NZ Buick

The generator itself doesn’t know what voltage it is. in a constant current charging system like this it’s the battery that is used to hold the voltage down at 6 volts if there was no battery or load on the system a generator is typically capable of producing 40-50 volts sometimes more sometimes less. The windings for 6 volt are twice as heavy and half as long as 12 volt as a general rule of thumb therefore the armature windings etc are more than capable of producing 12 volt but the field winding is half the length/resistance that it should be for a 12 volt unit which could cause it to heat up in operation at 12 volts therefore in THEORY if you double this resistance of this field circuit you should be able to run the generator in a 12 volt system without it even realising there is a difference. The big thing to remember is that the theory is not always correct as when heat is introduced ohms law goes out the window so to get the right resistor requires some experimenting. also as it is 12 volts the current output needs cutting in half by adjusting the third brush so if the book says to set it at 15amps then 6 or 7amps will be plenty.

The starter generator should have no worries operating on 12 volts I may limit it’s field current with a resistor on the generator side if it is too high but the starter side will just run on 12 volts as it is only used for short bursts.

yes I am converting to 12 volts to make the electronic ignition work. I have basically just grafted the top half of a falcon distributor onto the Buick one making sure I do everything in such a way that I don’t have to modify the Buick parts so should I have to I can return everything back to factory with ease.

Ah perfect! That answers everything for me! I was wondering why the 7 degree mark is ATDC on the flywheel. I have used the Hall effect ignition pick up out of a mid 90’s ford falcon distributor inside of mine as a trigger and have also made the falcon cap and rotor fit. For the ignition module I have just used an external Bosch type European hall triggered module. I have used these components as they’re all readily available and very affordable here at the moment.

So I’m gathering from these comments and from the marks on the flywheel which I have now found that the base timing setting for these engines is 7 degrees? I will be making up a piston stop and using it to confirm my true TDC no.1/6 and will time up my distributor from there. It will be slightly different for me as I have modified my distributor internally so it has electronic ignition rather than contact breaker points but the correct timing setting will still be the same I will just fine tune it with a vacuum gauge once I’m happy everything is ok.

Is it correct that the timing gears are marked with one dot on the crank gear that aligns in between two dots on the cam gear? With these lined up like so it appears to me looking at the cam lobes that cylinder one is beginning it’s intake stroke and cylinder six is just past TDC on its power stroke. In other engines I have mucked around with the timing gear marks are usually a true TDC.

Thanks Terry that sounds great! I have noticed that when the timing marks on the cam and crank gear are aligned the engine doesn’t appear to be at TDC like I expected is this normal?

Thanks Terry, information like that is absolutely priceless to someone like me who is trying to piece together a 100 year old puzzle! I have deliberately left that end of the shaft un drilled at this stage so I can set up the coupling with the required clearance once I have the starter generator remounted to the engine. I have been pre occupied doing some study lately but have now just about got the engine ready for the sump to go back on. Only have to replace the old oil pick up screen, install the oil feed pipe and then make some new sump gaskets and it will be ready.

And the finished product

Old and new water pump shafts. I have made the larger end .8615” to match the old shaft size for proper drive gear fitment but have made the smaller section slightly oversize to fit some rubber lip seals I have got and I will bore out the impeller and distributor drive as required and ream out the pump bushes also.

Another update, after searching through all of the boxes of parts I found the distributor to water pump shaft coupling washer I was missing so very happy I don’t need to make one now! Still trying to get water pump impeller off the old shaft though. Engine is going back together nicely and after tightening the last two caps this morning I have turned it over for the first time, very excited!

I have now acquired a small length of 1” stainless shaft that I can hopefully make it out of. I will check to see how worn the bushes are in my pump housings as i don’t see any point in replacing them if I can get away with making the shaft slightly oversize. I have a funny feeling I will be drilling/boring the old shaft out of the impeller as it has been in the press for 3 days now and no amount of heat nor bashing will move it. So have no issues if it needs to be bored out slightly to fit the oversize shaft.

Slight hiccup, I hadn’t realized the shaft in my engine is shaft ‘X’ as above and has a larger section at the front therefore my 3/4 bar is not going to be big enough!

Thanks everyone, there sure is a huge amount of information available on this forum! I will need to search through my boxes of bits to see if I have one of the couplings I need but have a funny feeling I will be having to make one to suit at least I now have some measurements to work with. I have managed to get hold of a section of 3/4 inch stainless shaft that I intend to make a new shaft out of once I have pressed the impeller and drive gear off the remnants of the old shaft. I am still undecided if I will try to fit lip seals just yet.

I’m in the process of rebuilding the water pump. What have people made new pump shafts out of in the past? Has anyone tried replacing the old gland seals with new rubber lip seals at all? I only have sawn off pieces of the shaft out of my engine so have no measurements to work with. Also is there a coupling that goes between the two components In the picture below or does the distributor just drive through the dogs?

Hi Rod, That sounds about right. It appears I have acquired various Buick parts from various years which I am figuring out as I go. My intention is to try to piece together a 1918/19 roadster as best as I can with the parts I have available. Although this will result in a car that will never win prizes I hope to get a great deal of fun out of motoring it around. My biggest concern at this stage is the body woodwork side of things as I have next to no patterns and haven’t yet been able to find a same year Buick roadster I can look over and under to get a starting point. If this all proves too hard when I get to that stage my plan b is to make some sort of a speedster/special out of it all.

Block is back from the machinist now scored bore has been sleeved rest of them just honed as they weren’t too bad. New set of rings including oil ring for bottom which it never had before and pistons all machined slightly for rings to fit properly. Have spent a lot of time bluing and adjusting main bearings to approximately .002” clearance and big ends so rods will just swivel around crank journals under their own weight. One last clean up within an inch of its life and it’ll be ready for reassembly!

Quick update for those that are interested. Engine is in a million pieces now and I’m keeping busy cleaning everything up after 100 years of oil sludge and carbon have coated it all! The block is at the machinist being assessed to see what my options are to repair the scored bore.

Has anyone fitted alloy pistons into these engines before? After extracting the first two rods and pistons no.2 has had a gudgeon pin slide along and score the bore at some point in its 100 years of use and abuse and since I may have to do some boring and possibly sleeving because of it I may look at putting some alloy pistons in if anyone knows of some that may fit??

Bearing caps off and crank now out. Bearings look relatively good considering their age and still have a few shims in place so will hopefully get another run out of them. Cannot be sure until everything is cleaned and measured though.

Hi Morgan, I am very interested in the carb you have for sale if you believe it is complete enough to be rebuilt. Can I get your email address somehow so we can discuss this further and possibly figure out shipping costs etc... your video is very informative also! Where did you find the marvel carb book? thanks, Gavin.

Hi There, Just a quick update for those who are at all interested. Progress has been a little slower than I would have liked but is still progress none the less! I have the engine and gearbox removed from the chassis and have a few more bits to remove before the chassis can be blasted ready for rust repairs. Sump is off the engine and everything inside has a nice thick layer of oily carbon mess that has preserved it all nicely! I will be finishing dismantling the engine shortly in the hope that with a thorough clean out I will hopefully be able to piece back together a running unit without too much trouble. I have rebuilt the starter generator unit ready to bolt on further down the line. Unfortunately I am still stuck for a marvel carb as the various boxes of bits that came with the car only contained the little float bowl cover with the brass Marvel Carb plate so if anyone knows of the whereabouts of one it would be a great help to me. I will try to upload some photos with this post. Gavin.

Does anybody know if there is anywhere that can supply new brushes for a delco starter generator? I have mine in pieces at the moment and they are too worn to refit.

I don’t believe they are Buick wheels. It appears the front axle has had the stubs welded up and been used under a trailer at some point. I’m unsure what the spoked wheels are off.