Fr. Buick

Hey thanks!

Is there an address for the show location, please?

I was hankering for anything mid-50s from GM when I was in high school. I would find something for sale around town, fret over it, read up on it and beg Mom to let me buy it. Olds, Chevy, Pontiac. She always said no, and wisely so. Easter Sunday of my senior year I spotted a 54 Special 2-door sedan (model 48D) for sale by an Anaheim cop. New paint, nice chrome, unmolested and 64 thousand miles, and Mom said yes. Drove that car through grad school, and I've been stuck ever since.

Two cars REALLY grabbed me as a kid - Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang, and the Munster Mobile by Barris. I got to meet him last Christmas at a party, a nice humble guy.

Where ya located, and what is the ID in thousanths of an inch?

Here here, I think it is a great idea. These things are old and hard to come by, so let's give them a little honor and encouragement. My city of Orange does this for houses that turn 100 by way of a sign in the yard. "Happy Birthday, I'm 100!" The city went out of its way for preservation, and if I understand it correctly, preservation is one of the purposes for this club, no? No doubt, the good idea of one man is the work of another, but can this be easily done?

Nice job, Shadetree! Ya know, all that beautiful color makes me wish we had reals seasons in SoCal. But then again, if it has to include a real winter, I think I'll pass...

Not a problem. Take the balancer to a good parts store, and they will sell you a thin metal sleeve that can be tapped down over the sealing point to give a clean and smooth surface.

Is this Mr. Earl trying hard to sell the '58 line-up? His hands are moving fast!

I agree with the Tefba recommendation. Mount it at the top hose, just behind the radiator. You twist off the top, loosing no fluid, check and clean the screes, and off you go. I also put a stack of life-saver shaped magnets on the little shaft, and these catch even more schmuts. On an old engine you know there is stuff floating through the system.

75%, and some were a SWAG (scientific wild-ass guess).

Back to the top, please, I'm trying to clean out the garage... $40 for a good fan motor!

Put WD40 on the vent control cables, and they working them gently. They will work very smoothly with some lube and regular use.

In think it was a little unfair to Buick in the 50's, but that's just me. The early history is interesting, certainly.

That looks so hill-billie, and yet it just might be genius! I can't tell which, but will love to hear the field-reports.

I stumbled on A Borgward Isabela for the first time on the streets of Santa Barbara years ago in college. I have only seem two or three since. Eye-catching little car. It reminds me of a Karmen Ghia, but for grown-ups.

I thought these were made of aluminum in '56, plastic in 54-55. I have aluminum, for a manual or a power seat, your pick. They will need a little work, but they are respond very well even to my very basic skills in straightening, painting and polishing. I was thrilled to be done with the plastic ones on my '54 when I upgraded to a '56 power seat mechanism... PM me a cell phone number, and I can text you some pics.

My '54 does the same thing, even with the fancy gas pump hoses we use in California, though not to the point of getting on the exterior paint. Since the tank is so low, and the filler pipe so high up, it is hard to anticipate when the tank is getting full. And before you know it, you get a burb of gas coming out.

There is something fragile about the wiring on 6-volt Buicks. I would recommend getting a kit and redoing the whole car... For the work it takes, I am not sure you have an easier job splicing and salvaging the old stuff. To say nothing of peace of mind. Fancy new paint and upholstery can be ruined quickly by an electrical fire.

I found a nice dizzy at a swap meet recently. By the overspray of green paint, I assumed it was an early Nailhead. Delco number reads 1110824, and I am unable to find the number in my books or on the web. Can someone identify this for me? Thanks in advance, Doug

So what's playing on the movie screen? The location looks awesome! I want to watch a movie in my Buick...

That AC looks factory to me... If anybody buys this and needs help - or wants to unload the AC stuff - I would be happy to hear from you!

On the smaller cars (54 and 55) you can remove the cable from under the dash. I did it before on my '54 Special and it was easy. On my '54 Super, same as Paul's, it was impossible to remove from underneath the dash. You have to go at it by removing the upper dash - not fun. On all models, you can remove the inner cable by pulling it out from the transmission side. Perhaps a replacement inner cable will fix your problem, but I see no good way to get any lube up to the top end. If the noise is from the speedo, go with Mr. Kriss who runs an ad in the Bugle. He did a great rebuild job on mine. You can reach him at 570-376-3952.

OK, I see a '54 Super hardtop in the background of one picture, and it didn't get a close-up? Booh! Looks like a very fun show...

Water is there at the back of the engine because of air-flow and gravity, not because you have a leak there. There is absolutely no water in the intake. I would keep looking in the area of the thermostat housing and the water manifold at the front of the engine. BYTW, you will want to replace your heater thermostat while doing your heater. If it starts to leak, it will get the carpet wet as well, I believe - much like your heater did. Think about getting one of those cooling system pressure testers. It is basically a radiator cap attached to an air pump that allows you to pump some air into the system to bring it up to operating pressure (whatever your radiator cap reads), and check for leaks. This way, the engine is cool, there is no air moving under the hood, and you can see exactly where the leak is coming from and fix it without burning your hands... This is especially handy on mid-50s Buicks like mine, with miles of heater hoses doing various jobs. Interstate maps of the day even included a section on Buick heater hoses. So count your blessings, it could be worse... You have a nice car there, and I'll look forward to seeing it in PA. Happy wrenching!