neil morse

Bingo! I think Mike is right on the money with this comment. On those Motor Trend channel shows, the '40's cars are only considered suitable for full "restomod" treatment because who could drive a car with manual steering and a stick!

Just to back up what Don says, I rebuilt the torque ball on my car about a year ago using the kit from Bob's (with a new rubber seal) and it hasn't leaked a drop.

Complete new inner and outer cables are readily available for $30 or so from a number of suppliers. Here's Bob's, for example: https://bobsautomobilia.com/transmission/speedometer-cable-1937-56-sc-374/

Not sure what went wrong, but at least the hipster dude on the scooter is facing forward and not trying to ride his bike while perched on the front wheel like James Dean! 😝

I have no expertise in this area, but it seems that your question contains the possible answer. The "small kink" sounds like suspect #1 for sure. Why not get a new cable and see if that solves the problem?

I am also confused by the idea that the seat fabric is "broadcloth." Broadcloth, in my experience, is a tightly-woven wool fabric. This looks more like a synthetic velour. But I'm no expert. Otherwise, this looks like a nice driver, maybe a bit on the pricey side.

Note trick front bumper with driving lights at either end. (From The Old Motor.)

Yeah, I love this photo from The Old Motor's Friday Kodachromes this morning. I assume that's a mother and her two daughters. The outfit on the left is outstanding -- right down to the blue and white spectator heels!

Just to follow up, here's a pic of my transmission nine months and about a thousand miles after we did the job. Mine was also leaking badly from both rod shafts. As you can see, it's now dry. However, I think you are going to have a tough time replacing the seals without disassembling the transmission. Good luck, and keep us posted.

Larry, I started a response earlier today, but Don beat me to it. The job Don is referring to is the rebuild of my '41 Super transmission. As Don says, the Bob's part # you reference is the seal for the main shifter shaft, identified as the "transmission case seal" in the drawing from the shop manual, below. For the "vertical" selector shaft that Don refers to, there is a seal shown in the shop manual drawing, as you can see. However, we were unable to find one available anywhere, so Don came up with the O-ring improvisation, which as he says, is not leaking so far. Good luck!

After a few minutes thinking more about it, I realized that the paint color on the back of the glovebox door on my car matches the color of the steering column. I'm thinking the same is probably true of your car -- brown with the brown interior, gray ("industrial violet") with the gray interior. Am I right?

A reproduction of the tire pressure sticker is available (and I would guess has been available for many years), so I don't think the presence of the sticker is necessarily an indicator of originality. https://www.rubbertherightway.com/1941-buick-restoration-parts-tire-58644-prd1.htm?productFeedId=0&utm_source=googleBaseFeed&utm_medium=shoppingEngine&utm_campaign=Google&gclid=Cj0KCQiA0rSABhDlARIsAJtjfCdzH4UJZFXE9DnJ_NK1Em3vze80DwcQrcbAcMLLL8LQUewYMgCrdc0aAo2EEALw_wcB However, your current glovebox door may well be original -- the paint certainly has a "factory" look to it even though the color is different than mine. I also see that you have a gray interior with gray wood-graining on the dash (whereas my interior is brown), so they may have used two different colors for the back of the glovebox door depending on the color of the interior. I agree that you are probably "asking for trouble" if you try to pry the front skin off and put the new skin on your old door. If you're intent on using the refinished door, I think you will have to go with a repaint on the back (and you can buy a repro sticker to "prove" that it's original!). 😄

This is what the inside of my glovebox door looks like. (The precise color of anything is hard to show in a photograph.)

Mine is original. I will take a photo for you when I get a chance. It's a browner color than yours.

Yes, it is possible and much better to remove the panel nuts first and then remove the gauge nuts. Even with the panel out, I think you still might have to get to some of the gauge nuts from the back. I just can't recall exactly how I did it. My memory is that the wiring harness is pretty tight so even when you get the panel nuts off, there's not a lot of space between the dash and the panel with all the gauges in place.

Hi Peter: Congratulations -- your new glovebox door looks gorgeous! As you say, that side's a piece of cake. However, I'm sorry to say that removing the instrument panel side is a major undertaking. I did it when installing a new wiring harness last year, and, for what it's worth, these are my recommendations based on what I learned during the operation. 1. I strongly suggest starting by removing the front seat. You are going to have to spend a lot of time on your back trying to stick your head up into a very narrow space under the dash, and I frankly can't imagine doing it without the seat out (but it might be possible). 2. I also suggest taking out the radio and the panels that support the radio because it will give you a much easier access to the nuts that have to be removed on the right hand side of the panel. (I, of course, was doing the wiring on the entire dash so I had to do this anyway. It might not be strictly necessary.) 3. Get at least one and maybe two of those powerful LED flashlights that have a strong magnet mounting bracket attached. Getting light on the subject is half the battle so you can see the nuts you are trying to remove (and replace). 4. As you can see, the panel is held in place by five studs. You can reach most of them fairly easily with a socket and extension, but the upper left-hand one is the hardest. You will need a deep socket and a U-joint, but it can be done. 5. The gauges are held in place by smaller nuts on studs that are also challenging to reach. Once the panel is free and pulled back, you can access most of these by reaching into the narrow space between the panel and the dash, but the wiring harness is pretty tight. You may have to access some of them from behind. When it comes to putting it back, you will definitely have to access some of them from behind with a socket driver. 6. Like most things, you will have an easier time getting it off than putting it back on. To get several of the nuts back in place on the studs on the reassembly, I had to use a flexible hose pick up tool to hold the nut and get it started on the threads. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Husky-24-in-Lighted-Mechanical-Pickup-Tool-70396H/206264355?source=shoppingads&locale=en-US&mtc=Shopping-Husky_Hand_tools_BT3_Smart_Shopping&cm_mmc=Shopping-Husky_Hand_tools_BT3_Smart_Shopping-71700000074196197-58700006428347897-92700058269432290&gclid=CjwKCAiAr6-ABhAfEiwADO4sfS4XKNSrzGGTTQ1aBj3P7eR-ZsQXw_gek6xqhJ_uhyyJ5p4-xXGJKhoCqdMQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds I hope I haven't put you off the job completely -- just trying to prepare you for what's involved. And when you have it apart is a good time to replace the dash and directional signal lights with LED's -- it will make a big difference. Good luck and feel free to ask me any questions you have. The part on my thread where I did this job starts about here (but I didn't go into much detail about the panel removal and replacement). (Click on arrow in upper right-hand corner.)

Fantastic photo. What's the back story on that threesome?

Haha -- doesn't look like they care one way or the other! 😄 (It's a '40 Buick.)

What a fantastic series of Kodachromes, Dave! Thank you so much for posting them.

I'm guessing that it was some kind of plate for use on military or diplomatic cars overseas. Nice '41!

Why do people put the top down, but leave the rear quarter windows up? Looks odd to me.

Adorable!

No surprise there!