Jmbt 1950 Buick

Today we drained the old gas from the tank, removed the tank, and drained the rear end. The gas tank was rusted completely through on the top, so we will need to order a new one. The rear end looked pretty good; there was a little sludge in the bottom but nothing too bad.

Thanks for the suggestion - just ordered replacement plugs so we can do this. Do we just remove the old ones with a screwdriver? We haven't done that before and weren't sure.

Now that we have it running, we realized the starter and starter solenoid were messed up. We purchased a rebuilt one and installed it this weekend. With that done, the car starts easily with the temporary ignition switch we installed. Next, we pulled out the radiator and water pump. The water pump was in worse condition on the inside than we expected, so we ordered both a new radiator and water pump. We also pulled out the thermostat and have a new one to replace that. Before installing the new parts, we plan to take the car in the driveway to run in on the hose, so that we can flush any loose rust out.

Thanks. I’m glad we dropped it and it wasn’t that hard of a task. We just had to make sure the steering was lined up right to drop it - there was only one way it could be in order to clear. We also had to remove the oil pan pickup screen with the pan partially dropped for extra clearance to come off.

Yep that is the next thing. The radiator was stored with the cap off, and it is packed with debris. I found someone local who can work on it and plan on dropping it off after the holidays. We purchased a new thermostat and hoses. We haven’t looked at the fuel system yet other than seeing that the rubber hoses are rotted off and the steel lines are rusted up pretty bad. We plan on replacing the hoses and likely the tank as well.

And she's running!! Hopefully the video works

We cleaned everything up using a combination of wire brushes and our ultrasonic cleaner. We are really impressed with how that thing works. For the oil pan, we had to do sections at a time, but it still made the whole process much easier. We primed and painted the pan Buick Turquoise.

The biggest task we have been working on the past week is dropping, cleaning, and painting the the oil pan and inspecting the oil pump. As you can see in the before pictures, it was pretty nasty. Our son even got interested for a little bit.

We wanted to check the functioning of the oil pump and make sure the starter worked, so we picked up a battery for the car. We tried attaching the battery and the car started turning over automatically, so we knew we had some electrical shorts somewhere. Rather than tracing out the electrical, we made a switch for the starter and a switch for the ignition (power to the coil). The car is turning over well, but it seems slow - not sure if this is common with a 6 volt system. We also replaced the battery cables (went up a size) and spark plug wires.

Last month, we pulled off all the old brakes because everything was frozen. Once they were off, the wheels were able to turn. We also got the transmission pan, bell housing cover, and carburetor back installed.

Thanks!

I am wondering what is the best AFT fluid for the 1950 Buick Special 43D with the Dynaflow transmission. I read somewhere to use Valvoline DEX/MERC ATF, but I can’t find that post anymore. The posts I am seeing now say to use DEXRON III. Is one better than the other? Will the DEX/MERC work (I already bought some)? We have been working on the transmission, and when I refill it I plan on running it for about 30 minutes to flush it, then change the AFT. I just want to make sure that it is ok to put the DEX/MERC in there, but when we buy more I would like to get the best kind. Thanks, Josh

Thanks! We found the drain plugs and tried to remove them, but we can’t get them out. The wrench was just rounding the nuts, so we stopped trying. We ordered a square drain plug remover that should help, and it will be in later today. Our next set of parts to buy is the three rubber mounts and thrust ball seal kit and replacement boot for the transmission. The thrust ball boot is split and it leaked on the trailer ride home when we got it. We plan on replacing those parts once we make sure the engine runs.

Today we removed the bell housing cover for the torque converter and cleaned it up and painted it. We also reinstalled the transmission filter and pan. When we drained the transmission, we got 3.5 quarts of oil. We wanted to drain the torque converter but realized we didn’t have the right tool. If anyone has done a cold drain on the transmission, does 3.5 quarts sound about right? We haven’t started the engine yet since the carburetor rebuild. We are short one flow restrictor, but the replacement should be in any day now. We plan on dropping the oil pan and clean/inspect it before we try to start it.

Carburetor update - We decided to buy an ultrasonic cleaner and rebuild the carburetor ourselves. Here it is when we were taking it apart: And here it is after the rebuild with all new gaskets: We are really happy with how it turned out! Next on our list was to remove the transmission pan and filter and clean out the old oil. It was pretty rough. But we are going to get the most out of that ultrasonic cleaner Plus, I got my own creeper, so I got to check out what the underneath looked like and learn a bit about the car while Josh worked on it. Here is the after: The transmission filter came out much cleaner and the mesh is in great shape. However, there are some larger particles trapped behind it. We can't find a way to remove the screen without damaging it. If anyone has suggestions, let us know!