Bloo

It looks like what they have done there is just made an extra set of contacts in the switch and used the "pilot" (third) terminal, and switched the dash indicators to it. Weird, but it shouldn't cause any problem with a modern flasher as long as it is the right one. Didn't you say the dash indicators still work with the old flasher? If that is true, it has to be a problem with the new flasher. Either it is bad, or it is the wrong part altogether. Are you in the US and is this new flasher a US spec one? Some European and UK flashers use different pinouts. Good luck with the fuel pump.

The third pin on the flasher is normally used to power the dash indicator on cars that have only ONE bulb to indicate both sides. What they did in 53-54 was bizarre. They used 2 dash indicators, and wired them to the 2 sides, and instead of grounding them, they connected the side of the dash indicator bulbs that would have normally been grounded to the third flasher pin. Plug in a new flasher, and suddenly both indicators blink with either signal. I really need to see the wiring diagram for this 57.

I might know what's going on here, but I am going to have to see a wiring diagram for your car. Do you have one or is there one online? There is common issue that pops up on 53-54 Chevrolets and Pontiacs where GM did something really screwy with the dash indicator wiring, and it no longer works correctly with currently available flashers. The 57 Buick is probably different since it is 12v, and things were more standardized by then, but I don't know. Do you have 2 pins or 3 on the flasher?

There are wide variations, and not just any pedal will work. There used to be some on ebay with a bunch of different ball sockets to fit several types of cars, but I haven't seen those lately. You probably need to go by make and model. Steele rubber can re-mold some of them if you have the old pedal for them to salvage the core out of. Good luck.

Well yes, if they specify no ethanol, then you should expect less. Somewhere I have a book I collected back when I was working in a gas station in the 80s. It was published by either an oil industry group or one of the big oil companies (Texaco, Chevron, Shell, etc.). I do wish I could find it. At that time, they were using Ethanol, Methanol, and MTBE as octane boosters in gasoline, the percentages varied according to brand, and the season the fuel was brewed for, at up to 10%. You could expect the whole 10% in Premium (92 octane at that time), and maybe more like 6-8% in Unleaded (87 octane at that time). This is because they were using the alcohols/ethers as octane boosters in the absence of lead. Speaking of lead, it also said that Regular (that's LEADED regular, 88 octane at that time) was limited by the federal government to 1/10-th gram lead per gallon. It also said that 1/10-th gram lead per gallon is good for 1/2 a point in octane boost. It did not say so, but it is not too hard to infer that the only difference between Unleaded (87) and Regular (88) was 1/10-th gram lead, and the actual octane boosters were Ethanol, Methanol, and MTBE just like any other gas at that time. Sometime in the late 90s Washington State mandated 10% "Oxygenated" fuel. That was mostly grandstanding, because we already had oxygenated fuels for a decade or two. It did work on some level, as it raised the blend percentage to 10% on everything, and there were still a lot of cars on the road at that time with no closed-loop fuel control. Overall CO emissions went down a little. Meanwhile, MTBE got banned in California and Washington. I don't recall ever hearing that Washington State repealed it's "10% oxygenated" requirement, and I wonder if they ever did. You can buy "Non-Ethanol" fuel here in all 3 of the current grades (87, 89, 92 octane) here if you know where to look. It makes you wonder what is in it. Methanol maybe? I doubt the need for an octane booster went away. Back on topic, the current Ethanol (E10) gasoline does seem to rot much faster than whatever we had in the 80s. Non-Ethanol gas for winter storage is probably a good idea.

That's true. Ethanol has higher octane than the base gasoline, so you should expect more of it in the higher octane gas if the percentage is not specified.

I use it too. It's NS. There is a version with no suffix, but it is wrong for transmissions, so use NS. NR has to be a typo.

Yes, it's hygroscopic. I have never heard of a staining problem specifically from wax lubricated screws, but I am not a woodworker so I guess that's no surprise. It is true that wax is or was often used to exclude water, something it isn't that great at. It's better than nothing. It doesn't really seal, it just slows down the inevitable. It was used in radio capacitors to keep moisture from the air out, but the moisture gets in anyway and accelerates failure. What did they do in the 40s? Did they just ignore potential staining since it was a utility body or did they have something better for screw lubricant?

You are correct it might be hard to find someone to work on fluid drive or the attached m6 semi-automatic transmission. The good news is that unlike most early automatic designs, there are scads of m6 cars still working fine today that have never had transmission work.

It's not a timeframe, at least if we are talking 3 years or so. and not 20. You either get lucky or you don't. Rotten gas has a very distinctive smell. If it smells like good gas I would be tempted to dilute it with new gas and drive it out. If there's any doubt, drain it. Non-ethanol stores better. Good luck.

It's a removable panel to get at the battery. It's just a piece of plywood. It is supposed to be bolted down but mine never is. It is probably laying in the car somewhere.

That looks vaguely familiar....

The reason I asked is that no cutters are available to make a deep finger joint like that. I say that but would love to be proven wrong. Obviously Fisher Body had some. Shallower ones are easy to find. I need to duplicate that for some 1936 Pontiac door parts.

Is this original wood or new? If new, I really want to know how the finger joint was done.

Double white walls, so probably photographed before the war. No, that's a 1935 thing, for several makes and models with Fisher bodies. Family friends have a 1935 Chevrolet Master sedan, and I can confirm that it has backwards front doors. That detail nails the car in the original post down as a 1936. Can you tell for sure that it is a Master and not a Standard? I couldn't think of a way without seeing the chrome (or lack of it) on the headlight bucket.

1936 I think. The front doors swing the other way.

Was that a Blockley tube that was porous? Discouraging if so.

There are several types of torque tube that have been used over the years, and what the torque tube is expected to do varied by make and model. In a Buick, the torque tube *IS* most if the suspension, and if you disconnect it, everything just flops. People who convert them usually use a "truck arm" style suspension because they concentrate the forces up near the back of the transmission more or less like the torque tube did. Sometimes they literally salvage the arms from a Chevrolet truck. Also torque reaction. Imagine up-down motion at the front of the torque tube under acceleration and deceleration, The back tires have to have leverage against something.

Why is this? Is this an engine where the main journals are all different sizes? What is the right way to do it?

Money orders over an international border are not that way in my opinion. It almost makes sense for USA>Canada if there are no other options available, but definitely isn't worth the time compared to a typical paypal fee.

Unless there has been some dramatic change, USPS has an international money order specifically for Canada. Ask for the pink one.

My best one is marked "Pacific Power Batteries", and I am also near the west coast, though I think there are a lot of labels and very few manufacturers of batteries. If I were buying one today, I would spring for the Optima. You would have to deal with the weird shape, but there's no acid mess! Whatever battery you get, put a maintainer on it. It can't be overstated how easy it is to kill a 6 volt battery. Any stories of long life are coming from people who either use maintainers, drive the car daily year round, or who are meticulous about charging the battery before it is allowed to get very low.

@Brian_Heil posted a link to this one last year: http://www.tiresafetygroup.com/tire-dot-plant-codes-sorted-plant-code/

How about radio?

Probably. That is how gear ratios were specified in the parts book. Looks like 6.16 and 6.33.