Gino Roth

IGNITION TIMING UPDATE: Have been troubleshooting this all morning with retarding the timing a little more after finding that advancing the timing during start up did nothing. Retarding the timing more did nothing either. I put my spark indicator back on #1 and saw it light up just once. I turned off the ignition and waited a few minutes and then tried to restart again and it lit up one more time only. Now I began to suspect that my coil (which is new) has an intermittent problem so I swapped it out with another known good coil. Now I am seeing multiple spark firings and the engine seems to want to start but I have the timing fowled up again. Going to reset the timing as per the shop manual but not today. Going to leave town shortly for the Christmas holiday and be somewhere warmer. Will get back on this in January.

Thanks old Oldtech, I am sure that the distributor is properly seated in the generator housing as the advance plate does seat where it is supposed to and the distributor is able to turn with the advanced rod. I also know there is spark because I have used a spark tester I ahead of the spark plug and it is lighting up. The Pertronix unit I am using is a newer version that senses the cam lobe rather than using a reluctor wheel over the cam so that problem is ruled out. Thanks for clearing up that mystery of why the fly wheel marking is stamped 17° advance. That was very confusing to me, but now I have more confidence in what to do next. I think you have the next logical step for me to take, and that is my timing is still not correct and that I should try to retard the timing in small increments to see if I can get this to fire properly. At one point yesterday it did run for a few seconds very slowly until it backfired through the carbs and stopped. As you know It’s not easy setting the timing on these old machines since they use a foot starter and it’s not possible to use a remote hand held one.

I moved this topic over to Pre War cars where it should have been. I will leave this post here and continue to monitor. Thanks for your responses so far, doubt that I will go back to points since the Pertronix worked before. Blue stuff on the breaker plate is Dykem layout fluid. It was there the first time the Pertronix was put in and worked fine and I also have spark now so looks like the Pertronix is grounded.

A few months ago my engine began to misfire very badly and I traced the cause to a worn out bushing for the distributor shaft that I knew was bad when I got the car. The run out on the shaft was terrible and I was able to wiggle it back and forth enough so that the points could open and close with the action. I was planning to convert the distributor over to a Pertronix electronic ignition anyway to get rid of the points. After doing this the car ran much better but it still misfired on occasion. At this point, I also noticed that the distributor body had developed a crack down one side but stoped before it was anywhere near the bushing hole. Still, I took this as a sign that the distributor needed more than just a bushing so I had a shop make up a new housing with an Oilite bushing ( Pic of the new Distributor is below - its beautiful). The problem is now I can't get the engine to fire at all. I am following the ignition timing procedure given in the 1926 Standard shop manual. I have pulled all the spark plugs out and cleaned/gaped them, turned the flywheel so that the "ADV 17" lined up with the registration marks on the bell housing and then set the distributor on full advance with the rotor right under #1. After putting the plugs back in and retarding the distributor, it just cranks but won't fire. I know it was on the compression stroke while setting the flywheel because I used a whistle in the #1 plug hole and I have verified that I had good spark and fuel. I have also reset everything several times and tried to retard and advance the distributor thinking that I might be close to correct timing but nothing works. Here are some pictures showing my flywheel position and position of the cam lobe on the Pertronix pickup module. I know that this is a modified distributor but it ran before so it should run now for sure. Is my flywheel position correct and does anyone have any other suggestions for me?

A few months ago my engine began to misfire very badly and I traced the cause to a worn out bushing for the distributor shaft that I knew was bad when I got the car. The run out on the shaft was terrible and I was able to wiggle it back and forth enough so that the points could open and close with the action. I was planning to convert the distributor over to a Pertronix electronic ignition anyway to get rid of the points. After doing this the car ran much better but it still misfired on occasion. At this point, I also noticed that the distributor body had developed a crack down one side but stoped before it was anywhere near the bushing hole. Still, I took this as a sign that the distributor needed more than just a bushing so I had a shop make up a new housing with an Oilite bushing ( Pic of the new Distributor is below - its beautiful). The problem is now I can't get the engine to fire at all. I am following the ignition timing procedure given in the 1926 Standard shop manual. I have pulled all the spark plugs out and cleaned/gaped them, turned the flywheel so that the "ADV 17" lined up with the registration marks on the bell housing and then set the distributor on full advance with the rotor right under #1. After putting the plugs back in and retarding the distributor, it just cranks but won't fire. I know it was on the compression stroke while setting the flywheel because I used a whistle in the #1 plug hole and I have verified that I had good spark and fuel. I have also reset everything several times and tried to retard and advance the distributor thinking that I might be close to correct timing but nothing works. Here are some pictures showing my flywheel position and position of the cam lobe on the Pertronix pickup module. I know that this is a modified distributor but it ran before so it should run now for sure. Is my flywheel position correct and does anyone have any other suggestions for me?

A few more pics of the car from earlier this year when the cockpit got trimmed out and the engine was detailed. I had problems with the small narrow foot pedals that were original to the car so I attached some Corvette C6 pedals to the existing ones with stainless machine bolts. I'm currently having issues with the stock distributor. I believe the bushings have gone bad and are causing misfires. Once that's fixed something else will break I'm sure. I also had an issue with the radiator throwing out foam. Thought that this was due to the water pump sucking in air or at worse a blown head gasket. Turns out that the antifreeze got contaminated and I just added some antifoam agent to the mix - problem solved.

Thanks Roger that is very helpful. Your car is beautiful. I think I was mistaken about my dad using wire wheels from a 1923 model 54. I just found a picture of the car he owned with the wire wheels and it was not a model 54 - it was a 1922 and looks a little like a model 44 but the doors are different and appears to be a smaller car and it also looks like the wheel hubs have external bolts to the drums. Does anyone know what this model is and what wire wheels these could be? Here is a picture of the car.

I have an opportunity to buy a set of 21 X 5 wire wheels that I believe were mounted on a 1923 sports roadster model 54. I want to mount them in place of my current wood spoke wheels that are on a 1926 model 26 Standard. I think my dad had done this back in the day since he had both types of cars and I have pictures of them. The wires come with hubs so that is no issue but can anyone tell me if those hubs will bolt to my existing drums? If not, could I drill out the correct bolt pattern on my drums? How likely are the front spindles and rear axles the same for both of these cars? What else would I need to complete this swap? Attached is a picture of my 1926 front spindle - not very diagnostic but only one I got.

Two really great suggestions Brian! I really want to save this core if I can. I'm having the distributor re bushed right now but when I get the engine running again I will follow both of these procedures.

Electric fan was only installed recently before this problem surfaced however, the radiator could be plugged up but it looks very clean at the top with no chunks visible. I will pull out the radiator for cleaning if a thermostat does not solve the problem. Thanks

My 1926 Buick Standard radiator will not hold its water. While I believe it is normal for some to boil out, a short drive with mine will leave a water trail several blocks long. The car seems to run fine with no exhaust water vapor and there is no water in the oil. In opening the thermostat housing, I found no thermostat inside. Can anyone provide a picture of what it looks like? The Shop Manual does not show or discuss it. Is it possible that a modern thermostat can be substituted? I feel that without the thermostat in place, the water pump is dumping more water in the upper tank than it can drain thru and the excess goes down the overflow tube. I have not had this car long so this is a new event for me. Thanks for any pics.

Hugh, I have been on vacation and just saw your reply and the information you provided regarding the transmission key. Your information is very helpful. Thank you!

Thanks for the tip on the key blanks and I will see if I can get the shifter out with your suggestions.

Can anyone give me any tips on how I can remove the shift lever on my transmission without taking the whole transmission apart? The shop manual is silent on this operation. Just had the hand brake lever nickel plated and want to do the same for the shift lever but there is a limit on being sensible about it. Maybe I will just take it down to bare steel and clear coat it. Also, does anyone have a photo of the key that locks the transmission out? I have a good locksmith in town but would like to show them what it looks like. Has anyone taken the key lock out and what is the procedure? Thanks!

In June 2021 I posted a picture of my dad's Buick Speedster that he built back in the mid 1920's and I was hoping to find that it was still around. Guess it was too much to hope for so I am almost done with building a tribute car that is pictured here. I wanted it to resemble his as much as possible but with some more modern enhancements mostly to the engine. I was able to find what I believe was the same shop that built his body - Moal Coachbuilders in Oakland. They built many Buick Speedsters bodies back in the 20's and I believe that the owners Great Grandson has now built mine. The B&W photo is my dad's car and color ones are mine. The car is not yet completed but soon I hope. All original 1926 chassis, firewall, engine and transmission. Updraft carburetor has been replaced by 2 downdrafts, 12V conversion with alternator. Nickel plate on the radiator has not been redone and still looks beautiful but I had the head lights redone. If anyone has a lead on where I could get a set of A4 21" wire wheels please let me know as this would complete my build.