SpecialEducation

Can someone with a parts book share what the interchange is? My understanding is that Chevy, Pontiac, Buick, Olds, and Cadillac all used the same compressor in 1957, and this was the same A5 as the '56 Olds & Poncho compressor, but apparently there was something different about the Buick and Caddy compressor in '56. And, just because they were different, are they incompatible?

I'm not an expert on these years, is that crazy carpet original? With the pinstriping, under-dash add-ons, and the loudspeaker under the hood, it makes me think it was an old, mild custom.

Yes Bernie, you definitely have a 3%-er there! If you ever want to swap for one that is 3 years newer, let me know. I'll throw in the metal roof and 2 extra doors for NO EXTRA CHARGE!

I'm glad it's not just me. I always thought it would be fun to have a collection of TV/film tribute cars, although I'd swap that Torino for a Beetle named Ocho. Of course, a brown '74 Century is on the list. I love Tootsie Pops, but I've been officially banned from shaving my head. Apparently it makes me look entirely too B.A. so the little old ladies at church can't stand it. I guess I'll have to settle for looking like Burt in my turbo Pontiac.

As it happens, I was looking at values of '89 LeSabres just a couple months ago. There's a lot of unknowns here, but assuming average condition, the car has a trade in value of about $500, and a street value of about $1500. If you were buying one from a car lot and we're getting some sort of warranty, or the thing is just in exceptional condition (garage kept, only driven on Sundays, etc...), it could be as high as $2500 - but that would be an extremely rare exception. Maybe 3% of cars would fall into that class.

More... Yeah, that's an Oldsmobile!

Big downtown car show this weekend. 800-ish cars. Not many Buicks, but chatted up the owner of a couple nice Opels. Made a banner and threw across the back seat; it started a lot of conversations. Dad won his 3rd award at this show, and the GT its first. Sure hope to see those Opels again. Most pix by my dad & brother, as I didn't get to walk around until the sun was down.

I'm in, and I'll send you $3 via PayPal if I don't have to go to post office!

We'll be glad to have you! Online registration is open at www.WheatlandBuick.com, insurance is in place, and our first announcement in The Bugle ran this month. A local print shop just printed a bunch of materials for us that we'll be sending out soon... Things are moving right along!

I'll bite. I'm currently driving a 1989 LeSabre with 236k. Not sure how many miles are on the '56. It says 10K so 110k is probably a safe bet... except for the broken spedo cable. Let's call it 120k. My grandfather used to mile cars up pretty bad. I think his 1st '56 Buick was somewhere in the 200k range (that'll happen when you commute from Lansing to Flint) when he sold it to his brother Marv in '61. The second '56 he bought in the mid-60s for my uncles to share. I get the impression that the younger of the 2 uncles treated it a lot like Tank treated his...

Thanks, Ben. I was going to say the same thing but forgot. You like setting Dale up for a VISOR commentary, don't you? My dad has a particular attachment to the polka-dots. One of the first things he said when I first showed him the 46R was how he remembered spending hours staring at those polka-dots from the back seat/window. To him, "correct" is more about rekindling childhood memories than pleasing judges. He didn't spend much time under the hood at that age, which is how I was finally able to talk him into an alternator conversion. Why I couldn't talk him into a Bittersweet paint job, I'm not sure.

Your interior looks nice, and if you like it, don't fret about it. Chances are that the only place you'd get dinged for your seats & carpet is a Buick show. The seats in our '56 46R were incorrect for the first 20 years we had the car. The front was amateurish and falling apart, and the back was out of a '55. Fair warning about SMS: We about didn't make it to the national meet last year because we ordered polka-dot vinyl from SMS TWICE, and both times it was terrible. Our seat backs should have polka-dots, but they are plain because SMS couldn't deliver. If you start on the interior, plan do do EVERYTHING at the same time. Otherwise you are likely to have dissimilar polka-dots between your seat backs, door panels, and headliner. Back to the subject at hand... 20 years ago I went to haul a small trailer like yours (4'x8', 1000 lbs, max) with my little turbo (Pontiac version of my Skyhawk) and I was able to get a hitch that used a flat drawbar. I don't see anyone making those anymore, so in lieu of 100% custom manufactured, I'd probably look at something like this. It would likely require some fabrication/modification, but it's a starting point. Still, a 1.25" drawbar hitch is WAY overkill for that little teardrop you've got...

For the record, I don't see any reference to trailer hitches in the BCA Judging Manual, but I suppose it could fall under "nonauthentic modifications" of the frame.

Not to be a downer, but your upholstery doesn't look factory correct, either. I guess the question to be asked here is your primary concern. Do you have the car to please yourself, or to please car show judges? To me, a receiver hitch that bolts to the frame would be ideal. It would be strong, safe, and completely undoable (just in case you sell it to someone who cares about pleasing judges). Pull the draw-bar out and it's not very noticeable. That dinky little trailer isn't going to overtax the drivetrain, so I don't know that I'd worry about brakes or trans coolers, but you will need to hook up some lights. Now, your pig tail can be stuffed away in the trunk, but it is another mod. If your goal is to please judges, you need to consult the judge's rule book. What will get you where will change from class to class, show, to show.

My first suspect in wonky brake operation is the flexible lines. The internal layers of the hose will separate and fluid will get in and cause a bubble that acts as a check valve. Fluid pressure goes down to the wheel just fine, but doesn't come back so easy. Initially, the issue is usually intermittent, but gets worse as the hose continues to degrade. I've lost count on how many times I've seen this over the years. That said, I'm guessing that the '55 is like the '56, where there's a single flexible line going to the torque tube and it's all hard lines from there (3 flex hoses total). Obviously, a bad hose here would affect both rear wheels equally. Which wheel is giving you trouble?

Agreed. The voltage input/output is based on the primary/secondary winding ratio, not the resistance of each side. Ohming it out tells you if you've got an open or short winding, but you have to keep technology differences in perspective. Not just in your meter, but in the coil itself. Unless you are testing an original, 60 year old, Delco coil, I'd call those numbers ballpark. An aftermarket coil may have more windings or a different gauge of wire, which would change the resistance, while still maintaining the same winding ratio. They look close close enough to me, I'd focus my efforts elsewhere.

Ha! Me too! After working my way all the way to the back of the yard today, I remembered that I needed one. I was frantically trying to remember were all of the Caddies, Olds, and Buicks were that had that goofy armrest. I found none.

Wow, that's terrible. I don't understand why anyone would build such a thing.

I'd take another look at that regulator. There should be 2 screws to pop the cover off. An un-adjustable voltage regulator is a paperweight. Points wear, fact of life. It's a regular maintenance item. Seriously, it should be a 5 minute operation to check and adjust the cut-out air gap on the car. The Borg that Tank linked to looks like a steal, though. You know how I feel about our alternator conversion, my only regret is uglyness. Nothing sucks more that getting 45 miles from home when you are headed to a car show 80 miles away, and turning around because you know you'll have to drive home in the dark and you can't get the regulator to turn the generator on because you left the screwdrivers at home. Ok, there are worse things... I lost a water pump in Kalamazoo 2 weekends ago... but that's a story for another time. I had pondered the easiest way to mount up a 12SI for a long time before we found our generator bracket was broken. Our approach changed considerably once we decided we didn't care about keeping the bracket original. As a general rule we try to keep the car as original as possible, but if there are things we can do that increase the fun factor without changing the look, it's worth considering. Hi-Fi tunes from my iPod is more fun than news radio on AM (although I do actually like working on tubesets). Punching the gas and the wipers not quitting while passing a semi in the rain is more fun than driving blind at 70 mph. Driving down the road at night is more fun than staying home after dark and cursing the electrical system.

I'm going to back pedal a little bit. If it was not charging, the air gap on the reverse current cutout may be too large. Smacking it may have helped it close. We bought a new regulator years ago, and it didn't turn on until over 14v. I think the spec is 7-10v. Easy fix...

Classic! If smacking it did the trick, then you had stuck points. Remember, old-school regulators have arcs jumping across points just like old school distributors do. It's not the end of the world, just open it up and use a points file to clean them up. No, the new ones aren't as easily adjustable is old school regulators were, but they can be adjusted. You just have to bend metal instead of turning screws. Or, you can install a 12SI...

FWIW... Vintage Air sells under-dash kits, which was a popular way to cool your ride back in the day. http://www.vintageair.com/2015 Catalog/2015 VintageAir Catalog 50.pdf

Remember that there are 3 components to the regulator: The cut-out (driver's side on our '56), the current limiter (center), and the voltage regulator (pax). If any one of these three components is out of adjustment, the whole system goes wonky. With the cover off and the engine running, the cut-out should be closed, the current limiter should be closed, and the voltage regulator should be dancing. You can do a quick visual in just a few minutes to see if that's the case. The current limiter should only open at the maximum current rating of the generator (30A for our '56), and the cut-out should open when you turn the engine off. I pulled the cover once and saw the cut-out dancing. No wonder it wasn't charging. I admit that it's ugly, but it's functionally awesome. I can sit at idle with the lights on and get a good amount of charge. In fact, I can't load it up enough to show a discharge at idle (to be fair, I gutted the Sonomatic and put in a solid state amp, so it draws much less than the tubes did). For the most part I used existing wires for a more factory look (I put a 30 amp fuse in-line to protect the original wires), and it's completely undoable later if I ever so desire. I'm sure C&P would take care of you, but I'd be surprised if there isn't a shop or 5 in the Chicago area that can get you going, too...

Sometimes just cleaning it up can help. As the brushes wear, you can get a trace down the conductive brush dust that creates a leak. Brushes are cheap & easy, I'd start there. Also, don't just buy an off the shelf regulator and assume it's good. We did that once and still had troubles. It would run the generator up to 19v, and cut it off at 14.4v. They don't have the fancy screw adjustments like they used to, you just have to bend the tangs a little to dial them in: https://www.facebook.com/1956Buick/photos/?tab=album&album_id=568738759868333 Of course, you could just put a self regulating alternator on there instead. I have an '83 C10 with a 305 and decided that would be easy enough to adapt, so that's what we asked for at the auto parts store. Not exactly a drop in, but it wasn't an extensive mod. Less than $50 for the whole conversion. One of these days dad will drop the bucks on an alternator that looks like a generator, but for now, it's trouble free and makes way more juice than we will ever need. I keep waiting for used growlers to get cheap on eBay, but it doesn't look like that will happen anytime soon. I did pick up a 100A Chinese ammeter for less than $10, though! What part of the country are you in, Lance? When I was living in Oklahoma City, we had C&P rebuild our starter, and they do generators too. (405) 799-2083

While I generally agree that heat kills transmissions (well, it really kills the fluid, which then kills the transmission), cold fluid that doesn't flow right can also be an issue. In fact, some high performance vehicles have a warning light when the transmission is too COLD. While it's perfectly driveable cold, it's not recommended to tromp on it until things warm up. The idea is that there's an optimal temperature range that keeps the fluid at the appropriate viscosity. I think by running the trans fluid through the radiator tank, it helps to maintain a more consistent fluid temperature. Fluid also transfers heat more efficiently than air, so you don't need to have as large of a cooler when you do fluid-to-fluid vs. fluid-to-air. That said, the way most of these cars are driven, it probably doesn't matter much either way. If you aren't pulling a trailer, racing the thing, or driving in Alaska in February, you'll probably be just fine. The hotter the fluid gets, the shorter its life, so if there are signs of it running hot, just change the fluid more often.