JohnD1956
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Posts posted by JohnD1956
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A great car, but I think the interior is vinyl and it's shot. When that white color starts to turn brown like that it's history.
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I think the bell housing bolt pattern is the same on the 300 through the 455.
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I'd be interested to know if the size was different for the small vs large series. They do look similar.
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You're a lucky guy! Great cars!
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I think it has more to do with where the car was produced. I had a 56 Roadmaster originally purchased in the NY City area. That had a solid hood scoop. My Super is a California car, and has the perforated one. While it may have been an option, I seriously doubt either provides large benefits over the other. It is quite small. Still, I think the perforated one is pretty cool.
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I would like to clarify my last post. I just finished a few hours of reading the factory manual about my 56's dynaflow. I still don't understand a lot of how the unit works but as far as the reverse strut goes, it definitely looks like it could be installed with the transmission in the car.
According to the description and the accompanying pictures, the reverse strut is installed through the servo opening in the transmission case. This servo opening would be accessible once the valve body-servo assembly is removed from the bottom of the transmission. Of course the book says to turn the transmission upside down to perform this job but that assumes it is out of the car and on the bench.
What may cause problems is reinstallation of the valve body-servo assembly because the locating pins for the gasket are in the transmission case, not on the valve body unit. There for you'd have to rig something to locate the gasket correctly.
But don't take my word for this. I'm looking at a 56 manual, not a 63. And the manual also calls for diligence while installing the valve body bolts in sequence and not over tightening and distorting the valve body.
Plus my transmission is not a three speed like yours. I only have drive low and reverse, not like your transmission indicator in the first post on this thread.
Good luck. And if you can do this with the tranny in the car, please let us know. It'd be something to keep in mind on these cars.
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.. I see many good ideas presented in this post, a couple not as good. But with one minor exception, I have not seen anyone ask "How can we do this?".
... But all I see from this post is some people presenting very good ideas. And others shooting them down with made up theories. ...
I agree with Linc 400 on this point.
I believe every thing that was ever approved by the BOD was done with good reason and intentions. However, it's important to see that nothing is static, not even the earth, as evidenced by the recent major earthquakes.
Therefore everything needs to adapt in a constantly changing environment.
There are a lot of ideas in these forums which get trashed by those seeking to explain why things have been done in the past. But that's the past. A historical perspective is good as long as it does not lead to an environment where other good ideas may never get vented.
It would be helpful if the ideas presented were simply acknowledged, and then taken to the BOD for discussion, regardless if they are good or not so good.
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On older dynaflows that reverse band is held in place by a strut. That can break and drop out of place. I don't have any visuals to show you but a bit over a year ago there was a thread here about how to find and fix that strut with the tranny still in the car. I never have any luck finding individual threads like that with the search engine but some people can.
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There are a lot of assumptions in the various comments here, and I can't type fast enough to address them all while avoiding getting timed out. But I just want to say I think Dan's original idea is to let the potential member to pay the reduced dues the first year with the understanding they are making a 2 year committment and will pay the full dues the 2nd year.
Dan, it's a good idea. But if people do not like the club and fail to pay the 2nd year, then what would be the follow up? Collection would be difficult and create more bad feelings about the BCA. This comes down to the National taking the chance and if Bill is right, we can't afford it. Of course we can't afford to do nothing either.
So far the best alternative I have seen in all the various threads on this topic is to allow membership at a reduced rate and that member gets no Bugle.
Other than this we ought to await Bills article and evidence in the spreadsheets he said he is working on.
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One more possibility, broken motor mount. Check the inside edge of the fan shroud and see if the blade of the fan is scraping the shrooud.
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Glad to hear it's better. Now we gota work on getting the car cross country for ya. When are you expected to move?
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Keep in mind that the 2003 3800 is one of those with the flawed intake manifold. I'm not certain of the problem but I understand that the pipe from the EGR valve runs very close to the manifold in an area that is plastic. It has the potential to cause the intake to leak. Best I know there is a fix for it, but I am unsure what it is and how to tell if it has been done.
Baring that the 3800 is a long life engine which will have some issues from time to time, and regular maintenance is key to long life.
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Nice car, and welcome to the forum. Good luck with the restoration.
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Thanks for posting the picture Charles. We often see pics of cars here but there's far too few pics of the members of this board. After all it is the people that make the experience what it is.
And nice 59 too. Thanks for posting those pics Pete. I still love those 59's in all their formats...
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Almost a foot of the white fluff just west of Albany NY. Was glad to have a chance to run a tank of gas thru the snowblower. Now as long as the sun comes out tomorrow and I can get the cars out by Saturday, everything will be alright. What!!! More slop tonight through Sunday? What the ....!!!!
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This car will be like a new one when you're done. Shoot those brake shoes with the cleaner over the next few days. That will give them time to clean and dry up before putting the drums back on.
Yes, I did say drums. Usually I only work on brakes as a pair, even if one does not feel like it needs anything.
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That should not be any problem. The only areas of real concern are the two area's where the bearing runs ( just in front of the backing plate and right behind the hub nut) and the threads for the hub nut. In the pics these areas look alright, but that's not a guarantee since I can't see them in person. The center is not in contact with anything.
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You're probably right abot that. Still, I'd recommend you lightly sand the face of those shoes to cut the gloss. The glaze may be causing the drum to overheat. And that could lead to drum warp. I would use something like 220 grit paper and just sand enough so as to remove the glaze. Also sand the inside of the drum. and wash both shoes and drum with brake cleaner. I'd be tempted to have the drum checked to make sure it is not out of round.
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So Brian, did you get it back together? Is it better or do you still have the problem.
From looking at the picture of the brake assembly without the drum, it looks like that front shoe has an uneven shiney glaze to it? Also it looks like there is some darker discoloration under the wheel cylinder. Have you had a noticeable drop in brake fluid up in the reservoir? It looks to me like you have some potential of a small leak there.
Also, did you find the part about adjusting the wheel bearings in your manual? I say this because for the three cars I have the adjustment is a two step torqueing ritual.
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I suppose your car is ok because it was built in Europe? God only knows where my LaCrosse was built.
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Barney, I bet most of us already do that. Probably some of us have managed to bring in two or three new members over time. It is an approach to fixing the problem you describe. However I think the main problem is twofold: todays general negative attitude about everything. And todays me first general attitude. It's hard to tell which comes first though.
I believe some people join to see what the club can do for them. If the club provides what they want or need, then they have a positive attitude. If the opposite occurs then a negative attitude becomes prevalent. And there after we are much more likely to hear the negative attitude vocalized. Unfortunately a large segment of the population will focus on the negative before the positive because in the long run they want to know what the club will do for them. It's a vicious, ongoing cycle, that may never change in the forseeable future.
Ultimately, gaining a few members by trying to convince negative people that there is something positive is an exercise in futility. I'll keep trying to boost membership because I like this club. I like the 400 point judging even though I have never opted to have any of my cars judged. This is because I think people who have put their money into making beautiful cars ought to recieve some reward and I like looking at these beautiful cars.
I also like the Historical Class even though I have never had any of my cars in that class. Those who find the museum piece and go out of their way to preserve it deserve some reward too. And I like looking at these cars.
I like the Modified class too. Those who spend their time doing first class unique modifications ought to be rewarded. It's like an art piece. Everyone can see the same thing and interpret it their own way. These cars are drop dead pretty and attract the mainstream population by their visual appeal. They attract me too.
I also like meeting people who have a common interest in the Buick car. So the club is well worth the cost of admission. I just need to find a way to make it to more events nationwide.
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Thanks for the replies! I will be getting into it this weekend and will be taking the drum/hub off and inspecting things. I haven't driven it in a couple of months because it was bad enough that I no longer felt safe driving it. My shocks need replacing too so I will probably do that while I have things apart. Fortunately I will be moving in a few months so I am limited in how much I can let this project snowball. Of course, that brings up a question of how I am going to get the car across the country, but that is a whole different thread.
Where is " across the country"?
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On the Reatta discussion page ( AACA Forums BUICK CLUBS Buick Reatta ) there is a post by Booreatta titled "BCA National".
Chuck started this thread and Barney followed up. Then there are some posts critical of the BCA.
This might be a good place for those of us who think there are a lot of benefits to belonging to the BCA to do some posting. There are a lot of folks on the fence about joining the BCA and other marque clubs and this might be a good time to post some reasons for joining the BCA and maybe refute the couple of posters who are constantly negative of the BCA.
I'm not quite sure that posts regarding the benefits of membership would help in that thread. It is a disturbing discussion happening there. To me it demonstrates that not everyone will interpret things in the same way, BUT , people are much more alike in certain ways than they will ever realize.
I guess the biggest dissapointment in that discussion is the vehement language used to allege some members have taken advantage of the club. I can't tell if that refers to people in the Reatta Division or within the BCA. But it's a sad thing to read. Also it is lacking details of the allegations, which maybe should not be here but, hey, if you're gonna throw mud it's only fair to the recipients that they have a chance to defend against getting splattered.
Ultimately I think the thread points out that there are people who believe in their vehicles, but feel in their hearts that the BCA is not for them. And in that case I don't think the benefits of membership would make any difference.
The one thing I saw in that thread that is worthwhile though is a comment about membership percentages in some other Marquee club. It points out that dealers for the other brand offer discounts on parts for members of the Marquee club. Wouldn't it be great if the BCA could approach the Buick Division about pushing the Club at the dealership level? I'm sure some dealers would like the opportunity to open their business to a new revenue stream from people who voted with their wallet to support the cars they sell. But that's probably a topic for another thread.
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A nice car. I'll be in the market right about then.
Still trying to get it started
in Buick - Pre War
Posted
Manually bring the car to TDC. You can do this by watching the valves while manually roating the engine, and when both valves on # 1 are closed then look through the spark plug hole to see when the piston crests.
At that point, check your distributor to make sure the points are on a high cam and open. Adjust as needed. Then check that the rotor is pointing to the # 1 wire. If not, rotate the wires on the cap.