drhach

Just for giggles, I went through the whole linkage assembly again and inspected everything. No appreciable wear indicated. No holes out of round. I think the Buick method of using bushings eliminates that issue. I had a thought last night. Something I hadn't considered before. I tried double clutching while driving. The transmission performed flawlessly. It shifts in to and stays in second gear. I can down shift and it stays in gear. If I don't double clutch it acts up immediately. So to me, that pretty clearly points to a synchro. My previous experience with a bad synchro is that the gear will actually grind when you try to stick it in gear. That wasn't really the case here and it threw me for a loop. I wouldn't describe the behavior as "jump out" either, as the manual calls it. Also, the adjustment being used up was kind of a false signal too. Obviously that's an issue but maybe not "the" issue. Perhaps the synchro is so worn that it is using up the adjustment in the shift rod. I don't know. But I'll find out when I get in there. I ordered a synchro from Bob's as well as a gasket kit and new bearings. I think I also ordered a sliding gear just for good measure. We'll see if it needs anything else when I get it open. Regards, Dan

Roger, you mentioned concerns about a decal wrapping around the hubcap. When I was building a scale model I used a product called "Micro Sol". I don't know if you're familiar with this product or those like it. It actually softens decals and allows them to conform to odd shapes. Scale modelers often use this to allow decals to take the shape of rivets and seams on models airplanes and cars.

I'll check it out. Most of the system has rubber bushings (which I've replaced). But they could have worn through at some previous point and caused rod wear. I'll pull it all off and give it a good look. I've also considered that the rods are either not proper or bent. but I'm hesitant to start tweaking things to make them fit. In spite of a few glaring issues with the intake and exhaust system, the car seems pretty unmolested. I'm racking my brain trying to come up with some way to by-pass the column shifter and shift by hand. Just to rule out any weirdness in the linkage. Definitely I'll pull the linkage off and give it good cleaning and once over. Regarding the oil level, I drained and replaced it for that very reason. There was quite a bit in there (I didn't measure it) and it looked pretty clean. it also didn't have the old timey gear lube smell. So, I think it was changed in the last few decades. Regards, Dan

You're talking about wear on the shaft inside the case or wear in the hole where the shift rod goes into the lever? Can you post a picture of what you're describing?

That's a great looking stand. Thanks for the tips everyone. I guess I'll do the torque ball while I have this thing out. It's like a swamp around that transmission. Everything is so soaked, that I can't even tell where it's leaking from. I'm trying to avoidn the "while I'm in there" syndrome with this. A guy could go pretty crazy replacing things.

A few updates, I have disconnected the linkage and shifted the transmission by hand. It travels the full throw as if it was connected. I got my clip and new spring installed. It made zero difference. Before After I think at this point there isn't to learn about this from the outside of the box. Its time to start thinking inside the box The car still does not want to go in to gear when shifting from 1-2 or 2-3. There's no issue with any other gear in terms of function. One thing that I tried that I hadn't done previously was to start in second gear. It will start out in second gear and shift to third (I tried it maybe 6-7 times). But it did also pop out of second gear once and I still can't down shift to second from third once I'm underway. I'm pretty well convinced that it is an internal issue at this point. Next steps will be to pull the trans and open it up for inspection.

Thanks for sharing that car. It definitely has a face for radio, but it's something I wouldn't have heard about otherwise.

On forklifts, I've found them to be great. On cars, not so much. That said, my brother lost the use of one of his arms and it made it so he could drive in modern traffic.

Thanks for those suggestions, Em Tee, I haven't tried them yet. I'll add them to the list. At the moment under all circumstances so far, the car goes in to the other three gear every time and without issue. I think at this point, I need my parts to get here from Bob's so that I can rule out the question of the toggle spring. Whether or not it is the source of my problem, it is missing and should be replaced. I'm trying to get everything to factory spec. Regards, Dan

Thanks for the tip Bob. I'll look it up. I'm not sure hw much would interchange at that point, but it's worth checking out.

Yes, I completely agree on all of your points. I was hoping to find someone here who had at least experienced a similar issue. It sounds like that won't be happening. The external physics of this just don't add up to me but clearly the issue remains. If the toggle extension doesn't fix it, I don't think there's much more to look at outside of the transmission. The engine mount theory seems to have some merit and I'll confirm that I don't have any shifted or broken mounts. My first theory was a bent shifter fork. That may allow it to overstroke in one direction. But there's only one way to find out. I'm leaving town for a week so I won't be able to spend any time on this until after the 4th of July. My toggle extension should be here waiting for me when I return and it probably will take me longer to crawl under and back out from under the car then it will to install it. So, I should know pretty quickly if that solves it. I'll be sure to report my findings when I have something to say. Thanks everyone for your input.

It goes in to high ok. The strange thing is that before I adjusted it, when the clevis was about in the middle of the threaded portion of the rod, all other gears worked fine (except second). Now that I've threaded the clevis to the very bottom of the threads. there's no change in anything. I would have almost expected first and third gears to be a little worse, but they still work fine even though I used up all of the adjustment in favor of second gear. Usually, an extreme movement like this has some effect on another part of the system. But in this case, nothing changed either way. Second didn't get better and the rest didn't get worse.

I'll try that. The way I look at that spring, it seems like it would hold it in third better than in second. But I really don't know because it's gone :). Obviously Buick thought it was a good idea for it to be there. I just haven't found anything in the manual that discusses its real purpose. I thought maybe it was some sort of anti-rattle spring. Bob's sells new ones and I have it on order. So, whether it helps or not, I'll get it installed. After writing this, I did a little searching. The 1950 Manual shows a better picture of the toggle spring and briefly discusses what it does. It seems that the way the "toggle extension" is installed, it is normally held in a centered position and shifting tips it either way so that the spring can pull on it. The damage may be done, but this needs to be there either way.

If you're willing to break up the set, I'll buy those valve covers from you. Let me know. Regards, Dan

Possibly stupid question, but I am missing this clip. The spring is just hanging there and the clip is gone. Would that affect this issue?

The car does go in to reverse properly. Also, the travel of the shift lever is the same in both directions, meaning it moves fully to the stop up (R and 2) and fully to the stop down (2 and 3). This is true even though I've adjusted the clevis all the way down. Also, it went into R,1, and 3, just fine before I adjusted it and also went stop to stop before I adjusted it. Basically, adjusting the clevis changed nothing about the system. The thing that I'm hung up on is what could use up all of the adjustment on the clevis. I added a picture below. It's threaded so far that it actually hits the lever arm when in reverse or second, (which probably doesn't help). It would seem if I adjusted it that far, there would be even more of a gap on the first and third throw of the shift lever on the column, but they still travel the full amount and there's no 1/8" gap.

Fantastic!! I'm glad you got it all back together and running good. I applaud your commitment.

Hello all, I have thread about my car in "Me and My Buick", but I wanted to approach a wider audience here. The car is a 1942 Special. I was told about this issue when I bought the car. But it wasn't fully clear to me because the car had some running issues that needed to be sorted out first. Now that I can drive the car, here is what I'm experiencing. When I shift in to second, it feels like it has engaged but when I let the clutch out it either does nothing (freewheels) or grinds if I'm still holding the shifter. Sometimes I can finesse it into gear. But mostly not. I adjusted the shifter according to the manual. There are two rods that can be adjusted. The "Selector rod" which is what moves back and forth when the Shifter is in Neutral and the "shifter rod" which shifts the transmission either from reverse to first or second to third. I was able to adjust the selector rod just fine. However, I used up all of the threads in the shifter rod in order to get it even close. You're supposed to put the transmission in second gear and then adjust the clevis to affect a 1/8" gap at the steering column shift lever. In order to do this, I had to sue up all of the threads on the rod and fully screw the clevis down. I replaced all of the selector rod bushings and it definitely improved the feel of shifting but didn't really solve the issue. It feels like if I could just give it a little more of a nudge, it would go in to gear. To me, this almost suggests a bent shifter fork. The car does fine in first, reverse and third. I have noticed that there's quite a bit of play in the idler lever, but it seems like this system would tolerate that. There's no mention of this particular issue in the manual. It talks about "pop out" and grinding but this is really more about not wanting to fully engage. I would happily double clutch it if it was simply a synchro issue. But it won't go in to gear at all. The few times I have gotten it in to ger, it stays there. It hasn't popped out at all. I'm curious if anyone has experienced this and may have some thoughts. I'm not averse to pulling the transmission, but if it isn't necessary, I'd rather not do it, of course. Regards, Dan

I got my valves adjusted. The car runs much better. I'm still fiddling with the choke on the front carb. I was able to find a proper 528S. I think rather than continuing to spend time on a carburetor that isn't correct anyway, I am going to focus my energy on the 528. The rebuild kit should be delivered today. I think I'll play the "Father's Day" card and spend some time on that. I still need to get under this thing and change the trans oil and the engine oil. If I feel like I have time, I'll drop the oil pan. I'm really curious to see what state this engine is in. The valve cover has obviously been repainted. I just want to see some evidence of a rebuild internally (or not). A sludge free pan or aluminum pistons would certainly indicate that. I also found a really nice Easter egg yesterday. I was going through a box of things that came with the car. Among everything else there were several pieces of wadded up paper. I started to take them all out. At the bottom of the box, I found a grimy looking piece of paper that wasn't wadded up but looked a little like garbage. When I picked it up, I noticed that it said "1942 Buick Fog Lamps" on it. Ok, not garbage, but what is it? It turns out I have the mounting instructions for the factory accessory fog lamps (which are on the car). Very cool. I thought maybe these were some kind of aftermarket lamps because the switch is mounted under the dash on left side. From the instructions, it turns out that was an optional placement point and you could either do that or mount them on center grille. What a great surprise. This car continues to impress me. Happy Fathers' Day to all of you to whom it applies. Regards, Dan

Definitely some good ideas here that seem worth trying. I bought an ozone generator, and it made things better but didn't fully eliminate the musty smell. The other problem with having an ozone generator is that it has no practical use after you use it once. So now I have an ozone generator kicking around the house. I guess I need to buy another car

I did the wax trick on some exhaust studs recently. I was shocked at how well this worked. A couple of them, I had to wax twice, but the bolts came right out. I don't know why this works, but I swear by it now.

For the Buick, isn't the front shock actually the control arm too? Anything is possible, but that seems like a lot of work.

This guy (James) will have plenty of drums if you need one. BestOfferCounts – BestOfferCounts

"A tappy valve is a happy valve" I'm doing the same thing with the clearances. Just a hair over spec. I understand why they want it done hot. It should be a more relevant and accurate setting. But I think as long as you err a little on the side of loose, it will be fine.

Thanks EmTee, I think that's in the lower portion of the picture. I bought a new one from Bob's just because. It's o my "to-do" list for the distributor. I started adjusting the valves last night. I know Buick wants you to adjust the valves with the engine at steady state and running. However, I wanted to get a sense of what I was starting with as it relates to valve clearances. The engine is hard to start and I know that tight valves can affect that. So, I wanted to get accurate measurements just to satisfy my curiosity. For a first pass, I'm adjusting them cold. I started on it last night and I got through Cylinders 1 and 2. Exhaust lash on the first one was 0.0 and cylinder 2 exhaust was pretty close to that. Intakes were also tight but not as bad the exhaust valves. I'm curious to see how the rest look. Probably more of the same.