Century Eight

I always use my disconnect switch and the battery flips the car over six months later after sitting. I would charge the battery but in my area, batteries are not that expensive and so I would just start with a new one, and then you know what you have, especially storing your car in a garage with no power like me.

On my ‘50, this never happened until we rebuilt the carb. Unbeknownst to me, the carb switch seemed to be the culprit. I called Doug Seybold and he said to make sure the carb switch has been cleaned. This seemed to be the cure. It has happened only a few times since, and then with a low battery. I never experienced this in the first forty seven years of owning the car. I am no mechanic but in my experience, if you can ever get any machine back reasonably close to the day it left the factory, you should not have much trouble, no matter what kind of machine it is. Only as a last resort, install a button. I have two cars where the previous owner added a button, and one was right through the face of the dash, ruining an engine turned ‘40 Buick dash. I’ll let you know how the next forty seven years goes.

I agree with EmTee. After much research and agonizing, we had my ‘50 dynaflow serviced by an old guy still in business almost sixty years and he used DEXRON lll/Mercon. It has been running fine for the last two years. In addition, it is not uncommon these days to hear of fellow hobbyists (not me, btw) to overfill the transmission.

Okay I looked up Sonomatic’s post on this site, Post war Buicks, from March 18. It is under “1950 Buick transmission removal, repair, reinstall and tools required.” The Jim he is talking about is Jim Hughs @Jims Dynaflow Service. It is in Ohio but when I talked to him, I am sure he said near Toledo, not Canton. Either way, you should look at this post and see all the suggestions. You might skip a few busted knuckles. I thought I saw a phone number but now I cant find it. If you pm Sonomatic, he will tell you all about his repair. He is a very nice guy, and we have actually met and I got him to join our AACA chapter. His thread is loaded with pictures and shortcuts. He says this Jim Hughes guy will tell you a lot over the phone. We are in Delaware and Jim is in Ohio So the extra miles make a difference. Knowledge is power. Good luck.

Sonomatic on this site just serviced a dynaflow and did a wonder job describing it. In it, he mentioned a guy near Toledo who seems to be a dynaflow guru. Check out that post, and in it you will find the guy,s contact info. Sonamatic says the guy is very knowledgeable and conversant and will talk you through these issues.

Unfortunately work got in the way of my going to the show for three days so I gave my room rez to a friend, a new BCA member and I think he enjoyed it. It really looked like a nice meet so I drove up for the day with two other chapter members. Sadly there was too much rain, but it really was fun while we were there. My hat is off to all those involved who really did so much work in producing and planning a fine meet. There should be more of these. The location of the Classic Auto Mall helped to temper the PA weather.

LED’s front and back, however, probably like your ‘41 the rear turn signals are on the trunk and the stoplights separate. However once I get back from Morgantown I am going to double check, because I wasnt the one who did it. I was down for maintenance myself in the hospital and had someone else do it. Maybe if I go back to incandescent in the front it will create more resistance. Thanks Matt.

Thank you Joe and Mark. I will hunt down a 6v electronic flasher and add a fuse. Your comments make good sense to someone who is not all that electronically well versed. You explained it very well. Thank you. Phil

I recently had my mechanic add LED lights turn signals to my car when it was in for other issues. He put in a 535 6 volt flasher and part number 51 and 55 bulbs. At first, they worked, although pretty slow. Now, they are working just intermittently. Sometimes, they still work, and sometimes they dont want to work at all. I would understand if it was all one way, but just about the time you think they are not going to work at all, they start working again, although slowly, which I dont mind. They have good grounds and it sometimes seems if the engine is running faster, generating more power, they work more often, but you cant count on it. Any ideas? , oh yes, the bulbs and flasher are new.

Bradsan. You could probably still call the original local auction company, they’re may know something.

I usually attach the wire from one of the sending unit screws to a convenient place on the frame.

Avgwarhawk. In my experience, I would agree with the weak battery syndrome. As mine age, that seems to be the way they act (up).

Here I am again. I went to the show today that ended up being 40 miles, had my batt disconnected overnight , then reconnected this morning. After started up, it pegged full charge for about a mile, then back to the middle, to normal. I will check my other cars next time they are out.

EmTEE, that has been my experience also. All these years I have never done it, except when putting on a new Reg or Gen. I never heard of it quite that way until the details in this post. I have even left stuff disconnected for more than six months and then reconnected and off to the races. Guess I’m living right

I always knew about polarizing a new regulator but as I indicated earlier in this thread, I never knew about jumping the batt to the ARM terminal when you have used your battery disconnect switch and go to reconnect it. This afternoon I took the ‘40 Century out for a short drive before going 50 miles tomorrow. As always, when I started it up, it went right to full charge for about a mile and then backed off to normal, or in the middle for the rest of the drive. I am always eager to learn new theories, and I admit for much of my 74 years I have been blessed by dumb luck, but I need to learn more before I start polarizing every time I get my car out. I religiously disconnect my batt when I am done with the car for the day and that is to prevent battery drain and an accidental smoke leak so I dont singe the garage especially if they are not going to be driven for a while. I do this with all my cars unless they are daily drivers, including the newer old ones with alternators and twelve volts. Tell me more

Etownster , I think someone has put a new ignition lock on your car. The last time this came up I remember looking at my either 40 or 42 Buick owners manual and it said one key works everything and the car is supplied with two keys.. I don’t remember exactly how it is worded but that is the gist of it. (It’’s also why I have three keys for a Chevelle, the ignition wore out and the locksmith couldn’t re-key the aftermarket ignition key). My ‘50 Buick even came with one key for all. Your owners manual should confirm that. As for the way your trunk lock works, that is how one of my forty’s worked for a while. I understood it could be changed to make it work like you wanted it. The car was a recent restoration and from an estate. It had a new lock. But after I had it for about ten years and after wear and use, al of a sudden one day, the key would come out in any position. I have two other forties, and that s how they work. I guess once it gets worn and sloppy enough, it will work the way you want it to.

That reminds me…Back in the day, if you had a ‘76 Duece , you didn’t need a pick up. I was coming home from a wedding (by myself) in the eighties from Delaware to Ohio and scheduled some parts pick ups along the way for my old cars. With the trunk open, I stopped along the way and got four rims, two front fenders for a forty and a rear fender, two rear fifty fenders, four new Coker’s, and eight teeth for a fifty. I had my suitcase and my dog and made it almost the 500 miles home until a local Barney stopped me at four in the morning to see if I had stolen anything. I guess I looked either dumb enough or like one of the Clampetts so he shook his head and told me to drive on. There is a bit more to the story but nevertheless, I got along for years without a pickup. Now it seems like everyone needs a p/u and I have two!

I am not totally unhappy with the stock lights on my 50, they’re fairly bright I would say although not large. As EmTEE said you could add some of those aftermarket lights , as do the Model A guys. Along time ago, I saw a guy that lit up his trunk handle light, and that was pretty cool. The bigger problem is the idiot that is following you. They get mesmerized by an old car, like they have never seen one. You have to keep one eye on the road and one eye in the rear view mirror. Once I was hit in the rear in my ‘31 Chevy by a guy that was so busy starring at me he forgot to stop. Fortunately that car was fairly indestructible but my ‘50 Buick would take damage. I have good insurance though. Ask me how know.

‘ That’s good information, albeit a little late, about polarizing the regulator. Way back when I was a kid in the sixties, we would buy used batteries and regulators and starters from the junkyard for $10. The only time we ever knew to polarize them was when we put in a new or different(used) regulator. I have gotten by, even to this day, using my disconnect switch and not polarizing. I guess I’ll try it.

There are always discussions about using a battery disconnect switch, to save your battery, save your car and even save your garage. If you religiously use the disconnect switch, what is that saying about polarizing the generator? I have used the disconnect for years on my six volt cars, and yes they do go into overcharge, but also go back to close to normal after driving a few minutes, especially when I flick the lights or turn on the radio. I cant say I am aware of any issues as a result of this practice other than only getting two or three years of battery life. What are your thoughts?

To the moderator - Ok to move this to For sale/not mine category

“27 Buick on line auction until June 4 at https://ajoauctions.com Not my car but it is nice. Located in Salisbury Md

Pete, My 1950 model 52, the hole is towards the center. I dont know what month my car was built, but as you know, the very early 50’s had the hood handle outside in the porthole. Mine has the hood pull cable and I dont know if ‘50’s made in ‘49 made any difference. So I also vote this being a ‘’49.

Sonomatic…I just got back on this site after almost a month and am amazed at your detail story on this issue. Thanks for going into such detail. The old farts fixing this stuff are fading away and future readers will appreciate your explaining in such detail Phil

Ben, you are right. I just rechecked my ‘50 and it only has one key for all.. I have no excuse for bad information other than I haven’t driven it since last year and I am one year older than the car! I will edit my post.