old-tank
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Posts posted by old-tank
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Mud
I leave it out with no issues.
Willie
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What were the available colors paired with a white roof on a 1955 Buick Century four-door hardtop? Wasn't Cherokee Red available for the lower body in this case?
David
Yes, it was available for all of the lower body or some of the lower body with white or other colors below the sweep spear.
Willie
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If your available fuel contains ethanol see THIS.
Leaving the spark plugs out and the carb off the manifold for a day should dry out the water. Then fill your carb with fresh gas and run from your remote source.
Willie
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I have never seen a repair kit and actually those things were probably not meant to be repaired. In the past I have found some NOS units or used some good used ones. But most of them I repaired. The main thing that goes wrong is the plate (on the backside) to control shaft end play breaks loose from the rivets and will be found in the bottom of the door. I drill and tap and use screws in place of the rivets...in the meantime you can clean and lubricate the gears. On some I have cut the rivets just to clean and lubricate some sticky ones. If yours is not repairable, they are still readily available used.
Willie
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So do all of the jambs and underside of the trunk lid get painted first, and then doors and trunk lid hung? (after hanging the first time to check gaps) ...and then paint the rest?
My plan is to paint the jambs and whatever I can't do when the car is put together, then paint the rest all at once after hanging the doors and trunk lid.. I can paint the top whenever I want, but the blue mist metallic paint will be tough to match if I were to paint sections at a time.
Any comments? suggestions? I suppose there are 100 different opinions/directions on this subject.
There is really no 'method to my madness'...all I tried to do was not 'paint myself into a corner' (such as paint firewall before dropping body on frame with engine). Sometimes I did assembly because I got tired of patching and scratching on sheet metal; also weather is a factor (everywhere there is a small window where the weather is just right for painting); sometimes it was simply just waiting for parts ( like hinge pins and bushings that arrived incomplete, so I just put it together with old stuff...that resulted in painting the doors and jambs on the car).
Painting metallic for sure needs to be done all at once...consider driving or hauling the car and parts to a large professional paint room that you can rent.
Willie
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no, A/C in the car unless you count window air. @ old Tank, so thats all that holds the fill tube in place is a bracket and a sleeve of rubber connected by clamps? whats the purpose of rubber mounting? why not one solid piece? Is it normal for it to "burp out fluid"
The 2 piece tube definitely makes it easier to R&R the transmission.
When the car sits for a long time the fluid in the torque converter drains back into the pan making it overfull and when started oil pumped back into the torque converter forces air back into the pan resulting in puking out the filler. Adding a bottle or 2 of STP will thicken the fluid enough that it happens less. If it has been sitting for a long time and you are almost sure it is going to puke, start it but shut it down right away, wait 10 seconds and repeat 2 or 3 times and you may not have a mess.
Willie
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The transmission fill tube with dip stick is supported by a bracket attached to the back side of the passenger side cylinder head. And all of that is joined to the tube coming from the pan by a rubber sleeve with 2 clamps.
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I thought you were indicating ones sold previously by this company: 2 Buick 264 322 rocker arm shafts 1953-56 all shaft | eBay
...not a bad price on shafts unless your machine shop can find some cheaper (Hint: always let the machine shop see what they can get...it is usually cheaper, it is a part they trust, and easier to get help if trouble with the part.)
Willie
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Mud
I have not used the new ones you are looking at, but have had a set of rebuilt ones on my main driver for 70,000 miles with good service. I bought them from (now closed) Buick Specialists and they had the tip and socket refinished and the bore resleeved with brass(?). When I first installed there was a shower of oil (they had cut a groove from the bottom to the hole over the arm)...anyhow I ended up installing valve guide seals. My point is if you end up with those new arms look for that; it appears to be a good idea to get more oil spray than stock, but with no valve guide seals you will have a smoker.
Two of my other nailheads have just new rocker shafts (TRW 42,000) with the best used rockers I could find to make a set. The ones you show are not that bad and if the bore was serviceable (good grooves showing) I would resurface the tip using a bench grinder and my 'calibrated eyeball' and smooth out the socket with grinding compound on and old pushrod. I installed a 56 cam, 56 lifters with 56 pushrods to give the same overall length as 55 parts. (I used 56 lifters because they are cheaper than 55, I needed new pushrods anyhow, and the currently available cams are a compromise (same part for 53-56 322 and 264) and are probably cast iron like the 56 (55 used steel with compatible lifters and distributor drive gear, which should be changed also). Also be aware that the new pushrods are constructed differently: a tube with balls attached at the ends ending up with a thicker rod that might contact casting remnants in the holes in the head. The only other trouble I have had with the new pushrods was a (larger than stock) ball came loose from the rod and lodged in the socket of the rocker ( never did get it out ), so now I drill the socket if needed to match the size of the ball.
Another pitfall to look for: If the machine shop that does your heads needs to shim the valve springs, be sure that they do not put generic shims under the outer valve springs that cover the recess for the inner valve springs. This happed to me twice; I caught it the second time, but the first time it caused valve bind that resulted in bent pushrods, broken rockers, bent and broken rocker shafts, bent cam and broken webbing in the block.
More later when you get to other parts of the engine...
Willie
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Jerry
All good points so far to isolate the problem. That "new" battery may have been sitting on the shelf for a long time (check the date code) and may have been nearly dead when you installed it. Also remember that a 6v battery needs a long charge time...12-24 hours. A 'jump and drive' for a few miles will not put enough charge in the battery to start the car.
Willie
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Probably more common to use early 50's Desoto grill teeth in rods...
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Is it wrong to love your sand blast cabinet? It makes things go from ugly to pretty in a matter of minutes. Mud
...almost driver quality
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Ever get to the point that you want to choke the living $#8% out of the engineer that created some stupid design.:mad: Little room for your fingers or hands, and sharp edges to get caught on everywhere. Someone grab and hold him so I can kick em where it counts! Now that I have that almost out of my system....
What is the correct size sensor socket wrench that fits the Oil Pressure Sensor??? Nothing I have in my box fits. Dandy Dave!
That's one of the reasons I got rid of the wife's Reatta. It took longer to change the thermostat on that thing than the water pump on my 55.
The parts store that sells the oil pressure sensor should have the special socket ($$$).
Willie
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From what I've heard and read, most cam manufacturers recommend NOT soaking them anymore. It probably wouldn't hurt anything. I've had an issue or two with seemingly sticky new lifters. I'm assuming the machining oil gets sticky as they sit on the shelf. In the future, I will probably soak lifters in a cleaning agent if anything, or disassemble them before installation.
I still not only soak the lifters, I partially pump then up in a can of oil just to demonstrate that they will pump up...better to know about it now than after assembling and running the engine. CAUTION: If you pump them up fully until no movement, install and run the engine right away you may have some valves that hang open for awhile....a nailhead is apparently not an interference engine.:eek:
Willie
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I went to that Packard site HERE and disassembled 7 and have created 5 working units.
My local NAPA was able to get me each seal for less than $12.
If the unit has ever been rebuilt previously you are screwed...metal tabs can only be bent so many times.
If the thermostat portion of the unit is defective you cannot shut it off. Discard and substitute a spring where the disc goes. This will give you ON-OFF function only with no good regulation (those things never worked that good anyhow).
It beats the gate valve I had installed under the hood.
Willie
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Yikes! I thought that the 322 in 53 had normal timing marks on the front of the engine. I found this in one of my books: "Ignition Timing: ADV. Timing mark on Flywheel"...might be something else to look for.
Willie
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Replace the hoses, just to remove that variable.
Be sure the shoe with the short lining is facing towards the front of the car on all 4 wheels.
That 3/4 inch bore master cylinder will actually develope higher braking pressure than a one inch bore.
Raybestos brand linings gave me the same trouble on a 55 Century with power brakes.
Custom linings can be installed that have better friction properties.
Willie
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I painted my 55 Cherokee Red about 12 years ago. I use Dupont paints and the formulas were available but the problem, at least with Dupont, is the pigments used almost 60 years ago are not used anymore. So the original formulas are useless. Dupont supplied a formula that would closely match the original but that was it. So is my car Cherokee Red? The answer is no. Does it look like Cherokee Red. The answer is, I guess so.
I was at a Buick national meet that had 4 Cherokee Red cars on display. Every owner had a "correct" paint job. Yet no two were the same exact shade. Viewed alone they all looked like Cherokee Red but along side each other they were all different.
There are companies, and folks, that claim they have the "correct" formulas and mixes but take that with a big grain of salt. After 57 years where would you find a pristine, un-faded, un-aged sample to compare to?
So, don't agonize over it. Get as close as you can and you will be as correct as the next guy. BTW, the judges at AACA shows are as clueless as everyone else as to what the original looked like.....................Bob
...and pick a shade you want to look at. The same goes for Dover white. The creamy Dover white below Cherokee Red on my CVT would not look good next to Gulf Turquoise or Cadet Blue on my other 55's so I had it tinted to be complementary to those colors.
Willie
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I'm considering putting a 60's or 70's (pre metric) power steering pump on the car and connecting it to the stock power steering box. Anyone know if this has been done / do the hose connections mate up / will the newer pump overdrive the box?
I don't know about your exact situation, but I have seen GM pumps mated to Ford box and vice-versa with no issues. You will probably need to have custom hoses made and custom mount.
The stock pumps were used by many GM cars for a few years and are available if yours is completely shot. They can be refreshed easily with inexpensive parts. See this page on my web site HERE.
Willie
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I finally remembered that I have a 58 Flightpitch manual. So I looked at the torque ball section and there are no adjustments during assembly. It uses the same outer torque ball retainer, but uses 'sealing rings' instead of gaskets and shims.
Willie
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You probably need a new battery. But before you condemn it charge it for 12-24 hours. One or two hours is enough for 12v batteries, but 6v needs a long charge to bring up to full capacity.
Willie
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Thanks Willie,
Is the typical torque ball seal kit all I will need?
yes
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DYNAFLOW TRANSMISSION TORQUE BALL SEAL BOOT KIT 1953-1955<----do not use this one unless you have the original metal outer torque ball retainer, want to spent hours adjusting, and then have leaks as a reward for your troubles. The other kits will serve you well. Other vendors with quality products are Fatsco and Bob's Automobilia.
Willie
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The parts from Fatsco are good quality and will serve you well (I was referring to different New Jersey boys). I just put mine together with the gaskets, never check the pull, and just drive it (thousands of miles a year). The outer torque ball retainer with the vulcanized rubber came out in I think 1957. Maybe someone with a 57 or 58 manual can check the procedure. My retired transmission mentor says to just slap it together and drive it...and practice apparently shows it works.
Willie
1953 Riv axle end play
in Buick - Post War
Posted
Rick
You did not indicate what the gap was. Usually if the block cannot be rotated 90* you will be fine. If you really want to be within specifications, measure between the axle shaft ends and machine the block to fit.
Willie