neil morse

For what it's worth, I discovered that my '41 has a Pertronix system after I bought it. It has worked flawlessly for the four years since I've had it. However, having read the previous comments about heat, I note that the distributor on the Buick engine is mounted on the block on the right side, on the opposite side from the exhaust manifold.

It's obviously a joke, not a scam.

What's going on with the roof?

Matt, all I can say is that if they're trying to imitate you, they are sure doing a piss-poor job! I love suchan's description of the ad copy -- "florid prose" -- which is decidedly not what we expect from Harwood! It reminds me a bit of my freshman roommate in college. He proudly read me the essay he had created for his first English assignment. It was awful and full of obscure and unusual words. I wasn't sure how to respond, so I said, "How did you do it?" He gave me a grin and said he had discovered a great tool called a "Thesaurus." "All you have to do is write out what you want to say, and then look up the words in this magic book and it gives you much better sounding words to use instead!" 😄 As far as the car goes, it looks okay but I think someone installed the wrong coil springs in front -- it looks a bit high to me. And does the pseudo dual exhaust really make any difference apart from appearance?

Congratulations! I'm not sure what your electrical problem is, but it's hard to see how it could be related to adding brake fluid. I'm guessing you've got a loose connection somewhere in the system. Good luck with the car and be sure and keep us posted!

Hi Chuck: I had the exact same problem on my '41 Super. As you will read in the link supplied by Matt, your problem is most likely either a poor ground or a bad sending unit. The ground is through the fuel line connection, so often people use a small length of rubber fuel tubing where the line connects to the sending unit and don't realize they are blocking the ground. You can first test the dash unit by grounding the wire to the sending unit. Look in your trunk on the driver's side rear corner, and you will see where the wire goes through a hole in the trunk floor. There should be a "bayonet-style" connector in the line just before it goes through the hole. With the ignition on, remove this connector and ground the wire from the gauge by touching the body or trunk floor. If your gauge goes to empty, you know your dash unit is good. Next, you have to remove the tank. I know this sounds crazy -- and I agree. I don't know why they couldn't have just put an inspection opening in the trunk floor like on the '48 Chrysler that I used to have, but that's the way they decided to do it. Here's a link from my thread showing what I did. I ended up having the tank cleaned out and coated and put in a new sending unit (my old sending unit was not working on top of not being properly grounded). Good luck, and feel free to send me a Private Message if you have any questions. (Click on the arrow in the upper right hand corner to get to the right post, and just follow from there.)

My '41 has a Unity spotlight on the driver's side that was on the car when I bought it. It was not working, but I was able to rebuild it so it that it now works fine. From what I have read, the Unity lights are period correct since (according to their website), they have been manufactured since the '40's. I think they were an alternative after-market accessory to the GM Guide line of spotlights and foglights. You can read more about their vintage line (which they still offer) here: https://www.unityusa.com/Vintage-Classic-Lights_c_129.html

Also, spotlights may have been added by a former owner/hobbyist.

As the Chrysler literature stated at the time, it's "the only semi-automatic transmission equipped with a 'Safety Clutch.'" It takes some getting used to, but a very reliable set up based on my experience with a '48 Windsor.

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Great post, Gary! I particularly love this photo. What better way to spend your time than humming along at 55 mph through lovely countryside in your wonderful Buick?

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While we are waiting for one of the numbers mavens to answer your question about the engine number, I can tell you that two good vendors for Buick parts are Bob's Automobilia in California and Cars, Inc. in New Jersey.

I can't tell whether the list at the end of the ad is what the car NEEDS, or what has already been done. At least go see it and report back, Greg!

The model name appears on the hood release handles, which are at the front of the "grills" on the fender under the hood on each side.

Congratulations, Keith! What a beauty. I love the color.

As Ben says, it's definitely a '41. I looks like the C body to me, which would make it either a Super or a Roadmaster. Given the rarity of the Roadmaster coupe, I'm betting on Super. It would have come equipped with dual carbs. It was not only the "big ones" that had dual carbs.

Please explain! If this image is from a movie (as I suspect it is), I want to see the movie! In term of current values, how about that 300SL Gullwing tucked in there at the edge!

You raise a good point, Peter. Just put your car on a rotisserie and turn it 90 degrees! 😄 Seriously, even though the paint will end up thicker at the bottom if you paint the piece in place, I don't think it would be noticeable. As long as the paint is cleaned off the highpoints, you will get the desired effect.

I'm sure none of this was particularly funny at the time, but you tell your story in a very entertaining way! Hang in there, Elpad, you're on the home stretch! (And particular kudos to you for caring for the lost dog.)

Hood Latch Handle Replacement This is probably not something that people will commonly have to deal with, but I figured I would tell my story here just in case someone else has the same problem. The passenger side hood latch handle on my car has been funky since I bought the car. It just never wanted to close all the way. I figured (mistakenly as you will learn) that this was due to the poor alignment of the front end sheet metal on my car. There's a gap between the hood and the fender on that side. Anyway, I became accustomed to the fact that you had to give the handle a sharp hit with the palm of your hand to get it to "retract" all the way when you opened and closed the hood from the right side. About six weeks ago, the problem got a lot worse. The handle didn't want to fit properly into the "grill" where it is situated, even with the sharp hit. A few weeks later, I gave it a hit and -- oops! -- the pot metal handle broke. I went on Ebay and immediately found a replacement for $95, not bad. On the '41, the hood release handles are recessed into a kind of "grill" on the side of the fender under the hood (the precursor of the "portholes" that came in '49). I figured out how to remove the "grill," but found that what was left of the broken handle was attached by a pin to a housing within the "grill" that was also made of pot metal. Given the fragile nature of pot metal, I was concerned about trying to drive this pin out with a hammer and punch. I turned to my friend and mentor Don Micheletti who confirmed my concerns, saying "that has 'break me' written all over it." We arranged a time for me to bring the assembly down to Don's shop where, he assured me, he would find a way to get the pin out and install the "new" handle. He told me the old pin might have to be drilled out, and he would make a new pin. In the meantime, I wanted to repaint the black "surround" to the SUPER letters on the new handle I had purchased. Judging from the chrome plating on the the new handle, it didn't look like it had ever been in a car. But the black paint was in bad shape and it had some pitting in the pot metal. I am only including this portion because several people on the forum have said that they have had trouble repainting the black areas on various chrome pieces. I'm no artist, but I have a method that seems easy and achieves quite a satisfactory result. First, I stripped off the remaining black paint with lacquer thinner. Then I liberally applied black paint (I use Rustoleum satin black enamel). I let it dry for about 30 minutes, and then take a piece of plastic (I find that an old credit card or hotel "key card" works well), wrap it with a paper towel soaked in mineral spirits, and carefully run it over the painted area. The result may not be "Pebble Beach" quality, but I think it's quite presentable for my "driver level" standard. After that, let the paint cure completely and then follow up to carefully remove any other traces of black in the wrong places. Next, I took everything down to Don's shop for the next step. After giving the pin a few taps with a punch, Don decided that it was rusted in place and would have to be drilled out. He then figured a way to secure the very irregularly shaped "grill" piece on his milling machine, and got to work drilling out the old pin. I was particularly impressed with the various devices that Don had at his disposal to stabilize the piece and keep it from "walking" while the pin was drilled out. (As someone who has very little experience dealing with this level of machinery, I have to say that I view Don's shop as a magical place where miraculous things take place!) After drilling out the pin from both sides, it was sufficiently weakened that the remains could easily be punched out. Then Don made a new pin out of brass. The new handle was then installed with the new pin. I then put it back on the car. However, this time I looked at the shop manual and found that the latch was actually adjustable! This adjustment should have been made years ago, but I figure previous owners (as well as myself) had been banging on that latch handle for years, eventually causing it to fail. I got it properly adjusted, and it now closes just the way it should. Happy ending!

Looks very nice and actually realistically priced. I would have expected more hype and higher mark-up based on its history. And I love that '37 Caddy dash -- one of the prettiest ever!