The Old Guy

YnZ made the harness for my 40 Super back when my oldest boy was still in high school. My boy installed it one weekend ,and it has performed flawlessly ever since. My son Jim .who did the installation has since retired after 26 years in the navy, and the wiring is still working perfectly. they also built a harness for my 32 Buick ,and added additional wires for an electric fuel pump, and a traler hookup in the original loom ,so it is not seen. I would recommend them as one of the best suppliers I have ever used,

I also signed up and think it would be nice to just be a fly on the wall and listen to everyone!

I would check the universal joint. I know is is not easy, but it sounds to me like one of the U-joint bearings is dry

In the Durant hotel there was a bar called the "Wheel room" It had divider made from 37 Buick wheels with white wall tires mounted on them and the chandlier looked like a big 37 Buick steering wheel. The tables were made of 3/4 inch plate glass about three feet in diameter.The glass had 4 antique Buick sillouettes etched in the bottom of the glass. I was fortunate enough to find one, and though I haven't decided what to do with it yet, I am pleased to have that piece of Flint history

The Buick super came out mid year, and used the 248 CI engine. The 60-70-80-90- all were 320 CI engines. The water pumps will not interchange between the small and big engines.

The simplest way to do the job is to put your drive shaft and torque tube on the later center section. they will interchange from 1940 to 1955. The axles have the same splines,and they will bolt into the 41 axle housing.

pat Putting in a 400 trans will require a trans adaptor. The ST-400 will mount to a 364 or a 401-435. but your 322 has a smaller bell housing. Usually installing a cam with more overlap will hurt the bottom end, but the rhoads lifters will help If you are going to the expense of an adaptor, I would suggest getting one for a 200-4R or a 700-R4 as they are both overdrive trannies . You could then play with the rear axle ratios to get whatyou are after.

Some years ago , A good friend ,who was getting married, hid his Corvette. We ,of course found it and "doctored " it.When he went to retrieve it for his honeymoon trip, he found it completely filled with inflated ballons, and all the windows soaped. He took care of this and jumped in only to find that the rear wheels were not touching the ground. He removed the stanchions , moved the car and heard a terrible rattling underneath. After getting the tin cans out of the suspension, he assumed he was all done. They were going down the interstate and on opening the vents found out that the rice poured into the vent tubes came out like BBs. He was not too congenial for a loooong time.

The difference in the two engines is the 401 has a longer stroke. This places the heads further apart. If you measure between the front bolts on the intakes , you will find that the 401 is approximately 9 1/4 inches, and the 364 is 8 7/8

The Shaefer Buicks ran at Indy. You might check with Sloan Museum in Flint Mich. They probably have pictures.

The carrier assemblies from 40 to 55 will interchange, but the gear ratios are different. The straight eight cars have from 3.9 to 4.4 ratios and the V8 cars have from 3.3 to 3.6 ratios. I have a 55 assembly in my 40 with the 3.4 ratio and it makes a highway car out of it. the original 4.4 gear limited me to 55-60 MPH, and now I can run 70+ all day

It may have been a "team effort " ,but results were excellent!

I agree with everyone that Pete does a spectacular job !

The center sections of the Buick rear axles will interchange from 1940- 1955 in all but the 90 series. The V8 dynaflow Buicks have 3,3 to 3.6 ratios. I installed a 3.4 in my 40 in place of the 4.4, and gained 3-5 MPG

My wife has been involved in the car hobby since we have been married (48 + years) She was the secretary of our Buicktown chapter numerous times and did the registration for the early BCA national meets in Flint. Before I got into "old" cars she went to many of the drag races I participated in around the area. Bernice still enjoys the BCA meets and also the Buick Driving Enthusiast division of the BCA meets. I still drag race occasionally, and also have a 37 Buick street rod. She doesn't go to many of these meets, but I don't go to her "Red Hat" functions, so it all works out

61 was the first year for an open drive line in Buick

It is interesting to note that I have a plaque in my "Buick Room" that was given to the city of Flint in 1958 by Ed Ragsdale of Buick complimenting Flint on it's 50 year relationship with GM It was thrown in the trash by one of the Flint Mayors to make room . Fortunately a friend salvaged it and thought it should be displayed in my room.

Good Luck Woody, and Happy New Year

woody If you have the bell housing that came off the 47 engine, it should work just fine. The problem with changing the bell housing is that you must pull the flywheel in order to do that. This entails removing the pan and rear main cap ,knocking out the flywheel bolts and in general swearing a LOT!There are housing bolts behind the flywheel, and there is not sufficient room to pull the wheel back to clear the bolts. Originally the housing was bolted on before the crank and flywheel assembly was dropped in. I wish I had better news, but that is the way it works. You can always hang a weight on the shifter arm, and that will work most of the time. If I remember right, there is a boss on the drivers side of the housing that has a hole tepped in it on the 40 housing that is not tapped on the later housing. check it out as it is MUCH easier to tap the hole before you mount it.

The bell housing was originally mounted to the block ,and then the trans hole was machined. This was to make sure that it was in perfect alignment with the crank. The machines of 60+ years ago were not good enough to make sure that this would happen. The best way to check your Buick is to remove the trans ( I know what a pain that it ) and check the runout with an indicator. I it is not concentric, you can pull the bell housing locator pins and move the bell housing until it is concentric. Bolt it down tight, and then put a tapered dowel in the old holes after reaming the holes. There may be another answer, but this is the only positive cure I have found.

Merry Christmas and a Happy and prosperous New Year to you and all the great people on this forum We'll see you in Flint

Merry Christmas and a Happy and Prosperous New Year.

When Terry Dunham approached the BMD about a BCA meet in Flint in 1971, the powers that be at Buick thought it would be a nice touch to have the "Bug" as a running display in the parking lot behind the administration building. The Bug had not run in quite some time, so they asked me to go to Sloan Museum and help Jim Johnson get it running.We worked on it and got it fired up , and I have been the driver at all the Buick meets since. In 2003 ,for the 100th anniversary, they took it to Milan dragway ,and I drove it down the strip. The Bug has a 622 cubic inch 4 cylinder engine with a 3 speed selective gear box ( which was cutting edge at that time) The brakes , if you want to call them that ,are BAD! It has rear external contracting bands, for the brake pedal, and an external contracting band on a drum behind the trans that works off a lever. Neither are very good. The drivers that went 105 MPH in this had to have titanium gonads! Originally it was hand cranked to start it, but when Charley Chane got it from Charley Howard, he took it into Buick and had them install a starter ring and a starter. There is a spark and throttle control lever on the steering wheel, and also a foot throttle. There are 2 tanks behind the driver, that are pressurized by a pump in the drivers compartment.One tank is gas, and the othr is oil. The driver has an oil gauge and when he sees the pressure drop, he can open a petcock under his right leg which allows oil from the tank to flow under pressure into the crankcase. When oil blows out the breathers, he shuts it up. The Bug has a solid brass flywheel that weighs 140pounds and a multiple disc clutch. The last time I drove it the clutch was slipping quite baddly, and the engine needed tuning, as it really was missing. The steering is very quick,and under the steel covers are wood spoke wheels. The long drag link from the steering to the front wheel is also wood, and I can't believe they were able to drive at those speeds with such primitive equipment. I am also fortunate enough to be friends with Harold Calhoun, who is the truck driver that hauls many of the GM concept cars to different functions. I was at the Great Lakes Regional a few years ago ,when he told me to jump in the Blackhawk ,and give some people rides.

I just had a coil go bad on my 91 Park Ave, and went out in the barn and found that I had a Delco coil pack. I did not realize that they would interchange. I just installed it , and it works GREAT!! Thank you for the info.

I am fortunate enough to have driven both the Buick "Bug" and the Blackhawk. Sometimes it pays to live in the Flint area! I cant have the Blackhawk, so I built my 37 coupe the same color and with a 455 ( it is just carbureted, but goes pretty good anyway) I agree that one Buick is not enough because there are too many different organizations that won't accept a "catchall car" I have : 72 GS 455 convertible for the GS club : 37 coupe for the street rod groups : 40 Super Convertible for the BCA : 69 Sport Wagon for the BDE Joe Taubitz