Kevin McCabe

Sort of. I have a copy of the 1940 edition of the Canadian Automotive Handbook. Under the section on McLaughliln Buick information starts with the 1928 model year and goes up to 1940. From 1928 through 1935 Canadian beginning and ending serial numbers are listed. Starting with 1936, only the beginning serial numbers are listed. It also lists other basic information for each model year. Because there is so much information I quickly decided I was way too lazy to try and transcribe the information for 1936 and 1938 and have instead scanned the relevant pages and they are in the attached jpg files. The book is 6"x4" so there's lots of blank space on each page. But it's all quite readable.

I have this particular bulletin. Do you have any others? Thanks Kevin

Hi Marc. What sort of phonographs do you collect? I have a DuKane 14A390 (C - I think) that works about as well as those machines ever did, I have another MUCH older machine that still has all of its cloth wrapped wire, stamped steel top plate and bakelite bushings. It's a manual machine but it also works. Lately I've picked up a DuKane Flip-Top projector and managed to find the needles for it as well as a Viewlex Flip Top projector. I haven't been able to find the needles for it yet, but I'm not in a rush. Yes, unfortunately, many of the folks who can repair these machines are a long way away and the shipping back and forth promises to be horrendous. I recently got my DuKane 1219 overhauled. Fortunately that gentleman only lived about two hours away from me, so I drove up to drop off the machine and came back five months later to pick it up. Are you interesting in parting with that '41 Plymouth record? Kevin

Hi Marc Turns out I do not have this particular record. If you still have it and are willing to part with it, I'm interested. I don't have the filmstrip for it, but it's absolutely random when ever a filmstrip or a record or a complete kit will turn up somewhere. Thanks, Kevin

Can you tell us the title of the record? I have a number of these 16" records and filmstrips. Some titles are the filmstrip and record, while others are either just the record or just the film. If anyone has any of these that they'd like to pass on, I'm certainly interested.

Hello Gary I'm in Ontario as well. I have run into a significant number of cars in the past 40 years that have some sort of mistake on the serial number. Everything from an "S" that should be a "5", a "3" that should have been an "8" up to cars (bought new by their owners) that are the wrong model year, a '73 PONTIAC Barracuda (don't know how that one got by) and a friend who brought a '57 Imperial back from New Jersey. The NJ title called it a Chev Impala, and listed a serial number that we could not find anywhere on the car. I've made up a letter for the vehicle owner(s) to take to a Ministry office to get the errors corrected and no longer have a problem with getting them corrected. In the case of the car I've been researching the model year is definitely incorrect, and the car ownership lists the body serial number and not the frame serial number. Unfortunately there's no one left front 1918 to ask about what Ontario's practice was at the time with regard to serial numbers, although I did talk to one man at the Ministry in Toronto who said Ontario accepted body serial numbers as the serial number of the car. I think I'm going to call Toronto again and confirm that. Even if Ontario is OK with registering the car via the body serial number, I'm hoping to have the owner get the model year corrected. Kevin

Hi Terry The McLaughlin plate on the toe board also lists the engine serial number and it happens to match the serial number on the engine in the car so to me, that makes it "numbers matching". Something else that is probably uncommon, given the amount of engine exchanges that occurred back in the day. Kevin

Guys: Thanks very much for all of the info on this car and some of the background to go with it. I should point out again that I do not own this car and am merely doing some investigation on his behalf. The car was purchased locally to the current owner and other than having the interior reupholstered, appears quite original. The rear tire mount and rear bumper appear to be missing. A non original toggle switch plate is mounted in the instrument panel. There are two switches in the panel as well as an ammeter gauge. Also present is what appears to be an aftermarket rim-wind clock. Pulling up on the outer rim of the dial allows the time to be set, but the rim does not appear willing to turn in either direction to actually wind the clock. I believe the owner will take the clock to a local clockmaker to see if can be made to work again. One question as to registration. In addition to the model year on the vehicle ownership being incorrect (the car is identified as a 1916), the serial number shown on the ownership is that of the tag on the toe board of the body, which I take to be the serial number of the McLaughlin built body. The frame serial number plate is present at the front of the left frame rail below the headlamp. Was it common to register cars by their body serial number as opposed to their chassis serial number? From the discussion thus far, I take it that the chassis, running gear and powertrain were all built by Buick in Flint? Or would there have been some sort of rudimentary knock-down assembly done by McLaughlin in Oshawa? Thanks again for all of your help and information. More pictures attached. Kevin

Very interesting. Was the sight glass a bit of a novelty item or was there a problem with the oil pump on these engines and the sight glass provided the driver with the constant ability to ensure oil flow? More pictures.

Hello All One other question I should have asked. The "serial number" on the plate on the toe board indicates the serial number of the car as 22527 and not the six digit number on the plate on the end of the left frame rail. 22527 is also shown as the vehicle serial number on the ownership. Is 22527 the serial number of the BODY? If so, was it common practise to use the body number to register the car rather than the chassis serial number? Thanks, Kevin

To all of you who have responded to my inquiry, thank you VERY much. I will attempt to upload more pictures so keep your fingers crossed. Based on the equipment found on an E-6-45 Special, I can provide the following additional details. The car has a front bumper but the front vertical face appears to be painted silver. The remainder of it is black. The headlamp bezels appear to be nickle. The rad shell is painted black. There is what I took to be an accessory spotlight mounted to the left end of the windshield frame. The switch for this lamp is mounted to the lamp housing and the rear of the lamp body has a round rearview mirror mounted in it. There is also a second panoramic mirror mounted inboard of the lamp. This lamp, its fittings and the pan mirror are all nickle. The soft top has natural wood bows. The rear flexible three section window in the top has a nearly square center section with the two outer sections having the upper outboard corners radiused. The top material looked to be white at one time and is now quite yellowed. The owner is going to try and clean the top to see if it can be brought back closer to white. A second complete top was also included with the car. It is fitted with material that to me, is a very early version of vinyl. Quite thick but still having some flex. The window in this top is an elongated hexagon with the top and bottom sections curving inwards towards each other. The steering wheel rim is wood and in good shape for its age. The throttle and spark levers as well as the quadrant appear to be nickle. A small rectangular plate appears to have been added to the center switch area of the I/P. It contains an ammeter as well as two toggle switches which may be ignition and the starter. There were no keys with the car so this may be a workaround. The I/P does seem to have a woodgrain panel affixed to it. There is also a small wooden compartment in the lower center portion of the front seat back. There is a key for the lock on the compartment door, stamped "4". The key seems to operate the lock, but the compartment door does not open. There is a rim wind clock mounted in the "gauge" area, central to the I/P. The speedometer/odometer/trip odometer is also present and in the bottom center section is some sort of sight glass that is rather oily. Is this something to indicate oil flow through the engine? Along with the elderly electric fuel pump supplying gasoline to the carburetor in place of the vacuum tank, I could not find a port on the engine that would have been the original vacuum source for the tank. Other than that, I was confused by the mounting system for the manifolds. A stud mounted in the cylinder head carries a fingered clamp that holds the exhaust manifold in place and there is a further piece that seems to hold the intake manifold to the head via the exhaust manifold. Finally, at the curve from the exhaust manifold to the exhaust pipe, there is a round hole in the manifold casting which provides a small view of the manifold inner details. Should this hole be plugged? No attempt yet has been made to start the car so how this hole will affect engine operation is not yet known. There is no rear bumper on the car and from the looks of the framework immediately behind the fuel tank there would either have been rear bumper brackets attached or the mounts for (one or two?) spare rims. More pictures to follow

Don't seem to be allowed to upload additional photos?

Hello Terry Finally got out to see the car today. The emblem in the rad shell identifies the car as a "McLaughlin" only. The chassis number on the end of the left frame rail is 362509. The engine number is 350405. Also found a McLaughlin tag on the toe board immediately ahead of the shift and parking brake levers. It indicates the model number as E45. It also lists the engine serial number 350405 (so it appears to have its original engine) and shows a serial number of 22527. It does not mention the chassis number at all. Is 22527 the serial number of the body? Or would McLaughlin have considered it to be the serial number of the car itself? Not sure how many files I can attach to this note, so I may post more replies. Thanks in advance for any help you can provide. One last question: Is it possible to get a photocopy of the owner's manual for the car? There was no documentation with the car and the new owner (not me) is anxious to learn what's required to bring the car back to life. The original vacuum tank is still present but has been bypassed and an elderly looking electric pump seems to supply gasoline to the carb. The rear wood spoke wheels appear to have been newly replaced with much sturdier spoke that those on the front wheels. The rear wheel hubcaps say "McLaughlin Buick" while the front only say "Buick". Kevin

Not intending to crash this thread, but I'm looking for serial number and model information on 1916 and 1917 McLaughlin Buicks. A friend has recently purchased what is believed to be a 1916 touring car with a six cylinder engine. He's telling me that the ownership for the car identifies it as a 1917. I have yet to see the car but hope to some time this week. I'd like to be able to help him identify his car properly. Thanks, Kevin McCabe