Str8-8-Dave

If the car is equipped with a Rochester Quadrajet carburetor I would be looking at the float. If that carburetor has a nitrophyl plastic float it may have absorbed enough fuel to prevent it from closing the float valve, at best, or sunk at worst. I had a brand new 1968 Pontiac GTO with one of those carburetors and the nitrophyl floats failed twice, first time causing an engine compartment fire that did serious damage. Second one failed on the freeway and when I slowed on the exit ramp the car began to run rough. I nursed it to my destination by holding the gas pedal down far enough to keep it from stalling while holding the brake pedal to control my speed. Nex very cold winter day I took the carburetor apart and removed the errant float, drove to the dealer and got another and installed it. That fixed the rich condition instantly. If you could find a brass float to replace the plastic float I would highly recommend replacing it.

Wires from either male or female plugs are soldered. Use a resin core radio solder such as Kester Resin Core. DO NOT use acid-core solder for wiring connections. Those plugs look perfectly salvageable to me. After removing old wires you can heat the contacts and blow old solder out with 10-15psi air pressure. Strip ends of new wire pass thru contacts. Heat the exposed ends of the wire above the contact and flow solder onto heated wire. Snip off excess wire and dress contacts to shape with a fine metal file. Make sure springs still move contacts correctly to assure good contact when connecters are assembled.

So this article popped on my MSN homepage news feed this morning and, like, wow- I'm all excited, open the film and watch. Great scenery, both geographical and human, but then I go back and read the article. It's an 85% size replica built on a 48V electric chassis? Who does that? Bah humbug... Bentley Blower Jnr begins durability testing with a Christmas mission | Watch (msn.com)

If you are talking about opening the canister, there is no thread. The assembly is soldered together with lead solder. If you are asking about stem and nut yes they are threaded and should turn freely. Clean the male stud threads on the thermostat carefully with a small brass wire brush or with a miniature brass wire wheel in a Dremel moto-tool. The adjustable link nut threads could be cleaned with a bore brush like those found in firearm cleaning kits. If you can find one, it could be chased with a bottoming tap. A same thread sized die could be used to chase threads on the thermostat stud but do not turn the die with a die handle, turn the die by itself by hand only or you will tear the bellows. I don't know if Jim Otto is still working on these thermostats but he rebuilt the one in my car a few years ago. He retired from Sylphon, a major manufacturer of these thermostats. Here is his contact info, you might want to give him a call.

Kevin- I answered your PM. Don't know if you saw that. Dave

Mine is an off-the-road project insured by Hagerty. I had it on the road for awhile and under Hagerty's revised policy they were reluctant to let me pause the on-the-road coverage while the car went back into restoration mode, but after they reviewed my coverage history, decided they would let me pause the on-the-road stuff. I was told new policies would allow a car to be covered while in process of being restored but once the car was insured for the road you can no longer take on-road coverage off. That's expensive if the car is on stands in the garage.

I've seen hydrogen gas battery explosions, happened to one of the owners of the Sunoco station I worked at as a kid. If the water was low in the battery and there was a fracture in cell connecters the arc may have been inside the battery. If the connecters stay submerged they won't arc. The fact you had to jump start the car, then took it for a short drive during which the alternator was probably throwing everything it had at the battery to catch the charge up, there would have been quite a bit of hydrogen gas generated.

So the tie rod ends I have seen lately listed as 31 Buick parts are not 31 Buick 31 parts. I did find one listing for "early Buick" tie rod ends that might use the same internal parts but that's a long shot. I'm trying to reach the seller now.

Hi Ed; I bet Mac Blair had these by the ton. They were used on 31 60/80/90 series cars and very likely were carried over for 32. Since Mac passed I'm sure his family are up to there eyeballs trying to find homes for large lots of what Mac collected. I may try making a contact there to see if when they get slowed down they might look to see what they have. I also sent e-mail to 32Buick67 and John Fields. John restored a bunch of these cars and I bought many parts from his dad Roger, but Roger has also passed away. I did buy a pair of NOS studs, it's the clamshell bearing parts and cover I need. Thanks very much for your suggestion, I will look into that idea as well. Dave

My car cannot be driven until I resolve a tie rod end issue. I'm desperately looking for any of the following: A completed used tie rod end or both of them. Part numbers are 16SV23 F and/or 16SV24 F The 3 small internal parts and bottom cover plug circled in the attached picture. If you have any of these parts and are willing to sell please contact me via messages on the website or email dkrugler@msn.com Thanks Dave

My car cannot be driven until I resolve a tie rod end issue. I'm desperately looking for any of the following: A completed used tie rod end or both of them. Part numbers are 16SV23 F and/or 16SV24 F The 3 small internal parts and bottom cover plug circled in the attached picture. If you have any of these parts and are willing to sell please contact me via messages on the website or email dkrugler@msn.com Thanks Dave

My car cannot be driven until I resolve a tie rod end issue. I'm desperately looking for any of the following: A completed used tie rod end or both of them. Part numbers are 16SV23 F and/or 16SV24 F The 3 small internal parts and bottom cover plug circled in the attached picture. If you have any of these parts and are willing to sell please contact me via messages on the website or email dkrugler@msn.com Thanks Dave

Actually the only thing that differed among 50/60/80/90 series instrument clusters was the range for the KS Telegage gas gauge due to different sized tanks. 50 series held 16 gallons, 60 series 19 gallons and 80/90 held 22 gallons. Speedometer heads were even common as different wheel sizes and drive ratios was handled by cable drive and driver gear combination.

Amen to price of restoration becoming unaffordable. You can put your grand kids through Harvard Law School for the average price of a ground-up restoration...

Good Tom- Glad to help.

Hello to all; I'm happy to say I survived a very busy summer that mostly centered around settling an old log cabin cottage we bought in Grayling, MI. We re-wired it, added electrical to the pole barn, cleaned it, furnished it, poured a cement floor in the pole barn, cleaned up the landscaping, put a new roof on it and a gutter system. And I thought antique cars were expensive and time consuming? Ok, now that the cottage is closed for the winter, I get to spend a little quality time with the Buick. A couple of weeks ago I answered a PM from Jeff Trahan who wanted to know what some parts were that he got with a dis-assembled 31' 90 series Buick coupe. Some of the parts in his picture I could not identify but he had a picture of the link rod that connects the brake pedal to the brake cross shaft. He particularly wanted to know what a second small rod was that is clamped to the pedal rod. The small rod turned out to be the brake light switch link rod. I was particularly interested in Jeff's picture because the brake switch link on my car was a jury-rigged part, one of a very few, left from the previous owner. Jeff was kind enough to mail his brake light switch rod to me to use for a pattern to make a rod for my car and since Jeff's rod waw broken off at the cotter pin hole at the switch end, I made Jeff a new rod and mailed it back to him. Jeff's rod had a funny bend in it that I wasn't convinced was correct so I sent a request to Dave Dunton for some pictures of his brake light switch linkage as it is installed on his unrestored 31' Buick 60 series coupe. I also got Dave to measure the length of his rod from the center of the eyelet on the end of the rod that is attached to the brake pedal rod and Dave confirmed the diameter of the rod stock for the switch link. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story... This is the picture of the mystery parts Jeff sent. I haven't a clue what the strap and triangles are but the big rod in the picture is the service brake pedal rod that connects the brake pedal to the brake cross shaft in the car. That small rod clipped to the big rod is what's left of an original brake light switch rod. The bend is not correct and it is broken off at the switch end at the cotter pin hole. Here are pictures of the brake light switch installation on Dave Dunton's original car. Dave reported the switch rod was fabricated from 0.125" rod and he measured 10-3/8" from center of the clip screw eyelet to the switch end of the rod. Note that it is assembled to the smaller top hole in the brake like switch actuator arm. Here are pictures of the jury-rigged brake light switch link rod installation I had on my car. The rod is fabricated from 0.187" rod, is bent, is installed a in a larger bottom hole on the switch arm, and has a cotter pin attachment to the brake pedal rod clip. The correct attachment is via #12 round head machine screw, nut and lock washer and that end of the switch rod has a formed eyelet the screw passes through. Here is a picture of my incorrect brake switch rod on the bench. This is the rod Jeff sent. Pictures of the new correct rod I fabricated for my car. I made a second copy of the correct rod and mailed it back to Jeff. Here is a picture of the new rod installation on my car installed with the brake light switch that was on the car. I also had a correct NOS brake light switch for my car, so I decided to install it. Black wires to the bottom terminal on the switch are hot feed from the headlight switch. Black wire with red trace that tucks into a groove in the floorboard is a feed to the dome light switch on the passenger B-pillar. The 2 yellow wires on the top terminal are the brake light wires.

The pictures here are of a 1931 Buick 60 trans and tail light which had a backup light standard on all series. How long it was before they thrifted that out- I don't know. In 31 there was only 1 tail light standard, 32 had 2 tail lights and did not have the white center lens. A picture of a 30 Buick roadster appears to have the same tail light as 1931. My original 1931 Buick trans with reverse lamp circled. This is a picture of the stock Gemco tail lamp on my 31 car which has a center backup light lens. 31 had one tail light on the left. 32 had two tail lights but no backup lamp in the center. I found this picture of a 1930 Buick that sold at Connors Motorcar and it appears to use the same Gemco tail light with center backup lamp lens.

This looks like a nice part for someone with a 31-32 80/90 series car. I've seen bare casting go for this price. This one looks clean as a whistle and has a valve in place. 1931-32 Buick Series 80-90 - Exhaust Heat Valve 1248703 - Excellent! | eBay

Years ago I bought a couple of total enclosing Stanley Perma-Bag storage covers designed for indoor use, vapor proof, come with 4 or 5 big (1/2 gallon milk jug size) re-chargeable dessicant canisters. The drill was spread the floor of the cover out on the garage floor, roll the rest of the cover up at the front of the floor, drive the car onto the floor, put a soft car cover on, roll the windows down a couple of inches, put the car up on jack stands if desired, then deploy the main part of the Stanley cover over the car and zip it all up except the rear of the cover. The Stanley cover came with a battery operated hygrometer/thermometer instrument that inserts into a clear window pocket at the rear of the cover and some temperature VS humidity tables to guide you to recognize appropriate. The dessicant cannisters get baked in the oven at 425 degrees for 5-6hrs to dry them out. Using a broom, deploy two cannisters under the front of the car, one under the middle and remaining two inboard of the rear tires, install a fresh battery in the hygrometer/thermometer and stick it in the window pocket and finish zipping the cover up. The car is now in a desert-like environment, humidity stays low all winter. Auto-Pyjama® Specialised Car Covers since 1971 (autopyjama.com)

So I absolutely agree using the engine mounted mechanical pump to prime a dry float bowl is not a good idea, it's murder on the starter motor. I added a Carter low pressure pump to a Chris Craft boat powered by a 327 Chevy with a Carter AFB carburetor which was vented to the atmosphere and went dry every time the boat sat on the trailer for a week, it was kind of a hassle. Now I'm really cheap and you can add lazy to that, the bowl cover screws on my 31 Buick 8-66S with stock Marvel carburetor are left finger tight. The car sits more than it runs so it inevitably goes dry. I just remove 3 screws, loosen the 4th and rotate the bowl cover out of the way and pour about 2 ounces of gas in the bowl, and reinstall the 3 screws and tighten all 4 finger tight, pull the choke and varoom- away we go. No wiring, no spliced gas lines, no muss, no fuss.

T-9 Boeshield is a spray anti-corrosion oil that works well on un-painted steel parts and would protect your chrome. Not cheap but it was developed by Boeing to protect crucial aircraft parts. Also available in liquid 1oz and gallons. Amazon.com: Boeshield T-9 Waterproof Lubrication 4 oz aerosol by Boeshield : Industrial & Scientific

Outboard Marine Corporation used to make fogging oil intended to be mixed with appropriate 2-stroke or 4-stroke gasoline in a dedicated temporary portable tank. In the case of outboards you simply disconnected the regular tank and snapped the connecter from the fogging tank on, ran the engine until it smoked heavily, then shut it down. Since it went thru the crankcase on 2-stroke engines this was quite effective, coating not only cylinders but also coating the rotating mass (rods, crank) that resides in the crankcase. For 4-stroke automotive engines it required disconnecting the tank line from the fuel pump and clamping the fogging tank hose onto the fuel in fitting on the fuel pump. It was less effective on rotating mass protection but did well protecting cylinders. Somewhere along the line, OMC went belly-up and was bought out by Canadian Bombardier and I also suspect the EPA didn't like the idea of all that smoke so as far as I know, you can't buy OMC fogging oil anymore. I found a combination of a healthy dose of Sta-Bil fuel stabilizer added to the non-ethanol fuel I run and use of Eagle fogging oil in an aerosol can for cylinder protection works pretty well on the 31 Buick. The Sta-Bil stuff is less effective if you run ethanol blended pump gas, especially in an older car with a vented gas tank, because the ethanol absorbs water. If that's what you run, nothing short of draining the tank and running the system dry will work. That becomes a bit tricky if using the aerosol spray fogging oil because correct use of that requires first warming the engine up, then removing the air cleaner and throttling up to a good fast idle, like 1200-1500RPM, spraying continuously for 30 seconds or so, then continuing to spray while closing the throttle and literally flooding the engine out with fogging oil. Don't stop spraying until the engine dies and stops. My solution before I wised up and stopped using ethanol blended fuel was to use a portable 3 gallon boat tank to supply a mixture of non-ethanol fuel with a good dose of Sta-Bil in it to do the end of year fogging. My portable tank also had a primer bulb on the fuel line which was very handy for priming the carburetor without beating up the starter for a long run.

So Michigan offers a historic vehicle plate good for 25yrs and you can register plates from year of vehicle mfg. I started with the historic vehicle plate on the 31 Buick and later found a really nice set of restored 1931 Michigan plates. You have to be a little careful with year of mfg. plates because often the DMV will do a search to make sure the plates you are trying to register are not already registered to another vehicle. In Michigan you have to submit a photo of the year of mfg. plates and a check for $35 via snail mail. You will then get either a registration back in the mail if plates are accepted or you get your check back with a regrets letter. Yer of expiration for regular historic vehicle plates is handled by sticker.

I thought about buying a sears engine when I was a teenage but always wound up back in the junkyard...

The subject car is definitely missing the model number tag and since it used to reside right where that accessory heater tube now passes thru the firewall it was probably removed. What happened to it after that is anyone's guess. Whoever installed the heater should have moved the tag or at least kept it with the car and it's owner.