Bloo

It is good that you have the manual right there. Some springs want lube, others not. It is technically better to use a plastic lining rather than graphite grease. As Spinneyhill always used to point out, graphite will set up galvanic corrosion. That is most likely why graphite is no longer used, however plastic may not be appropriate in all cases, for one thing liners might make the springs too thick for the hardware. I am still using graphite grease in my 1936 springs which have never been apart and still have zinc gaiters. One thing I would point out is that graphite grease you are likely to find today (grease with a little graphite in it) is not the same as the graphite grease of the prewar era used on leaf springs. That was more like graphite with a little grease in it. Penrite still makes something similar, but I haven't seen it anywhere else. In the 1936 Pontiac shop manual G.M. defined graphite grease (as used on leaf springs) this way:

I like your bolts. I forgot about the weird bleeders. Most cars no longer have them, but mine has them too. I forced one of the HF boots over it. Not great because you cannot get a wrench on at the same time. I like your way better. I wonder if your bleeders or the hole underneath could be plugged? You may not notice the fluid going down (until its too late and you sucked air), but you should be getting fluid sucking out into the cup that goes with the mityvac. My brake light switch is where yours is. I am not sure if the fittings are the same. You could crack anything there to bleed, preferably the front fitting, but only do that last after everything else is bled. My bleeders have a screw capping off the threads that you have to take out. I think their purpose is to keep dirt out. If yours have no screws in there, maybe they are full of dirt? I would take one off and make sure its not plugged, and maybe stick a piece of wire in the hole in the cylinder where you took the bleeder out. Another possibility is a bad brake hose. It is common for them to block the line when they break down internally. Come to think of it, I had a couple of plugged bleeders the first time I bled mine. Are screws like that readily available somewhere?

Wanted: 1936 Buick 40 (also Olds, Pontiac) Tail Light Parts I need one lens, two trim rings, and the casting that holds the license plate bracket. The lens and ring were also used on 1936 Oldsmobile and 1936 Pontiac. These parts may have been used on some Buicks back to 1934 or so. The lens is marked "Oldsray Buray Telray Stimsonite" It measures 3-3/16 to the outer edge. The license casting has a different number in the Pontiac book compared to Buick. I don't know why. I figured maybe the Buick version didn't have the hole to mount the emblem, but a whole Buick tail light assembly sold in these forums in 2009 had the hole. It sure looks like the same part to me. Here is a broken one... it should be much taller. And here is the whole light that was sold in these forums in 2009, showing what an unbroken casting looks like: Let me know what you have available. Thank you.

Once you have the system bled and working, adjust your brakes. Instructions are in the manual. I am pretty sure 37 is too old to have any self adjusters (my 36 doesn't have any), so they probably need adjusting. You will be rewarded with a higher pedal.

Bench bleeding, on more modern cars, is done on the bench with a little hose kit to run fluid back into the reservoir and get as much air out of the cylinder as possible. It saves a lot of time bleeding on such more modern cars with firewall mounted master cylinders, especially if the cylinder isn't level. It does not save you from the final bleeding routine, and possibly even tipping the car in some cases None of that is likely to apply to your 37. On a more modern car you are scrambling to mount it and get the lines closed before too much fluid leaks out. With the cylinder under the floor, it is probably a waste of time due to the longer process of mounting it and hooking it up. The good news is those under the floor systems are easier to bleed, and an empty master cylinder will almost bleed itself overnight if it is the only thing empty. I would do the following. Get a vacuum bleeder with the hand held "Mityvac" clone and a bleeding jar (the harbor freight one will do). FIll the master cylinder with FRESH fluid. It spoils. Buy the brand your FLAPS sells the most of. Get the big jar. Suck the furthest bleeder first (longest line). Thats probably the right rear, but look at the line routing to be sure. Do not allow the master cylinder to get empty. If you do, start over. Suck until you get clean fluid. Don't worry about bubbles too much. Even when the air is gone, you will still be sucking air from the bleeder threads. Close the bleeder. Then do the second farthest, and so on until all four corners are done and have spit out nice clean fluid. The system is full of FRESH fluid now, only a quick final bleeding needed to get any remaining air out. Now carefully pump the pedal up. It is probably best not to stomp it all the way to the floor. With a friend's help, have a friend crack the furthest bleeder then quickly shut it while you hold pressure on the pedal. The idea is to do it quick before the pedal goes to the floor. When the bleeder is closed, let pedal back up, then push back down again, Do another quick squirt. Do all 4 corners like this, 2 or 3 quick squirts each. You can use the hose and jar from your bleeder kit to help keep the mess under control. You may want to do this part yourself instead of having the friend do it because the jar and hose seems to have a mind of it's own. Brake fluid eats paint. Be careful. Once you have done all that, quick bleed the master cylinder using the same method you used at the corners. Crack its fitting like a bleeder using a tubing wrench or wrenches. You will need a rag or something to keep the brake fluid under control (it squirts out under high pressure, and there is no place to hook a hose). All done! Good luck.

That's interesting. I have never seen one of the larger cars or a station wagon with extra lights, only the Pioneer/Phoenix. It doesn't seem like the retrofit housings used on the Phoenix/Pioneer quarter panel would even fit.

The bigger cars (Polara etc.) had a different rear quarter panel, bigger swoop in the fin, and a round light on the outside like John_S_in_Penna's picture. The smaller ones (Dart Phoenix and Pioneer for instance) had a little rectangular light down below. People complained they were dim. There was a retrofit kit to add a round light, and some later cars probably had it from new.

Functionality. The small taillights were notoriously dim. Chrysler had retrofit kits with the round lights.

Yes.

If you look back at his last post, the ground wire was missing. I'm pretty sure this is going to run when his parts get here.

It was a 5/16 flexible line wasn't it? My 36 had that setup originally, might again now that I have all the parts. The threaded sleeve fittings needed to hook a long line or hose to that stock crimped hose are not readily available in most areas. Thats why I suggested he take all that stuff off and temporarily install a hose barb. A 5/16 hose barb with 1/8" pipe threads ought to be in any NAPA store. That and a long hose should get him set up to start it on the jerry can.

Huh?

Try Kurt Kelsey (KornKurt here on the forum) and California Pontiac Restoration respectively for NOS and reproduction parts. Then n Now automotive has fuel pump rebuild kits and also a rebuilding service, with modern materials.

On the original headlight setup, the lenses were different right to left. They had a sharp VERTICAL cutoff on the outer side. The lights were them aimed crosseyed, so that the passenger side light shines up the road where the oncoming traffic is, and the driver's side light shines on the lane ahead and the ditch. When you beam down, only the passenger side dims as it is the only one aimed at the oncoming traffic. They may have used that relay to change the behavior when they converted to sealed beam. Sealed beams have the same pattern both sides and aim more or less straight ahead. Both sides need to dim.

5/16" I believe. You will probably also need a 5/16" hose barb with 1/8" pipe threads for the pump. The original setup most likely uses a crimped hose and some 'threaded sleeve" fittings. The fuel pump itself should have pipe threads after you remove the brass fitting. Consider rebuilding the fuel pump or having it rebuilt. The old pump diaphragm will probably not stand modern gas for more than a few minutes.

So the wire on the left of your picture, going to the circuit breaker, is the supply wire. Is it going down to the large terminal on your starter? The 2 red wires on the top of the relay appear to be going to inside the car, maybe to the dimmer switch. If that is the case, there should be 2 wires on the bottom too, one to the high beams and one to the low beams.

On second thought..... https://www.ebay.com/itm/NOS-6-VOLT-DUAL-BEAM-HEADLIGHT-RELAY-UNIVERSAL-FORD-PACKARD-STUDEBAKER-GM-USA-/133387186655?_trksid=p2349526.m4383.l10137.c10&nordt=true&rt=nc&orig_cvip=true

I would be willing to bet thats a headlight relay, and the little box hanging on it is a circuit breaker. Pontiacs have Guide Multibeam headlights. If it is anything like my 36, the wiring could not possibly make any sense with a relay like that. Do you have a sealed beam conversion? How many positions on your headlight switch? We might need to see that relay with the lid off, and also probably need to know where all the other wires hooked to it go. The regulator looks out of place as well. Does your car have a later generator?

My Pontiac does too. I'm hoping they hold air. I expect them to, but you never know.

Your Nylon tires might smooth out if you drive it enough. That's how they work. Radials are less susceptible to that particular problem, however if you are going to let it sit, take Joe Cocuzza's advice and jack it up.

Those were the default in eastern WA in the 60s-80s. I could probably find one or two around here, but the blades would be shot.

Those wheels in the picture? They're riveted. The rivets could leak, but maybe not. I would still try to run tubeless if you can get away with it. Some folks have sealed the rivets with goo (silicone?) just to be sure. One recent thread....

Thanks for the great response! Now that you mention it I think maybe I have seen a device about like your first picture before. That could be the explanation, no good plastic for a scraper early on. :)

I am less sure of that.... but would still check the grounds first. If the ground cable goes to the frame, another similar one needs to go to the frame from the engine/transmission. If the ground cable goes to the engine/transmission, there needs to be some sort of strap or wire to the frame. In either case, the body should have a ground wire. Considering all the trouble you have been having, maybe the instrument cluster should have a dedicated ground wire too. With all that out of the way, the problem might not be grounds. It takes very little voltage to light an LED. It varies with color, but is probably less than 2.5 volts (at the LED itself, not necessarily the bulb assembly) to begin lighting. Old car electrical systems are very noisy. Every time the points (or electronic substitute) open, the coil unloads into the low voltage wiring as well as the secondary wiring, just at less voltage. Every time any other coil gets it's circuit broken, like the voltage regulator for instance, it also unloads into the wiring. So does the generator field. It might be sitting there buzzing as it regulates voltage. It probably is. The commutator in the generator is cutting loose coils and reconnecting more as it spins. So does the heater motor, the wiper motor (if electric) the horn, and every little relay in the car. The amount of electrical noise is unbelievable. The only filter "capacitor" in the system is the battery, and lead acid batteries make terrible filters. It is also located on wires several feet away, limiting it's effectiveness. If you are lucky there may be some little capacitors to help kill radio noise, maybe one at the generator/alternator, and one at the coil. By the 60s they were usually present. In the 30s/40s there is no guarantee they will even be present, and if present might be shot. I have personally measured voltage spikes over 200 volts out in the wiring of 12 volt cars. I'm guessing about half that on some 6 volt cars. There is also radiated noise from the ignition coming through the air. If you have solid core plug wires and non-resistor plugs like the old days, it could be pretty severe. These spikes are effectively AC because they are pulses. You could have capacitive coupling in the wiring since all the wires run right next to each other in the harness. It could have been there all along, but due to the high current draw and slow response of incandescent bulbs you would have never seen it. Look up "glowing LED problem" on youtube to see examples of this happening in AC house wiring. Anyhow I would verify the grounds first. Its much simpler. If it doesn't work, you might need some sort of resistor or capacitor in parallel at each bulb.

If I had a nickel for every time I was involved in something like that.....