[Noobie and his '39 Century]

Gary, I just read that one page, really great tutorial and restoration! 

[Noobie and his '39 Century]

15 hours ago, Gary W said:

I have a '37, but I'm sure a lot of this carries over.

Regarding the rear seat, just lift the lower cushion up and out of the car.  

 

This will expose the two steel clips and the two bolts bolts that go through the floor that secure the back cushion to the floor.

The holes in the floor are threaded to accept these bolts.

 

My '37 had three wood screws that came in through the trunk to hold the top of the rear cushion secure.

 

A little wiggle and muscle and the rear cushion should come right out.

 

You can see where I cut the Dynaliner sound deadening material to access the clips and bolts.

 

 

 

Here's the link to the seat install:

Just touch the arrow in the upper right corner.

If you keep reading, the front seat install comes next.

 

I'll jump on what Matt said earlier.....  I also have a complete documented restoration of a '37 on the Pre-War Buick site.

I tried to include a lot of photos as I went along, but I have so many more.  If you need any, please don't hesitate.

On the first couple pages I removed my interior, there are some photos there that may help as well.

 

Good Luck...  you found the right guys here!  There is a LOT of knowledge on this site!

 

Gary

Thanks Gary, Neil, Ben, that makes sense. I just didn't want to pull too hard, will try shortly. 

 

I've been looking at many of the restore threads, I think I saw Billy's first, and so did my wife, so I will be painting it Sequoia Cream at some point I guess!  The challenge I have with the pictures is that they often show the item removed, but not the trick to getting it out... although it's usually pretty clear once you know the trick 😉  Thanks again.  I'm hoping to accomplish something this weekend.

[Noobie and his '39 Century]

21 hours ago, 1939_Buick said:

Removing the seat nothing to do with the upholstery. Just take if off the runners (back & forward slide) and take it out

 

Billy used a new repro '39 Chev tank, that he modified a little

https://forums.aaca.org/topic/314273-39-buick-special-gas-tank/

https://forums.aaca.org/topic/252488-1939-filler-neckfender-info/

 

Thanks for the tank links, look like there are several good options. 

 

Regarding the front seat, I can see the bolt holding the front of the seat rail to the floor, but the back is totally obsured behind the footrest.  I suspect there's a simple trick, but I haven't wanted to just start pushing and pulling (and I'm avoiding any can-o-worms until I make more room in the shop).

 

Regarding the back seat, I see at least 2 screws in the trunk holding the back in, but the bottom is completely upholstered to the floor. 

 

Not very well thought out picture below. 

[Noobie and his '39 Century]

Excellent to hear that the glass is readily available, I was not expecting that answer to be so easy!

 

I'll look at the seats more closely, most of the time right now is going into long overdue shop cleaning and organizing to make more room. 

 

Sounds like a trip to Wilmington is in order sometime soon, I'll see if we can't get away some weekend for a trip to the beach. 

[Noobie and his '39 Century]

Thank for the links!  Billy's project is one of the first I saw when exploring the forum, the wife loves the color.   I saw all the screws around the base of the seat holding the upholstery down and got nervous, but maybe pulling those can be one of the evening projects.  They are in good shape, so I hesitate to mess with them, but it would be good to check for unwanted homes.   

 

That access plate is extremely convenient, once I get through the engine, then I will tackle that. 

 

Two questions

- how hard is it to get replacement glass?

- how hard is it to find a replacement gas tank? Given the varnish and the leaking, I'm not looking forward to that.   First though, we'll see if it runs. 

[Noobie and his '39 Century]

6 hours ago, MCHinson said:

Any 1939 owners can certainly chime in with anything I have forgotten but personally, I would not bother with removing the front clip at first. I would drop the oil pan, clean it out, go through the oil pump, reinstall the pump and reinstall the pan with a new gasket. Drop the gas tank, check it and clean out as needed, clean out or change the fuel lines. Remove and rebuild the carburetor, rebuild the fuel pump, assuming there are no major obvious wiring insulation issues, drop a new battery in it, clean up or replace (with correct heavy duty cables) battery cables, and see if it will run.  I would then rebuild the brake master cylinder and wheel cylinders, flush out the brake lines and install new brake fluid. Change the differential gear oil. Change the transmission gear oil. Top off shock absorber fluid, and put on some new tires.  After that, you may have the running driving car that you want. 

Thanks Matt &1939_Buick.  

 

Those are exactly the repairs I was thinking about performing, but I was thinking it was much easier to do that w/o the sheetmetal in the way.  Plus, radiator and cooling system could probably use a clean and leak test while out.   My experience working on VW's etc. is that it's usually easier to take the time to go ahead and get things out of the way and make the rest of the work lots easier with less twisting and squeezing, so I was sort of assuming the same for this... but I'll definitely defer to those with experience. 

 

As for the last drive, no idea.  The engine is remarkably clean with no sign of serious oil leaks,  but the area around the shock looked like it might be a bit of a mess.  Based on the varnish leaking out of the gas tank, I'm sure it's been 10 years, but I think it could have been 20 or 30. 

 

For cleaning the area around the door frames (lots of mud daubbers and such), anything recommended or anything to avoid using?

 

For cleaning the ~70's upholstery, any recommendations on things to use or avoid?  Toying with removing the seats to clean the carpet and any mice detritus from underneath, but that looks pretty involved?

 

Thanks again for the input.  This weekend, I just pushed it out of the garage and let it sit in the sun and air out a bit more. 

 

Chris

[Noobie and his '39 Century]

5 hours ago, 1939_Buick said:

100's of short chassis 1939's running OK.  You are not going to put a tow ball on it or put a lot of weight in the trunk. Buick had fix that was done by dealers at the time.

 

Torque ball wears. And the other rubber mounts/engine mounts wear old - perish. Things move and put stress on other parts. Is a 1 year only design. In 1940 Buick went back the the 1938 design.  Look at the facebook group

https://forums.aaca.org/topic/339722-used-1939-buick-torque-balls-series-40-60-that-are-worn-and-no-longer-usable/

https://forums.aaca.org/topic/337629-1939-buick-torque-ball-lining-replacement/

https://forums.aaca.org/topic/313771-1939-buick-torque-ball-needed/

https://forums.aaca.org/topic/276957-new-1939-special-torque-ball-set-up-need-a-little-help/

 

Brakes are OK if in good condition and well maintained.

1939_Buick, thanks for the torque ball links, learned a lot and saw the diagrams I needed in the later posts to have a clue what it is and how it works.  Really hoping that I don't get stuck with something like that right off the bat, we'll see.  Once the front clip is off, we'll see if we can start and drive it as is and then start fixing one thing at a time (starting with brakes). 

 

Long term, I would like to be able to drive a few hundred miles w/ a small popup, so I'll have to address that chassis issue, but no hurry!  For freeway trips, it sounds like it would be nice to find a better rear diff, but sounds like that's very rare as well. 

 

For now, we'll see how little we can do and get it on the road. 

 

Thanks!

Chris

[Noobie and his '39 Century]

9 hours ago, MCHinson said:

Chris,

 

Welcome to the AACA Discussion Forum. Where in NC are you located? I am in Wilmington. While there are some things that are specific to 1939 Buicks that I am not the best guy to help you with, there are a lot of things that you might be able to find to help you in my restoration story of my 1938 Century. You can read that here: https://forums.aaca.org/topic/297623-1938-buick-century-model-61-four-door-touring-sedan-trunk-back/

 

I would also suggest you may want to consider checking out the 36-38 Buick Club. Despite the name, the club welcomes all Straight 8 era Buicks. The club's technical advisors and newsletter should be helpful to you. You will find the club website at: http://www.3638buickclub.org/. 

 

 

Matt, 

I've got the '36-38 club bookmarked and will definely be mining it for information.  Very impressive project and 20 some pages of posts w/ you '38.  I'm hoping to not go that far in the near term, but it really depends upon what I find as I get into it. 

 

Thanks!

Chris

[Noobie and his '39 Century]

Thanks Matthew, I'm in Hillsborough, just west of Durham. 

I'll definitely check out the links, thanks!

 

[Noobie and his '39 Century]

Thanks for the heads information, I'll check out the Facebook group for more info.

 

You're right, I have already noticed the short frame which I would like to eventually reinforce. 

 

What are the symptoms of the problems with the torque ball?

[Noobie and his '39 Century]

[Noobie and his '39 Century]

[Noobie and his '39 Century]

Hello all, first post - my new hobbie just arrived last Sunday,  seems to be a barn find.  Supposedly the previous owner purchased in the 70's and the interior redone, but seems to have been mostly stationary since then.   I've been reading the forum for the last week or two and trying learn as much as I can.  

 

My goal is to (1) avoid converting it to a kit car, plenty of family experience with that, and (2) get it on the road so I can start enjoying it.  Long term, I think I will keep it as original as possible while improving drivability and maintainability, considering things like brake upgrades for example. 

 

First step will be to remove the front clip so I can inspect the suspension and see if we can breath some life into a very clean looking 320.  

 

Any advice, tips, links, or suggestions are greatley appreciated. 

 

BR,

Chris in NC