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Lawrence Helfand

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Everything posted by Lawrence Helfand

  1. Did mine a few years back on my 41 66S . First attempt was a rubber seal which leaked and then back to the original tried and true long lasting cork with shims which seems fine with only an occasional drip spot which is fine by me.
  2. 1941 Century 66S ............Eight thousand miles on my Hancook tubeless radial blackwalls have been very impressive. Handling steering response ride quality wear all A + . I like to drive with confidence and safety so tubed bias ply tires are not for me and black walls rule!
  3. I have tried many over the years and Valvoline racing oil with zinc is what I now use in my 41 . Zinc is wonderful stuff for vintage motors. Lab tests have Kendall at the top of many performance trails of non syn oil but can be hard to find in stores. FYI among the worst was Castrol which is good as a cheap break in oil as rings seat quickly. Oil pressure on my 320 increased from 30 hot idle and 45 off idle another 2/3 pounds once I got around to dropping the oil pan for cleaning and replaced the totally sludge clogged oil pickup. My motor has under 40K miles and does not burn a drop but sludge buildup was a problem for these poorly vented crankcases. Also Redline makes a synthetic transmission oil specially blended for vintage vehicle syncros and its excellent stuff that you can really feel right away.
  4. The Strombergs original to your car would be the way to go. 97's not so much. What you want is 2 AAV 16 7-42 series front carbs and a parallel linkage. Carter 509S is also suggested. Sorry but 97's should go to a Flathead ford
  5. Best setup is matching stock jetting front carbs with rear intake weighted flap removed. Twin chokes are required. Using Summit racing linkage kit to front carb and from front to rear for parallel linkage. I use two Carter 528S carbs but Strombergs work ok too, tried both and Carters were a bit better off idle. I have been using this setup for several years and works beautifully. More balanced mixture and more even heat as well as smoother idle and more power off idle as well. Gas mileage has not increased and may be a little better. Easy starting hot or cold. I also pinned my heat riser flaps in the open position for a cooler intake. Overall its a big improvement with no downside.
  6. Cloudiness is improved with any product that infuses the aging and dry opaque paint making it reflect less light back,,the wetting effect. I use all kinds of marinades depending on what I am trying to achieve. When it comes to a wood finish real or painted there is a wide range of taste. I have a vintage Mercedes with lots of wood which originally was a medium dark low sheen satin type finish but many restorations make it lighter and glossier and its looks great for some but not me. Dont be afraid to experiment with benign products like Pledge which really works! Waxs that dont dry white or leave residue like Butchers and polymers like Armour All will infuse the paint surface reducing cloudiness.
  7. I strongly advise against spraying any clear coat over your original wood grain paint. As a long time restorer of a variety of industrial arts items I consider clear coating an amateurs solution to almost everything in regards to restoring a finish on almost anything. Lots can go wrong and its not reverse able many reasons why its a bad idea in my experience. I also would not use any polishing or buffing products on such a delicate nuanced surface. Cleaning and a petroleum or acrylic based wax is safer. WD 40 a refined kerosene product and 100 percent safe on everything and lifts dirt out of paint without the drying and dulling nature of detergents. Knowing what the factory luster was is a good starting point to determine what to use. I worked for a high end furniture restorer as a youth and he had shelves of expensive imported waxs and oils but I would sometimes catch him using Futura acrylic floor wax on some pieces for the effect he was looking for. Always use products that can be gently removed from surface. My 41 Century has lost most of its dash grain but a wipe of Armour All or a spray of Pledge leaves a nice low luster sheen.
  8. Two different switch designs were used and are interchangeable. Later switch does not use a diaphragm and works better. Looks very different with a black phenolic body. The Buick motor can idle down so low you think its died but its still running so the switch protects the flywheel/starter gear. Set up correctly it works like a charm.
  9. Most roads were still dirt across America before WW2 and mud was plentiful and horse poop dwindling. Horse poop is not that sticky with all the grazing fiber holding it together and does not cling much to surfaces.
  10. Will you sell without carbs? $/? Thanks Lawrence
  11. My 41 Century has a very long manifold with twin carb setup. I used all the tricks I know from decades of fear of the cracked manifold. First I use a thick copper gasket and there are a few available but go for the slightly more $ thicker one. I make a slurry of graphite and motor oil and apply to all sides. I use Belville (spring) washers as sold on ebay for Jeep Wranglers which like the Buick has a lot of movement in the heat cycle and these washers maintain tension that allows some creep. Most important with that fat gasket is lower torque setting then factory. I use 18 lbs and vacuum is great which makes for happy windshield wipers. Also always tighten incrementally from center out. I use a standard nut and anti seize on threads.
  12. Very happy to hear of your results James and congratulations on your rare and gorgeous acquisition. Is this the Frank Delaney car? Great low sporting stance. Guessing interior is blue leather? Reminds me a little of a Riley. Wondering what else is in your stable! Kind regards Lawrence
  13. My 41 Century had good oil pressure and even better after I replaced clogged pickup. I dropped my pan to replace gasket and even though mileage is under 40,000 miles the crud coating was horrifying. The oil pickup can and screen was badly blocked. Once restarted I picked up 5 lbs more pressure. idles hot at 30 and cruising is 45/50. I have used several different oils over the years and the zinc packed Valvoline racing is my favorite. If your pickup is clogged your pump is still working hard but cant draw enough oil from the pan for good pressure..
  14. I had sealing issues as well and tried a few seals the best being from looking through the box at my local O Riley's. Still had leakage from both pipes and ended up using a muffler paste to seal every crevice. As its water based you can gob it on and clean up with a sponge to keep it neat. Its my nose rather then my ears that tell me I have a problem as engine fumes easily enter the cabin even on the fairly well sealed Buick firewall.
  15. I have a 41 Century and its a dream to drive and very reliable. In 1941 nothing else compared. It was also the last year and final iteration of the 1939 grille design before the iconic fish mouth of 1942 started a new styling evolution. The 41 is a very handsome car and to many the best year. Lots of buzz about the great Ford flathead V8 but Buick OHV engines blow them away and Cadillac has had aluminum V8s since 1914. Its a joy to own a prewar car that can get on the Interstate. Just dont expect great mileage though, they are thirsty!
  16. I dropped my pan a few month ago on my 41 Century. There are holes in the cross member to access bolts with basic socket extensions. You do not need to jack up the motor. You will find lots of crud buildup and I suggest not touching anything but the pan and changing the oil pump pickup unless you can thoroughly clean it which is difficult. It will likely be clogged with sludge. Changing the pickup is just removing a cotter pin. The pan flange is usually distorted and will require some flattening between holes. I used a high tack gasket sealer and dropped all the bolts in the holes while it set up to eliminate any alignment issues. After cleaning the mating block surface I brushed on a coat of high tack and re assembled cleaned pan. It is tempting to start scrapping away all the crud on the block walls and crank but you will invite debris clogging oil galleys. The biggest gain was the increase in oil pressure especially at low rpm attributable to easier flowing oil pickup. In regards to engine mounts nothing made my drive train smoother then installing new motor and transmission mounts. Any vibration I was experiencing disappeared.
  17. Black cap is for spare in trunk and a scissors jack and block of wood works very well and is what I carry. Original jack and axle prop is nice to have but never to use and will kill you if it can. The bumpers are not for lifting and will bend the mounts.
  18. My 41 Century had a chatter in first mostly due to weeping rear engine seal that contaminates the clutch material... usually gets better after heating up clutch to burn off oil some but I replaced mine and resurfaced the flywheel. I also had an engine vibration which drove me nuts as it was around 40/45 in third. Read in the factory manual all the possible reasons and it turned out to be the rubber motor/transmission mounts. Now its like a turbine with no hint of the vibration left. Motor mounts come in two different rubber compounds for 248/320. Likely that most of your vintage Buicks are still like mine using the original mounts and accepting the vibration. Not as big a job as it sounds. Your torque ball leak might be a rear seal leak. When I changed my ball seal I used a new rubber seal and it leaked worse so I went back to an original cork type seal which works well.
  19. I bought one some years ago for a parts car for my 41 Century sedanete. It was under 5k and ran great and looked pretty good. It had great paint and straight tin I needed. Like my 2 door it was an impressive ride and came with a truck load of great parts. After swapping out what I needed I sold it to a Polish collector my 2nd Buick going overseas, the other being a 49 Roadmaster sedanete. The 41 Century is a very seductive automobile and always a treat to drive. Very hard to find another 41 that compares to a Century for power suspension brakes and comfort. Only Cadillac and later Chrysler like the 48 New Yorkers and Hudson Commodore eights are close. I think this one might have floor rust issues as I spy some water damage? . Repaint? chrome looks great but strange how one fender guard looks terrible compared to the otherside. Great potential
  20. Well Dave I expected my generator to have bushings but it had open bearings according to re builders front and rear and they replaced those with closed bearings.
  21. I recently installed a new oil pan gasket on my 41 Century and also cleaned the pan of gunk and also removed the pickup for a cleaning. My car has under 40,000 miles but the amount of crap in the screen and pickup can was scary. I had an extra nos pickup so installed the new one which is no more then removing and replacing a cotter pin and could not be easier. The resulting change in oil pressure with a free flowing pickup was a surprise. An increase of five pounds at idle to 35 lbs hot and about 3 lbs more at 55 mph. I suggest anyone with low pressure at idle clean or change your pickup! Dont be to horrified to see a heavy caked black coating on everything. My motor uses no oil ever and zero smoke but it looked like crap. I have long known not to start scraping it away as you can end up clogging oil galleys if anything gets loose. These motors like many vintage cars have terrible crankcase venting so the oil mist gets baked on before it can escape.
  22. I learned a lesson about over oiling the generator on my 41 Century. I put a bit to much oil into the oiling tubes that are front and rear resulting in oil getting into and frying my very good original unit. while they were at it the open side bearings were replaced with pre lubricated sealed bearings so no more oiling ever again. Paid $188.00 for the rebuild including a regulator test which is recommended whenever you have a failed generator.
  23. My 41 century was balky into 2nd and I tried every lubricant out there over the years. Last year a forum member mentioned Redline 75/140 NS synthetic which is especially formulated for vintage manual transmissions. Bought some on the recommendation and my trans has never shifted better. I always assumed the more slippery the lube the better but synchromesh transmissions dont like too slippery as it turn out. I loved the results so much i used it in my Moto Guzzi trans and again superb results. No other lubricant comes close and its worth every penny!
  24. Since when is 10 wt oil nearly impossible to find ??? Automatic transmission fluid ATF is 10 Wt oil and formulated specifically for automatics. I have to think putting 30 Wt motor oil in an automatic is not recommended and wonder why you didnt use ATF?
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