John R. Hess

Update....after searching for the correct pick-up tube and having no success (apparently there are a LOT of one inch tubes out there but no 2.5 inch tubes) I purchased a complete 1951 oil pump which would have needed a rebuild and we removed the bottom plate and swapped it to my newly rebuilt pump and it fit like a glove. The plate was in excellent condition and only needed cleaning. the pump was installed in the car and upon fire-up, it archived 60 lbs of pressure on the dash gauge. Even after driving it a bit when the oil got hot, it was around 30 or 40 lbs, which is WAY better than the 12-15 lbs I had at the beginning of this project. While the car was there, we did an inspection on important stuff, like brakes and steering. 3 wheel cylinders were starting to leak and the master cylinder was all rusty. The rubber hose at the rear looked like is was ready to go (all cracked) and some of the steel tubing was rusty. So, in addition to having good oil pressure, I can safely say the car will now stop as well as it can go! Thanks to everyone who helped and/or offered sage advice! John

Hi EmTee Yes, the sump will fit into either pickup. That's a good idea and I certainly will keep it in mind as a look for the correct piece from one or two more sources. Not sure I know anyone locally that could handle the job, though. Thanks! John

Hi Matthew Yes I did call Dave and talked with him again yesterday. He checked his stock and unfortunately, he did not have anything I could use. He did not have an oil pump on hand. He was very helpful & knowledgeable and a real nice guy to talk to. Thanks for recommending him!

Hi again everyone Back again with yet another issue. Thanks to the help of a forum member, I found a new pickup tube although I discovered the tubes came in at least two different lengths. So far, the only ones I've found have been the "short" (1.5 inch tall) to replace my "Long" (2.5 inch tall) one. Question: So far I have not been able to find the 2.5" pickup tube like my car had. I have found quite a few short (1.5") tubes. If this is all I can find, will using a short one present any kind of problems with picking up oil with the sump being approx. 1 inch higher in the pan? Does anyone out there have any experience with this? Thanks John Hess

Hi Leif, that sounds great! I'll send you a PM.

Hi Leif That would be supergreat! Thanks much. Look forward to hearing from you. Thanks! John

Hi again The saga continues with my low oil pressure on our '41 Super. After pulling the pan we found out that someone had neglected to remove what appeared to be a shop rag before reassembly. This story was told in a previous post. While the pan was off and the oil pump removed, we decided to rebuild it. It was sent to EGGE in California. While in transit after being rebuilt, it was damaged and arrived broken. EGGE had done a less-than-stellar job of packing it and Fed Ex did the rest! I will say that EGGE did refund the total cost of the rebuild but did not have the piece I needed to make it functional. The rebuilt pump is all intact with the exception of the piece that the oil sump hooks onto. Below is a photo of what I'm explaining. What I am hoping for is to find a replacement piece that goes between the bottom plate and the sump. However, if anyone has an entire oil pump with this piece included (a worn out pump would be great) I would certainly be happy with that. If you can help either with the part or have any idea where to direct me to in order to find such, I sure would appreciate it. Right now, the car has gone from really low oil pressure to zero oil pressure! Thanks for any help! John Hess

Hi Ben I haven't seen the screen with the cover off. Don't know if it's been taken apart yet. I will say the oil pump has been disassembled and it is very clean and nice looking inside. A tiny bit of wear on the bottom plate. The Haines Shoe House, shown with the car, was build in 1948 in suburban York, Pa. It was built by the owner of a shoe factory and a regional chain of shoe stores. The story can be found on google. I thought it was a good place for a picture. Only 3 miles from our house. Nice '50!

I am tending to thinking about something left in the oil pan. We did remove the valve cover and everything in there looked good. The bottom of the engine looks clean and "rag free". I do believe the remnants were all collected on the oil input screen. I never heard of valve silencers and I suppose anything could be possible but I have to agree that adjusting the valves would be a better solution!

OK. We now know the truth. We removed the oil pan and what was revealed was one of those "you're not going to believe this" events. Attached are pictures of what we found as a picture is worth a thousand words. The first picture is when the pan was removed and the oil intake screen was still in the motor. Second photo is the oil intake screen on the bench. What is hanging from the screen is what appears to be some sort of fabric, much like shredded cheese cloth! Where this came from is ANYBODY'S guess. My mechanic though that someone may have left a piece of rag in the engine. It appears to be in the oil pan only, no where else in the engine. I'm sure I know the answer to this but did Buick ever use a cloth based item in a filter or gasket or something like that? Fortunately, the pieces are too large to go through the internal engine tubing and the tubing to the oil filter. As clogged as the screen is, my mechanic said it was a miracle the engine had ANY oil pressure! Once everything is cleaned up, he suggested we replace the oil pump while it's apart, since the existing pump exhibits some wear. Now the question is: should we go with a new pump or rebuild the existing one? What do you guys think? As far as new, does anybody have any experience with this and can anyone recommend who to buy from (or perhaps who NOT to buy from)? Same with a rebuild kit. Many have asked about a picture of the car. That is attached, too. Thanks John Hess

First, thanks to all who have replied so far. The information is very helpful. To answer 37 Roadmaster's questions: The motor is the original motor to the car, 1941. A previous owner (2 before me) told me the motor was overhauled but they did not replace the oil pump, as it appeared to be fine. I'm not so sure this was a good idea. The oil pressure NEVER goes above 35 lbs cold, when the motor is good and warmed up (normal operating water temp) the pressure never exceeds 15 lbs. At idle, it'll go to almost zero but quickly comes back up to 15lbs. when the revs go up. This low pressure was verified with a known to be working external gauge. In the next week or two, my guy is ready to pull the pan and see what's in there. I have the car about 2 years and it never had the pressure the manual calls for. Last driving season I noticed how low it gets. I have to be honest that I can't say what it was 2 years ago as I don't constantly watch the gauge when driving. But it never went over 35 lbs since I've had it. The book says 45 lbs. The thing that scares me is the low, warmed-up pressure at idle. Definitely below 5 lbs.

Hi everyone We're getting ready to investigate a low oil pressure problem on my '41 Super. In case the problem is the oil pump, can anyone recommend a source for a replacement oil pump or would it be preferable to rebuild the existing pump. If so, any recommendations for a rebuild kit? Thanks in advance for any suggestions. John Hess Pennsylvania

They are plastic, probably that soybean-based plastic.

Hi everyone, We have been plagued with dim tail lights and rear turn signals, which we feel is unsafe. The correct bulbs are in the sockets and the grounds have been tested as good. The first thing I have done is to dissemble the tail light assemblies in order to replace the red outer lenses. My concern is that the inner "focusing lenses" appear to be darkening in varying degrees, possibly restricting the light output (see photo). Does anybody know if these internal lenses should be clear or near-clear. For comparison in the photo there is a reproduction front focusing lens. All the rear ones are much darker in various degrees than the front reproduction. Does anyone know if there are new reproduction internal lenses for the rear. There are two on each side.

Hi again everyone As I make small improvements to our '41 Super, the latest thing is to replace the cloudy front turn signal/parking light lenses. That part was extremely easy. The issue I have now is that the internal "focusing lenses", item "I" (condensing lens) in the 1941 master parts book was broken off perhaps decades ago. Looking at the replacement lenses I received, there is no way I can figure out how these install inside the lamp housing. They appear to screw in somehow, but there are no visible screw heads inside the lamp housing. Has anyone replaced the focusing/condenser lens on these? Both sides are broken off. I assume they are of some importance or they wouldn't have been there originally. Thanks in advance for any help on this. John Hess

Here's an issue I hope someone more familiar than I can shed some light on. Our 1941 Super (248 engine) appears to have low oil pressure. When cold, it is always 30 lbs. Once the water temperature reaches "normal", the oil pressure settles in at 15 lbs. Once warmed up, it never goes over 15lbs. It will, if you are sitting at a traffic light, go very low, approaching zero. If you rev the engine slightly, it will return to 15 lbs. I had my mechanic put an external oil pressure gauge to the engine so we could see what the oil pressure actually is and how it compares to the in-dash gauge. The test verified the accuracy of the in-dash gauge. Question is: am I worried about nothing. The owner's manual for the '41 Buick states: "with hot oil and a road speed of about 15mph, if any pressure is indicated by the gauge, it can be assumed the oil pump is functioning properly" (page 14, second edition of the manual). There is no range listed in the manual or any minimums listed. The engine was rebuilt by the 2nd previous owner, who told me it was less than 10 years ago and apparently less than 10,000 miles. It runs great and sounds good. When driving along, the oil pressure seems to hold steady at 15 lbs. There is 30 weight oil in it. Oil level is full. Thanks in advance for your input John Hess

Hi folks Question regarding the hood latch on my '41 Super. I was wondering if there is any kind of vertical adjustment of the latch assembly. On the driver's side, there is probably at least 1/8" or more between the bottom of the latch and the top of the fender. The hood latch handle works smoothly and properly. On the passenger side (shown), there is barely enough clearance to slip a few sheets of paper between the latch and the top of the fender, yet alone the thickness of the hood. This side is extremely hard to close, putting a great amount of stress on the latch handle. My fear is that you have to push so hard to engage the latch that the latch handle (pot metal) may break. Photo #1 shows the latch assembly in question (two per side), Photo 2 shows the non-existent clearance. I can not believe that vertical adjustment is not possible but so far I can't figure out how that can be done. The shop manual doesn't address any such adjustments. Thanks in advance for any help you can give me. John Hess

Hi Everyone I have a question for which I have not found any answer by checking the service manual for this car. I am trying to find out what "sends" the oil pressure reading to the dash gauge. Is there a sender as there would be on a 60's car? I am experiencing varying oil pressure readings on the original dash gauge, varying from 15 to 30 psi, while driving at a steady speed. For a very brief moment, it dropped to almost zero and quickly returned to 15. At this point, I have no idea whether there is an oiling problem or a "metering" problem. Would it be possible in insert an oil pressure gauge into the place where current gauge gets it's feed? Thanks in advance for any help. The car is a Super, the engine is the original 248 cid with the compound carburetors. John Hess

Hi Neil Thank you very much for your prompt and exact reply. And the photos were excellent and very useful. I immediately found the cable and plug, which pulled out easily and allowed me to plug in the adapter for the MP3 player. Once tested, I restored the antenna lead which restored the radio back to normal. This will allow me to play appropriate programming while driving the car and listening to the radio. I couldn't find the plug for the antenna, as I never saw a cloth covered antenna cable. The only ones I've ever seen were rubber covered. Also, my cable had a large (about the size of a nickle) rubber boot over the plug that fits flush against the side of the radio when plugged in. Thanks to everyone who offered help on my project! John Hess

Hi Everyone Got a question...on a 1941 Super, where does the factory rooftop antenna lead plug into the factory radio? I wish to disconnect it and substitute a ReddyRad, which plugs into the existing radio antenna jack and will allow me to play appropriate programming from my MP3 player, tuning the radio to 1100 khz. This is no way is a modification to the radio, as all you need to do is unplug it and re-plug the factory antenna and the radio will function as before. Does the antenna lead plug in like any other lead from a car from the 50's and 60's? A simple push in/pull out? I looked up under the dash and don't recognize any place the antenna could plug into. Thanks John Hess

Thanks to all for your suggestions. I should have pointed out that the grounds are good and, just in case, I even went so far as to run a #12 wire from the ground terminal on the battery to the taillight assembly and grounded it there....no change. Inside the sockets look like brand new. All wiring is in excellent condition. The voltage remains constant at almost 6 volts on the blue wire at the flasher, whether the bulb is in circuit or removed. I am inclined to think there is something going on with the turn signal switch, since that's where the switching goes on. The brake lights go thru there, as do the turn signals, being selected by the switch when making a turn. Since the brake lights are normal and the turn signals low, it sure looks like something is going on there with the turn signal portion of the switch. Thanks to all. All suggestions were very valid and helpful. This is where I am now.....the trouble shooting will continue. John

I am having an issue with my turn signal operation of my all stock (6 volt) 1955 Thunderbird. I've had the car for 22 years and the turn signals worked perfectly in the past. The deterioration I'm experiencing happened over the last 2 years. It was very gradual so I didn't notice it until it became cronic. The issue is the turn signals burn so dim that, even at night, you can barely see them. It affects the front lights, the rear lights and the dash indicators. I have collected the data on it's current operation: The battery voltage ias 5.97 volts (motor off, ignition switch on). At the rear socket, for reference, with no bulb installed, the parking lights are 5.6 volts (both sides same). When you hit the brake light, the voltage available in socket is 5.94 volts, yielding a normal brake light (agan, both sides same). Now to the turn signal. I measured the voltage on the wire feeding the flasher and there is 5.74 volts there. To make the bulbs stay on, I put a jumper wire across the flasher, sending the 5.74 volts to the turn signal switch. When selecting either side, both left and right measure 4.1 volts. Now we know why they are dim. The interesting thing when you put the rear bulb in it's socket and watch the front turn signal or the dash indicator, the brightness drops quite a bit, indicating the voltage must fall below 4 volts when the load of the bulb is added Some times, the flasher does flash. Other times, it does not. Nothing consistent. Question is: Any idea what would cause both sides to have only 4.1 volts at the socket in the rear? It's not like one side is higher or lower than the other...they are almost perfect at 4.1 volts each. Have you ever experienced or heard of anyone with this issue? Can you suggest any further voltage measurements that may be useful. I have all the manuals for the car (shop and electrical) and they offer no troubleshooting help beyond what I've done. For the record, both tail lamp bulbs are correct. I have a feeling the problem is something relatively simple. Thanks much for your help John Hess York, Pa.