SpecialEducation

There are others, and I will try all of them before I trust SMS again. They sent samples that looked great. Bought polka-dot vinyl at $95/yd that looked terrible. A blind person could see that it was worthless. Couldn't get them on the phone, took weeks to get them to agree to send replacement material, took months to get said replacement material, then they demanded that the original junk be returned within 10 days or they'd charge us double. The replacement material looked nothing like the sample, and nothing like the first batch of junk they sent us, but it's still junk. I could give my 6 year old plain red vinyl and a sharpie and get better looking stuff.

I think the year is perfect! As far as the portholes go, I'm not sure if they just didn't think they could fit 4 on there, or if it goes deeper. For those unfamiliar with the story, the California Highway Patrol wanted cars that weren't on the menu. They wanted the performance of the Century, but they wanted 2-door sedans, not Rivieras. In 1956, a 2-door Century was a Riv or a ragtop, except for the CHP cars that were a special run of just a few hundred cars. As far as I know, this was only done for the CHP. Unless the car has CHP on the side, it would be more erroneous to put 4 portholes on a car with a post. In other words, the error is more likely in calling it a Century, not the missing portholes. This accounts for the 270 Model 68s built in 1955, but I have no idea how they accounted for it in '56.

Looks like they forgot how to spell 'Riviera.'

I changed a mag on Cessna 206 a few weeks ago. The timing had drifted beyond spec, and this airplane was a 2015 and only had 400 hours on it. Sadly, this is somewhat common for these magnetos. If I can't get decent aircraft parts, which are American made and manufactured under the scrutiny of the FAA, it doesn't give me much hope for what's in the pipe for antique automobiles...

I don't believe so. In 1959 he sold the Evansville dealership (which became Snyder Buick) and moved to Florida to deal in real estate. As far as I know, he didn't sell cars after '59, (but still drove late model Buicks).

*phace palm*

The sheets we got from SMS gave all of the codes & material specs for our '56. I did have to ask for a second sheet that had more color options than what our original packet had. We gave our local shop the info we got from SMS to do the work to, but most material didn't even come from SMS. Party because SMS was a disaster. Anyone want a yard of overpriced red 'cordaveen' with black polka-smudges? https://www.facebook.com/1956Buick/albums/798374006904806/

Other than the points?

Hey, thanks a bunch, Brian! I know that Bachman had 3 lots between Athens and Columbus before going to Indiana, but I believe only one was a new car dealership. Everyone in the family recalls that the only new cars he ever sold were Buicks. One newspaper article stated that he sold new cars in Athens, but that doesn't seem consistent with the cousins' stories or other clippings. Based on this clipping about Mr. Luck, I'd guess that at least the used side of the house in Columbus was called Bachman Motor Sales. We have a family reunion in Ohio every even numbered summer, and we occasionally tour old home sites, farms, and school houses attached to the family history. The Bachman kids were pretty small back then, so their older cousins often have better recollections about what their parents were doing in this time frame. It would be great to find some historical documents to solidify the family history as recalled by the older cousins. Thanks again!

I think if I was the big cheese at a Buick dealership in 1954, I'd have the Roadmaster for long trips (this pic would have been taken at the family farm near Lima, Ohio), and a Skylark for my around-town driving... My wife worked at a Pontiac Buick GMC dealership in Oklahoma, and when the owner passed away in 2012, he was still driving the '79 Caballero he bought from himself decades previous. His wife was the receptionist and she always had a fresh demo, but he never found anything he liked better than the old silver Cab (everyone knew it as the Silver Bullet). Maybe that's why we aren't Buick dealers. We're wired more for buying and driving rather than selling.

Actually, I have a plotter that will either cut the letters out of white vinyl graphic material that I would apply to a painted sheet of aluminum, or cut a stencil for painting the letters... There is stencil specific material available for my machine, but here's some painting I did with a vinyl stencil.

I know the Evansville building still stands, but I'm looking for clues regarding his Columbus, Ohio operation. Attached is what the Evansville place looked like in 1923 (which he bought in 1950), and here's the current Street View. Also attached is my great-grandparents standing in front of one of Chuck's cars. In 1954, great-grandpa was driving a Studebaker (pretty sporty for an old school teacher)...

Almost there, thanks!

I'm wondering if anybody out there might know where I could find some information on a Columbus, Ohio Buick dealership from the 1940s. My dad's uncle Chuck, Charles Bachman, sold cars in Athens and Columbus Ohio in the 1940s, and moved to Evansville, Indiana in 1950. Evansville has a nice archive and I was able to piece some things together like the location of the dealership (the building still stands) - although some of their archives look like articles written when they expected him to die, but he didn't, so not all of the data is spot-on: http://local.evpl.org/search/searcharticlepersonid.asp?personid=433042 As I recall, he sold used cars in Athens, but sold new Buicks in Columbus. I'm curious where the dealership was, any photos available, etc.... Thanks!

I just double-checked the auction listing and it says 67x41. Last night I was thinking that maybe someone at Cagle mis-keyed the dimensions; I guess the person at fault is actually me!

Guilty. I'm a propulsion systems engineer by day, but I've been known to make a sign or two in my spare time. I'll be dragging a (static) Buick through Georgia in a couple weeks, but it will be at an ungodly hour so we'll have to catch you another time. I wasn't going to reveal these until later, but I do have a question. The auction said the sign was 71x64, but when I straightened your photo and stretched it to those dimensions, it looked really wrong. What is the size of your sign?

And I was just in your neighborhood last week... With more cars that are static than moving at the moment, I would rather put $425 into one of them to get it mobile again (one goes just fine, stopping is the sketchy part). As a consolation, maybe I'll make a repro for my dad...

You're not alone. My first Buick was a hand-me-down '82 LeSabre that happened to be my dad's first Buick. Being from Lansing, we usually had Oldsmobiles, but the LeSabre had a Rocket under the hood so that made it OK. After blowing up a couple 200R4's behind that 4 bbl 5.0, I put a THM 350 in it. It was slower and thirstier, but more reliable. My dad bought the '56 in 1995 and I sold the LeSabre in '98. I picked up an '82 Skyhawk convertible in 2000. A neighbor who neglected to scrape their windshield one morning wadded up the 'Hawk while it was parked on the street. I've been Buick-less for about 5 years now (although I do my share of wrenching on dad's '56), but I should have another 'Hawk in my driveway by the end of the month. My wife's Olds Custom Cruiser could have easily been a Roadmaster Wagon, but I felt a need to return to my Olds roots with that project...

They don't look '56 to me, at least not 40 series...

If for no other reason, shooting projectiles from the exhaust looks like fun!

I thought it was funny.

Concur. There's lots of passages that could hold lots of junk for a long time. With fresh oil every 1000 miles and assuming your filter isn't getting loaded up to the point of impeding the flow of oil, it's inconsequential. If your filter is full of junk every 1000 miles, it would be time to get concerned. I don't know what the zinc content of your Penzoil is, but it is possible to get too much ZDDP and get deposits. You might try backing off on the additive for 2 or three changes and see what happens.

What kind of oil are you using and how often do you change it?

I wouldn't recommend it. A major change in oil formulation can cause deposits to get knocked lose that might find their way to places you don't want them. If there was a *really* compelling reason to do so (like an all original engine with 6,000 miles where an overhaul would significantly impact the value of the car), I'd flush the oil system with kerosene first. Then again, something like that would probably not be driven much and be a trailer queen anyway. Typically, you'd see the most benefit on a fresh engine, where you break it in on conventional oil then switch to synthetic after the first change or two. Remember, today's conventional oils are way better than what they had in the 50s. Back then, we had 1000 mile oil changes for a reason. I'm not saying it's a terrible idea, but unless it is litterally a daily driver (not a weekend driver), the cost-to-benefit ratio isn't likely to be in your favor.

A few years back, Kansas had a governor who thought we'd sell more ethanol if the pumps didn't say there was ethanol in the gas, so she pushed legislation that would allow up to 10% with no labeling whatsoever. Two governors later, the law still stands. That said, if there's NO ethanol in the gas, THAT fact is hevily advertised.