Bloo

What does a Prewar ice scraper look like? It just occurred to me the other day I have never seen a really old one. Were they advertising giveaways before the war like after? A quick look on Ebay produced nothing that looked like it could have existed before WW2, except a couple that had refrigerator brands on them. They looked as though meant for scraping your freezer out. Its 1934. You have a brand new closed car with a hot water heater in the passenger footwell. It's 18F outside. How do you get the ice off of your windshield?

It varies by engine. some types loosen with heat, some tighten. Cast iron may expand at a different rate than steel? Rocker arm ratio would also have some effect. Hot valves are probably responsible for the tightening. I would rather hear them a little too much than NOT hear them. Too tight will get you burned valves. When there is doubt, I recheck with a dial indicator at the valve. It compensates for wear on the surface the feeler gauge touches (the rocker arm and valve tip on a Buick).

About 14.7 volts running, probably.

But the Ford thing (also used on Mopar) doesn't reduce voltage, it just turns the power on and off for a 50% duty cycle. The Ford gauges are thermal, so do not respond very fast. It is tough to imagine that working out on a GM gauge. It seems like it would just wave around a lot.

Buick gas gauge sending units prior to the mid 60s are 0-30 ohms. That is for both 6v and 12v systems. 0-26 ohms won't swing it all the way from empty to full at any voltage. The gauge itself is what changes from 6v to 12v. It is designed so that the reading does not change much with voltage. I have heard of people just running it on 12 volts, but the current would be too high (double) and I would be afraid of burning it out. Chevrolet gauges are electrically the same. Some posters on the VCCA forums have used a "Runtz" voltage reducer. It looks like about a 50% success rate over there with half of them saying it worked great and the other half never getting it working right. Good luck.

Not that tight. It squeezes on the packing. Tighten it a little at a time and slow the leak down. When you have the leak pretty slow drive it and see, Maybe tighten a little more. A drop every few minutes or even less while running is about right. You kind of have to sneak up on it to know where you are at.

It's not just model names, It''s a whole different car. I do not recall the details. The engine is about the same, but not much else. The wheelbase could be a clue. The funny front suspension is a Master for sure. Masters could be had with a straight axle, but they didn't build many that way.

5 lug wheels = Standard 6 lug wheels = Master

1928? It's probably packing rather than a seal. Is there a nut to tighten? Don't overdo it. It should seep a tiny bit or the packing will burn up the shaft. It may be possible to add some packing or replace it entirely. If neither helps, you probably need a new shaft and bushings. Also, you might want to post this over in the Buick Prewar Technical section. There are at least 3 six cylinder Buick restorations going on over there right now.

Anything used with a walking foot (triple feed). Old is not a problem. I am not a trimmer, but I worked in that trade for a while when I was a teen. A roller is a kludge to make a machine without a walking foot get the job done. It can work. It can also work without the roller if you know what you are doing. The learning curve is STEEP. I learned on a Singer 31-15. The guy I worked for had been a parachute rigger in the Navy. He told me If I could master that 31-15, I could sew on anything. He was right. It really is learning a whole new skill. It takes time and practice. A lot of it. I could not in good faith recommend this avenue to anyone who wanted to do some occasional casual sewing. Doing auto trim on that machine you mentioned, or a 31-15, you are really asking a lot more of it than it was ever meant to do. Possible? Yes definitely. Easy? No. I had the opportunity at that shop to sew on a laundry list of different brands and models. The Consew 206rb-1 is the best thing I ever used, hands down. I own one now, a twin to my favorite machine from back in the day. Another thing that is hard to master is the clutch motor, and in the 80s they all had it. They take practice to get any control. Today there are Servo Motors available that are easy to control. That would be a good idea for an occasional user.

Ok then. Tie all the regulator stuff down to a junction block as you planned. If the 2 wires going down to the generator are a separate piece, just take it off. If not, be sure to put that indicator light wire (Y/Black) on it's own post so it is not connected to anything. To be clear, "BAT" stuff all ties together, everything else is separated. Run a BIG wire (#8 or so) from the terminal on the back of the one wire alternator to either end of the positive battery cable. Done. P.S. Save your generator parts.

The battery is just not drawing current because it is charged. 6.75v sounds like the regulator is set a bit low to me, but I would check the manual. It's possible it is normal. There will be voltage vs temperature listed, because (most) voltage regulators are temperature compensated. No third brush on a 40 Buick, It's a 2-brush generator and a 3 unit regulator, so charging voltage is the main thing to set to deal with any overcharge/undercharge.

How many volts at the battery when running at fast idle or higher? I would also expect about 7.5 volts. The shop manual will have a better answer but it will be real close to that. If the battery is fully charged it won't draw much current.

Yes.

PM KornKurt here on the forum. He deals in old Pontiac parts and would probably have that.

IIRC the 60 sticks were all floor shift. Not sure about 1961.

Maybe Lycoming (Auburn?). Not many flathead straight eights have the valves/manifolds on the left. The distributor is in the right place for a Lycoming. Graham 8 (probably Continental) is another straight eight with the valves on the left.

Never run a bent fan. Get another. I doubt anyone is good enough to get it really right after it has been bent. If it runs out of balance, it will take out the water pump bearing. When it finally lets go, it will destroy the radiator and probably the hood.

3 speed overdrive! NIce!

20w50 is great in cars that were designed to run 20w40. The Pontiac was intended for thinner oil. That said, I run 10w30 in my Pontiac 6, but in really hot weather (105-106F), when the coolant is also near the boiling point, it loses pressure pretty badly. In the hottest part of the summer I change it over to 20W50. 15w40 isn't really enough of a change to do the trick. FWIW lighter is better if you can get away with it because it gets oil on things faster when you start the engine. IMHO just use the 20w50 in the hottest part of the year.

I would do the following.... 1) Make sure the distributor is turning when the engine is cranking 2) Check with a test light or meter that there is 6 volts (or something close) on the (+) terminal of the coil. 3) Check with a test light on the (-) terminal of the coil. It should be on with the points open and off with the points closed. It should blink while you are cranking. If the light stays on whether the points are open or closed, there is an open circuit. Either the points are not closing all the way, or there is a problem with one of the wires inside the distributor. A 37 Buick has two little wires inside the distributor. Current flows from the (-) terminal on the coil, through a wire to the distributor binding post, and then from the binding post through the first little wire to the points and condenser. From the breaker plate the points are mounted on, current flows through the the second little wire back to the distributor case and ground. These are special wires, meant to be able to move many times without breaking. They have strands of spring steel, and strands of copper. Both wires must be present. They should not stretch, if they will stretch they are broken inside. If the light stays out whether the points are open or closed, look for a wire shorting to ground inside the distributor. 4) When you have the light blinking while cranking as it should, if there is still no spark, replace the condenser. There is no good easy way to check it without special tools. 5) If the light is blinking as it should, and you have tried a condenser, and there is still no spark, replace the ignition coil.

Get that thing off of there before it dumps parts in your engine. Such products still exist, for fuel injected cars. Useless then, useless now. Hang it on the shop wall for a conversation piece.

The old Kendall GT-1 oil (possibly now known as "Brad Penn") looked like that. Expensive but good oil. Not synthetic. I second asking the engine builder.

In a word, no. Ignoring the torque tube length for a moment, as I have no idea whether it is similar.... In 1935 and 1936, Pontiac offered 4 gear ratios. They are 4.89 (mountain option), 4.55 (default on 8cyl), 4.44 (default on 6cyl), and 4:11 (plains option). Only the 4.11 is taller and there aren't many in Pontiacs. The 1935-36 Pontiac uses a Chevrolet rear axle design also used in 35-36 Master and 35-39 1/2 ton trucks. Torque tube length probably varies with year. Because it is 35, the pinion, pinion bearing, and maybe the housing is 1-1/4 years only. The rest is the same. 35 Pontiac transmissions are Chevrolet style transmissions usually, and use a Chevrolet-style torque ball. Some late in 1935 (and all 1936) have Buick Special style transmissions. These have a Pontiac-specific tail and still use a Chevrolet-style torque ball. Since the Buick torque ball locates the axle front-to-rear and the Chevrolet (Pontiac) does not, some suspension rework would be necessary even if the balls would fit together (and I don't think they would). If the Pontiac has plains gears (4.11), someone will want them. Most Chevrolets have 4.11 by default though, so the gears are not exactly rare. I have a real oddball Canadian (Canada only) 36 Chevrolet 1/2 ton axle here with 4.10 in it. I believe it is Buick based. I have a strong suspicion that the gears from it would fit in a 1936 Buick 40, but I can't prove it. 1935 probably not? I don't know. It is currently disassembled. All the parts are here. The gears are nice. It needs bearings. Located in Washington State, 98802.