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Grant Z

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  1. Very nice Adam! I have a friend with a 1918 Buick Roadster and is finishing of his 1910 Roadster at the moment. In speaking with him, I can see that these early cars are a "different beast" indeed. I hope you have much enjoyment from the car. PS: your Pierce-Arrow looks magnificent.
  2. You will have to come down to see for yourself! šŸ˜‚
  3. There were only 508 of the 1941 71Cs produced (according to Matt Harwood's literature).
  4. Is this car Richard Mann's 56C (Santa Barbara, CA)?
  5. I assume you can tell from the above answers that the simplest way is the hood vents. 4 for the small engine cars (Specials & Supers), 5 vents for the big engine cars (Century, Roadmaster & Limited).
  6. Hi Neil, of course you are correct, sorry. I got myself confused. I now realise that the 56C & 76C both would be identical from the windscreen back. Sorry, I'm a slow learner!šŸ˜© An extra question. Would it be fair to say that to compare a 1941 model 44 (A-body - as in my Series-A Special Business Coupe), with a 1941 76S (C-body Roadmaster Sport Coupe), there would be no 2 panels on the car that are the same, also the chassis, engine & transmission are also different, even though they are both 1941 Buicks? If so I find this astounding!
  7. As I have only owned Buicks for a mere 5 years, I'm still trying to work out the differences between both B & C-Bodied cars. I have & drive a 1941 Series-A Special Business Coupe, and I've learnt that this uses the same Fisher body as the 1941 Chevy. But now that I own (and am restoring) a 1941 Roadmaster 76C, I'm trying to find out what are the differences in the bodies of say a 56S & a 76S. Apart from the longer chassis & front sheet metal (due to the small & large engine series used), are the bodies (windscreen to rear of car) different in any way? I assume they must be or there wouldn't be both a B-body & a C-body. The image below is the best information I have found so far but still doesn't seem to answer my specific question regarding the B-body & C-body differences.
  8. Was there an explosion in a shaving foam factory? What is that white stuff? I live in Adelaide, South Australia where we get Mediterranean weather (think California). I often take my '41 Buick out for a cruise mid-Winter as we often get dry days. Adelaide's average maximum temperature is around 15 Ā°C (59 Ā°F) and the average minimum around 8 Ā°C (46Ā°F). Note though that the mercury rarely drops below freezing or rises above 19 Ā°C (66 Ā°F). Frosts are common in the valleys of the Adelaide Hills, but rare elsewhere. Are you feeling sorry for me yet? Oh I forgot, we are now heading in Summer.
  9. Hi Ken, for what it's worth, my oil filler plug on the differential housing cover is at the 6.00 position.
  10. Ah ha! Now I understand. Thanks for the explanation Ken. I have Greg (2carb40) looking for something for me now.
  11. Hi Ken, I can't seem to work out why you had to drill & tap this hole in the side of the flywheel housing. Was it not there already?
  12. We don't get that white stuff here in South Australia, AND we're heading into Summer!
  13. Hi Keith, many thanks for your prompt response. I'm not sure what ratio my car has yet but probably 3.9's. I'm getting closer to restoring the torque-tube & differential (plus the engine & trans) so will know soon. 3.4's sound excellent. I can convert miles to kilometers no problem as have grown up with both. I would also like to use the Diamondback radials. I use Firestone non-radials on my model 44 which is fine but think the Diamondbacks would be a great choice as I've heard they are fabulous. Thanks again Keith.
  14. Hi Keith, what ratio were in your Roadmaster, and what ratio have you moved to (and from which year)? Here in Australia, we have many open spaces and I do long miles occasionally (our nearest interstate capital is 500 miles), so I'm very interested in having better mileage in my 41 Roadmaster (under full restoration now).
  15. Thanks for that post Matt, along with the photos of some truly spectacular cars. Much appreciated.
  16. This information I posted on my Facebook page (Forty One Buick Roadmaster Build) back on July 20th. Today something special was delivered to my door. An original rubber cased battery (originally designed to be 6V), but made into a 12V battery for the Roadmaster. Arial Batteries in Melbourne had original unused cases so when I called and asked if they could make a 500 mm long x 100 mm wide rubber case battery, they said ā€œno problem as we have two original unused cases in stock.ā€ Thanks to Jeff Randell (previous owner of the car) who recommended Ariel Batteries to me. In addition to that my mates Adam & Dennis kindly came over to lift the crankshaft out of the engine block for me (Iā€™m still under strict orders to limit my lifting). This 1060mm long (41.75ā€) crankshaft weighs 115 lb (52 kg). Thatā€™s 17-1/2 lb (8 kg) heavier than the cylinder head that I lifted and blew a disc in my back in late March. Soon Iā€™ll remove the pistons & connecting rods from the block in preparation to assess the state of the engine prior to reconditioning. BELOW: This (now 12V) battery is correct visually & in size (500mm long x 90mm wide x 200mm tall) for many cars of the era. BELOW: The crank-shaft may not look very long, but it is 1060mm in length (thatā€™s 41.75ā€). It also weighs 115 lbs (52 kg) BELOW: Itā€™s a long time since anybody has seen inside the engine. Bernie Fritshaw (Ontario, Canada) told me the last time he had the engine running was in about 1980. He owned the car from 1978-2014. He was told by the previous owner in New Jersey that the engine had been rebuilt.
  17. I've been very slow to get back to updating my progress on the car. I've been doing updates on the Roadmaster's Facebook page (Forty One Buick Roadmaster Build), but have neglected to keep this forum updated sorry. This information was posted on the Facebook page on July 16th. Not only has there been plenty of work on the car, I have also been spending many hours on my computer researching the parts that I need for this project. Iā€™m intending to purchase mostly from Old Buick Parts (CARS Inc.) in New Jersey, USA who are in their 50th year of operation. Iā€™m dealing with the company owner who has been very helpful with my many questions. I enjoy dealing with people like this. Regarding the car, after the front & rear halves of the body were separated (due to the rusty floor being removed), they and the chassis was sent to the media blasters to have all rust, dirt & grease removed. In the case of sheet steel, this process leaves you with a very ā€˜honestā€™ view of what you have to repair, as in some cases it appears that steel-eating termites have had a feast! Adam then gave these components a quick squirt of paint to protect them from surface rust. Adamā€™s work on the front section of the body (top of windscreen to the floor), has involved fabricating numerous rust-eaten sections of steel including the cowl-vent in front of the windscreen (see pics), some structural areas under the dash, and the foot-well part of floor that tapers up towards the firewall. This has involved some very intricate shaping of flat sheet steel to replicate what needed rebuilding. Adam has shown that he is more than capable for this entire car as he takes on every challenge headfirst. Please see the included photos which have further explanation with them. PS: it is now (July 16th) 15 weeks since my back fusion operation on March 29th and Iā€™m recovering extremely well. I still have some limitations (not allowed to lift over 10kg (22lbs), but have been told I can ā€œslowly work towards normalityā€. I have zero pain (praise God) unless Iā€™m careless with what I do. My wife Stephanie has tirelessly looked after me. Below: The front section of the carā€™s body, which includes the windscreen, cowl, firewall & front foot-well. Below: Adam working on the cowl-vent repairs. Below: The cowl-vent opening, showing where rust developed due to water sitting in the surrounding channel. Below: The beginnings of the new cowl-vent opening. Below: After more refinement, the new piece is welded in place of the original rusted piece which was removed. Below: The new cowl-vent opening completely finished with the original vent door in-place. Below: This shows clearly (left) the piece that Adam made (in blue) tacked into place, then completed and painted (at right). Below: The right-hand door pillar before, and after the repair of a dent. Note the rust further down (refer to next pic for repairs). Below: Slightly lower down that same door pillar, Adamā€™s very neat work of repairing a patch of rust. Below: Another of Adams hand formed pieces. See next photo where it has been welded into place to repair a rusted section. Below: This is the piece from the previous photo, now, welded in place and finished off. Below: Another one of Adamā€™s hand formed pieces. See following photo for the completed work. Below: This is the piece from the previous photo now welded in place for another rust repair. Below: Another hand formed piece clamped in place while assessing further work. Below: This is one of the body to chassis braces, which gets welded to the bottom of the carā€™s floor and is the mount to the chassis (just as shown in this photo). Adam had not made something quite this complex before, so made it with three pieces of steel welded together. Adam is an automotive painter by trade but has taught himself bodywork. He operates his restoration business alone with no other staff, and does all body & paint himself. Below: Adam decided he would have a 2nd attempt at making the previous brace out of 1 piece of steel (no welds or joins). What an incredible result! Below: Bottom and top views of the same piece of floor-pan (from beneath the front seat). Adam brushed off all the rust to see where the spot welds were located that held the bracing to the main floor-pan. He then drilled out those spot welds to separate the bracing from the pressed steel floor. This was then sent to the media blaster to strip all rust and dirt away (see following photo). Below: After media blasting, we now have a clean front floor section and bracing ready to be repaired. Below: This is what remains of the carā€™s floor from the rear of the front seat to the rear of the rear seat. Below: The horizontal panel with the 3 large holes hides the vacuum cylinder pumps (underneath), which operate the power roof on the car. The roof arms go through the 3 holes to the cylinder pump below. Below: The beginning of Adams work to repair the rust along the side of each rear quarter panel, where the rear fender attaches. These two mating surfaces had a piece of welting between them, which held moisture and caused the two surfaces to rust. Below: The Roadmaster chassis after returning from media-blasting to remove all rust & grease. Adam then gave it a coat of paint to protect it from further corrosion. Below: The differential & torque-tube assembly. Below: My dog Muddy (the whippet) & I went for a drive in my 1941 Buick Coupe to discuss various aspects of the restoration. Here Muddy is in deep contemplation regarding one of the more complex issues.
  18. Hi Ken, I've been out of hospital for over 24hrs now but won't be back to full operation for some time. Your posts are most helpful. Even my body man Adam logs on to see what clues he can pickup and make comparisons. It's surprising the differences between the '40 & '41s. Cheers & thanks.
  19. Always appreciative of the info you share thanks Ken.
  20. I'm very fortunate to have those with my 1941 76C project (along with lots of other 'un-obtaininium parts'.
  21. I only met someone 2 days ago who told me that McLaughlin Buicks (and many American GM cars) can be traced by contacting Vintage Vehicle Services - https://www.vintagevehicleservices.com. I hope this helps.
  22. Many thanks for letting me know the color Ken. Of course on a computer it looks different in every photo I see, but it sure looks like what I'm imagining for my car and that color is also a 1941 color. Titian Maroon also looks nice but significantly dark I suspect (Richard Mann's '41 Super 56C is that color). Much appreciated. Cheers
  23. Outstanding. What is the color of your car Ken?
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