KEK

Larry- The green and black is a great color combination. It takes a lot of time and effort to properly restore these old cars. Sounds like you’re almost there. I love these open cars…so fun to drive. I ordered my lens from Behrenberg Glass. Thanks Hugh for the contact. Ken

Hugh- Do you remember the dimensions you had the glass cut? It should be the same for my standard.

Got it! By the way your 25 is also gorgeous. Is the body black or dark burgundy?

I found a source for lenses but can’t find the exact replacement. Not a problem if the original was smooth glass since I want to return it to what the factory installed. However I am a little confused about what you mean by smooth glass. The last photo you posted of your beautiful 24 clearly shows horizontal lines molded in the lens. Is this the smooth glass lens the glass company made for you?

Thanks for the lead.

Thanks for the link to old car lenses. I’ll see if they can match my remaining lens. Are you saying that my 25 came from the factory with a smooth glass lens? So if I want to keep it original I would need to get a glass company to cut me 2 new lenses. Ken

Hi everyone- Hope you are having a great summer and putting lots of miles on your car. I took my 25 Standard roadster out yesterday and the headlight bezel fell off and I lost my headlight lens. It obviously didn’t survive when it hit the asphalt. Made my stomach turn when the 99 year old lens shattered into a zillion pieces. So now I am trying to find a replacement lens and hoping someone has one they would be willing to sell me. A pic of the lens is attached. It’s about 8 inches in diameter and says BENZE LENS at the top and BROOKLYN, NY at the bottom. Please let me know if you have an extra lens you would sell me or know someone that does. Thanks, Ken

Larry I am glad you pulled over to the side of the road before it was to late. I always carry a fire extinguisher with me just in case something like that happens and hope I never have to use it. I first threw it in the car when I was sorting out the carb issue when it flooded frequently and the gas would drop down very close to the exhaust pipe. I am pretty sure Bob sells new king pins if you need one. I think mine are slightly loose also but I am not going to mess with it now that the steering doesn’t shake anymore. Good idea about using your IR thermometer to check balance in the brakes adjustment. I am going to check the temp at all 4 corners…

Hi everyone- I want to give everyone an update on my 25 Buick standard 6 roadster and to thanks everyone that helped me get her road worthy. I took her on a 180 mile cruise in April from Grand Junction to New Castle and back. She ran great and didn’t miss a lick the entire 6 1/2 hour trip. I lead a group of 8 old cars. I had the only Buick. There was a 28 Chevrolet speedster and the other 6 were model As. We traveled on the back roads except for about 5 miles on Interstate-70. The weather was wonderful. Mostly in the high 60s with a few drops of rain. We climbed about 1,000 ft in elevation from Grand Junction to New Castle. The steepest part of the trip was actually on the return which required climbing a relatively short 10% grade. I chugged up the grade in 2nd gear with no power loss. My wife was very happy because she didn't have to get out and walk as she did one time before when I was sorting out the carb flooding issue. The final little shake I had in the steering wheel was resolved when I found out my tie rod connection to the pitman arm needed tightening a couple turns. Thank you Leif for that suggestion. Before I left for the tour I inflated my tires to the max as many of you suggested. I changed the engine oil, topped off the radiator coolant and battery fluid, filled my steering gear box with 600w oil (which badly leaks) and took a spare fan belt and some extra coolant. I have 2 other old coils but they don't look exactly the same so I didn't have a spare coil to take. My coil has a resister that drops the voltage down to about 2.5 - 2.9 volts (I can’t remember the exact voltage drop). So I wasn’t sure if I used one of the old spare coils what the voltage drop should be and I didn’t want to risk burning up my only set of original points. My amp meter was running about 15 amps which seems a little high so I may need to adjust the brushes but other than that it ran so well. My dad would be so pleased. It took 6 years for me to get the car roadworthy after my dad passed away. I can’t believe how fortunate I am to have found this forum. Cheers to you all! I could not have done this without your help. Much appreciated. Ken

Thanks to all that posted to this page I finally got my Buick 1925-24 horn button to work. I was able to remove it from the steering wheel and saw all the parts were there except for the springs that hold the 2 friction pads out. I didn’t have a clue they were missing until I saw the photo Hugh posted. The button never worked because I could never get continuity through the ground wire and I didn’t want to mess with the button because I was concerned I would break it. After seeing the photos I decided to carefully give it a try and got it out easily without damage. The button appeared to be in good condition so I just soaked it overnight in a vinegar bath then reassembeled with the 2 springs and new wire. That was just what the doctor ordered! Works perfectly now. Tweeted it to I get the best aooogha sound. Now if the weather here in Colorado would cooperate I would take her out for a test. Seems like a can’t get more than a mile down the road before someone honks or is waving at the car…

Hi Hugh- I had a similar issue with my 25-6-24 brakes. After I completed replacing all my brake linings I adjusted the brakes following the procedure in the 25 shop manual. I took her out for a test drive around the block and the car seemed to be losing power so I pulled over and saw my front left brake was smoking. The brake band was not releasing. I had tools with me so I released the brake and returned to my shop. I put the car up on the lift and readjusted all 4 brakes again but this time I didn’t follow the shop manual procedures. I could see that the trick is to adjust both bands so they grab evenly around the drum. I then adjusted the rears and left the fronts loose then took her out for a test. During the test run I tweaked the rear bands so the car would stop in a straight line without pulling to either side. After I was happy with the rear brakes I then slowing started to tightened the front bands a little at a time and so it was not pulling. I still need to tighten the fronts a little more but the brakes are working better than ever. When the weather gets nicer I will finish the job. I really want to take the Buick on a 160 mile cruise with some other antique cars in April so the brakes need to be in good working conditions. Ken

Hugh- Thanks for sharing all your hard work. This is great information and inspires me to some day put the top on my 25-24!

Leif- I definitely will check the front end for tightness. I am pretty sure I tightened the tie-rod ends according to the Service Manual when I set the toe-in but not sure about the others. Thanks, Ken

The tires/rims came off a lot easier than I thought. I was probably overthinking the problem -=). Anyway I just pulled the bottom of the tire/rim out as far as I could get it and then hit the backside of the tire on top as Hugh suggested with a hard rubber mallet and they popped right off. What a relief! So I rotated the left side. The left rear tire/rim had a runout of 0.18” which was my best tire/rim so it went up to the front left. The runout on the front then decreased to 0.22” from 0.27” which is an improvement. Interesting the new runout of 0.22” is more than the 0.18” when it was on the rear. Both of my front tires/rims now have a runout of 0.22”. The left rear after rotating the front tire/rim to the back as a runout of 0.12” which is less than the 0.18” tire/rim that I rotated to the front. Doesn’t make sense to me that the tire/rim that had a runout of 0.27” on the front decreased to 0.18” on the rear but the rear tire that I rotated to the front had a runout of 0.18” increased to 0.22” when I rotated it to the front. I guess this is more art than science…. I took her for a test drive and the rotation did seem to help a little. It still has an indication of a slight wobble between 40 and 43 mph but not bad so I am going to declare victory. I feel it is safe to drive 5 miles on the interstate at 45 to 50 mph. Its rides nice and no wobble at all at this speed. I also noticed that depending on the road surface I get no indication of a wobble at 40 mph if the surface is smooth. A nice smooth surface gives a nice smooth ride as you would expect. I plan to put the car up on my lift and check the front axle specifications but that will have to wait until I get my latest project off the lift. I might find something out of spec that can be adjusted but I am not that concerned anymore since the ‘death wobble’ has been eliminated. I did shake the front tires/rims back and forth from top to bottom when they were jacked up off the ground and found the king pins are a little worn. Larry said his left king pin is a little loose but doesn’t cause a wobble so that might not be an issue for me either. Thanks for everyone’s input it is very much appreciated. I always learn something new and interesting on this forum! Ken

Hugh- I will try hitting the backside of the tire as you suggest and if that doesn’t work I’ll use a pry bar on the backside. That sounds like a good idea and any paint that is damaged won’t show. Thanks for the advice! Ken