Century Eight

Steve, when will you put the itinerary out? I want to know what to sign up for if I cant make the whole thing

I got an old guy near where I live to rebuild mine and it came out pretty well. With yours I would check the BCA Bugle for people in there who rebuild them. Also they advertise in Hemmings and someone on this forum may have some good names.

I’ll stick to bourbon by the fireside!

Another good reason not to ride motorcycles.

I Agee with @Littlestown Mike. I used to hand crank my ‘31 Chev 50 years ago (gosh that seems a long time ago) when the battery would die. It just about gave me a heart attack when the engine was cold , but turned over easily when it was warm. Always pull up with your LEFT hand, and thumb not wrapped around, so if the crank springs into action and jumps out of your hand, it won’t take your arm with it. I’ve even seen mustachioed famous car tv show personalities do it wrong and was appalled to see them be that unsafe. I wrote him ,but didn’t hear back. If your starter is known to be bad, it’s just easier to go find a hill to park on and the pop the clutch when it’s time to go. That’s what we did in college with our stick shift cars.

@californiamilleghia yes this is available in spray cans and the p/n I referenced was a NAPA number

I agree with @Terry Bond to use NAPA/Martin Senour paints. A top Chevelle restorer I know showed me how to get that cast iron look on my hood hinges and hood latch. i did what he said and it looks great. He said to first paint the part with Gray primer surfacer part number 7284, then while still wet, lightly spritz it with Iron Cast, part number 7250, all by MartinSenour. It will have a dull, unpainted looking, cast looking finish. I like it for my hood latch and hinges and other parts that came unpainted. I cant tell you how long it lasts, because this is on a garage queen that is always protected and never goes any where. But it is protected by paint and still looks good after four years. The guy that told me this has sold muscle cars for big money at the major tv auctions. His cars are show-stoppers.

Kgreen. Good explanation. I didn’t know there was a diff with the 320 eng but a few years ago I had the same problem with my 1950 Super 263 c.i. After the carb was rebuilt i had all kinds of trouble with starting it and the starter continuing to spin after the engine was running. The 1940 tech advisor Doug Seybold said most of the time it is a dirty carb switch. Long story short, he was exactly right. Cleaned it, and the problem was fixed. Many beautiful ‘40 dashes were ruined when previous owners drilled holes and put a starter button right thru the engine turned dash. At least they could have hidden it underneath. Try all avenues and your car will start like it is supposed to, before you punch a hole and add a button. Besides the floor starter is a low tech theft deterrent!

Has anybody tried adding dry-gas additive to old ethanol in a glass bottle to experiment if you can get rid of the water that has accumulated from a car sitting? Sometimes your car goes down for longer than you expected while having a full tank of ethanol and you don’t get to run it out. I know years ago I had some old gas with water in it that had separated, so I just added some drygas and you could watch the water go away in seconds while sitting in the glass bottle.

Not the same, but I am going to be shopping for an infra-red heat sensor gun. It will have multiple uses, plus with the cold weather coming, I think it is time to experiment with some manifold cooking on a tour!

As a 74 year old who has been playing with cars for 50 years, I agree with @60FlatTop. i have had cars that really suffered in storage and I should have parted with them instead of storing them. Some did well, others, not so well depending on the storage. Life happens, you sometimes get transferred or need an operation due to health, and six months turns into six years, 20 years, and even more. The best thing is to make arrangements for storage where the vehicle can be started every three months and driven around the block. That will easily turn into a year but it is much better than mothballed for ten years. No matter what you pay to have short term storage, it is still cheaper and better on the car than a five or ten year slumber.

If you have access to any car ‘’39 or newer, you should be able to find what the wires look like . Front signals didn’t start until 1940. Having a shop manual, body manual or wiring diagram are are always good to have. They can be found as reprints, originals, and sometimes possible as discs i think. LED lights are brighter. The lights on the trunk are adequate, and there all sorts of aftermarket options the hot rod guys use to conceal under the rear bumper. I haven’t found one I like yet for a convertible. They have lots of good options for a closed car however in the back window.

On all 1940 models, the front turn signals were in the parking lights on top of the fender. The rears, as you found, were on the trunk lid, under the Buick Eight plastics. You should be able to find remnants of where wires should have led to the rears, under the trunk lid. I would think exports would have still been the same.

Walt, have you ever tried Cracker Barrel for Moxie? Every time I go there, they have a lot of old sodas as we called them in Delaware, or Pop, as we called them in Ohio. You may luck out there, also all the different candy they sell brings back a lot of memories. I would check out more than one store if you strike out, because they seem to change their inventory a lot. And no, I never worked there, I just don't understand how they keep up with all of their inventory.

When I first got into this hobby in 1971 with my new to me ‘31 Chevy, I found those old farts that could be intimidating. Fortunately I have never become one of those I don't think, and always try to be encouraging about someone’s wheels. Yes’ I admit, I do like to look at my cars but it is so much more fun to drive them. Something someone once told me that has stuck with me for years is that “No matter how much money you have in your car, you will never have a mantle big enough to put it on”. (I suppose a garagemahal could be the exception) A very well known restorer I have known for years once told me, if you must ‘restore’ a car, then show it, earn a bunch of trophies for credibility, then retire it and have fun with it. I have tried to follow that advice. I improve my cars, enjoy them and then have to fix them. That way, it stays a hobby. The nicer they get, the less I want to drive them, then they sit in the corner and deteriorate anyway. I’ll wrap this up. To paraphrase what JV Puleo said, keep your modifications to the period a decade after the car was built, then go ahead and get out on the pavement.

I agree with Bruce. Once the manifolds are loosened, they can warp, and you may need to have them planed or straightened which is not easy. Try painting in place first, and be ready to go find another manifold to fix something that didn’t need to be replaced if you remove. Just sayin’

Would that be Roscoe Turner and friend?

Isn’t that a famous aviatrix next to the side mount?

Have you tried Dave Tacheny or Doug Seybold? You can see Dougs number in the BCA Bugle and Daves number often pops up on this forum. If not already, you should join the Buick Cub of America and get the Bugle. Tons of Buick help on there. I have also seen a home made one out of curved and shaped metal then it was chromed. Still looked home made though.

The coatings I have used in the past work pretty well even with rusty tanks. Sometimes you can get the tank reconditioned, and sometimes you can get a new one made, but they are pricey. There are options, but it takes awhile to figure out the best one. Good luck in sorting it out.

If you are lucky enough to get the plug out, you still will not know the inside condition of the tank. I would first try to remove the plug, if that fails, siphon as much as you can, then remove the tank and do as much maintenance as necessary, such as clean, possibly coat it, and maybe change the sending unit as a precaution. It takes no talent, just perseverance and a workout. I am seventy four and can still do it, its just getting harder to get back up off the floor when you are done.

Can you also post this in the Buick or Cad forum? A lot of those cars have this.

Sweet!

Pfeil - Would you be suggesting “government intelligence”?

In my state the law says if your wipers are on you must turn on your lights