HuntzNSam

Been waiting for the right segue: "It might be superstition, but there's some kind of somethin' going on down there" https://youtu.be/_HW0z86SVkc "in my USS Zydecoldsmobile" https://youtu.be/oZxDSN1LS7A Thanks Sonny Landreth!

A few years back, we took the AZ,NM state/county scenic routes through Buffalo Pass from Canyon De Chelley (itself gorgeous) to US64 in Farmington (like driving through a John Ford movie), then east on 64. Beautiful drive and the signs with with squiggly black line "10MPH" were dead serious. Doesn't get the publicity of 66, but a beautiful drive in NM.

https://www.irfanview.com/ Free download, but it is a really good program, so I send him a few bucks every year. I use 32 bit, even though I have a 64 bit laptop. Download the program and the plugins. Easy to use, short learning curve. This required 'Copy', Paste Special-bottom' 'Rotate' 'Negative', and resize - less than a minute. If you need something more powerful, but big learning curve, try GIMP, again free. https://www.gimp.org/ Hope it helps. Huntz

Sold to a local BCA member who can give it the home it needs. Thanks HuntzNSam

Unless you are a fan of doing a job twice, drop the vacuum tank on the frame and drain the fluid out of it. We got nearly a quart out of ours. The master had been leaking for years, 'just top it off'. Thanks to the AACA forums and Booster Dewey, we got it fixed and it is working great.

"Never buy some rusty/crusty heap with worn out and missing parts." Maybe expand your horizons to 1960 {ulterior motive alert}. The styling is unique and we see someone trying to sell one so it doesn't rot.

Chimera, I fudge out plates every time. The scammers and hackers are so durn clever these, why provide any personally identifiable info? I don't know what they could do with it, but since It's irrelevant to the sale, hiding it is easy enough to do and prudent. Maybe you're one of them, encouraging us to be reckless?;) Thanks HuntznSam

1960 Buick Invicta 4dr Hard Top (Flattop) $7600 This car runs and drives great, turning heads and garnering compliments wherever we go, but it is too nice for our needs. When we read the seller’s claim of ‘rust-free’ we took it with a grain of salt (pun intended). We were looking for something to drive year round in the salt belt without worrying about advancing rust. Dadgum honest seller messed up our plan. With the exception of the self-inflicted passenger floor (leaky heater core), the car is surprisingly solid. Wheel wells, rockers, and door bottoms are all solid. A Montana car, it has a patch of sun scorch surface rust on the roof, but all the panels and frame are solid. No bubbling and no bondo that we’ve found. The passenger floor has an amateur, but solid, patch job. This is no show car, but a fun driver. The paint is thin, with plenty of scratches, a few dents in the trim, scuffed chrome, but it is complete and still looks good for a driver. The two-tone Fawn Beige and Cordovan is a great combo. The seats have been recovered, non-stock, but very nice. The carpet has been replaced. Dash, door panels, and headliner all appear original. We installed front lap belts and will throw in the rear belts we never got around to installing (empty-nesters). The glass is good, and windows work properly. The windshield has a well repaired stone chip and some wiper scratches. Since we got it, we did timing chain and harmonic balancer rebuild, thanks to Russ Martin. All new brake shoes, wheel cylinders, and brake hoses –it was so nice breaking lines loose without fighting rust – the steel lines and fittings are so nice. New master and booster rebuild from Boosters by Dewey. We rebuilt the Carter with an ethanol compatible kit from Jon Hardgrove, Carbking. All new fuel hoses, belts, power steering and cooling system hoses. New plugs, cap, rotor, and Pertronix Ignitor III with Flamethrower coil. (For all the naysayers, the Pertronix on our 52 truck hasn’t missed a beat in more than 50,000 miles.) A local old-time radiator shop repaired the rad and re-cored the heater core. The stock heater control valve was really bad, disintegrating as he took it apart, so we asked him to bypass it. We now have a cable operated valve inline. The rad cools great, and heater really heats; on cool days we can roll down all the windows for that great hardtop look, and we stay toasty warm. The Dynaflow is fantastic! We love the smooth power. It (and the engine) drips a little bit, but normal for an old car. A rare option, the limited slip diff still works great, during the two times we ‘checked’ it. The ride and looks were improved with our new Diamondback Wide White radials – fewer than 4000 miles on them. OK, long winded enough – feel free to ask questions. We could go on for pages. We have info on the original dealer and purchaser. We love driving the car and don’t want to sell it, but hate storing the car for winter, and only driving it on guaranteed rain free days. If we lived in Texas or Arizona we wouldn’t consider selling it. Illinois is hard on cars and we’d feel so guilty if we rotted it out. We want this car to go to a good home, hopefully in a nice weather state where you can use it year round. Make us an offer. Paypal, cash or wire transfer only. Shipping is your responsibility, but we will assist with preparations. Better yet, pick it up and drive it home. Since we did all the hard work in the fall of 2015, she has never failed us, although as for all of us, tomorrow is never guaranteed. We prefer typing over talking (“What?” is my most common word on them durn cell phones) so e-mail preferred.

With apologies to George Carlin, the GPS darts seem kinda baseball. Now this is football!

The check I was taught – remove the distributor cap, grab the belts or put a breaker bar on the crank bolt, and rotate the engine backwards until the rotor just begins to move. Rotate the engine forward until the rotor begins to move and roughly note the movement necessary. Loose chain/blown gear jumps out like a wow! 3 times for me – 73 Chevy 400, 76 E250 351W, and 87 F150 300 (gears). The first giveaway is running OK, shut it off, and won’t restart but is cranking really fast, like no compression. The Chevy, advancing the distributor got it running enough to get it a few blocks home to do the job in the garage. Cam gear nylon wiped out, down to the metal core. The father-in-laws E250 work van chose to die in my driveway, and no coaxing would get it to limp. Too tall to fit in garage, and blocking my car inside, I did the job in the drive. AC& PS bolted to the timing cover, and sub-zero temps, that job sucked. I worked until my fingers froze, then warm up, and back out again, If you’ve ever done one, you know what I’m talking about. Cam gear nylon wiped out, down to the metal core. (The AC never went back on). The 300 six died in the drive (good truck!) and the rotor wasn’t rotating at all during the check. Fiber cam gear wiped smooth. Younger and optimistic, I assumed the cold oil change would drain all the shredded fiber. Within a week, the oil pressure dropped ominously. I just knew – dropped the pan and the oil pickup screen was jam packed with gear material. Cleaned it out and all good.

https://www.teambuick.com/reference/library/60_chassis/index.php

We want to keep the dust on our fire extinguisher. We only use steel line with shortest possible sections of rubber coupling hose as needed. Use the best hose you can - overkill- SAE J30R7 or better. SAE J30R9 is readily available. Copper is pretty, rubber is easy, but flames suck. First thing to do on a new purchase - replace ALL the rubber plumbing. Thanks Chuck & Sally

We thought so too, but we love the buck they came up with ..the mother of invention!

11 years and 80000 miles ago, I put a 700R4 in my 52 3100 daily driver (four seasons!). It’s behind a 250 I6, and some of my install issues were due to the odd combo I had, but on the road not a lick of trouble. I sourced a rebuilt from a local trans shop with a great reputation for less than online alternatives. He set it up for my combo and just enough shift kit for precise shifting, not neck snapping. I believe the 700R4 is longer than the PG and you’ll need a shortened drive shaft. When you move the cross member, pay close attention to trans/pinion angles before drilling to avoid bad vibrations. I ciphered that out after the fact. The TV cable adjustment is critical to longevity. Behind a small block, many solutions exist for TV cable mounting. I had to fab mine, but I must’ve got it right. It is going strong. I was never happy with available converter lock up solutions, so I finally installed a microswitch into my aftermarket turn signal housing, with a relay, and now the onboard computer (me) can control when the converter locks up. I never have to take my hand off the wheel. When driving for gas mileage (99% of the time – it is my driver), I just leave it on so it locks when it hits 4th gear. It does have the 4th gear lockup switch and a brake disengage switch too. When I need to scoot, with that low first gear it gets up and goes, surprising Sam when I do. She is used to my old man mileage driving. I have no regrets. The swap was worth it. Thanks Huntz

How-to video for hot rivets: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pbYYs3P91E Thanks Huntznsam

As a newbie, an outsider really, looking in, this thread suggests a theme song, "Cause We've Ended As Lovers": This tune lowers my blood pressure by a good ten points.

Torquing the bolt isn't as hard as it sounds. The big torque wrench has plenty of leverage. I've never been fond of jamming things into the flywheel teeth - stuff slips, blood flows. We made/modified a tool to hold it from the front. See our earlier post below. Slick as walrus poop on an iceflow!

Thanks to this thread I was able to impress the Missus (well, myself mostly) by identifying Rev Playfair's car, "That's a Morris Cowley!" whilst watching "The Quiet Man" for the umpteenth time. Thanks for the education AACA! http://www.imcdb.org/vehicle_872467-Morris-Cowley-1923.html Huntz

Our local radiator man re-cored ours - works great. Need to work from both sides, pretty easy. Paragraph 11-15: https://www.teambuick.com/reference/library/60_chassis/files/11-b.pdf Thanks HuntzNSam

OK, not a Buick, but Cragars (and triim) make a world of difference. My daughter's car when she was 16. a long time ago. We added the Cragar SS and trim shortly after she bought it. Years later, durn kids and car seats forced her to sell it, a great loss.

An engine with a restricted exhaust will also lose compression. If the compressed gasses cannot exit the cylinder, fresh intake gasses cannot get in. I remember one customer, a skilled restorer, chasing a similar problem. After much time, money, and frustration he found the exhaust just packed solid with mouse nest.

Don't miss our buddy in Wilmington, the Gemini Giant. The restaurant is closed, but he was still out there last we saw. Sam and Giant:

We too are quite pleased with our Diamondback WWW radials on our 60. Installer said they balanced up easily, they ride, handle, and look great.

Mdeluca, The running boards are steel (replacements) with a fine patina of genuine Illinois rust. The tailgate is wood - osage orange, and the bedside extenders are old pallets cut to fit. Thanks for asking, HuntzNSam

Tonight, we went out to dinner at a local alehouse. After a fine meal and great suds (Founders Dirty Bastard or Brickstone APA, anyone?), we hopped in the 52 Chevy truck and CLICK! No start. Great. We already had an audience on the patio checking out the truck. A daily driver for the past 12 years (66 250, 88 700R4), it has been fantastically reliable, hiccups like these occurring in the driveway. Sam said to check the lights – fine, not a dead battery. I tried the screwdriver on the starter terminals and got the same click. Broke out the tools, disconnected battery cables at battery and starter, then cleaned all terminals with my pocketknife. Reassembled and put away the tools – it was going to work, or we call a tow. Turned the key and VROOOM!. As I closed the hood, I took a bow to the applause from the patio. All told about 15 minutes – try that with your new cars! It felt good to fix it right there - a hero move, not a goat. It looked like we knew what we were doing. Thanks HuntzNSam www.chuckthetruck.com