neil morse

Hudsy, I'm talking about this:

Try contacting @keithb7 on the forums. He has a similar '38 Plymouth and is very familiar with how it drives. You should also check out Keith's thread on the "Our Cars and Restoration Projects" forum.

Nice car. What am I seeing protruding from the dash just to the left of the instrument cluster? An interior cooling fan? I can't make it out.

Hey @$0.55, I'm getting a definite Bay Area vibe here -- also the other pic with the BART tracks. Is that the Carquinez Bridge in the background?

Thank you for that advice -- I will be extra careful with it! The "Flexible Steering Wheel" was standard equipment on the Super, Century, Roadmaster, and Limited, but a $12.50 option on the Special. I had always thought of the "banjo" style wheel as just a "dress up" item intended to look nicer, but the theory was that it made driving more comfortable because the wire spokes acted as a "buffer" to protect the driver's hands from the drumming of the tires on the pavement. Now, of course, the "standard" wheels are rare because almost everyone opted for the banjo wheel, even on Specials where you had to pay extra. I wonder if the "flexible" wheel really makes a difference in terms of driver comfort?

Steering wheel mounted I got the new wheel mounted today and I'm very happy with it. There was a slight delay due to issues which developed concerning the cam that fits on the back of the wheel hub that activates the self-cancelling mechanism for the turn signal. I had to remove it from my old wheel and install it on the new one, and a spring washer broke in the course of my attempt. Not a commonly-available item, but I was able to find one that I could adapt to fit. I won't clutter up this thread with a discussion of it here, but if anyone has any questions about this operation, I'm your man!

Larry, I'm confused by your most recent question. I can't answer your question, but I thought you had decided not to use the spring washer.

Looking great!

Wait, didn't you mean to say "find the non-Buick?" (I can't find it.)

I agree. Looks like a great opportunity for someone who wants to get into the hobby at a reasonable price.

New Steering Wheel Not much to report, as evidenced by the fact that I haven't posted here in seven months. However, yesterday I got my new re-cast steering wheel. It came out great, and I'm eager to install it!

You just can't resist showing off those math skills, eh Elpad? 😄 I like the fact that Harry's flashy Polara looks to be fully-loaded, including the swivel seats! Quite a contrast to Harry himself.

😄😝

Larry, I found that the little plastic bag of moly grease was plenty enough to coat all the surfaces that needed to be coated. You can see some photos of that in the sequence I posted on my thread. As I mentioned in my thread, following Don's advice I made sure to wear latex gloves when applying the grease.

Not to mention the '54 suit! Now that's when trousers were trousers. The guy had a good tailor for sure.

Larry, I'm sorry I read your post in a hurry and didn't see the part about how you had everything ready to slide back. I can't really tell from your pictures exactly what that flange is, but my point was that you will have to disassemble the whole thing to do the job anyway, so you will be able to understand it better once you get it apart. Regarding the "split ring" or spring washer ("AD" in the exploded drawing that Ken posted above), Ken is correct that this goes behind the original cork gasket to keep pressure on the ball and help seal it. However, when I took mine apart, the spring was missing. With the new rubber gasket from Bob's, I figured the spring washer wasn't necessary, and so far that appears to be the case since mine is still completely dry after nearly a year and 1,000 miles. I have posted again the part in my thread where I discuss the torque ball procedure. Just click on the arrow in the upper right hand corner to get to the right place.

Maybe it's just because I did my torque ball when the transmission was out of the car, but I just don't see how you can possibly do this job without at least pulling the torque tube back and pulling the propeller shaft out of the U-joint in the torque ball.

A very odd collection of Buicks and French cars (Renaults and Peugeots) -- and the business has a French name, but the signage is in English. I wonder where this photo was taken?

Nice work, Peter! Looks great.

As I said, I'm just passing along what Doug told me. I also checked Bill Anderson's "Restoration Facts" book on the '41, and he just notes that a chrome-plated "Speedline" ornament is placed on the rear fender or on the "wheel shield" on cars that are fitted with the shields (skirts). (pp. 84-85.)

Mike, I found this thread that has some more information on skirts for the '40.