Bloo

They are trying to avoid saying "Pinto".

Probably a signal arm. Something like this:

it's a 0-30 ohm unit, so check it and make sure you need to take the rheostat apart before you do. Lots of other things can cause trouble, like the lack of a ground. Make sure there are no air leaks (cracks) where the fuel pickup tube sits in the crimp on top. There often are.

As well as the 1936 Pontiac and the 1937 Buick, and if you delete the fuel pickup as well as the vent pipe, Chevrolet. Probably not similar enough to interchange, but definitely built from the same parts bucket. I believe AC was the source. Anyone who can rebuild a 1937 Buick sender should be able to fix this one. That fitting at the end of the fuel pipe is probably a double compression threaded sleeve fitting and is impossible to find. Don't let it get away.

I also joined the club because of the forum.

Some have been made in the past, but I am doubtful about current availability. I do not recall which series of 1932 Buick they were for, and it probably matters. I think I heard about them from @chistech . He was not the source, but may know something.

GM's stop leak pellets long predate DexCool. After about the first year of production or so in the early 80s, Cadillacs with the HT4100 engine (and later derivative engines) had a warning sticker on the core support. It said the warranty would be voided if the stop leak was not replenished at the time of a drain and refill. The part number on the sticker was a package of 6(!) pellets. Apparently the aluminum blocks were porous, and would leak coolant internally, destroying the engine. According to someone I know who worked for GM years ago, those pellets were used even earlier on some GM production lines as general leak prevention. DexCool from GM did not appear until the mid 1990s, although you could get similar formulas in the aftermarket back to the mid 1980s at least. The one I used back then was green in color, not pink/orange. The weird dye color came with GM and their DexCool branding. As for the Prestone green, I would be curious to know which product. To the best of my knowledge, Prestone does not even offer a "traditional" formula and has not for many years. I just looked on their website and could not find a traditional formula in the Prestone brand, although they do still make one in their cheaper "Prime" brand. I suspect you have been using a modern formula for a long time and just don't realize it.

That was more or less it years ago. Now there are so many different formulas it will make your head spin, and unfortunately there is no standardization of color.

I have been using various "new type" (DexCool, etc.) formulas since the 1980s. I change it every 2 years. No trouble here. I don't believe any of it is good for 10 years or even five. The old conventional formulas were supposed to last 2 years. The chemical itself, ethylene glycol. is fine indefinitely, but the additives that keep it from turning acidic and eating your cooling system don't last forever. In my opinion, GM's infamous cooling system rot came from telling people they could leave DexCool antifreeze in for 5 years. I have a strong suspicion that the policy was driven more by federal emission warranty regulations and/or corporate pressure to get the TCO down for fleet use, rather than engineering. On the other hand I suppose engineering could have just screwed up. Nobody's perfect.

Was Canada using KPH in 1939?

Nothing is a good alternative to dumping it into the airstream right below the carburetor, preferably right under the idle jets but at least under the primary barrels. A manifold port is an easier way for the engine to draw air than sucking it through the idle system and/or the carburetor venturi. PCV has been done with other vacuum ports, it just leans out the cylinders that have the vacuum port between the carb and the intake valve. You will have to richen the idle way up, causing the other cylinders to run way rich. It may be enough to fix part throttle cruise, but maybe not. If the port is out near the end of a runner, it will kill that cylinder entirely. The short version is it wont tune up and the exhaust will stink. No, the draft tube creates suction when the car is moving. The clean air goes in the breather cap and the vapor fouled air goes out the draft tube. Until you stop moving, or until the volume of crankcase vapor overpowers the system. Then the vapor comes out both ends. There's a lot of dirt, water, and other contaminants blowing around under the car. I don't recall if the nailhead has a filter in the draft tube. I think an earlier post says it does, but if it doesn't (Chevrolets don't for instance, they just have an oil separator), you would be sucking all that right into your engine. Still, the air up just under the hood is much cleaner and drier. Pulled in through the oily mesh of a breather cap, it probably isn't too bad. You could just plug it somehow. Since you have 2 caps you could run a PCV valve on one of them and an open breather cap on the other. Air goes in through the oily mesh on one valve cover, through the engine, and air and vapors go out the other valve cover. This was the standard method on a whole bunch of American cars for years. I don't have a solution for that part.

On any crankcase vent system, PCV or not, there needs to be a filtered way in and a way out for the air. Sucking air from under the car through the draft tube is in my opinion a horrible idea, even if there is a mesh (filter) in it. Yes, technically it would work, but if I were doing it I would get rid of the draft tube. A bigger problem is the vacuum source. Some of those California conversions are terrible. Often they just hooked the PCV to some random vacuum line. It screws the fuel distribution all up and makes the car run bad. Ironically, the emissions also go sky high. Look at any factory PCV system (well. almost any) and you will see that the vacuum is plumbed in such a way that it mixes evenly with the air/fuel coming out the bottom of the carburetor. Usually there are 2 ports right below the idle jets. The holes through the vacuum hookup need to be pretty large or they will just plug right away with carbon. The easiest way is to use a carb with a PCV port built in, although Ford used an adapter plate for years. The jetting/calibration of the stock carb also may or may not be close enough. Don't forget you are letting more air in Use a PCV valve for an engine of the same approximate size and RPM range (Chrysler 318 for the 322 maybe?). There is a physical limit to how much air you can pull without making the engine run horrible, and no PCV system keeps up 100% of the time, even on a new engine. When it doesn't keep up the vapors blow backwards, and you still get a mess around the breather cap. It just gets much worse as the engine ages and wears. In the 1970s they plumbed the breather cap up to the air cleaner in an attempt to control the mess, and to burn the vapors even when the PCV couldn't keep up. All that did was make a mess on the air filter element instead of around the breather cap.

Well, considering they put a mark at 4 degrees "adv" (BTDC), I'll bet that is where they intended you to set the timing. The manual would say, but I don't have one handy.

Oh so you must be using a maintainer on the timer? I like that idea. When I was doing that I was literally using a "dumb" trickle charger. It would charge no matter what. I think I had it set for two or three hours once a week.

I like maintainers. I also used to use a trickle charger with a timer, although probably with less "on" time than Ed. That works fine, particularly if you have a trickle charger laying around. It's getting near Christmas and this is a good time of year to find timers on sale. I don't believe true "maintainers" run at float voltage. Float charging is a whole different idea, used in battery backup systems where 100% of the battery's capacity must be available at all times. The voltage is fairly high and it is hard on batteries, although Optima's specs suggest they may be a little more tolerant of float charging than a conventional battery. A true maintainer should let the battery discharge a little, then come on to bring it back up. They are usually little teeny things. They don't really need any charge current to speak of because you are starting with a fully charged battery normally. I have one from Amazon that does 6 and 12 volt. It works great. I leave it on a 6 volt conventional battery all winter. I'll replace that battery with an Optima when it dies, but it's about 6 years old and showing no signs of weakness. I think the maintainer treats it right.

Look at the rear of the engine for a little window to view it through. It may have a rubber or steel plug in it. Be sure to verify TDC #1 really is what it says it is. UDC 1&8 means "upper dead center" and is the same thing we call TDC #1 (and #8) now. If the mark is wrong, then someone may have got the flywheel on wrong. I'm told it is possible to install the flywheel in any orientation.

My suspicion is that an overdrive is going to be by far the cheapest and quickest.

I don't think anything fits a 1936 40 series except a 1936 40 series. The best you can do is look in a Hollander manual and try to cross reference any and all possibilities. I did this years ago trying to figure this problem out for a 36 Pontiac. If I remember correctly, the 1936 Buick 40 was all by itself. There was some potential interchange of ring and pinion with the late 35-36 Chevy Master and Pontiac and late 35-39 1/2 ton. They are smaller parts than the 36 Buick 40 though, and I don't remember if it worked both ways. There was a footnote that you could do it somehow but it doesn't quite fit right. Anyhow, the best ratio for that Chevy/Pontiac axle is 3.82 and it is super rare, and most are 4.11, so it doesn't really help. My suspicion is that they couldn't have developed a design for just one year and model of Buick, and that it is probably based on the Olds axle. If that's true, it doesn't help either because Olds uses an open driveline, and the pinion will be all wrong. The ring might fit but that doesn't help because it has to match the pinion. Maybe someone else in here knows more, but it doesn't look good. I'd post a thread because not too many people will see it here in a "pictures of Buicks" thread.

For context, I can drive MG Midgets, Saab Sonnets (with the pedals spread a little), Austin Minis, Fiat 600s, Honda AZ600/AN600s, and some versions of the Fiat X1/9. I have a Miata that I drive a lot. That XK120 coupe was a complete non starter. The floor is too close The steering wheel is huge and almost perpendicular to the ground, blocking any place your legs might like to live. I don't mean it is uncomfortable, I mean they literally wont fit. It is way tighter than an XK140 roadster. At 5'6" I don't think you will have any trouble.

You'll just have to look inside and see if something is jamming in the linkage. Also, I believe 1938 wiper transmissions (the pieces that goes through the cowl) have a chain inside. I imagine something could jam up there. You may just have to dissconnect the linkages and see if you can move them for a full wipe by hand without any jam up. You could also try the wiper motor with the linkages off and see if it can do a full cycle, although it probably can with the linkage off even if it is screwed up. A classic symptom of worn out wiper motor is stopping in the middle of the stroke due to internal leakage, and not being able to get far enough to switch direction. They will work disconnected, but don't have enough pull. You might be able to revive it by sucking some transmission fluid or brake fluid(?) into it. Don't over do it. Others might know more about that process, but if you get too much it is probably going to make a big mess when it vents, and brake fluid removes paint. In my experience if it stops in the middle it needs overhaul at the very least, assuming it is repairable. Was the windshield wet? It probably needs to be. If you have a double diaphragm fuel pump, that could be screwed up. In that case, for a test plumb vacuum directly to the wipers and try it at idle. Good luck.

You might want to see if you can fit in first. I had an opportunity to buy a rough XK120 coupe back in the 90s, and I literally could not drive it. I lost interest very quickly when I figured that out. I am 6'3". Pretty surprising for an English car.

Have you connected the vacuum advance?

I don't believe any car needs 124 amps. I suggest following Ronnie's advice.

^^So much this. Admittedly they probably usually get it right, having seen so many, but if they don't then you still don't know anything. Ed's 35GPM is the closest thing to a target I have ever seen. I certainly never got any numbers out of a radiator shop. Testing it has to be the best way forward.

You may have a foaming problem. I changed my antifreeze using the old green kind a week before leaving on a road trip, and though the car has always run a little hotter than I would like, suddenly I had a push/boil problem I didn't have before. I spent the rest of that week chasing the problem. Antifreeze formulas vary widely today, and the "old green" formula I recently had foamed horribly. It is an open system,and so the foamed coolant would push out the overflow at speed. When the overall level got low enough that there was foam in the head it would boil. If that is what is happening, you could try some Valvoline/Zerex G05. It is less prone to foam. I don't want to discourage you from flow testing though. I'm really curious about the results, especially if you do it yourself.