Gary W

The weather got into the 80's here today, so I dropped my plastic crate behind the wheel and drove her out into the cut-de-sac for a few daytime photos! Even the Bradford Pears are showing off!! Have a great weekend! Gary

Somehow last year, (March 30, 2017 to be exact), I think my thread got a little mixed in with another regarding a full-flow oil filter. I didn't install an oil filter in the engine. I actually never knew it was even an option for this engine. I overhauled the block and restored it as close to factory as I could. I change my oil in all my antique cars every 500 miles or once every year regardless of mileage. So I'm sorry, but I cannot add any information regarding oil filtration for this engine.

I just got an e-mail from LeBaron Bonney. The "2-N" fabric (The "2-N" is the brown fabric that faded to green) is done and getting its "backing" before LBB gets it. They expect to take delivery in 1-2 weeks, and my kit is first on the production line. So, it looks like I'll be waiting another few weeks for my kit to arrive, but at least I can see the light at the end of the tunnel! In the meantime, I'll keep practicing with the kit I have. I want to learn how to get the panels nice and taut and use my "trial kit" as a template for the final installation. Tom... Glad to hear your kit is being delivered soon! I'll be watching you install it!! Have a great day out there Gary

Hi Guys! I just returned from vacation. Took the family to Italy for the Easter break. Beautiful country but it's great to be home! Still no word from LeBaron Bonney but I'm hopeful my interior kit arrives soon. I can't wait to get back to the Buick. So close to the finish line! Stay tuned! Gary

1937 Special: Engine # 4 3279307 1937 Range : First Engine # 4 3166225 to 4 3396936 But I have a question for all you statisticians out there: It appears that Buick produced 230,711 Engines for the Specials. They built 156,489 automobiles in the Special line. (All 8 models combined) By my math, there seems to be about 74,222 extra engines. What did they do with them? Just curious Gary

Thursday March 22, 2018: T R I A L R U N - Installing Rear panel kit / arm rests Odd title, but being Mother Nature dumped another 10" of snow on us last night, and the office was closed, I had an idea: Being I have the interior kit from LeBaron (although a bad dye lot), and they do not want it returned, I decided to put myself through a "trial run" and install the defective panels just so I can learn a few tricks that will help me when the actual kit arrives. I figured you always do stuff better the second time around, so if I mess up....... no big deal. Learn from it and do it better next time. Here goes: Here's the rear panel kit you get from LeBaron Bonney. Basically four parts that finish each side before the seats go in. Arm Rests: I covered these the other day. I got spooked enough that I stripped the fabric, removed the foam arm rest pad that I bought from JoAnns Fabric and replaced it with Dynaliner. I placed the original just to see how it rolls over the edges. Then I cut the Dynaliner (1/2" thick, dense and self adhesive) Same stuff I used on my floor over the Dynamat. Stapled it down to create that forward roll And with this material in position, I re-covered the arm rest and now don't have to worry about getting worms. Pillar Panel: Here's the car as I was dismantling it. The Passenger side pillar panel has a cutout for the dome light switch. Before I put the pillar panel in the car, I went through and tightened the door windlace. My friend let me borrow his pneumatic staple gun and it is far superior to the tacks I was using. I like when the windlace is nice and straight and butts up nicely to the panels, so a little tug and it looks a lot better. For this, I just used 1/4" staples. It makes a huge difference in how tight the lace feels now. I traced the back about 1/4" wider than the panel. This way I can make my first releasing cuts to the line and not worry about going too far. Lined up the dome light switch holes. Then with the fabric peeled back, I popped in only two staples along the forward edge to keep it in place. It is nice and snug to the windlace, but had to be trimmed up top where it encroached on the window opening. LOWER SIDE PANEL / ARMREST: First thing to notice is that there are four clips in the body to accept the side panel. The panel, unfortunately, only had three holes cut out. So, I had to mark and make a new hole here through the cardboard backing. By lining up the other three, and the window crank, I roughly cut through the cardboard with a sheet rock knife. It's crude, but I just want to create a template for the new panels. Here, the fabric is flapped over the armrest, and I pushed it down into position. I pushed down, but it didn't want to go fully into position. I checked the armrest, but that wasn't holding it up. I checked the floor, but after trimming one small spot, that was OK Again, last year. The old panels sit nice and even to the lower window opening. Mine were hanging up quite a bit. Turns out, it was the window crank hole that was 3/4" too low. So again, I cut it along the upper edge to allow the panel to seat fully and flush with the window. And now you can see how nice the panels align at the corner. So I pulled the fabric back up, and went inside to tuck it in a little neater. I used this Permatex adhesive to keep the fabric in place. I think I need a lesson on how to make these corners less bulky! But for today, this will suffice. Again, any helpful hints on how to thin out this excess material. I tried these products. If you know of a better product, please chime in! Back out to the car. The panels align nicely now. The panel lines up real nice with the windlace. How is this section attached? Once the fabric is wrapped around, you can't drive staples through it. Is this where you drive tiny brads through the fabric and pull the fabric over the heads? Or just glue it down? ABOVE WINDOW PANEL: First, I just laid it into position to see if there were any irregularities. This panel seemed to line up pretty good. So, again, I took it inside to make some releasing incisions to the fabric will lay flat inside the window openings. Up front, I got it to line up nicely with the pillar panel. Then I just tucked the material around the window opening. This will have a lace where it meets the headliner on final installation. GARNISH MOLDING: I tried to put the garnish moldings in. First issue: There cannot be any cardboard that blocks the window openings. It just won't fit if there is any obstruction. So back to trimming excess away. Second issue: You have to remove the screws and drop that felt window channel so the garnish molding supports can slip under the felt, and attach using the same screws. So I have to run a punch through the felt, the garnish support and the screw hole in the window opening on final installation. So here's the rough installation. Of course, I'll take my time on final install to be sure to chase all the wrinkles out. But now I have a nice template to follow when the real deal arrives. Look how that fabric turned to green! Really gets accentuated in the photographs! I'm happy to have had the opportunity to play around with one set before going live. I learned some pitfalls to watch for. I'm not expecting my kit until mid-April sometime. In the meantime, I'll do the same thing for the drivers side. Have a great night out there! Gary PS........... A couple photos of the snow: Wednesday evening. Trees look cool in the landscape lights. It was a heavy snow. Good that it warmed up quickly today and the trees were fine. Gary

Agree.

Try Langs or Snyders. Maybe McMaster Carr would have the bulk goods so you can cut and fit your own?

That's how you do it. Remove the screw, press down on the back with your thumbs while pushing / sliding forward, maybe lifting the front as you go. it'll come off.

Maybe my post on building them can help you? That clip on the bottom of this photo fits into the shell to secure the inner housing Sorry the photo is dark, but you can see that clip. just release those clips and the inside will pop out

I wasn't expecting it to be such a mess! I was surprised by what came out of those armrests. I would NEVER allow a mess like that in my garage!

Hi Guys; Tom: I originally ordered February 13, 2017, and the kit arrived in early May so about 8 weeks. I was glad to have it early, and I was ready to install the rear stuff in October. But when I opened the boxes, the panels that were covered in their "N9?" brown fabric were turning green. It really stinks that the entire build comes to a screeching halt because a bad dye lot! Bummer for sure. Spinneyhill: My first choice of armrest foam would be the Dynamat Dynaliner, 1/2" thick self adhesive. It's got that perfect consistency and it's easy to work with. I didn't have enough left over or I would have simply used that. I did tell the workers at JoAnns fabrics what I'm using it for, expecting heat, cold... and they said this will hold up just fine, so I'm trusting their advice here. But I agree with you that a closed cell material probably will give better service in the long run. Thanks for following along! Have a great week out there!! Gary

Sunday March 18, 2018: Rear Armrests I'm learning this upholstery thing as I go along....... Here's the rear panel / armrest kit from LeBaron. This is the first kit sent to me. You can see the panels where the brown turned green. I can't use the panels, but the armrests are a different fabric, and are fine, so while I wait for the replacement upholstery kit to arrive, I decided I can at least cover the arm rests today. I placed the old armrest and rear panel in the car to get a sense of how they assembled everything. I made notes directly on the fabric to guide me. Inside and ready to start removing the fabric from the arm rest support. Here are my "steps" to install. So I started here with the passenger side. The underside looks pretty terrible. I started peeling off the fabric... and chunks of the armrest support started coming off with it! There was dirt, dust, broken stuff, and these petrified armrest cushions! I just kept peeling everything off, and scraping all that horse hair or whatever that stuff is. Then stripped the drivers side. Good thing the wife wasn't home to see this one. After cleaning up and sorting the parts, this is what I have left to work with. And the part numbers were clearly visible. So, I clamped the broken stuff together and ran a bead of first wood glue (didn't work) and then went to Loctite epoxy. That stuff works like a charm! It all held together and allowed me to scrub everything and give it a coat of trim black. Then for good measure, I ran a line of duct tape over the crack on the underside, flipped it over... and laid in another bead of epoxy just to tighten things up. The duct tape acted as a seal so nothing went through and it dried nice and strong! And here we are repaired and ready for new covers. A trip to JoAnn's craft / fabric shop. I bought 1/2" foam for the armrests, and a 1/8" foam to cover the arm rest to give the material some body. (Looks like bacon) I traced the original arm rest foam onto the 1/2" foam. I cut it bigger just in case I needed to roll it or trim it to fit. So here is where the foam pad will start, just behind the ash tray hole. I stood it straight up in front, and using my air stapler, I shot three staples to secure it. Then, using headliner adhesive, I sat the rest of it down into position. Next, I covered the arm rest with this 1/8" foam. It seems to give it a nice feel under the fabric. Again, headliner adhesive to make it stick. Making strategic cuts, and pulling the felt around, again the headliner adhesive used to wrap the felt and stick it to the back. I taped it while the adhesive did its thing. Now wrapped in foam, it's ready for the brown fabric covering. I made sure the arm rest had a nice curve at the front end. Being there are no instructions, I figured the seam must somehow line up with the ash tray, so that's where I started laying things out. I started wrapping the fabric and tried to follow the stitching. Pulling it taught over and around the bottom, I shot a couple staples to secure the fabric. Then it was time to seat the ash trays. These are the plastic buttons I made in the summer. Careful cuts and the trim pushed into position. Then drop in the ash receiver. Does that knob go to the front or back? The finished armrest. I know I've been quiet lately but I need my interior kit to finish the restoration. I believe there were quite a few customers that got the bad dye lot, so I'm stuck just waiting for the panels and seat covers to arrive. Have a great night! Gary

Here's a couple I found at the Buick Heritage Alliance:

Check your service manual. In the '37 Service manual, it's the last page. (fold out) Here's yours:

I had a great experience with Moyers

Here is my 1937 Special Clutch Disc: Here is the "flywheel side" of my clutch disc. It should sit nice and level against the flywheel. The hub spring washers go toward the flywheel. Hope it helps! Gary

I did just that with my '37. Yes, I grounded the battery to the frame, but I also ran a separate, dedicated size "00" battery cable directly to the engine block. With all fresh paint, new vulcanized motor mounts....... I figured a heavy ground wire couldn't hurt. (I also ran a dedicated ground wire to every lamp and the fuel sending unit) Good Luck! I've been following this discussion from the beginning. I think you're on to something here. Use a nice heavy gauge for that 6V battery.

Those cars run as nice as they look and stop just as well. Mechanical brakes, when set up properly, are more than adequate for the task they perform. Remember, a Model "A" weighs only about 2100 - 2200 lbs and they actually start slowing down as soon as you take your foot off the accelerator. In 25 years of tooling around in my "A"'s, I've never felt unsafe or worried at an intersection, red light or in traffic. Of course, I respectfully drive them the way an 88 year-old car should be driven. Easy up, easy down. Thanks for asking! Gary

Here's some detail of the running board restoration:

It seems Buick installed the license plate carrier on the driver's side: I put mine on the passenger's side, maybe I'll move it over.... I don't know if it really matters, but I thought I'd share these old ads. Gary

All my glass is clear safety glass with no etchings. rats.