neil morse

I can't resist posting another "before and after" comparison. Gary, you are a gentleman and a scholar, and you have really helped me figure out how to tackle projects with my own car. Kudos to you!

Sound Deadener When I took the door panels off two of the doors of my car, I found that the sound deadening material had completely rotted away. Not wanting clanging doors, I bought some new material similar to the Dynamat product that Gary W. used on his '37. The stuff I got is made by a company called Partsam, available with free shipping from Amazon, and about half the price of the Dynamat. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07786VRCL/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 I haven't put any in the doors yet, but I put some down on the front floor panels under the rubber mat yesterday since I had plenty of extra. The stuff is very easy to use -- just as described in Gary's thread, you pull off the backing and use a roller to get the material to conform to the surface. I recommend this to anyone looking for a similar product.

I went on a NorCal Buick Club outing yesterday -- my first since joining the group. It was a combined event with a local Chevy club, a visit to a building in Martinez, CA that used to house a Chevy dealership in the 20's and 30's. It is now being used by a collector to store and display his beautiful collection of brass era cars, including several early Buicks. Across the street, there was another old warehouse with a very interesting collection of cars and automobilia. My car behind a nice '40 Chevy. Family resemblance is very clear. Sweet '28 Chevy coupe '60 LaSabre hardtop Very early Buick -- '04? Nice '38 Special Another early Buick -- don't know the year. Very handsome Reo touring car On the way home, I found this lovely '49 Caddy convertible at the Bay Bridge toll plaza, and followed it back into San Francisco. A really fun day!

Thanks for the suggestion, Ken. I have heard that you can successfully bend a door using that technique -- kind of a "shade tree" version of the "door straightening tool" shown in the shop manual. At this point, I'm going to defer to my body man, but we may end up giving this technique a try.

Another Day, Another Door I actually wish it was just one other day, but it's going to take a number of days before all my door issues are dealt with. Having solved the problem with the key lock on the passenger side front door, I have started tackling multiple issues with the other three doors, starting with the passenger side rear door. The main problem with this door is that it doesn't fit properly. With the door closed, there is a gap of about a quarter inch at the top, which is enough so that the rubber seal is not compressed and it leaks water. This is not acceptable -- I have to be able to at least wash my car, even if I don't drive it in the rain. I met a "body man" through my new friend George (Grimy on the forum), and I'm going to see if he can help with this situation. After consulting the Shop Manual, I'm hoping it's just a matter of adjusting the hinges (which allow for a bit of up and down and in and out adjustment). If not, I may have to get into the "Way Back" machine and find the fellow (in the obligatory lab coat) in this picture and see if he still has the "door straightening tool" available! In preparation for my session with the body man, I set about taking the door panel and other hardware off the door, and one thing led to another (as often happens), and now I'm in the middle of replacing the rubber on the rear vent window. The old rubber was rock hard, and getting it out was a real PITA. (I was amazed by the photos of Gary W. taking the old vent window rubber out of his '37 -- it was soft and supple (looks like my new rubber from Steele) and came right out. Mine was the consistency of concrete, and had to be cut and scraped out with the help of an acetone bath. I also discovered that the regulator for the rear vent not only had a missing bolt where the vent attached, but had a broken shaft as well, so now I'm looking for a replacement. Looking for a more simple job today, I took the latch mechanism out and cleaned it up the way I had done for the front door. It makes it a lot smoother and quieter -- no more squeaks and moans when I open the door. Before That's all for now -- stay tuned.

That's an interesting list of things that can cause jumping out of high gear (my particular problem). I don't know if they are listed in order of the most common cause, but I have suspected from the beginning that the main cause in my car is the motor mounts -- which are in sad shape. The reason I suspect this is that the problem always occurs on a long down grade when braking. I think the mounts are sufficiently loose that the engine is moving slightly when brakes are applied. However, I also think that the worn shift linkage discussed earlier in this thread contributed to the problem. It has only happened one time since we installed the shift linkage repair kit with all the new rubber bushings. Anyhow, I'm hoping that it's nothing worse than that. The transmission is behaving very well otherwise.

Gary, I would be comfortable letting you work on my teeth any time!

Visit with Wayne I had a nice visit today with fellow '41 Super owner, Wayne (414TATA on the forum). Wayne used to work in Colma, just south of SF, and drove up here today to visit some friends. We arranged a meeting place in Colma, and I drove down in my Super to meet him. We had a great time comparing notes and swapping stories about our cars -- both Super Model 51 four-doors. Here's a pic of Wayne with my car. Great meeting you, Wayne, I really enjoyed it!

Very cool. And, by the way, your dash looks spectacular! Did you have the wheel done by one of those high end rebuilders? Looks great.

After doing a little poking around in this thread, it appears that this is the Century that you mentioned earlier that was going for $22K. To get it for $18.4 seems a heck of deal to me. The "annoying" carburetor issue is nothing, and you should be thankful for the conversion to a starter button on the dash. Don't even think about changing it back. The "accelerator starter" was not a good idea, and has caused many problems. Don't hesitate -- go for it!

It's a bit hard to have thoughts about whether you should buy it without knowing the asking price, but it sure looks like a nice car to me. The interior and underside, in particular, look outstanding. There is nothing on your list of problems that seems very serious to me, but again, not knowing what the asking price is, it's a little hard to judge. (Also, nothing unfortunate about cell phone photos these days -- your wife did great!) Could it be that your search is over? Neil

Thanks, Gary! Very helpful, as usual.

Gary, you don't mention anything about the vent window regulators, but they look like they have been rebuilt -- or certainly cleaned up and painted. All four vent regulators on my car are very loose and wonky. I haven't taken any of them out of the car yet to investigate, but they feel like they have issues with gears possibly stripped or not meshing properly. Did you have to do anything to the vent regulators in your car?

Door Lock Problem Another item on my list was fixing the door locks so I could lock my car. When I got the car, the key cylinder was missing altogether from the driver's door, and the key would not open the door on the passenger side. As a result, it was possible to lock the car, but that didn't do me any good because there was no way to unlock it from the outside once it was locked. First step was to remove all the hardware and take the door panels off. I don't know about anyone else, but I'm not a big fan of the GM system of securing the inside cranks and handles with those nearly impossible to get at clips that have a tendency to "fly away" once you finally get them off. I got a special tool from Bob's that helps a lot, but it's still a hassle. But enough complaining ... Here's the latch mechanism, door handle, and key lock once I got them out of the door. The Shop Manual had very good instructions with photos showing how to do this. (I love the photos in the shop manual that always show the mechanics dressed in white smocks like doctors.) I was fortunately able to see right away where the problem was. The round piece with the triangular hole for the rod from the key cylinder has two "ears" on it (one of which is obscured in this photo). The pointy part (lever?) is supposed to sit down between the two ears. When you turn the key, the ears hit the lever and either lock or unlock the door (pulling the button down or popping it up). On my car, the lever had gotten bent up so it rode above the "ears" and consequently, turning the key did nothing. Here's a close up showing the lever riding on top of one of the "ears" instead of sitting down between them. Side view showing the problem Lever bent back down -- all fixed. All cleaned up and ready to get a little grease in the right spots and go back in the car. I have to wait to put everything back together because I ordered new rubber from Steele's while I had it all apart. It will sure expand my horizons to be able to lock the car when I park it!

Haha -- sorry, John, didn't mean to give you a start. Other than the engine-turned dash panels having been painted over, I can't find much about this car that I don't like. And did you see the partial list of "spare" parts that are included? Whoever buys that car had better bring a big trailer!

Not mine, but looks like a nice car at a reasonable price. https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/dealer/buick/56/2028643.html

Haha Speak for yourself -- I am both correct and right!

You are attributing a motive to me that I did not have. I merely suggested that the owner's title for this thread, which said "RESTORED STOCK" was inaccurate. I was trying to make a constructive suggestion. He apparently agreed with me since he then changed the title of the thread to eliminate those words. I have no idea why you are coming after me the way you are.

You guys are really impressing me with your knowledge of Hollywood automobiles! Here's a shot of Roy Earle's '37 from High Sierra. Also, a comment from the IMCDb site: "For whatever reason there were at least 2 cars used in the movie, most of the time Roy Earle's car is a 38 Plymouth, but a few scenes use a 37 car which look similar. Its all supposed to be the same car."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MXqXh7NPCFY&feature=youtu.be

https://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/cto/d/1940-buick-series-40-special/6464849908.html

You've got a good eye and a great memory! Bogie's Big Sleep Plymouth Bogie's High Sierra Plymouth Where did I find these, you may ask? A great website put together by a bunch of very compulsive people (seems to be European, but I don't know what country it comes from). http://www.imcdb.org/

Is this meant as a joke? You can see several non-stock modifications from the pictures -- the headlights and added turn signal lights for one thing -- but he says right in the OP that it has a 12 volt system with an alternator and a dual master cylinder. The poster apparently agreed with my suggestion since he changed the title of the thread to eliminate the word "stock." I'm not sure what point you are trying to make. This is a very nice car.

They didn't mention anything that would indicated that they were even aware of a mistake or what the correct year range was for these straps. I figure they are probably just relying on what their supplier told them. The only way to see if they would fit on your car is to measure the existing straps. As I posted earlier, these straps are 32.5 inches long. The postage to your zip code is $9.56 retail ground, but only an additional 29 cents ($9.85) for 2-day priority mail, plus $3.99 for the box if you'd like me to ship them. Grand total: $13.84. Just let me know.

This has probably been beaten to death, but I uncovered another piece of "evidence" concerning these "difussers" which I figured might interest the people who have participated in this discussion. I ordered the reproductions from Bob's (figuring that they would help my turn signals to show up, whether they are the proper color or not). Today, I installed them. On one side, a piece of the (presumably) original difusser was still there. This was part of the base, and was sandwiched between two pieces of metal and protected from the sun (but not from the heat). As you can see from the photo, it is not quite "clear," but almost -- just a slight tinge of yellow.