Angelfish

What I learned while installing the front springs: 1: Don't make it harder than it is. 2: If if takes more than an hour to install one side, see number 1. In my defense it's a bare frame with no engine, so I'm going to say that makes it harder. Long story (about 3 hours) short, we fought the first one fruitlessly for, well, 3 hours, before succeeding. But we did learn a few things and the second side took, literally, 12 minutes. 3: There are three tabs on the underside of the frame that align the spring in a pocket, mark these with white tape so you can see them when you shine a light up there trying to see if the spring is aligned. Just doing this saved 20 minutes. 4: Crack the upper ball joint loose so you have more space for the spring. 5: Jack up the front of the frame as high as you dare, again, more space for the spring. 6: Have someone to help you. 7: Securely fasten the spring insulator to the top if the spring with narrow strips of strong tape. It crossed my mind after that it may be possible to glue the insulator into the aforementioned spring pocket. 8: A strong ratchet strap is a necessity. I hooked the ratchet strap to the opposite side of the frame, ran it across the top of the frame, around under the A arm in question, back up over, terminating again on the opposite side. Make sure the strap isn't snagged on any of about 500 things that can snag it. 9: Holding the spring into the upper pocket, run the spring compressor down from the top, protecting the upper shock mount with wood blocks. Tighten it enough to prevent the spring falling out (see #3). 10: A smaller strap was also helpful, this one hooked near the bottom of the spring, looped around the opposite side of the frame and back to me. Pulling the strap pulled the spring into the lower spring pocket. 11: The lower spring pocket is molded roughly to the shape of the bottom coil, there is a specific location for the end of the coil to sit. To align in this spot, point the end of the coil at the rear tire if working the the drivers' side, not quite parallel to the frame. It doesn't look right while you're assembling it but it comes out pretty close. Passenger side aims forward the equivalent way. 12: Alternate spring compressor and ratchet strap to crank up the A arm. The strap was far more effective than I would have thought, born more out of desperation. 13. A floor jack under the A arm works nicely as an assist for the strap and also helped keep the spring from popping out on the bottom. Just keep it off your strap. 14: Ratchet and compress your way until the ball joint pin is ready to insert. We found that the strap was more effective in the last few inches. 15: Thread on the castle nut, tighten it to 40#, and alternate ratchet and compressor to let it back down. 16: If you had a spring compressor long enough to reach all the way through the spring to the bottom A arm, well, that would just be too easy.

Well, I don't seem to have it. A local junkyard has a 57 that I've robbed a number of parts from but I don't remember if it has the shroud. I do need a pair of mufflers, that will be next. And a rear section of the exhaust is missing but I have to figure out which side. Pretty soon I'll be asking about how the hangers are located. I'll put a list together and let you know what I come up with. Thank you.

How vital is the fan shroud in a non-ac car? Mine appears to be missing.

MacGyver used an innertube to raise a car he we trapped under. If it worked for him I'm sure it will work for you.

Bumping this to the top for my own selfish reasons. 7

I asked a question in a thread started by someone else and they kindly gave me a detailed answer ripe with information that I now need. I do not know the name of the OP. I was trying to look it up under my own posts but I was not successful. How can I search for my old replies from 2-3 years ago?

Thank you for posting, that is a fantastic resource. I can't believe I've never run across it before.

I have to agree that it doesn't always make sense to change something that is working. But cordless tools have reached the point where they work as well as corded, and I would never try to talk someone out of buying new tools. Makita is the only power tool company that is still who they say they are. All the others have been bought and sold so many times that nothing of the original company exists. I work in the tool retail industry and what it means to us it that Makita has far and away the best customer support. We send a tool back to their repair center and it's usually back to us within two weeks, most of the time free of charge. The company rep is available and responsive. We easily sell 100 Makita 36 volt framing saws for every 1 corded Skil wormdrive. Milwaukee is the worst for service. They are closely affiliated with Home Depot, so if you're not Home Depot you're SOL. But a lot of guys do like their tools. All the others are somewhere in between.

That is a beautiful car and the good photos have been very helpful.

My son and I rode our bicycles to a vacant lot we were working on. Upon arrival he had a flat tire. There was a heavy hemp rope looped around a fence post so he cut it to length and wrapped it inside the tire. Got him back home. Sometimes it's hack, sometimes it's necessity.

Thank you gentlemen.

The manual is a little vague about the arrangement of internal parts, this is a pretty good guess.

It was manufactured in Kansas City and spent most of it's life in Kansas. I bought it in Denver but it hadn't been there long. No indication that it lived anywhere other than Kansas. In addition to dismantling what appears to have been a perfectly good car, someone rattle canned the entire frame and suspension, linkages, parking brake cable, etc, so I ended up having the frame painted. The transmission was finished about a week ago. The engine is the original to the car and has standard pistons so I assume it's still a 364. It was changed over to the larger 401 valves at some point before I got it. It was reassembled with lithium grease and was almost seized from the hard grease on the connecting rods. It took a month of soaking and cleaning in warm ATF to get the rods freed up. If you look at the engine in the back (not the Jaguar straight 6) the oil filter housing and oil filler caps were the color that is now on the valve covers, it appears the original color is what the valve covers are currently. The block color was added at the rebuild. I know Buick engine colors is a popular debate topic. It came with a trunk full of parts that I am starting to sort through.

Three years later it looks like this. The exhaust system was missing and I could use pictures of the hangers, especially above the rear axle. And I need to know if I have the intemediate rod set up correctly before I install it.

I bought this car in 2019 as a project that had been started many years ago and then abandoned. It was straight, rust free and partially disassembled. Three years later I'm making some real headway on it and that is where I'm going to need some help. Some parts were missing, some parts from other cars were included, and some things were reassembled incorrectly. I'm not good at keeping up with a thread so additions will be spotty. November 2019:

What color is this? Is it an original color for 57? I might have to use something similar.

I'd love to pick this up minus the engine and transmission, for maybe 25% of the asking price. Neat looking car.

(picture wouldn't post, I'll make another attempt later) Finally got the engine mounts and transmission mount cleaned up and they are plated in what appears to be brass. First thought is to prevent ferrous metal contact on the engine. Not sure if that makes any sense. And, were these mounts painted originally?

Hometown Buick has the interactive color chart but it loses something in the translation, none of the colors actually look as they would in the real world. I'll take a look at the color charts and see if they match up.

I mean the Buick technical name, assuming they're factory colors. And the color number if anyone has it.

They are not. The bump stops fit in a little dish on the A arm. The bars were in the same bag with the stops leads me to think they're related but I sure can't find anything.

You're thinking of McDonald's in Detroit.

This will become a recurring feature. I bought a 1957 Buick Special in pieces and now it's going back together. The first are these two bars. They were in the bag with the lower A arm bumper so I assume they're part of the front suspension.