do is to replace the frame and header members with oversize solid wood timbers. Then plane, shape, and sand them to the exact contours of the original piece

 

[35 Buick cowl vent attachment]

I do not have a 1935 Buick, mine is a 1941. I can say that the setup looks similar.

In my case the rod stays in the hole because there is a right angle spring steel fastener that joins the two. It wraps around the rod on both sides of the vent attachment. I was able to remove mine  by prying at it with a screwdriver. It looks like yours is missing. A photo is below.

If you can’t find this part you may be able to find a small tubing extender (like you sometimes find joining together rods going to a carburetor) with a small screw stop threaded into the side

['41 engine compartment details]

If you need additional details I recommend the book Restoration Facts, 1941 Buick by Anderson.

Here is a link to the author's website: https://www.andersonautomotiveenterprises.com/publications/booksandcds.htm

 

Anybody who owns a 1941 Buick should have this book.

['41 steering fluid]

Champion 00 is what I use after reading an extensive discussion on this site. It has a nice spout so you can pour it easily. Such mixtures have been called knuckle grease.. Amazon has it:

https://amazon.com/gp/product/B0018U0A4C/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

If I find the link to that 2018 discussion I will post it here.

['41 Paint Codes]

My paint code indicates that the car was originally black. It is now two-tone green. As best I can

determine the upper is Mermaid Green (580) and the lower is Ludington Green (570). The car was

repainted many years ago. I have no history on it.

 

The paint chip page for this car indicates that it was offered with code 575 (upper Ludington, lower English Green)

or code 579 (upper Mermaid green, lower Cedar green). Neither of these match my car, assuming my

eyes and those of a local automotive paint shop specialists are correct.

 

My engine bay is the same as the lower color (Ludington green). The chart you have indicates that

Sherwin Williams 9205 will work (or Dupont 93-20952 or 246-53407).

 

My local paint guy never found that. He estimates (by comparing chips he has) that it is close to

(and this is what he wrote down): Deck #6-1-01 Prospecto-, Chip # 6-1-2345-00, Paint Code - ESQ, car: Citroen.

He will mix that and then adjust by sight to my car. (I need to bring him a panel.)

 

A couple photos of my car are attached for reference.

 

My question is similar to yours: were custom two-tones available or did the factory always stick

to what is written in the paint charts and catalogs? Did someone repaint my car 'the way they

wanted it to look' or were they copying something that was available as an unadvertised option?

(Note: my wheels are black. With this color combination it looks like they should be maybe 

Ludington Green with a Cream stripe?)

 

 

 

[Thread repair]

My '41 fuel pump was leaking from one of the many screws that hold on the diaphragm section.

The man who rebuilt it put a heli-coil and it has held nicely. If you don't want to order a whole

batch of them just go to a local machine shop and see if they will sell you one or two.

They always have them on hand in the tool room.

 

Regarding JB Weld, I once cut through a seized fitting that was on an outdoor water hose spigot.

Unfortunately I managed to cut through an outer thread on the spigot.

I then covered the thread and small hole with JB-Weld, lightly screwed on the garden hose, and then removed

the hose. The next day the hose went on nicely. There is a tiny but acceptable leak, though.

Way better than before.

 

[Restoration of Michele's 1951 Buick, Part III]

Charlie Nash, VP of the Westerly-Pawcatuck region has posted part III of his

ongoing restoration of his wife's new car.

He took plenty of plenty of photos and posted all the details to our club blog.

You can check it out here: http://www.wpraaca.com/blog/micheles-51-buick-part-iii-by-charlie-nash

Please feel free to leave comments. This will encourage Charlie to continue to share

his work. He is meticulous in all that he does and he is a good writer.

Check it out!

[1939 Special Fuel Gauge Sender Voltage]

You may want to check to see if the wire that supplies the positive voltage from the meter is good. Run a temporary wire from the positive supply of the meter to the gauge. That 3 volts may jump to 6 and solve the problem. If it does and the gauge works you will need to replace the wire currently in the car.

Also, without installing the sending unit at all you should be able to work it through its range by lifting and lowering the float to see if the gauge responds properly. Just have ground and supply properly connected.

To test your ground point (where you cleaned it) attach one end of the ohm meter to that ground and the other via a long jumper wire (maybe no. 16 size) to the battery ground strap. It should read close to 0 ohms.