Bloo

I just took a quick look on ebay and it looks like 1937 bearings have pressed retaining rings, completely different from 36. If that is the case, you may have to take them out after all to lubricate. They might come out without taking the differential cover off. I don't have a 37 manual, so not sure.

Sounds good to me! That should get the drum off and get you inside the brakes. To get to the bearings you probably have to take the differential apart. If those bearings are like 36 (maybe yes maybe no) they are lubricated by the rear axle oil. If you don't have a factory shop manual, I would strongly suggest you get one. Mine has saved me all sorts of grief. Just a heads up, wheel nuts might be left hand thread on the left side of the car (they are on 36).

Well, not ALL Diamondback 16s. I just ordered one, a 600R16, and they told me it would be on my doorstep in about 2 weeks. I know that size wont help you with the Buick sadly, but they must not be out of everything.

Are you sure there's a tube in it? Tubeless tires with a bubble like that often suddenly deflate when it pops. I wouldn't trust that at all.

Doesn't this have a fluid coupling?

I saw a Roadmaster 320 that had been converted to a Carter carb with a Carter-style choke. There was a well in the manifold, probably where the Delco choke had been located. Someone had made a tube that just hung down to the bottom of the well, and then fashioned a leaky cover to let air in to be heated and sucked up by the tube. I don't know for sure that it made enough hot air, but the owner had had it like that for years and wasn't complaining of any choke or cold running trouble. YMMV.

If I'm not mistaken they have to creep. The distance the balls have to roll on each race may not quite match. If it couldn't creep you would would be dragging the balls across the race. The creep is slow, and so does not heat up as along as everything is clean and greased.

Wow thanks. I looked all over for the right angle fitting when I fixed mine. IIRC I had to buy a used carburetor to get one.... It's best not to use teflon tape on the pipe thread because a sliver could get loose and get in the carburetor. I either use nothing or teflon pipe dope. Teflon dope is slippery so don't overtighten. The threaded sleeves on the other hand don't need sealer but will need fairly heavy tightening the first time you use them, when they bite into the tubing.

If you speak of what I think you speak of, the fittings are called "threaded sleeve". I bought some at Blackhawk Supply online 2 or 3 years ago, so I would try there. These fittings have a taper, and go on the tubing with no flare. Once tightened, the nut digs into the tubing and becomes part of it. https://blackhawksupply.com/collections/plumbing-brass-fittings-double-compression My Pontiac is a 1936 Master Six, and my fuel lines were all butchered. Frankly I had a hard time figuring it out. Midland Metals is the maker of the fittings I bought from Blackhawk. I recently heard Eaton also makes them. You can get the sleeve nuts, and also the female fittings that adapt to pipe thread. The right angle fitting is no longer made in 5/16" (and the sizes they do make don't look like the old ones). If your car uses a right angle fitting and it is missing, that will have to come from a swap meet or something. My 36 uses one at the carb. The tubing is ordinary 5/16" Bundyflex brake line. On my 1936, originally, the tubing coming from the body originally had a "threaded sleeve" nut on the tubing, and that went to a female fitting on a rubber hose. The other end of the rubber hose had a piece of tubing crimped on and there was a another sleeve nut on that. It screwed into a straight female adapter (to pipe thread), and the pipe thread screwed into the fuel pump. On the outlet side of the fuel pump was another straight female adapter. On the carb was a right angle female adapter. A piece of tubing with two sleeve nuts ran in-between. I think your car was probably set up the same way in 37. Note: In the pic below, there is just a clamped hose on the inlet side rather than the original setup. The original inlet hose would probably be about like this one. There would be another sleeve nut at the left and a female adapter to connect the left end to the fuel pump.

Is that 2 pieces of brass on that steel tube or 1? If it is, or was one piece, its a "threaded sleeve". Look at blackhawk supply online. You will have to cut the old threaded sleeve off if you need to preserve line length. Even then you should cut off a tiny bit of the line so that the new threaded sleeve bites into a new place on the steel line. It becomes part of the line (wont slide back off) after the first time you tighten it. You might have to get it fairly tight the first time. Be careful not to strip the gauge.

Nice looking Pontiac! Welcome to the forum.

Try Kurt Kelsey (KornKurt here on the forum, send him a PM). California Pontiac Restoration (pontiacparts.net) is another possible source. Welcome to the forum! When you get a chance, we would love to see a picture or two of your car.

Start by fixing the vacuum leak.

OH! I see. I thought the tool hooked under the whole rim.... Doesn't it?

Are you sure? The tire in your picture earlier in this thread was a 35x5 if I read it right. That's a 25 inch rim, right?

Well. I for one DO solder hanging out in the air like that. It has to be easier to get something hot when it isn't pressed against a heat sink. Get it hot, melt the solder with the work and get back out quick! Thats what works no matter how you accomplish it. As for solder guns, I don't like them. They can work fine, but have no thermal mass and in my opinion don't work as well as a nice hot iron. Neil morse's idea about a loose soldering tip is a good one. That, or just corrosion where the tip attaches to the barrel are two super common problems. Always make sure the tip is tinned on the soldering end. As for the terminal, it looks like the right kind as near as I can tell from the video, but as MCHinson said, if it is aluminum it wont work. EDIT: Always use 60/40 or 63/37 rosin core solder. The hardware store will push "lead free" solder. Don't fall for it. It is difficult to use and also inferior.

Most, and probably all Chrysler poly v8 and slant sixes used solid lifters in the USA, too.

Here's another vote for Early Times Chapter. The club covers stock flathead-powered Pontiacs and Oaklands through 1954. There is in emphasis on driving.

And even THAT isn't the infamous widowmaker of times past. The widowmakers were wheels that split in the CENTER. The two halves of the wheel twist and lock. Nobody will work on those. A little rust in the wrong place, or the halves not quite locked, and they can come apart. They WILL take off your head if you happen to be in the way. It could happen at any time. The ones Frank DuVal and edinmass described are different. They have locking rings. They can also kill you if the locking ring is not seated properly when you inflate it, but are pretty benign once assembeld and inflated. Any tire shop that deals with big trucks can mount tires on them. They will insist on inflating them inside a cage, and they will have one because this rim type is still used. An old fashioned way is to tie it up in logging chain, then stand back when you inflate it. The rims in the original post are neither. They wont kill you, they will just make you swear a lot.

Is this DOT 5 fluid by any chance?

They are extremely handy. Mine are "Matco", and use o-rings to hold the tap in rather than magnets IIRC. I don't think they were inexpensive, but I bought them so long ago I don't remember what they cost.

Frank: I read that the same way you did and could not imagine how it could even be, but like you... I've seen things. RandallMac: I am not sure how your light sockets are built on that 66, but on some GM cars (and some others) they permanently crimp the socket base to the reflector and after decades it loses contact. You can have no ground when it looks fine. If that is the trouble, the best way to fix it forever is to solder a wire to the socket and run it to a good ground. I have also seen people who do not know how to solder successfully fix that problem by using a fuel line hose clamp to attach the ground wire to the socket.

Probably took some kind of impossible to get tires. Maybe single tube.

The signal circuit is the same as Mopar. Look for a bulb with a sagging filament that is touching another filament. Check all 4 corners. Make sure all brake/signal/tail/park lights have a good ground. Good luck. Let us know what you find out.

Look for a bad connection somewhere between the cutout (or regulator), which is the "hottest" point in the car. and the headlight switch or ignition switch. I cant really call it any closer than that without a wiring diagram. What I suspect is happening is the lights are drawing the voltage down (because of a bad connection), and anything that comes after (like the ignition switch) is also getting low voltage. It is also possible that your charging system is just not keeping up. It should manage the headlights ok, I would have my doubts about the Trippe's. I think they're 25 watt bulbs, so the pair probably draws over 7 amps all by themselves. Check the voltage at the ignition coil, and then switch the headlights on and see how much it changes. Preferably do it with the engine spinning fast enough that the generator is cut in.