Jim Nelson

What do you want ? Are you trying to instal a different ratio ? Is your rear end one that has the split torque tube ? If so, you can swap third members for a better crusung ratio. That is the easiest. Otherwise more involved. Yes, you will have to pull the axels to do any of the mods. If not, I’ve been there and done different options. E-mail me at oldbuickjim@gmail.com. Yup, you will get dirty but that's part of owning one of the best cars built. In my ‘38’ coupe, I have installed over drive an now travel easily 65 to 7- mph all day long. My longest trip was 1800 + miles round trip. Our cars can do it nicely.

Hi, I have a engine rebuilder who re-builds engines from the teens up to the 2000 +. He rebuilt two for me. My first was a 1953 -263 straight 8. My second was a ‘38’ 248. He does line boring, babbit bearings. Lots of Model A. stuff. Engine and rear work. And the usual rebuilding tasks. Cranks are done by a racing car engines guy who does these for special engines and balancing. Location is St Petersburg Fl. He is Doug Schooley of. “Schooley Engines” and his number is 727-541-5301. He is a bit picky when he does engines. Does them right or he will tell you why. Quoting is tough as you don’t know what you have until he takes it apart. Prices are good meaning you will know everything that he does and why. If there is any questions, he will tell you exactly what. No surprises. He was in a shop behind my bearing shop and i’ve known him and his reputation for over 20+ years. Happy and satisfied customer and friend..

OOOps, I forgot the "notify me of replies" check mark

I have a Carter 2 barrel three bolt mount carb. It has a WCD ID on the bowl. The tag is 6636. What is the "carb # ? Since they made several WCD type carbs, I would like to know if this one of the "dual carb" models. There are several WCD carbs on the 41-42 dual carbs - labeled 'F' for front and 'R' for a rear card. This one has a stove type choke unit. Which one do I have ? The carb number "487 S" is the earliest WCD

If you are not going to run your engine continuously over 3000 rpm, the 3 bolt card is a good carb.. It will provide a good mixture with the designed cfm of that carb. I have a 263 engine in place of my 248. I used the 248 intake / exhaust manifolds from my 248 on my 263. It runs great. Spark plugs tell the tale. If you have a 4 bolt carb, go to Speedway Motors and buy a 3 bolt to 4 bolt adapter.. I did it and I will set it up as a backup carb. Easier to find and cheaper than finding a 3 bolt (AA-2) carb, rebuilding it etc.. just the ticket for those long distance trips. P.S., the adapter costs $25.00. We have a very good a remanufacturer here in Fl. But not cheap - but they are like new when they come back..

Papafarms, I have a 38 40 series coupe and I changed my drive train to include an Over Drive. Thai was I still have the "get going" ratios of my original 4.44 rear. With over drive, you can then drive nicely from 55 to 75 as you want. I cruise 65 at 2350 rpm and do it all day. The engine loafs along but I can keep up with "normal" traffic. (if there is such a thing - not a speedbump with my set up). I have traveled on trips over 1600 miles and love the ease with the OD. There is gentleman in circleville who installs the Borg Warner units that were used in a bunch of cars in the thirties up till around the early 50's in fords. HE took over from Lloyd Young this last year when he passed. You can even bring your car to him and he will do it stem to stern. Or send your third member to him and he will install it and send it back to you. I just got another 30's Buick and it will get the same treatment with an over drive. Being the noisy guy, I took mine to him. It was a complete rear end. Tork ball to wheel drums. It was done within a week and I then took it home. I took lots of pix to understand what he did. Price is good. It cost me $1800 for the instllation. Then I stayed in a cheep motel during the modifications to detail the work. He doesn't mind, just keep off to the side so you don't slow him down. Take what ever pix you want. My pix series resides in a folder for over drives so I can look back to what was done. It was about 1000 miles from my place to circleville so costs involved to get it there. Truck transport of the third member to and back was around the same dollars. I am retired so my time is mine. Lloyds design follows the old KISS principal. Keep It Simple Stupid work every time. Details if you want. oldbuickjim@gmail.com

So, based on this, your wheels are 5" bc and 16" rims ? Therefore, the Pontiac artillery rims would fit - ? my Buick drums ? ? Are they available ? This would make my conversion go so much nicer and much easier.

Pont35cpe Does yours have a 5-1/2" bc ? I'm looking forward to see if the wheel adapter works. My '38' has the 5" bc wheels so I can see if it works.

Does it have the 5 lug bolts to hold the wheel on the car. My wheels on my '38' have the small hokes to help you put the wheel on the drum, with the 5 main lug bolts. But several wheels do not have the 'alignment holes' to help you install the wheel. I noticed on the web site that pontiac has 6 lug bolts to hold the wheels on where Buick had only 5 lug bolts.

It looks good. I have to see what width the tire cover allows. I remember Gene Phillips mentioning the spare tires in the side mounts could not be used because they needed to be deflated to fit. So, a measuring I will go. Dave T has mentioned that 40 series artillery wheels are as scarce as hen's teeth. And very expensive. The 40 series artillery wheels are 5" bolt circle only. So he says the Mexican street roders gobbled them up because the 5" bc wheels fit most of the cars today. Mine are 5-1/2" for the 50 series only - - - I am checking with Speedway as they have an adapter to mount 5-1/2" bolt circle wheel on a 5" drum hub. I need to mount my wheels on a '37' rear end. I saw a pair of ?ratty? looking wheels on ebay. They wanted $300 apiece. (or best offer). Mine are very good , even my spare tire / wheel, which is black in color, is very good. I cleaned it up from light rust around the rim and inside area and a quick paint job and it looks good. Dirty was all. My wheels on the car look like new. No scratches, dings and the trim highlite paint looks like new. I surely lucked out with those when I bought the car. Thanks again !

I found that Buick made the artillery wheel from '34' thru '36'.

I finally found it. I have 5-1/2” bolt circle wheels. Buick made three sizes. 5”, 5-1/2”, and 6”. I am pursuing a wheel adapter to put 5-1/2” rims on 5” drums. “Speedway” auto parts carries them. I just ordered two to see if they work. I want to use my wheels on a ‘37’ rear end. My regular source says that the 5” bc wheels have been gobbled up by the Mexican’s in califotnia. They put the wheels on their “street rods” because the 5” bc wheels fit most modern cars. My wheels look like new. Even my spare wheel is nice. My spare tire on my ‘35’ (5 wheel config.) was so old that it had whitewalls on both sides. Here is the back side with the rear white wall. It was painted black. The rest (4) were the color of the car. That made the spare manuf. pre war. Obviously, not useable as a spare. Trying to find a tire to fit inside the metal cover is becoming a real task. I think I will have to buy one fron Coker Tire. ( not my favorite tire company). The 600 x 16 or 650 x 16 have the proper OD I think. For a spare, the cheepest tire that fits inside the cover will be nice.

How do i find this on ebay.

Wanted - 5 '34' or '35' 40 series artillery wheels.

I have original '1935' 50 series VIcky artillery wheels that have 5-1/2" bolt circle. I want '35' 40 series artillery wheels to replace the 50 series. These 40 series wheels have a 5" b.c. I need a set of 5 wheels to replace my original wheels. oldbuickjim@gmail.com

1931 thru 1935 parking brake floor mounted unit that bolts to the transmission. Mine is missing

Hi Matt, I have a Lloyds over drive since 2014. The only issue I have with Lloyds units is the useage of original BW solenoids. Because they fail to often and could leave you running in regualar 3rd gear, I found a solution. Vintage Auto Garage carries new solenoids. 6 or 12 volt units. When I changed over to his solenoids two years ago, i stopped having issues with that. Glen, the machinist for Lloyds OD,’s, has been doing it for at least 4 years +. that I know of so he knows how to do the torque tube mod’s. JMHO and my experience with the Lloyds OD.

Hi Matt, Your write up on your Lincoln is a very good write up. I've heard of the copper based lines. The cost is a bit high but you get what you pay for. I have a 35 Buick that had a poor fuel system. The tank was perforated on the bottom side from water. That was not so bad that it could not be "ReNu" 'd. The fuel line system was ugly. The pickup line was separate from the level unit. The pickup line ran from the far right side of the fuel tank and down the right side of the frame but there were lots of factory bends (5) with in the first 12" from the tank. The previous owners used copper and rubber hose to make it work. It was a spaghetti from the tank to after the axel. So I had to go to rubber just to get it away from the tank. I guess I could have removed the body to get to the fuel lines. It was interesting to use wood screws to attach things like the fuel line. Its my first car with wood framing. I was able to use some of the original fuel line clips along the frame once I was clear of the weirdness at the tank. Buick used a fuel level unit that used the ? modern 5 screw mounting flange. So I replaced the original pickup line with a modern ? twin unit. Level float with fuel pickup tube. This eliminated one fuel tank penetration. I needed to re-orientate the direction of the discharge line. Of course the newer level pick up system was 180 deg from my needs. I was able to redirect the fuel out put line to get it to my Airtex E 8011 6v boost pump and on to the regular fuel line. More fun than I'm supposed to have when I retired.

I use Airtex model E 8011 pump that comes with a pre-filter around ? 30- microns. It is a 6 volt unit. If you have a 12 volt system, they have a 12 volt version. I bought it thru Walmart. Yes, they sell things like this. Then off to the auto parts house and got one of those big filters. Some you can see thru and some are all metal. Get some new fuel hose and some screw clamps (Lowes or other big box store). Less expensive than the model A club supplier.

I changed over to Shell, Rotella 4. 10w40 DIESEL oil. The diesel oil has the additives we need. My engine is a new rebuild. I’ve got about 5 k on it now.

Victor, E-mail me at. Oldbuickjim@gmail.com. I have a 35-58 Buick Vicky. I may have a solution.

I have a “Lloyd Young” over drive in my ‘38’ Buick. Lloyd passed last year BUT his macinist (Glen ) who did Lloyd’s over drives is still carriying on. He is listed in Hemming. His costs are good. I brought mine to him and it cost me about $1800 to install it. I love it. I have a Special ( 40 series) that I now travel 65 mph at 2350 rpm. The shop is in Circleville OH. BTW, Glen will do the complete job in his shop if it is to much for you. Bring it in and a week later (approx. depending if you need new pinion bearings. ). I am going to install one in my second Buick. I highly recomend you replace the pinion bearings. You are at that point with the OD work that its time. I would also replace the out board bearings. The bearing set never gets any service. Thus, it slowly dies and you don’t realize it. You are removing the axels to get to the third member, so it is an easy adder to replace them. Been there, done that. E-mailme and I will give you the details and hint’s for trouble free operation. “ oldbuickjim@gmail.com “. KISS principal always work’s.

Ben, I know this is a bit late but I put a/c in my ‘38’. It works nice especially here in Florida. Were you able to get yours installed? Mounting the compressor was easy. I just needed to know the easiest way. I have a 263 engine but that was good. I tried two different ways to run the a/c comp. I ended up taking a second water pump pulley (matched size) and welding it to the front of original pulley, trimmed off the extra part of the additional pulley. This ended up giving me two belts to run the car . Original belt for the w.p, alt. And crank. Then the additional pulley now runs the a/c comp. by itself. Pix are available.

I have a 1935 Buick “Vicky”. I bought it last August. I have liked the design of them and have looked around for one for 4 or 5 years. Mine is a Buick series 50 model. Last of Buick’s mechanical brake cars but it had vacuum assisted brakes. Power Brakes - ? back then ? So much for modern technology innovation, re-invented. Also, last of the Buick wood framed cars - 1936 were all steel. I understand the fustration on trying to find a “Vicky” version. If found, the owners have them, made them pretty so they want big bucks and scarcity does not help. The two door sedans come as close as you can get to the “Vicky” design. My guess is that the car makers, added a few upgrades to the base model, which is what Buick did to make it nicer. Chromed items, changes to the instrumen panel, exterior horn’s, things like that.

I bought a ‘35’ Vicky. The gas tank had been removed as it had pin holes in about 2/3 of the bottom. Getting a replacement custom tank was going to be expensive. Plus, it won’t fit as the original. I have a ReNu tank repair shop about 100 miles away. I brought my old tank with me JIC. I was impressed with their process. I left it behind and picked it up a week later. Obvious, it fits like new. It will out last me by many many years.