Matt Harwood

+1 for Gear Vendors. Expensive but worth it. I wish I had done it in my '29 Cadillac instead of cobbling up a Borg-Warner setup and I am seriously considering adding one to either or both of my '41 Buicks.

If you're a rookie, don't buy a fixer-upper. Spend a little more up front and get a finished car you can enjoy right away. Figure your budget and buy the nicest, most complete, best-driving car you can get for that amount of money. Your questions suggest that you aren't drawn to any particular year, make or model, so simply shopping a price range will give you a lot of options to choose from. Either of the cars you have described will be upside-down in terms of value long before you're done fixing them up, so cross "investment" off your list of things that an old car can be. Buy for the experience and the fun and the memories you'll make with your family. Let the money take care of itself later. I might even recommend that you reach a little bit beyond your comfort zone for a really nice car, whatever your budget. Set a price, but be prepared to move up a notch or two if something really good comes along. Shop price, but don't make it your sole criteria. You can get a lot of car for not a lot of money if you can be flexible and patient. I see in your signature that you already have a project going on. Don't take on another one, that's a great way to have two project cars and nothing to actually enjoy. The smartest thing I ever did was buy my 1929 Cadillac as a running, driving car I could enjoy right away, because I already had a garage full of car parts waiting to become a car again (a task I still haven't finished because life gets in the way). Two projects are more likely to stay as two projects than one project and one running car you can enjoy as you work on the other. I don't work on my '41 Buick project very often, but I drive my '29 Cadillac all the time. I like that part better. Buy a complete, running, driving, ready-to-enjoy car. Have fun now. Forget profit. Win!

Fresh, high-quality frame-off restoration to show standards. Matching-numbers WT-coded 389/4-speed, factory Tri-Power added, power steering and top. Stunning gloss black paint that's way nicer than original, excellent gaps, beautiful restored or NOS chrome and trim. New white power top that was only folded once--for our photo shoot--and then put back up. Runs and drives properly, not an unsorted trailer queen. Everything new inside, gauges all operational, correct AM/FM radio, detailed trunk. Engine bay and undercarriage detailed for show, correct bias-ply redlines on factory Rally I wheels. PHS documents, restoration receipts totaling more than $100,000, restoration photos included. Priced at $89,900. Very impressive car.

*SOLD* Superb late 1930 Ford Model A pickup. Great history with single family ownership dating back seven decades. Used as work truck at the mill indicated on the stake sides, which were actually milled by that business before it closed in the 1990s. Extremely correct, high-quality restoration finished in the 1990s but properly maintained and stored ever since and showing fewer than 850 miles since it was completed. No deviations from stock. Correct standard steel headlight buckets and grille shell, not stainless pieces that have been painted, painted wood bed, single taillight, one sidemount. Correct brown leatherette interior with rubber mat and late round speedometer gauge cluster. Engine fully rebuilt and balanced, totally stock except for fused protection on the electrical system (a smart upgrade for any Model A). Runs and drives like a Model A should, no issues, no problems, no excuses. Still one of the best. AACA Senior National First price, Grand National First Prize, MARC of Excellence Master Restoration Award. Priced at $29,900.

*SOLD* Cool code 10 White Chevelle SS with matching-numbers L34 396/350 horsepower V8, 4-speed manual transmission, 3.31 Posi. Great color combination. Restored about ten years ago to factory specs with a few very minor upgrades. Nice bodywork with no patches and original quarters, good gaps, and functioning cowl-induction hood. Still in great condition with no issues, nice chrome, painted-on stripes buried under the clear for a seamless look. Unusual bench seat (buckets were optional, even on the SS) with Hurst 4-speed. Cold factory A/C, auxiliary gauges, updated AM/FM/cassette stereo. Detailed engine bay with long-tube headers, but original manifolds are included. Runs and drives great, smooth and quiet, no squeaks or rattles inside. Documented with TWO original build sheets (one legible, one not so much), original bill of sale, Protect-O-Plate, and manuals. Full receipts for restoration totaling more than $60,000. This is an easy car to like. Priced at $59,900.

*SOLD* One of only 355 Custom 7-passenger sedans built in 1941 without a divider window (not a limousine). Almost 100% original except the usual service items. Original paint, interior, chrome, engine, etc. 57,375 original miles, long-term ownership (40+ years). Runs and drives superbly, everything works--clock ticks, overdrive overdrives, all gauges read correctly, radio pulls in stations loud and clear. Has first-year hydraulic windows that work but they're a little sluggish and sometimes need assistance, but I bet they could be lubricated to improve their function since the pump and lines are recent. Original tools and jack. Starts easily, idles whisper quiet, cruises easily at 65 MPH. Previous CCCA and Lincoln club award winner, slam-dunk for HPOF. Big, handsome, reasonably-priced Full Classic with room for the whole family. I love my Buick limousine, this should be equally joyous for someone else. Available now for $36,900.

*SOLD* Unusual six-cylinder Auburn with a lot of options. Beautiful restoration completed just before it went on display at the Auburn-Cord-Duesenberg Museum about 20 years ago, so for the most part it's still pretty fresh. A very high-quality restoration with nice chrome, great paint and interior, and fine attention to detail. When we got it from the museum, it had been in stasis for two decades so the usual needs were addressed. All-new fuel system, including Gas Tank Renu for the tank, rebuilt fuel pump and carburetor using parts from our friend Curt at Auburns Midwest. The brake system was flushed, although it appears that they had DOT 5 silicone fluid in it, so it was in excellent condition and all we really needed to do was to adjust the brakes, fill it with fresh fluid, and bleed the system. The shoes are new and the brakes are shockingly effective. The radiator was pulled and boiled out and the block was reverse flushed and then chemically treated to flush out any contaminants--it runs at 170 degrees now. Car has dual sidemounts, a working AM radio, and a dual range rear end that we just serviced and appears to be working correctly, although you'll probably only use high range. The car starts quickly, idles smoothly, and drives beautifully. You should consider replacing the tires, which are more than 20 years old and if you can get radials, they will make this a fantastic tour car. I have personally had it to 60 MPH, where it seems pretty happy, so it's a wonderful high-speed machine. 3-position top is excellent and includes matching boot. Everything works except the fuel gauge, which is capillary style, and the clock, which merely seems to be disconnected but we have not investigated. Everything else is a go, including wipers, lights, etc. Price is $79,900, which appears to be a great value for a beautiful, fast, well-restored Auburn convertible with a rumble seat. I will be sad to see it go. More photos available on our website.

I haven't figured that out yet. I haven't spent any time with the car. It arrived as I was leaving for the CLC show on Tuesday so I haven't done anything but drive it around the block. I need to get more in depth with it and evaluate the details before pasting a price on it. Mid-$40s probably.

I acquired the car from that dealer.

Sorry I didn't respond sooner. I don't check this forum very often anymore and I'm in Washington DC for the Cadillac-LaSalle National Meet so my computer time is limited. Apologies. The car is in my shop in Macedonia, Ohio. 1333 Highland Rd. Easy to get there, call if you need directions. I have not yet put a price on the Chevelle but it will be north of $40K. I sold a non-matching, manual steer, manual brake 1967 Chevelle a few months ago for $56K, so these cars are hot right now. If your friend can find a good one, he'll do well to hold it for a while. This one has a great pedigree and hasn't been beaten to death. I like the color, although most guys want black or red or Marina Blue. Nice car, worth the investment, but maybe not for everyone if price is a consideration. On the other hand, you get what you pay for and a good car will always be worth a premium, now and in the future. Thanks.

I have a matching-numbers 1967 SS396 L35 325 horse 4-speed car in Butternut Yellow with black top and buckets. Power steering & brakes, plus working power antenna. 58,000 original miles. Never-rusted southern car with immaculate floors and quarters. Fantastic paint and interior, drives properly, very tight. Redline radials on Rallys. Best of all, located in my showroom in northeast Ohio. Just arrived so I only have these photos.

I always thought the Minilites looked best on those cars. Not a fan of the maintenance on wire wheels--you will not enjoy keeping them clean. I also think they're a little too dated for a TR6. They're appropriate on early British sports cars, but by the 1970s, I don't think any manufacturers were actually still selling them as original equipment. I even think the original TR6 wheels are quite attractive, especially with correct redline tires. Here's a car we had with Minilites that I thought was quite handsome: And this is what an expensive wire wheel mistake looks like (don't worry, I took them off and reinstalled factory wheels on this poor Allante):

O'Reilly's Auto Parts sells a Master Pro 140W GL4 gear oil. That's probably very close to what you need. $20/gallon. https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/masterpro-chemicals-4341/chemicals---fluids-16461/grease---lube-16582/gear-oil---additives-16905/gear-oil---140w-20063/gear-oil/80040/4495693?q=140+gear+oil

Rich McKenna @ Cyclone Transmission in Canton, OH. 330-605-3088. He'll be able to do whatever you need. I might even have a freshly rebuilt cast iron PowerGlide laying around if your friend needs it (pulled from a 1960 Impala 348).

Well, craps, it looks like you guys are right. The nice thing about having two of these cars sitting here is that it's easy to check. Sure enough, it looks like I put the rear end cover on incorrectly. Well, I didn't, but whomever had the car before me because I just duplicated what he did. Looking closely at the inside of the rear end cover, you can see the oil level just below the fill plug and the other Limited here in the shop has the fill plug below the center line of the housing. Why they would put the little notch on there in an incongruous place like that, I don't know, but it sure looks like it needs to be turned two or three bolts clockwise. Guess I'm going in there again. I suppose I'll tear it all the way apart this time and look at the guts. It's not broken, but this is my chance to fix it until it is. Bah.

That's where it was when I took it off and it has the special notch in it on the bottom bolt--it wouldn't make sense to have that notch on the second one up from the bottom or something. I don't have my manual handy. I'll double-check.

That thing in that setting looks like a plot device in a kidnapping movie...

Well, the rear end took a surprising amount of oil (at least a gallon) and became quiet again. The transmission slips into first gear effortlessly, hot or cold. I drove the car at varying speeds for about 45 minutes, including several 60 MPH runs on the highway and it remained quiet. It's not silent, but I don't think it ever was, and it's considerably better than it was. Now I'm thinking that a lot of the whine that I hear now might be tire noise, although the radials seem very quiet. It no longer seems to be coming from the back of the car. I can induce some rear end noise by stabbing the throttle and creating lash in the drivetrain, but that's not real friendly and isn't how one usually drives anyway. After 45 minutes of varied driving, I came back and aimed my temperature gun at the differential cover and it said 141 degrees, which seems cool but nice to see that it wasn't cooking itself--cool is better than hot. It does not appear to be leaking. We'll see if there are any drops under it tomorrow, but I don't expect any. I'm satisfied with the result but will keep an ear out for any unusual noises--you guys have me paranoid now. As if I needed more of that when driving an old car...

Spinney, while I appreciate your attention to detail, your knowledge, your experiences, and your advice, I'm not particularly inclined to do a full tear-down of the rear end at this point. Your comments are well-taken, believe me, but I am usually someone who believes in Occam's Razor; that is, the simplest explanation is usually the right one. This car came to me two years ago with a quiet differential. My first move was to fill it with a gear oil that was too thin, and when it started to make a faint noise audible only to me, I decided to change it for something thicker. The foremost expert on these cars said, "90-weight is too thin, we use 85W140 and it works much better." The metallic particles in the oil are a bit concerning, but my experience says it's an inevitable part of use--they're not chunks, but even more fine than the metallic particles in metallic paint. My 1993 Ford Mustang LX5.0 has nearly 36,000 race miles on it. Race miles. Open track sessions. Autocross. A few SCCA match races at the local level. Every three outings I would change the Mobil 1 gear oil in it and every time there would be a metallic sheen in the oil as it sat in the pan. 36,000 race miles later, that car is still running its the same gears and Trac-Lok limited slip with no ill effects. The tiny chunk of brass I can't explain, but there's no brass in the rear end of this car and even if there were, it wouldn't be a chunk, it would be a flake and it would have sunk to the bottom of the housing, not stuck to the top of the rear end cover above the oil level. Odd, but so out of place that I'm not going to go looking for its source because the simplest explanation suggests that it got there while the rear end was open last time, not as a result of self-destruction. A wound devastating enough to peel off a chunk of brass this big would do damage that would still be felt and heard, continuously, wouldn't you think? Here are some hi-res photos of the ring gear and spider gears so you can see that the faces of the gears are not worn in a scary, abnormal way. In fact, now that I compare this gear set to the one in my '41 Century (link below), they look pretty much the same and the aforementioned experts, the Seybolds, signed off on it being more or less the way all '41 Buick rear ends look after all these years (click to embiggenate the photos). The rear end housing is attached to the torque tube and the pinion is pretty much permanently pressed into the housing. That's why changing a Buick rear end is a major ordeal--there's much more than just swapping gears and/or pumpkins. Separating the torque tube and the rear end housing is tough and putting it back together is another challenge altogether. There are bearings holding both the inner and outer ends of the axles in the housing, and those are roller bearings in cages, held in place by the caps you see. Here's what my '41 Century's rear end looked like coming apart (it was healthy): http://www.harwoodperformance.bizland.com/1941buick/042904.htm (if you read through the entire process and look at the photos, you'll see that there isn't much to go wrong in there--no shims or spacers, no brass). So which is more likely: a car that was run for an unknowable amount of time before I owned it with low rear end oil and then filled with oil that was too thin being a little noisy because of it? Or some catastrophic failure waiting in the wings that only waited for the thinner oil to be installed before revealing itself, but only as symptoms that mimic oil that is too thin? I agree that prudence is often required, but doing a full autopsy on this rear end at this point probably isn't necessary. If it's still noisy (and again, the noise was audible only to me and even then I couldn't be positive it was an unacceptable level of noise) with the thicker oil, or if it gets worse, well, then I might go in after it and talk about replacing bearings and other parts that are likely pure unobtainium on a 1941 Buick Limited. But at the moment, the gear teeth on the pinion and the ring gears look decent, if not perfect, but probably like they should for 70,000 or so miles of use. Then again, this is a 75 year old car with a history of being used as a car behind it. My experience and my gut say that the oil was too thin and made it a little noisy. I will definitely let you know how it turns out after a test drive on Monday, weather permitting.

Please don't buy this Model A. If you have to borrow money to buy it, you certainly can't afford to make it run. If you're borrowing money, borrow a bit more and buy a running car you can enjoy right away. Do not be tempted by the logic that says buying a pile of parts and putting it back together again is cheaper than a complete, running car. It is not. The purchase will only be the first of many checks you will be writing, and while I mean no offense, your user name of "Oldlady" and your comments that you don't have enough time to put it back together suggest that if you buy it, you will never get to drive it. If your friend were truly honest and truly a friend, he wouldn't sell this car to you. And don't agree to sell it for him, either. It's practically sales-proof and he'll blame you for it not selling. I have $10 that says he will eventually start demanding that you give him money for the car. This is a dark path you shouldn't take with an old car. Don't buy it and don't agree to sell it for him. It's his anchor, don't let him drown you with it. Don't be tempted. If you must have a Model A, there are plenty of shabby but complete and roadable cars that you can buy and enjoy without spending the rest of your life trying to piece it back together. This is advice coming from the heart--it will be a monumental project and I hate to see wasted time and resources on something like that.

Now that is a how-to post! Nice!

After a discussion elsewhere (http://forums.aaca.org/topic/292643-maintenance/) I figured I'd share what I did to get the Limited's rear end and transmission back into shape. Last year, after considerable research, I decided to use 85W90 in both the transmission and rear end. I found a suitable GL4 oil that would work and since 90W was the recommended viscosity in the manual, I figured that was the smart choice. Shortly thereafter, I noticed that it was really tough to get the transmission into 1st gear after it was warmed up. I installed new bushings for the linkage, and while it helped, it was still a struggle to get first gear at a stop light. I felt like I was abusing the hardware. Something was wrong and it wasn't like that before. That meant I screwed it up. Fortunately, that also narrowed down the list of suspects. At the same time, I think the rear end got louder. This was harder to quantify, since all I did was top off what was already in the rear end when I got the car. It took a surprising amount to fill it up, which suggested that it was very low on oil, but I don't really remember noticing that it was loud prior to that. We took one long, high-speed tour out to a WWII re-enactment and I recall that I was thinking the rear end was humming much more than I remembered. It's always hard to quantify when a car is new to you and you don't have a sold baseline, but it just seemed noisier than I think Buick engineers would have wanted on a limousine. Not awful, but it was there. You know how you can hear things that regular non-car-people don't? It was like that. Fist thing I did was call my friend Doug Seybold who said they use 85W140 in everything they restore, so that's what I initially gravitated towards for a refill. All of the 85W140 is GL5, which might concern some folks about wear and tear on "yellow" metals like the brass in the synchros. So I did some more homework and found that Royal Purple 85W140 gear oil has none of the sulfurs that attack the yellow metals, so it should be 100% safe. Being a synthetic should also help, so I ordered a case (expensive--about $100 for six bottles). But then there was that discussion I linked to up above, and on the advice found in that thread, I instead went and got some GL4 140-weight gear oil from O'Rielly's Auto Parts ($18/gallon). They have it on the shelf, so it's not hard to find. Make sure you get the right stuff because they also have 85W next to it. So GL4 140W extreme pressure hypoid gear oil seems to be the smartest bet. I finally carved out enough time to spend a few hours on the car. We're in the middle of moving into a new shop, my kids are wrapping up the school year, business is busy, the lawn needs mowed, the house needs a bathroom remodel, etc. It all gets in the way. But we have two new lifts in the new shop, so I figured that I'd give them a stress test with the big Limited. Today I put it up in the air and got busy. Buick up in the air at the new 25,000 square foot Harwood Motors shop. We haven't moved in yet but a few cars from inventory have come over recently to free up space The first thing I did was pull the drain plug on the transmission and let it drain for a while. The stuff coming out seemed clean and in good order, so no worries there. That was the fresh stuff I put in last summer. I moved to the rear end and removed the bottom bolts first, then worked my way around the circle, leaving the bolts above the halfway point in place, just loose. Oil started to flow out of the holes in the bottom, which I expected. It was FULL of metal particles, giving it a weird metallic sheen. Uh oh... Someone had obviously been in the rear end not too long ago and sealed it up with RTV, which is OK--that's how I will put it back together. But it took a screwdriver and a hammer to gently pry the rear end off the housing. More fluid came out and I let it drain for a while as I refilled the transmission. That part went smoothly, although I was surprised by how much the transmission took--about 1/2 gallon, which was more than I recall from last time. Meh, whatever, as long as you fill it to where it is just weeping out the fill hole, you're OK. It's incredibly easy if you get one of those $10 pumps they sell that screws into the top of the oil bottle and a little clip holds it in the fill hole. Transmission very easy to drain and fill Buttoned up, I moved back to the rear end. I used some paper towels to gently push the remaining fluid out the bottom hole and get it all out. Yeah, a lot of swirling metal in there. I'm pretty nervous now. I also found a few brass shards in the rear end cover, but I have no idea where they could have come from--there's no brass in the rear end. They were big enough chunks to pick up with my fingers. Odd, but I wasn't as concerned about that since they seemed so anomalous and were stuck to the inside of the rear end cover, not sitting in the bottom of the housing. Move on. Rear end with cover removed and oil draining. Seems OK... Definitely a 4.20 (4.18) rear end; pinion gear teeth look OK First thing I did was hose it all down with brake cleaner and get a look at the gears. They SEEM OK, maybe some minor wear, but nothing terribly noticeable. They aren't wrecked. I also confirmed that this is the original rear end, with 4.20 (actually 4.18) gears inside, as noted by the 11-46 stamped into the pinion gear (46/11 = 4.18). I finished mopping it out with more paper towels to be sure I got all the old oil out. I took the rear end cover, which was gunked up with RTV silicone sealer, to my handy bench grinder with a wire wheel, and knocked it clean in about three minutes. We're moving into a new shop and I finally have the space and facilities to set up all my restoration tools and equipment, so jobs like this go MUCH faster. Teeth seem OK. Not perfect, but not destroyed. I think I'll be OK. What do you think? All cleaned up with brake cleaner. Seems good. While I was at it, I cleaned up the original bolts and lock washers, which were gunked up with more RTV. I didn't clean the heads since I didn't want to knock off the plating (if any). I note that the four top bolts did not have lock washers, but that seemed incongruous to me, so I found four and made sure each bolt had a lock washer on it. Rear end flange all clean Bolts and washers cleaned up and ready to reinstall I also had to clean off the housing itself, which was likewise smeared with goop. I put an old T-shirt over the gears and most of the opening so that the goop and any stray wires from the wire wheel attachment on my angle grinder would not fly into the housing. Again, three minutes later, sparkling clean mating surface! Odd to see how crappy the weld between the two halves of the axle housing is. No wonder they leak... Internals protected while I clean goop off the housing Flange all clean and ready to be sealed up again With all that done, all that was left was to reinstall the cover and fill it up. I bought some black RTV in a pressurized can with a nozzle, which is a lot easier to work with than a tube. Gaskets are available, but my 5.0 liter Mustang's service manual specifically says NOT to use a gasket and just use RTV sealant, so I figured if it would work there, it would work here. Besides, that's how it was before and the rear end on the Limited was not particularly leaky, so I figured it was OK. I put a nice bead all around the perimeter of the housing and encircled each bolt hole, then gently pressed the rear end cover into place. The RTV instructions say to just put the bolts in finger-tight, then let it cure for 24 hours, then torque them to spec. I put a dab of RTV on the bolt threads to help seal them (note that the holes go all the way through into the reservoir). Also note that the rear end cover has a handy notch below the bottom center bolt hole to indicate where the bottom is so it is installed correctly. The fill plug should be at about two o'clock just above the halfway mark. New RTV, curing, waiting to be torqued and filled. Note notch below bottom bolt to orient rear end cover correctly. Anyway, the 24-hour cure time slowed me down. I haven't put the oil in yet (it's about 18 hours later as I write this), so I'll go back to the shop later today, torque everything down, fill it up, and go for a test drive. I'll report back this evening or tomorrow! PS: Also found that the master cylinder is leaking. Ugh, I guess that's next...

The Model A market remains strong for good cars. This one SOLD for full asking price!

Regardless of how many were built, it's unquestionably very rare and I think it's especially cool that you have the build sheet. It's a matter of taste, but obviously someone liked it in 1940 and continues to like the look today. I'm on the fence--it's similar to the '39 Buick Specials with the droopy sidemounts or the Packard 120s with the tires perched up too high; I think those cars are too small to carry them gracefully. However, I'll also say that they look better on the LaSalle than on the other two I mentioned, maybe because it's a slightly bigger car. Either way, if you're selling the car, all you need to do is find the one guy who is crazy about the sidemounts and he's your buyer. Ignore the guys who say, "I'd buy it if it didn't have them..." and wait for that guy who wants sidemounts. I guarantee he's out there. Remember, whenever you see a car that makes you say, "WTF?" there's a guy who loves it. Do sidemounts add value? Unlikely. But they do make the car interesting and to the right guy, that's going to hit all the right buttons.

The '41 Super convertible is in my shop now. It was in the photo studio today and will be online shortly. Asking price is $59,900. It won its AACA National First Prize in 2007 and has been driven since then, so it's no longer a show car. It's an exceptional driver and a great tour car--I've been driving it every day and took it to a cruise-in this evening where it generated a ton of interest. It's just gorgeous. It's also nearly silent--I love creeping up on people with it. One lady came up to see it while it was idling and felt the woosh of the fan and jumped back, "Oh my god, it's running!" It's very impressive. It's just got 10 years of driving on it now, and I don't consider that a demerit. Driving is better than sitting behind it in a folding chair, right? Drives great, although I'd put radials on it for touring, it wanders a bit on rough roads. Radio, clock, and speedometer do not work, everything else good to go. Starts instantly every time, hot or cold. No bad habits at all. Stops, steers, tracks straight, pulls well through all the gears, shifter is tight and smooth, no gear clashing. I mean, someone did this car right. The one thing I'm unhappy about, especially since I'm the '41 Buick guy, is that it doesn't have dual carbs. Supers came standard with dual carbs, so it should have them, but I bet these were removed during the war like so many others. I have most of a setup for the car, including carbs, air cleaner, and intake manifold, and small series setups are common and relatively inexpensive on eBay. Nevertheless, the thing runs and drives so well, I just don't want to take it apart. I mean, it's SILENT and the idle is silky smooth. Dual carbs look great, but it probably won't make the car drive any better than this. I'll include what I have with the car if the next owner wants to convert it. Here are a few more photos from today's photo shoot: Here it is at the local cruise-in this evening, where we were sponsors (we also brought the Bronco and Melanie's pretty 1950 Chevy pickup since it was truck night). You can see where everyone's attention is focused.