neil morse

Haha -- you're a comedian, too! Magnificent photo of spectacular car!

The movie was made in 1942.

As you can see from Ken's post, these vent regulators were used in Buicks for many years (in addition to Cadillacs, Pontiacs, and Oldsmobiles). GM literally made millions of them. There are two versions -- the shaft for the crank is either on the left or the right depending on whether the regulator is for a front or rear door and for the left or right side.

Hi Mike: I am currently working on the doors of my '41, which have similar hardware to your car. First of all, the injury to the vent window regulator that your car has suffered is very common. So far, I have determined that two out of four of my doors have this injury. (I haven't gotten into the other two doors yet.) The regulator shaft is made of pot metal, and it's quite fragile and breaks easily if someone gets carried away with tightening the bolt that attaches the vent to the regulator. Or it may even be possible to break the shaft if someone goes crazy with the crank trying to either open or close the vent. As far as the problem of not being able to remove the regulator, can you post a photo that shows a wider view? On my car, the vent regulators are secured with four bolts -- two lower ones like the one you show in the photo you posted and two upper ones which also secure the vent window frame to the door. Here's a photo of one of my rear doors (the fronts are similar, but I don't have a photo handy). Or could it be that the vent regulator is stuck in place because the shaft from the vent is still jammed into the regulator? Have you tried removing the vent window frame and the vent window? Hope that helps. Neil

More Doors I got the right rear door all back together and sealing tight. Now time to move on to the right front. Everything had to come out so I could put the sound deadening material in. Here's what came out of the door. Pot metal shaft on the vent window regulator broken, just like the rear door. More $$ on the way to Doug Seybold! At least the old rubber wasn't rock-hard like the rear. It came out pretty easily. My car has several different brands of laminated glass (not sure what is original). My favorite is this one "Shat-R-Proof"

Based on this photo from Gary W's thread, they look like 1937.

Okay, excellent. Thank you, Matthew.

I saw this on Hemmings today. Running engine with good oil pressure, $1200 or BO, located in Indiana https://www.hemmings.com/parts/item/14279.html?refer=news

But many of the dash parts are the same for other years. Just to let people know, the items I am interested in are the battery/temperature gauge and the speedometer.

I'm interested in some of the gauges, and wonder if I can possibly talk this guy into being reasonable about selling a few single items. I have sent you a PM, Matthew.

Monday Update I took my car back to the East Bay this morning to see whether Gary's friend, Mike, could help get my right rear door to fit better and seal properly. Long story short -- despite Herculean efforts by Mike and an assistant, they were not able to bend the door. (I think they were using techniques that probably work with "modern" cars that are made of tin, but they were defeated by the thick sheet metal from Flint!) However, Mike had a good suggestion, which I was able to follow after I got back home in the afternoon. Mike suggested that I shim the lower hinge, which would push the door out a bit on the lower end and bring it in a bit at the top, where the problem is. I followed his suggestion, with great results. A couple of fender washers (trimmed to fit) pushed the bottom of the door out a bit. (Note broken bolt in the middle -- the head broke off when I tried to loosen it -- I'm assuming that the two remaining bolts will be sufficient to keep the door on!) After making this change (and adjusting the latch hardware), the door was sealing at the top except for the last ten or so forward inches. Much better. I decided to just add some rubber weather strip and consider it done. As long as it looks presentable (which it does) and keeps the water out, I feel that I have met my "reliable driver" standard. I started work getting the glass back in the door, including the vent with the new rubber and the "new" vent regulator. It's very satisfying to be putting things back instead of taking things apart. (I know -- this is nothing compared to the kind of full restorations that others are doing, but the principle is the same.)

You really made me laugh out loud with that comment since that is EXACTLY what I was thinking when I saw the photo -- "Oh Boy, Gary's in trouble now!" Heck, we've never seen a mess like that in your workshop, let alone on the dining room table!

As long as we're talking about Royal Maroon, I should point out that I DID get this message left on my windshield one day when I parked in broad daylight.

I understand perfectly. I just got some things from Doug. They were sent promptly and were exactly what I wanted, but they were not cheap by any means. If you're willing to take your time, you can undoubtedly find things for less money.

I may be wrong, but I thought that Dave Tachney was more of a '37-'38 guy than a '40-'41 guy. Doug Seybold in Ohio is a good man to talk to about '40-'41 parts. He doesn't do email, but his phone number is 440-835-1193. My car is also Royal Maroon, and I get a lot of compliments as well. Great choice!

More Goodies in the Mail I love having an old car project going -- every day is like Christmas! I got some things from Doug Seybold today: a vent regulator for the rear door to replace the one with the broken pot metal shaft, and a gauge housing for the temperature and battery gauges that I will be replacing. Doug also supplied a reproduction ivory plastic piece for the "bowtie" in the gauge housing. Doug was a pleasure to deal with, as was his son, Nate. They have an "old school" operation -- no email, all communications by phone. And they send the parts first, with an invoice asking that you send a check by return mail. Doug is also the designated BCA "advisor" for 40-41 cars, and seemed content to answer as many questions as I had to ask him (and I had a few). I recommend him without qualification to anyone seeking parts or information about a '40 or '41.

I know that the "hill holder" was an option on Studebakers, as others have said. But I took a test drive in a '41 Cadillac years ago that was equipped with the same device, so apparently it was something that either GM offered or that was available as an after-market accessory. Very practical in a town like San Francisco! I wish I had one on my Super. Neil

Looks gorgeous, Matt! I especially love that "binnacle" dash. And I love your write-ups. Good luck -- anyone who buys this car will be fortunate indeed.

The Amazing Traveling Ferrule Tool Gary W. was kind enough to lend me his ferrule seating tool, and I used it to good purpose today to properly seat the door handle ferrules on my car. I had previously ordered new ferrules (and rubber grommets) for two of my doors from Steele, but I didn't realize at first that the ferrules had to be crimped in order to be properly seated until I learned that from Gary's thread (a source of knowledge for us all). Here's what the ferrules and rubber grommets look like for the '41 (a bit different from Gary's '37): On the '41, the ferrule goes in between the door handle and the stainless trim strip. Four tweaks of the tool at 90 degree angles, and you're done. The result is a nice, tight-fitting door handle. Hooray! My heartfelt thanks to Gary -- I love the way people help each other out in this hobby!

Great article, Matt. I think it should be posted at the top of this forum as part of the "sticky" about scams.

I'm not trying to convince anyone of anything -- I'm just reporting what has worked for me and people are free to take it or leave it as they wish. However, I will say that I used a spray undercoat product earlier on the front floor pans before I discovered the Dynamat-type material from reading Gary W.'s thread. This is the product I used: Based on my experience (at least with this particular product), I don't think it would be anywhere near as good to deaden sound in the doors as the stuff that I used. It's basically a rubberized paint that leaves a coating that's only about 1/8 inch thick, at most. Also, I think it would be impractical to try to spray it into the doors -- it would create a huge mess and inevitably go where you didn't want it to go unless you spent a whole lot of time masking off areas with plastic sheeting, etc. Not worth the time and effort, in my opinion.

Boy, talk about a wet blanket! The material is waterproof and will not absorb water. You can read more about its properties here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07786VRCL/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

More Progress I got the sound deadening material in the right rear door -- it makes a clearly audible difference. The door closes with a "thunk" instead of a "clang," and that's without the interior door panel installed. And then today I met with Grimy's friend, Gary, for a consultation on the problem with the door not fitting properly. Gary was able to adjust the hinges to raise the door up a bit, which took care of one problem. However, we determined that the upper part of the door is going to have to be "reshaped" (i.e., bent) to get it to seal properly. We tried to do it with a 2X4, but it required more muscle than either of us had. Gary took me down to meet Mike at a local body shop, who said he was pretty sure he could take care of it. So I will be going back another day to let Mike have a go at it. I also picked up my rear bumper, which Gary had sent out for replating at a very good price, and it looks beautiful. So a very good day! I am so grateful to the AACA for hosting this fantastic forum, which has enabled me to meet so many helpful and friendly fellow-enthusiasts!

I will defer to others on the question of water or steam. But in post #29, Don Micheletti noted the unusual appearance of the "crud" in my valve train -- more "cooked' and flaky, rather than sludgy -- and attributed it to the poor crankcase ventilation from the short-lived change in '41 to venting the crankcase through the valve cover into the air cleaner instead of using a road draft tube. This one year experiment is discussed earlier in the thread.

Progress I'm continuing to work on the right rear door. I have an appointment to meet with the "body man" on Friday to see if we can get the hinges adjusted (or perhaps do something more drastic) to get the door to seal properly. In the meantime, I have stripped everything but the latch mechanism out of the door so I can do some rust treatment and install the sound deadening material. Everything gone Window regulator as it came out of the door Regulator cleaned up. (I didn't give it the full "Gary W." treatment -- just a gasoline bath and some wire brushing.) Vent window frame stripped and painted, and vent reinstalled with new rubber -- ready to go back in the door when I get a new regulator from Doug Seybold. This is very satisfying work -- and thanks again to Gary for guiding the way with his detailed photos and descriptions