JohnD1956
-
Posts
15,744 -
Joined
-
Last visited
-
Days Won
109
Content Type
Forums
Gallery
Events
Posts posted by JohnD1956
-
-
I keep my 69 Electra on the road as a daily driver and use it around town when ever I can. Being temporarilly unemployed ( since I retired last year) the impact has not been great. The insurance is less because I only maintain required coverages in NYS, and more importantly ( as per my insurance agent) some classic car insurers want to know that there is a regularily insured vehicle for each person in the household with a drivers license.
-
I never had a 28 before so I'm just wondering out loud here...is this the starter generator combination unit, or two separate units? If combined I thought maybe somehow your starter was becoming engaged at the increase in RPM?
-
Sending my prayers to Jim and his family. How tragic. But for want of a few seconds of time something like this happens. What a shame!
Thanks for letting us know.
-
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Badger Guy</div><div class="ubbcode-body">So what your saying is, you think the guy stole Liz's belt?
</div></div>
Good one!
-
That may be the milage on the odometer, but these are 5 position odometers, and at 99,999.9 they turn over and start from 00,000.0 With that low a milage, unless there is some way to document the miles, most people will figure it is 116K.
Look on the door jambs for any of the old style oil change stickers. They may have dates and the milage when serviced.
-
Great, Bring your friends. They may find the events interesting.
-
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: 57wagon</div><div class="ubbcode-body">.. Those were a gift to my wife for our 10 year anniversary. She says she wanted something to wear - I told her that there are four of them, they are shiny and she can carry them if she wants to... </div></div>
I'm guesing you are not still married to that woman?
The carb issue seems more related to the fuel tank than the pump. Any chance you exchanged the pickup in the tank and now the end is too short and coming out of the gasoline on a hill?
-
There was a change along the way. Our 69 has ATF in the convertible top system. Are you putting new seals into the system when you make the change? All I can think of is that the ATF would have more resistance and thereby increased pressure when pumped, so seals treated to brake fluid for all these years may not hold as well.
-
Nice! 56 spoke wheels? Those look great! No wonder she's snapping heads
-
Generally the mixture setting starts at 2 1/4 turns out. be careful turning them in to get this setting. You don't need to make them tight to start or you can damage the needle points. After that you may fine tune the idle somemore but your true gas economy when you are above idle is not impacted by the idle mixture setting.
As far as the tubes being missing, are you refering to the vacuum line routing? I know there is a diagram for the 56 Buick, which pretty much has the exact same set up. Not certain about the 55's.
-
Bias ply, or radials? Radials will do a lot to eliminate the wallow. Bias plys just require gettin used to, although you may want to check your idler arm where it mounts to the frame.
As for the hesitation, spray some carb cleaner around the base of the carb while the engine is idling. An idle increase means you need to make sure the carb hold down bolts are tight.
-
You may find the bolt pattern in a donut spare, but the center hole will be way too small. I wonder if a machine shop can drill out the center hole, but then you may compromise the wheel strength alltogether.
-
Hi Andi. I tried to send you an e mail to lovinlife4eva@yahoo.com , but the server rejected it. I live in Albany NY area, and would like to help out, if the car is around here.
-
Wow! Now that is good information. thanks for the detail Leif!
-
Great stories! I often would love to do something like that but mostly I just shut my mouth and then tell another Buick guy what the nut case said. I especially like the people who claim they had a car "just like this one" and then try to argue that something is not original because it wasn't like that on their car. The latest was the mechanic who told me the master cylinder in my 56 couldn't be original as the one on his Dad's 56 was up on top of the firewall..
-
Yes, that would be quite a trip. Maybe next time?
-
<span style="text-decoration: underline">This event is a fund raiser for the Musuem</span>, which is a non profit entity dedicated to the preservation of historical planes and jets and aviation apparatus, as well as sparking an interest in general ( especially children) about science and engineering. The Upstate NY Chapter of the Buick Club of America ( UNY-BCA) is working with the musuem to conduct this event. 100% of the proceeds are going to the Musuem.
<span style="text-decoration: underline">ALL BCA members cars will be parked in the Airpark</span>, alongside the Musuem's jets, for a colorful and interesting display of both technologies. Other's classic and antique Buicks will be admitted free and parked in a display area AND all these owners will be offered the opportunity to park near the plane of their choice for a photo opportunity.
The Musuem will open the cockpits on several jets for people to sit inside ( may include the F-15) and get a real feel for what pilots experience. The Musuem also has a vast indoor historical display which will be open as well. The displays include a real flight simulator which will be open and offering rides (for a separate and reasonable fee).
We have also lined up the following displays and demonstrations:
1) <span style="font-weight: bold">a two hour live concert </span>by The Melody Makers, a local band lead by Norm Fredericks, who play 30's and 40's big band style music. This is an 18 piece band. The concert begins at 1 PM
2) A display by the <span style="font-weight: bold">Capital District Thundervolts</span>, a model airplane club which will demonstrate a model helicopter in flight. They are also bringing a fully functional model of an F15 jet. This model has over a 6 foot wingspan and a real jet engine. Although it can, and does fly, it needs FAA clearance to do so, therefore this model will be a static display only ( although we are asking them to fire up the engine and taxi it around the tarmac for some fun).
3) <span style="font-weight: bold">Antique plane rides </span>will be sold by the Warbird Skyventures, a barnstorming company, offering rides in a WWII airplane. This is optional for visitors and is not included in the entrance fee below.
4) The New York State Police are scheduled to bring their <span style="font-weight: bold">test crash simulator</span> for interactive demonstrations
5) The Schenectady <span style="font-weight: bold">Sheriff's K-9</span> Unit wil be in attendance for a demonstration
6) The <span style="font-weight: bold">Alplaus Fire Department </span>is scheduled to bring over their <span style="font-weight: bold">air boat water rescue vehicle</span> for a rescue demonstration.
7) The Birds of Prey will be displayed and demonstrated too.
Food will be available on site.
The Empire State Aerosciences Musuem is located in the Schenectady County airport, on the Route 50 side, in Glenville, NY. Show hours on Saturday June 21st will be from 10 AM to 5 PM. If your bringing your car for display, the field will be open at 8 AM. The Musuem does offer a pancake breakfast for a fee if you are inclined. Their website is here : Empires State Aerosciences Musuem
The show hours change on the raindate, Sunday June 22nd, to Noon to 5 PM. Hope you'll join us ! Without a car, the cost is $5.00 per adult, $3.00 per child, or a carload for $20.00
-
Well, the problem has been resolved. Doug made a good choice and we didn't break any drill bits.
-
The insurance industry is ruining America. And the best advice would seem to be; don't have a car that lends itself to this type of activity.
That being said, if I was in a position to help out I'd consider doing this as a favor for someone. Yes, there are liability issues to be certain, but what fun is an old car if you lock it away where no one can ever appreciate it? If you take your car to a show you also have some risk, both on the road and on the field. Presumably as a wedding favor you'd not be racing to any location and can take extra precaution both driving and assisting passengers into and out of the vehicle. Of course this assumes your car is finished so the bridal couple is not sitting on bare seat springs nor that your car has any inherent untended to sharp protrusions just waiting to puncture a passenger ( or driver).
-
It really is an interesting car. I had to use it one day and I was surprised at the number of kids in ricers who were galking as they drove past me. The front and rear spoilers are very artistic on these cars. Of course I belive all classics ought to be driven slowly, so people can see them as you pass by, but tonight I drove it back to that shop for him and this little car is surprisingly quick. That 3800 is really a great engine. It would be nice to see it move forward with body work and paint but the next thing up is a set of struts. Can you imagine that the originals wore out somewhere between 181 and 205K? I mean what are they making this stuff out of today anyway
?
-
This will seem cheap and unexciting, but Doug called the place and they agreed to fix it, no charge. So we took the easy route for now. If they change their mind after seeing the damage then we'll be taking all these suggestions and applying what we can. If it makes any difference, I wanted to give it a try, but Doug made the call. So we'll see. I'll let you know what happens.
Thanks again everyone. It is great to have this group as a resource.
-
Thanks for the kind comment Trace. I do hope those wheels work out for ya.
-
We also put antisieze on the rear wheel studs, as well as a light coat around the center hole on the rim.
I know the lugs are to be torqued and I have read more than once that proper torque specs are done using clean and lightly lubricated fasteners. That being the case there should be something on the threads, although obviously a light coating of the same.
-
You may be right about the reaction between the metals. The rear wheels were similarly tight, and we are sure we were the last ones to install those. The car sat this past winter in a garage built at least 50 years ago. And although there is a concrete floor, Doug was saying how it seemed that the car had more rust on it than he'd remembered. He moved to a two family house this past fall where he got half the two car garage, but the other tennants got the other half and they actively used their half every day, so who knows how much moisture and rocksalt got in there and was trapped with the car.
I also think you're right about not getting the socket deep enough. That's our mistake. We saw that plainly when we worked on the rear tires.
Anyway, it's raining right now and so this project will be on hold for a few more days. I don't have enough space to get it inside to work on. Meanwhile for what it's worth I hit the bolts with some PB Blaster I'm going to try and get those chrome caps off so I can get the blaster inside to the threads.
Thanks again for the ideas everyone. We'll let you know what turns up on this.
57 Buick wouldn't turn off
in Buick - Post War
Posted
Most of the time this problem is the small wires on the starter solenoid get twisted when being tightened and come into contact with the main terminal for the battery cable. Loosening these wires and retightening being careful to ensure there is no overlap to the battery terminal straightens the situation.
However, if your car was right before changing the fuse for the signal lights then I would not suspect this. Instead I would inspect the wiring harness near the fuse box. If you had to push on this to get access or change the fuse then maybe you have a broken wire in there now? I think the 57 ignition is nothing more than a toggle switch, like my 56.