brad54

I'm getting rid of a couple of Dyna Flows, and will be scrapping them out. <BR>I have two flex plates, two trans pans (nice shape, not caved in, but a bit scratched), two torque converters, and heck, two transmissions.<BR>I've also got a single, complete 2-bbl kick-down linkage.<BR>What doesn't sell post-haste will be turned into a Honda Civic.<BR>e-mail me direct at:<BR>brad.ocock@verizon.net<P>-Brad

Thanks for the tip, Ralph.<BR>I'm making a mild, period-correct Kustom: spiffed up engine, aluminum vavle covers and valley pan, etc.<BR>I'm keeping the '54 Thermostat housing because the heater hose is on the side, rather than right behind the water neck and is therefore a cleaner appearance.<BR>One thing I am doing is putting on a later 401 aluminum timing chain cover and water pump housing--it looks better, the water pumps are readily available, and the fuel pump is cheaper and also not the dual-action job.<BR>You don't have any hot-rod Nail Head parts on hand by chance?<BR>Thanks,<BR>-Brad

Thank you for the tip, but I've got a manual trans in it. I have an old Cragar bellhousing to adapt a Ford T-85 to it, but I'd like to find one to adapt a GM trans--Either way, it's going to have a 3spd OD manual trans, either Ford or Chevy.

I agree--if you can get all the parts from a donor car, do it! Things like brackets, clips, etc. will kill you. For instance, on a '69 Dodge Charger, there are hard lines that run over the top of the radiator core support, and there is a specific little clip that holds the lines to the core support. You can't just find something like that. I'm sure the Buick will be the same.<BR>I've worked with Classic Auto Air in Tampa, Florida on several occasions, and I recommend them. I've done magazine articles with them, and they've done the system on my personal '54 Special. They can do custom installations, and Concours-quality restoration. They're number is 813-251-2356.<BR>You might also ask them about converting to R134a from Freon. I'm a fan of the conversion, especially if you're completely rebuilding/restoring the entire system. In fact, after close to ten years of working the bugs out, I'd say there's no real reason not to convert--the systems work as well as R12/Freon when properly done ("Properly" being the key). Unless you're going with a concours resto--in which case the fill and drain valves are different enough to lose points. <BR>Give them a call. I don't beleive they'll steer you wrong.<BR>-Brad

Will--I absolutely LOVE the art at the bottom of your posts! What is it, and where did it come from?<P>NTX5467--<BR>Please tell me more about the specialty tools. I'm especially interested for a number of reasons, the biggest being that I love tools and don't need much of an excuse to buy another one, the second being that I work for Super Rod magazine and am starting a monthly section on tools. This would make a fantastic article, but I need a little more info. For instance, how far back in model year can you generally order a tool? Heck, even "what's a good phone number for me to get in touch with SPX?" would be good. I'd be extremely interested in finding more info on this. I can think of several tools for my '54 Buick that I can't just get down at Sears. Is it just simple hand tools, or did they do the more elaborate ones such as the driveshaft/pinion gear pullers for the torque-tube cars? And would that tool be available?<BR>Please e-mail me directly at:<BR>brad.ocock@verizon.net and I'll call you on my dime and get some more info about this.<BR>Thanks a ton,<BR>-Brad

My understanding on the term "Nail Head" was that the heads of the valves were very small, especially when compared to other engines. The valve heads were said to be "no bigger than nail heads."<BR>I've also heard it applied to the strange configuration of the valve train having the valves go straight up and down (like nails driving into wood), not canted at an angle like other engines.<BR>Now, is "Nail Head" one word or two?! That's the question that's been bugging me!

So let me see if I've got this all correct: A guy posts a message soliciting donations to refurbish his car. Along the way, he tugs at the heartstrings of being a family guy on a tight budget and plays up the patriotism angle by stating he's a fireman, and mentions 9-11 and all that goes with that. Then it turns out the car he pictures on the website soliciting this money isn't his, though it's played off like he is the owner. Then a bunch of people raise a fuss, and he first justifies it by saying it was an experiment, he's trying to sell some other service or product on the website, and that he's got a Masters Degree and could use this little social experiment towards a second one, were he so inclined.<BR>When that doesn't settle the dust, he appologizes. <BR>Has outright fraud come to anyone's mind here? I'm talking the criminal kind. It seems to me that if he was soliciting donations for a project but posts a picture of a project car he ripped off from someone else, he probably doesn't have a project car at all. At which point I've got to wonder if he is in fact a fireman at all. I would think if you really did own a project car, then that's the one you'd post on your website. Frankly, I think the whole thing reeks of fraud--if he either doesn't own a project or isn't a fireman, then it IS fraud. <BR>You know, if you really do have a Masters Degree, a family and want to be into restoring cars, don't you think you could have found a job that pays a little better than being a fireman? No offense to the millions of guys and women we couldn't survive without, but if you really do have a Masters, you shouldn't be working a job that requires you to do the equivelant of stand on a corner with a cardboard sign begging for money so you can support your family and have the other things you want in life.<BR>And if you do have a Masters, I'd think you'd be a little smarter than trying to pass off someone else's car as your own on a website soliciting money for it's restoration. If you solicit money from people for one thing, and then don't use it for the purposes stated to those who donated, whether intentionally or not, then it's fraud. And if you've attempted to do this, then it's still fraud.<BR>Whether it's the way I see it or your version is actually really true (whacked as that is), it's despicable either way.

Nope. Don't even have any leads on a '54 parts car. Sorry.<BR>-Brad

For those of us who don't have the TSB from the early '50s, could you enlighten us? I've noticed the exact same thing on one of the wheels for my '54 as well.<BR>Aftermarket screw-in metal valve stems will work--the little metal sleeve inside for the schrader valve doesn't extend that far into the rubber valve.<BR>As for the wheels splitting, might those be the old riveted wheels? I really can't see a one-piece forged or stamped wheel ring splitting from air pressure and a radial tire. Rusting through, sure, but just from air pressure? <BR>I'd very much like to know about the factory's solution to the rotating hub caps.

I've got a 4-bbl intake for a 322 for sale. $100, plus shipping.<BR>e-mail me direct at:<BR>brad.ocock@verizn.net<P>-Brad

What kind of condition is the '54 Shop Manual in, and what is your price?<BR>Please e-mail me direct at:<BR>brad.ocock@verizon.net<BR>Thanks,<BR>-Brad

I've got an intake. $100. E-mail me directly at:<BR>brad.ocock@verizon.net<BR>-Brad

I posted that I had a jack for the first guy who wanted it. I've since been unable to get back on this website, because it keeps crashing my computer.<BR>I've lost your address: Please contact me direct with your address, and I'll get it out to you. <BR>my e-mail is: brad.ocock@verizon.net

Several months ago I had an article in a magazine about Buick's finned aluminum drums. I got a lot of help from Buick site guys, and was going to send a copy of the article to two of them. I've lost their addresses, and I've had bad troubles getting onto this website (keeps locking up my computer).<BR>If you guys read this post, please contact me directly at brad.ocock@verizon.net.<BR>Thanks,<BR>-Brad

Hey, e-mail me direct at:<BR>brad.ocok@verizon.net<BR>I've been having a lot of trouble getting onto this web site.<BR>I've got your bracket. Need an address to send it to.<BR>-Brad

That tube at the back of the engine is the "road draft" tube. That's the one that can be replaced with a modern PCV valve. Drill a hole in the valve cover and install a PCV with a rubber grommet. Find the PCV before you drill the hole, rather than the other way around.<BR>If you have a drill press, you can get an end mill at a mill tool supply store (3 flutes or more), and mill the fins off with the drill press--it's tedious, but you can do it. Once the spot for the PCV is flat,drill a hole for the grommet. Then run a line from the PCV to the carb base or make a nipple in the air cleaner lid.<BR>Good luck!<BR>-Brad

Do you notice the smell in relation to topping off the gas tank? Pin holes in the top of the gas tank will leak enough to smell really bad, but small ones won't leak enough to make a puddle under the car.<BR>Also, crawl under the car and look for moist fuel lines around the connections or anywhere else along their length. <BR>-Brad

"Buick logo is still on the valve covers?" These aren't finned valve covers with BUICK embossed on the side of the cover, are they?<P>Before you start it, squirt some WD40 into the cylinders through the spark plug holes and let it soak for a while: that way if the cylinders have flash rusted, they won't kill the rings (that's what happenen on my 264--the old guy I bought it from said "yep, we got 'er running just a few days ago!" D'oh!)<BR>Howz a twenty spot for that generator bracket, plus shipping?<BR>-Brad

The road draft tube (and PCV valves) behave a bit like a siphon, with air going into the engine through the breathers.<BR>The problem with just using the breathers on top of the valve covers is that it's messy because the air going out of them will carry some oil with it.<BR>It really wouldn't be much effort to remove a couple of those fins off the valley pan, drill a hole and install a modern PCV valve, then run the tube to the intake, carb base or even air cleaner. If you've got a drill press, you can get an end mill and remove the fins, then get a hole saw and make a hole (get 1/8-inch under the size you actually need--the saw teeth remove a lot of material and make the hole wider than you want). Heck, if you don't have a drill press, some hand work with a grinder or Dremel tool would also get rid of the fins.<BR>-Brad

I haven't figured out what type of valves I'm doing.<BR>"Later this month?" Boy, I'd love to be looking at that time frame! I'm at least a year or two out. I'm knees deep in a '57 wagon, then I'm moving, then I start on the Buick again.

I recently discovered that on '55-57 Chevy cars, there was an optional idler arm in the steering system that had roller bearings in it instead of the standard rubber bushing. The result was that the steering work much more freely, especially at lower speeds or in parking lots, etc. Owneres refered to it as Poor Man's Power Steering, though I don't know what Chevy officially called it.<BR>Did Buick offer anything like this in the mid-50s? <BR>-Brad

Bummer. Here I was all excited for a minute. Thanks everyone!<BR>Well, I figure a tilt column out of an earlier van, my manual shift column, a part or two from Flaming River, and some work at at a machine shop will get me a tilt, manual shift column. Lots of work, though!<BR>-Brad

Professional bracket racers do that brake shoe trick if they're running a class that does not allow a trans brake. The idea is that the extra brake material will hold the car better while they power brake waiting for the light to turn green. I've wondered about it for a street car, but never did it. Now that I've heard from someone who inadvertantly put the long shoe in front, I don't think I'll be doing it.<BR>But as for redesigning the factory engineering...that's what hot rodding is all about!<BR>-Brad

What engine/trans? I need a flywheel for a 322.<BR>If it has a tissue dispenser, let me know. <BR>Need more info on the car:<BR>Power options, etc.<BR>Thanks

You can still get adapter plates new from Offy and Transdapt (I think--about Transdapt, that is), plus they're found at swap meets.<BR>I just really like the foot starter! I think it's cool to get in the car, flip the toggle switch over to "run" (without the key), and step on the gas pedal and have it fire right up. Don't have to step on the pedal a couple of times to "prime" it, either. I just think it's neat.<BR>As fot the Offy intake--it's personal, and probably dumb. At least not a real good reason. You can still get Offy intakes, brand new, from Offenhauser for less that $300. Same with finned valve covers. The problem is that anyone who builds a vintage engine has an Offy intake and finned valve covers. You never see a nostalgia motor with another make intake on it. I've heard from one guy on this sight who's brother has dozens of 322 intakes, and they're all different makes and styles: 2x2, 4x2, etc. <BR>I have zero idea on cam specs. What I'm going to do on mine is build the engine, and probably have one of the intake and exhaust ports flowed, have the intake flowed, and then call Comp with those specs and have them whittle me a stick.<BR>I probably will clean up the compustion chamber a little bit (a very little bit), might port-match the intake, do a little bowl work behind the valves, and then detail the valves (radius the margin on the exhaust, back-cut the intake) and that's it. With the higher compression ratio that the '56s had, this should be a snappy little motor, but reliable.<BR>Cam design has come a long, long way: They've developed the lobe profiles to the point that it's just amazing. Two cams with the same lift and same duration can perform completely differently, depending on how fast the ramp of the lobe is. And then they've designed valve springs to control it, etc. I'll feel a lot better using a regrind from them over someone else's.<BR>-Brad