Jim Nelson

Ooops, so sorry. The 30's cars went to fuel pumps and my brain did not get far enough back to log it in...... My apologies. But just in case the vacuum tank system failed, could using a electrical pump help. Just thinking out loud - - -. I don't like the issue of having a break down away from home. It sucks ! (and it's embarrassing a little) . Options are nice !

Also, buy a 1938 service manual. Its full of what and how to keep your 'Buick' running.

If you are using a 12 volt electrical system you are in the right ball park. BUT there are several versions and you must use the correct pump. If you are using a 6 volt system use Airtex E8011. If you are using a 12 volt system, use Airtex E801 S. These pumps will give you the low pressure you must use. I also use a plastic - 'see thru' filter just before the electric pump. P/N. Purolater F 20-11. I have bought my pumps thru Walmart and at a good price. They will send it to your closest store or mail it to you. Your filter is readily aviable from your local auto parts store. Next, keeping the pump - in the back and level with the bottom of the tank with the filter in the front - tank side of the pump will give you just the right flow and pressure so you won't flood the carb. This way if your 'normal' system fails, turning on the 'hidden electric pump' will keep you going until you get where you can repair the original fuel supply. I've had a regular pump fail while driving on a 6 lane - semi-limited access road and pulled off to see why my engine quit. I found the fuel pump main shaft backing part way out causing the pump to stop. I just turned on my boost pump and drove home and got a new mechanical regular pump. That alone was worth the price of the system - no towing this time.

Getting a knowledgeable mechanical guy who understands our pre-war cars will be a small problem. First - where are you located. Then finding a Buick club will get you started. BTW, a Ford model 'A' club will help. Then the clubs will help finding a mechanic who understands our '35' car. When you find someone, you need to get one who the club knows the who / what / how to make it happen. You might need to take it some distance to get to a good mech. All the little details. Next travel to see him and his shop. Bring with you your service manual so he can see what he is going to be fixing / repairing. In my world, having the 40 series Buick makes his job a lot easier when working on the cooling system, engine systems, clutch. The brake system is something else. There are several companies who can sell you (soft) brake material for max. braking. Modern material is harder and set up for power brakes. The modern material will be OK, just realize you will need to use more effort to stop. Then finding someone who can / will grind - match the drums and brake shoes. together. I believe it's called 'matching'. I live in the Tampa / St. Pete area ( 1 million + ) and there is only one guy who can / will do it in our area. Our world is really a simple mechanical world that technology moved past us. Learning to work there is just old time mechanical stuff. Getting started is as simple as taking one step at a time. JMHO. (Just 80 and still learning ) 😃 😃

Pay close attention to mechanical brakes. They are unique and require 'different' attention. It not 'rocket science' but different. When you get there, try and find someone who has a car with mech. brakes to begin your education. There are many of us who 'been there, done that' and will be straight shooter with knowledge. There will be some who want you to remain exactly as it came from the factory. Then there are some who will help you get a fun car so driving safely is paramount. So you need to listen to both sides and decide what you want and can afford. You want to talk to those who actually drive their cars and don't just trailer them to shows. My club '36 - 38' Buick club in the BCA umbrella , is one of those type. We drive 1 - 2 - maybe 300 miles to just get where our tour begins. So we pay attention on keeping our car in good shape. Being a mid-Floridan, it takes me 200 miles just to get out of Florida. My longest trip was Tampa Fl. to Nashville Tn. and it was 1800 miles round trip. I had a '38-46s' coupe then and I added over drive to let me drive 6 - 7 hours a day, at 65 mph. (2350 rpm ). You probably have the same rear ratio (I will look it up) as mine. It is a 4.88 - 1 rear. That makes your car a 45 mph car. If you chose to go with an over drive, it will give you a 3.41 - 1 rear and let you go about 55 to 60 mph. Should not be a 'speed bump' that way. Most every one I listen to is they want to go faster than factory design. So do not be surprised how slow your car is ... Note, do no plan to run your engine in cruise over 2400 to 2500 rpm. Our engines will not tolerate more rpm. When you look thru your `SM' and look over the torque and rpm and horse power curves, you will see where it wants to work. We have low rpm with high torque. I have a 248 engine in my '35-58' and even with my 38-46s I won't go over 3000 rpm ... to only pass a slow poke. BTW, with my OD, I get 16 mpg. So opinions are many. Listen and decide what you want to do. BTW, those few dents and stuff is easy to fix using a 'real body man. No plastic (bondo fi ! ! Do it right the first time ! Again - JMHO.....

Its good you have original wheels. Is your spare just like the ones on the car? To many guys put non-standard fancy wheels on their '35's. Sold the originals so you are good. I'll check around and see where I found the data on mounting the spare. I believe Steele Rubber has them. Pretty sure. Do not try to start your car until you go thru the list on starting a car that has been in storage for a while.

Nope, it should be parallel to the body. I have a spare on the back of mine. If you need details, I can do pix and measurements. Right now I have the spare off to give you the jest of the mount.. with a rumble seat, the angles are slightly different. Steele Rubber has new ones available so only you need to do is give them is 'make' , model so you will get correct angle rubber bushings. Shoot there are 3 slightly different gas rubber bushing where gas goes down into the tank.. I guessing you have a '35 - 46' Buick. That says yours was made in 1935 and was built as a three window coupe and had a rumble seat. Note the 'stepping' pads to assist a person to get into the rumble seat. Hopefully they are OK. Those would be very hard to find. BTW, take lots of pix of every thing you touch prior to removing etc. That way you can go back to what you did etc. I probably took around 6-700 pix of what I did to my 38-46s. Memory fades and pix bring it back. Real important. I installed a/c in my 38 along with over drive. Any questions - I have them and pix to go with them.

This might give you what mine has mounted to. I think your will be tipped more forward at the top. I think Steele gave you details of where each style came together with angles etc. Get familiar with parts catalog from 'CARS' from New Jersey, Bob's Automobilia in California. Just a start ! ! Your spare tire cover is adjustable for wider tires. If you were unfortunate to have 'side-mounts' on the front fenders - you will have a difficult time trying to fit skinny tires in the tire covers in the side mount covers.

Pay close attention to mechanical brakes. They are unique and require 'different' attention. It not 'rocket science' but different. When you get there, try and find someone who has a car with mech. brakes to begin your education. There are many of us who 'been there, done that' and will be straight shooter with knowledge. There will be some who want you to remain exactly as it came from the factory. Then there are some who will help you get a fun car so driving safely is paramount. So you need to listen to both sides and decide what you want and can afford. You want to talk to those who actually drive their cars and don't just trailer them to shows. My club '36 - 38' Buick club in the BCA umbrella , is one of those type. We drive 1 - 2 - maybe 300 miles to just get where our tour begins. So we pay attention on keeping our car in good shape. Being a mid-Floridan, it takes me 200 miles just to get out of Florida. My longest trip was Tampa Fl. to Nashville Tn. and it was 1800 miles round trip. I had a '38-46s' coupe then and I added over drive to let me drive 6 - 7 hours a day, at 65 mph. (2350 rpm ). You probably have the same rear ratio (I will look it up) as mine. It is a 4.88 - 1 rear. That makes your car a 45 mph car. If you chose to go with an over drive, it will give you a 3.41 - 1 rear and let you go about 55 to 60 mph. Should not be a 'speed bump' that way. Most every one I listen to is they want to go faster than factory design. So do not be surprised how slow your car is ... Note, do no plan to run your engine in cruise over 2400 to 2500 rpm. Our engines will not tolerate more rpm. When you look thru your `SM' and look over the torque and rpm and horse power curves, you will see where it wants to work. We have low rpm with high torque. I have a 248 engine in my '35-58' and even with my 38-46s I won't go over 3000 rpm ... to only pass a slow poke. BTW, with my OD, I get 16 mpg. So opinions are many. Listen and decide what you want to do. BTW, those few dents and stuff is easy to fix using a 'real body man'. No plastic (bondo fix ) ! ! Do it right the first time ! Again - JMHO..... I have a repair / rebuild shop that specializes in old cars. Great people and fair pricing. I never ask how much because I want it done right. I used to do business with them before that so I knew them and their quality.....

There are a few of us who have the wooden bodied Buicks hanging around to help,you. My FIRST ITEM is to buy a 1935 - 40 series "Service Manual." The 40 series manual is unique because the 50 series and up are totally different. Read thru it to see what an interesting car (rare) you have. What you need to do BEFORE YOU START THE CAR. There is a fairly long list on what you need to do long before you put some gas in the tank, hook up the battery etc. There was a fellow who was a similar situation. Follow that so you do not ruin the power train and really spend big bucks..... 'Ask and you will receive' as the saying goes. Again, welcome to a small part of our insanity. I know I'm a bit 'off' but I don't care. I just really like these old pre-war cars.

Get your service manual and compare the accessories - where they are mounted and how they can be 'rebuilt' easily compared to the 50, 60, and 80 series. Generator, distributor, water pump, radiator plumbing at the inlet ' outlet vs -the interesting plumbing on the 50, 60, 80 series. The 40 series is almost identical to 1937 and later support equipment. If you have a friend with a 50 series and up, compare the design of the two systems. I have both the SM for the 40 series and the 50 series . It shows both and the differences. 'Major diff. is the 'fiber drive gear' to run the generator - the generator has a drive shaft that goes full thru the generator and continues rearward with a 90* gear attached to the shaft to drive the distributor and the shaft continues rearward back to drive the water pump. The fiber gear is a weak link and is not available. I hear that someone has had a metal gear made to replace it - 'expensive '.... so be glad if you have the 40 series power system that is just like the 248 design that stayed with Buick until 1954 when they went to their very good V8 . BTW, the 40 system has the generator on the left side driven by a 'V' belt, and the water pump up front and the distributor - normal- on the right side like almost every one did - driven by the cam. Maybe Buick needed to use up their stash of parts as they transitioned to the better engine system.

Johndande, It looks like a great '35-46s'. Yours is the second '35' coupe I've seen in years. Coupes are rare ! ! I'm a coupe fan. As you know., most Buicks were 4 door versions. Yours has the 40 series engine. That is good as it was the beginning of the 248 engine design. Accessories in standard positions for replacement or rebuilding. I have a 35-58 Buick. Its a 2 door sedan. How are the brakes ? Mine were terrible. BTW, I hope you have the original wheels. Because of the 5" bolt circle they were fairly easy to put them on newer cars. Thus - extremely hard to find. I know - been there done that. The 50 series engine layout and cooling system are - what you say - not nice. I have other words. But that is what they needed to do. Remember, 34 and 35's are almost copies of each other. Buick was putting its money in the radical new design and construction. We had the last of the mechanical brakes, last of wooden bodies, fabric roofs. If you have a wheel issue, I found that Ford in 1934 had wire wheels that adapt to our Buicks. Minor changes so let me know. Oldbuickjim@gmail.com. Buick had 3 different wheel mountings in 1935. 40 series had 5" bolt circles, 50 series has the 5-1/2" bolt circles and 60 - 70 series had a 6" bolt circle. ? ? Strange because that increased manufacturing costs, inventory costs and issues like that.

Hi ho, I put seat belts in front of my 35-58, fortunately there is enough steel flooring to mount those. Since you have a 4 door 35-41 sedan, for rear belts, you will have to mount seat belts through the floor bottoms in back. As I remember, that area is wooden. So you are going to make a 'new' steel cross brace to let you mount a rear seat belt. A 1.5" x by. 1.5" x 1/4" angle running between the main frame will do the job. Its strong enough to spread the load if you have an accident and keep the rear seat pax. secured. Using a bigger angle ie. 2 x 2 x 1/4" would be nicer. You need fit the angle between the main frame and WELD IT. That way you would not minimize strength by drilling a hole in the frame. IMHO, I would do the 2x2x1/4 cross brace and maybe ....... put two 2x2x1/4 angles back to back. (Creating a channel ). You could get a 1-1/2" x 3 (or 4") channel to do the job. I have a tendency to over kill something like this. Having ONLY front seat belts with out a shoulder belt leaves me cautious when driving in my area. I'm OK but it's the 'other guy' that will do me bad... Just some thoughts from my wandering old brain.

That was what I thought but I was on a cross state drive and was having problems. So I decided to head home. It was a race between the sun and the miles I had to travel. Well, the sun won and my head lights were barely acceptable. There is an interesting story because I had a major blow out, traveling at night, in the left lane, after cresting a hill and in a left curve. - - - tough to see me in the left lane with a blown out tire avoiding steel guide rails and fast other traffic in the left lane........getting out of traffic. Get the hint ? Scare times- - - So, what are you up to ?

Also, changing the throw out bearing at this point is also recommended.

Bless you my son for the efforts required to first remove , move the rear, then pull the tranny, and last, remove the clutch. At this point, considering the effort, replace both the clutch and disc. Check the condition of the flywheel surface and starter ring gear. Compared to the 248 engine, pulling the flywheel is 100 percent easier. Personally, I would go for it. Better now when you can control any issues vs out on the road and your clutch begins to fail. I personally had 3 - 248 engines on my Buick's and they are a b---ch to change the clutch. They are not a difficult job but having a partner under the car helping is wonderful. Having a shop where you can work more easily under the car is golden... Done it both ways.

Well, you get what you want but ya got to pay the piper. Halogens give you more light which if you are driving at dusk or night is wonderful. BUT, the piper tells me it ain't free. Halogen lights require more amperage to function vs older seal beams. Thus, if you are running the original generator- you can not get there from here. The easiest is to replace the gen. with an alternator. Those can put out about 2.5 to 3 times more power 'amperage than the original output of 25 ish amps depending how fast your car/generator is running. 6 volt alternators will cost about the same as a 12 volt system. (50 amps ish vs 80/90 amps). Next, how is the condition of your wiring ? This will let you eliminate the generator, regulator and things not needed. There are several nice 6 volt to 12 volt converters to let you operate more modern stuff. Ie, GPS, radios, other noise makers. Everything else remains the same if the wiring is up to snuff. There is another option but it requires more work and it's going to 12 volts. Electrical parts are more available, etc. Both of my Buicks are road cars, not show cars. I converted to 12 volts and the advantages according. You can still use points ignition for its robust design. I went to electronic ignition so I could basically ignore those issues. Simply design of the 30's and 40's has it advantages. You can basically hide the alternator by painting it black to match the color of the original generator. So, that's my story and I'm sticking with it..... I'm not sure about 6 volt halogen available lights so that may alter issues. Check with Snyders Auto parts. They are an old Ford parts guy but they have 6 volt LED's that may be bright enough. They have conversions ect so look them over.

First on the lighting issue : you need to decide if you are going to drive your great Buick in the evening or into night ? (By accident). If your car is for 'show /. originality. The conversion to seal beams is for greater light to drive when you drive in the evening. With that decision made - you then have several patches to take. BTW, I have a 1935-58 Buick. Its a 2 door , 5 pax car with spare on the rear. I will be driving my '35/58' into the evenings so having GOOD lighting is very important. There is now LED bulbs available to replace the 'normal' bulbs. I am using my original reflector / bulb units. I have converted to LED bulbs because they use about 1/3 the amperage of original bulbs. Again, I made decisions that have me take paths that keep the car as original as possible but safety driving in my bit of insanity with all the damn tourists wandering around in a big city has me doing safety first. ? Seat belts ? Mandatory. Other things that don't show but keep me driving my car with traffic. Second, I have items that if you go in my direction, I can help. E-mail me and we can more details. 'Oldbuickjim@gmail.com' Down to only one Buick now. 1938-46s coupe, 1937-46s coupe and now my 1935-58 2 door sedan. I think this version is quite rare. Last of the wooden bodied, mechanical brake (powered brake) Buicks. 1936 was big changes as you know....

Wow, Finding a parts car this nice is amazing. You are having to much fun. How is the engine ? Is it free locked up ? All the parts there 'under the hood' ! I'm glad you chose to rebuild / restore your Buick. You will find others who have a 1922-45 Buick so if you need help, they will be happy to help. I am a newer Buick fan. I've had a 1938-46s coupe for 8 + years. Restored it to like new where I drove it on my longest drive for over 1800+ miles. I also had a 1937-46 coupe . I now only have a 1935-58 Vicky , 2 door sedan. Last of the wood bodied Buicks and also the last year Buick had mechanical brakes. My 35-58 was only available in two colors. A Douglas Fir Green and a two tone Pony brown. I have the Pony Brown version and I have not seen any others. I saw one in Douglas Green - restored and was very nice. So, maybe another two tone 35-58 will show up. I'm about to get it on the road in about a week. Major goal having it on the road. Welcome to our world of great per-war Buicks.

Well, welcome to the most expensive upgrade / repair on our old Buicks. I believe every Buick engine up to 1948 used cast/ Babbitt bearings for both rods and mains. If - only if your mains are good, will you 'get by' after you pull your engine to gain access to the crank. (Not easy) If the crank / rod bearings are good - just worn - you get '1948'. Buick 248 rods and utilize them. Use yours and modify them to utilize modern inserts. You might want to contact Dave Tacheny in Minn. (great source). He might have a better condition '248' to replace yours. On my 1938 - 248, I basically rebuilt it. Ground the crank, bored for new pistons and rings, valve job which usually means new set of valves , etc. No fun but most of our guys rebuild the engine and redo the radiator. Boil the block to remove all the rust and crap that happens over the many years of use and abuse. That's why most of our pre-war cars were traded off rather than rebuild then . I rebuilt a 1954 - 263 engine and did a rebuilt on a 1938 - 248. Both ran about $7 k (a few years back) to do it correctly and end up with a new engine and cooling system. I spent money getting mechanicals done first and 'pretty' done last. If you get an engine from Dave, I would pay to have him pull the pan and do a bearing sizeing check. My '38/248' was worn to the limits before needing rebuilding. I think it was 0.018" on the rods with a max of 0.002 if it's a bit noisy - sorta. Oil pressure hot tells the tale. That will tell you the condition before you drop the big $ to rebuild it. Either way, you will spend the $ to get it back to a very good condition. Dave might have a decent engine that won't need rebuilding soon. You only ( ?) need the basic engine as everything else moves over to the next engine. Harbitz, Where are you ? My engine rebuilder is #1. Does it right the first time. He is also capable of doing Babbitt bearings and grind the block to fit. Dang few shops have the equipment to do it if desired. He rebuilds every thing from 1900 up to new stuff. He is located in St Petersburg Fl. I traveled to get my 263 in Anderson Indiana. 1000 miles one way. I figured that using the last of the straight '8' engines was worth the drive. (Early 1954 by serial number) as 1954 was the beginning of Buicks 'V 8' engines. Welcome the wonderful world of Buicks. My 1935-58 Vicky is my last ! Just about to turn over the big '80' in two months. Looks just like the original '35-50 series but deep under the skin resides my old 1938-248 that I saved from my 263 rebuild / swap. Cooling upgrades because it gets warm here in Florida. I also installed over drive so I can mostly keep up with local traffic without being a speed bump. Drive all day at 65 mph turning 2350 rpm. Tough to beat that....

Just a curious question, ? Wire wheels ? My Buicks all had either wood spoked wheels transiting to steel wheels. According to my data on my 1935-58 Buick, Buick offered wire wheels as an option on the 35-58 , extremely hard or impossible to find today. Buick had three sizes of bolt circle in 1935. That just raised my interest in what wire wheels were around. In the lower 30's, Ford had wire wheels. I found that the '34' Fords had a wire wheel that fit with the same bolt circle (5-1/2") as my 35-58. Then with hub adapters and using 17" tires you could mount the Buick 50 series with wire wheels. So, my interest is increased....

Time causes issues when titles don't match many years later. My '38' coupe was not the best. What I did was to creat a new VIN that matched my frame number. I placed it on the firewall near the top where it could be seen in the future. Yours and mine have two numbers, frame and engine numbers. I will go back to the guy who could put what was necessary to make it a legal VIN number and not have to crawl under the car and locate the frame number. Hopefully the engine number is good. Many of our old cars had the engines changed as they wore out but the body was good. DMV people just won't want to get under the car to verify numbers. My new - old VIN number is good and I just sold it back to the previous owner (and good friend who wanted it back) who lives in Indiana. In about a week or two I will be cranking the 35-58 up and begin breaking in the engine. I've been very busy but getting a little bit each day is working out. I now have brake lights hooked up and rear parking light working. Then almost have the over drive wiring done. Still need to do the front wiring but I can work around the engine breaking in.

Your thoughts that if you have a 3.6 rear ratio, I would not change. No, I'm in flatland Florida so having the change to 3.6 or better works. But, living in big hill country, having the over drive lets me drive great in level country but down shift as low as you want. My '38 had a 4:44. rear so it was a 55 mph car. This way I can travel most anyplace even with 'normal gearing'. My 1935 has a 4.88 rear. That makes it a slow car -basically a speed bump in the areas I live in. With the OD in my 1935- 58 Vicky, I now have a 3.41 rear and slow crawl for regular busy driving. So, having OD. became a must if I wanted to go anyplace. Our 36-38 Buick Club is a driving club. So driving to any of our destinations required maybe driving 300 + miles to have our get together became 'must'. I live as an 'outlier' being I am along way just to get there - was a choice I made. Being necessary to drive on modern Inter-State highways means I needed to have 'tall gears' . So 'over drive' was my solution. I live in the Tampa / St. Pete area so keeping up with traffic was my thing. Its all in the choices you make. Our Buicks were built strong and drive miles that other pre-war cars can't stay with us. Our 'toy's are not cheep to keep up compared to modern cars. Brakes, tires, tune ups, shocks and low gas mileage compared to todays 25 / 35 mpg vehicles. I can trust my Buick to get me there and back. Things happen but that's life.

Changed several rear ends to get a decent ratio. Removing the complete rear is the best way. Do not remove the ring and pinion as that requires - most likely - new bearings when it comes apart. The pinion has two bearings. One is a roller bearing (maybe two depending) in the rear of the pinion. Next to the ring gear. At the front of the pinion is a double row ball bearing. Each has a specific job. Checking the pinion for vertical play is important. By the book, it can only have a maximum of 0.0015 vertical movement. Then if that bearing is at the max. the factory requires you replace the front double row ball bearing. The ring gear has a different bearings still . Then when you have done all that, you have most likely had to pull the axels. If you did that you need to replace the outboard axel roller bearings. Those are 99.99 % never serviced because you have to remove the brake backing plates, to get to the bearings and relive. BTW. Those bearings are greased for lubrication. It requires two seals and roller bearing per side to create a cavity with the new roller bearings. Fill half way with new synthetic grease and put together. You got it apart so don't try to do it cheep. When you are done, you have a new - quite running - road geared rear end. Its not rocket science but you will need some one to help when needed. So, my last rear used a '54' dynaflo with the 3.4 ratio. Great ratio for a road car. Yes, pulling the drive shaft is not fun. Done it on two rear ends. I have 5 service manuals from 35 to 54. Each one has little nuances on how to best work on - repair your rear end. My best pin replacement used a grade 8 hex head bolt with a small locking nut to balance the drive shaft, after working hard to remove the factory pin. I ended up drilling the center out (make sure the drill is CENTERED ) . BTW, I have also installed over drive on my 1938 and 1935 Buicks. with the original 4.44 rear. This gave me a 3:11 rear ratio. That was easier as I removed the pumpkin and drive shaft / torque tube forward to the tranny. That guy still does it and does it very well. Send it to him and then when I got it back, assembled it, ran some wiring and it's done. Sorry for the long babble but it's all doable. BTW, all my cars are roadable - not trailer queens.

Check with Dave Tacheny in Champlin Minnesota. He is a good supplier of pre-war Buick parts. Phone only CT 4;30 - 7: 30. 1-763-427-3460