Charles2

Yes, you should probably at least inspect the outer shaft and bushings. In fact, this would be a good time to inspect all of the suspension bushings and kingpins. You can get rebuild parts from either Kanters or Bob's Automobilia. Both have websites and will send you a catalog upon request.

I used to use Hunt's caulking compound. I think you can get it at Home Depot but if not there, at a good paint store. Just be sure that it is a linseed oil based caulking. At one time, it was the only sort of caulking you could buy-- times change. I left the auto glass business just about the time they started "glueing" some fixed glass in place with catylized buty rubber, about 1964, now it's almost the only way glass is set.

Please see post in the parts wanted section. Thanks.

I need both right and left side rocker panels for my 1940 Special four-door sedan. I don't care whether they are NOS or reproduction as long as they will fit. If you have these pieces, please contact me at jkgrier@earthlink.net. Thanks.

I need both right and left side rocker panels for my 1940 Special four-door sedan. I don't care whether they are NOS or reproduction as long as they will fit. If you have these pieces, please contact me at jkgrier@earthlink.net. Thanks.

In ten years in the auto glass business, I replaced a lot of glass that was set the same way yours is. The only work I did without using sealer was for used car dealers who didn't want to pay for first class work. Some of those jobs I got back for leak repair once they had been purchased. I would never do a job without sealer; the factory used it and any good glass shop will as well even though the cleanup takes longer. Sounds to me as though they were skipping a few steps on your car. If you can't get the glass shop to seal the glass, get a tube of black, linseed-based caulking compound. Dry the gaps between the rubber and glass and rubber and body then wipe clean with mineral spirits on a rag wrapped around a putty knife. Cut the tip of the caulking cartrige to a small opening (3/32") and then slip the tip between the body and rubber (on the outside of the car) and caulk until caulking flows out of the gap. A smooth, oiled, hardwood wedge about screwdriver size will help with maneuvering the caulking gun tip). Repeat the caulking procedure between the glass and the rubber. This last step will be harder because of the tighter fit but it can be done with persistence and an assistant. Be sure there are no gaps; they are also called leaks. Once you have a good caulk around the glass and around the body, gently scrape any excess off with a clean putty knife and then wipe the rest off with a cloth dampened with mineral spirits. Properly done, this procedure will give you a long-lasting, watertight seal. Good luck.

Thanks for the information. I'll try to locate a copy of the article; certainly sounds credible.

In what way am I incorrect? Your saying it's so don't make it so no matter how loud you say it. To which Skinned Knuckles article are you referring? Is the author credible? Look in any catalog for Model A parts and you will find the flat-topped conical grease fittings they sell referred to as Alemite-type fittings (they sell reproductions) and the grease gun fitting them as an Alemite Grease Gun. Check out the Model A Ford Judging Handbook (a highly researched and very credible source); says the same thing. You can also buy modern grease fittings to replace the original Alemite fittings that came with the Model A. In the catalog, these replacements are called Zerk fittings. If you go to a NAPA store and ask for Zerk fittings they will give you the modern kind that have a ball on the end without any pins or other decorations. If I recall correctly, Zerk fittings are (or were) also made by Alemite. Finally, I said that I didn't know what the fittings with pins were called. So, tell me, where am I incorrect?

You may want to check your ring gear. If it is missing some teeth then it could be causing the symptoms you describe (if I understand them correctly). This is an easy check; just remove the sheet metal flywheel cover and rotate the engine while looking at the teeth. I hope it isn't the ring gear. That is a lot more work than R&R'ing the starter. Good luck!

Mine was a 1940 Chevrolet coupe. Bought it in 1954 for $35.00, drove it through 1956 and sold it for $50.00. It had a good body but the engine was pretty well worn when I got it and even worse when I sold it. It never ran real well, but it always ran. I wish I still had it.

I'm pretty sure that the cone-shaped fittings used on the Model A Ford are Alemite fittings; at least that is what the Model A folks call them. The modern ball-shaped fittings such as on my 1940 Buick are Zerk fittings and I haven't a clue what the pin fittings are called. Can anyone confirm?

In most backglass installations, the rubber has a lip that "hooks" over the pinchweld thus holding the glass/rubber assembly in place. To remove, take off the garnish moldings around the inside of the glass assembly (if there are any)and locate the rubber lip. Check to be sure there is no exterior trim that will hold the glass in. If so, remove it as well. Even on older cars, the inside lip stays reasonably flexible. Press out on the glass carefully while easing the lip over the pinchweld using a blunted screwdriver or a cotter pin hook. It helps to have an assistant here. As the glass comes out, be sure to restrain the assembly because you will be pushing fairly hard from the inside; you don't want to send it flying. The glass is tempered (or should be)and thus is fairly strong. As long as you don't twist the glass or snag the edges with metal it should come out with no problem. Check the etched logo on the glass to be sure it says tempered; laminated glass won't reliably hold up to this kind of treatment. If you are concerned for the glass and you KNOW that you can get a replacement backglass rubber then just cut the rubber away from the glass on the outside. A sharpened putty knife works well for this. I guess I wouldn't worry about the vinyl tape so much as I would locating a good sealer for the body/rubber and rubber/glass interfaces. Check with a local auto glass shop for this. To replace the glass, put the rubber around the glass and run a bead of sealer between the glass and rubber on the outside face. Flip the assembly over on the bench and put a length of clothesline in the groove behind the lip. Leave a loop at top and bottom. Lube the rubber lip and body contact parts with soapy water, put the assembly in the opening and have someone push it in place while you carefully pull the lip over the pinchweld with the clothesline. Be sure the glass is seated then seal between the body and the rubber. I think you could have a pro do the job for about $50 and would recommend it if this is your first experience with stationary auto glass. Good luck!

The Suburban was factory-ordered. I specified an axle ratio as near 3.50 as was available at the time. The clutch problems had absolutely nothing to do with wear and everything to do with defective parts. The salesman I dealt with was uninterested when I bought the vehicle and remained so when I contacted him for warrantee work. The service department was not very good to put it most kindly. The contacts with GM regional offices were disapointing at best and infuriating at the worst. Until I purchased this vehicle, I had been a loyal purchaser of GM products. One of my first jobs out of high school was as a mechanic at a Chevrolet/Buick dealership. So, I considered myself to be a true "GM man". But then I bought the Suburban with its many mechanical and assembly problems and the attendant indifference of the dealer and the national organization. This was, to me, a major breach of trust. I decided then that I would never purchase another GM vehicle. I realize that the quality of GM cars has improved. But, I have been getting around just fine with products other than those made by GM and I suspect that I will continue to do so. In my opinion, if a manufacturer wants to attract loyal customers, then the manufacturer has to be loyal to its customers and also to insist that the dealers be the same. I'm not that convinced that GM has gotten there yet; I still don't trust them. I also suspect that there are a lot of folks in this country who feel the same as I do and for similar reasons. And that is why GM's market share is dropping.

Thanks for the note. Yours is a lesson that I have to re-learn at intervals. When working on older cars, patience is both a virtue and a necessity. Good luck with your casting!

Matt: I have mine out and apart. I'll be in my shop in the next day or so and could take a photo. Since I don't know how to post photos to this forum (and don't much care to learn), send me your email address and I'll send it to you directly. If yours is the same as mine, they pretty much come apart by themselves once you remove them from the car. If there is rust or crud in the ball socket seats then you might have to use heat and gentle persuasion to get things apart. The ball joints that attach to the frame and flywheel housing seat in split ball sockets that should slide into either end of the equalizer shaft. My car is a 40 but I don't think there is much difference from the 41's.

This is a forum for those interested in restoring and maintaining historic automobiles not their modification. Nevertheless, good manners are always in order. Please give it a break; you're a perfect example of the old addage "often in error, never in doubt"

The seal kits available for the Model A Ford torque ball seal kit contain two strips of dense felt about 3/8" by perhaps 7/16" and about 6" long. The kits are not very expensive and are available from Brattons, Mac's or Snyders. All of them have web sites; check for them on Google. One of these kits may be what you are looking for. Let us know.

To me it sounds as though GM management has a death wish.

The clutch equalizer shaft is connected to the clutch pedal with a connecting rod having the clutch adjuster assembly. The shaft is mounted on one end to the clutch housing and on the other end to the frame. On my car there is a grease fitting on each end. Buick recommended lubrication every 1600 km. I certainly would not let it go much beyond this and it won't hurt to lube more often.

A lot of the 40 Buicks had an early version of the "permenantly lubed" bushings on the inner lower A-frame. No grease fittings. When these bushings go bad, they are replaced with self-threading lube-type bushings. No grease fittings on the rear end. Be sure you find the lube fittings on either end of the clutch equalizer shaft.

The Buick straight eight engine is prone to accumulating a lot of scale and sludge around the water jackets of cylinders seven and eight. In several cars I've seen, water circulation around these cylinders was virtually nonexistant because of the impacted sludge. This collection will reduce cooling and cause "flash" boiling similar to what happens in a coffee percolator. To remove the crud, you need to remove the cylinder head and the soft plugs along the side of the engine and; using wires, screwdrivers and high pressure water, clear this blockage. Start with the easy stuff first. Check the thermostat, hoses, water pump and radiator; you should do this routinely anyway. If that solves the problem, great! But, the boiling-on after you shut the engine off and especially the "geyser" effect sounds, to me, an awful lot like a good case of impacted sludge around numbers seven and eight. Incidentally, the cooling system cleaning chemicals available won't even touch this stuff nor will even the most aggressive water flushing. Good luck with it.

Looks as if I hit the button twice or something. Two for one sale?

I suspect that part of the problem stems from a corporate environment that emphasizes credentials over competence. In the past, the folks who ran GM started as car makers and mostly learned their management skills the hard way. Now, the theory is that if you have an MBA you can run any company regardless of what they make. Moreover, you don't need to know anything about the product, all you need to know is how to "MANAGE". A lot of the upper-level management in American auto manufacturing have backgrounds in finance, insurance, retail sales, dog food and so forth and are probably pretty good at cost accounting, systems analysis, money management, advertizing and personnel management. But I'm sure that darn few of them have ever had dirt on their hands and probably couldn't tell a piston from a pinion gear. In this environment, product is something to be made in large quantities as cheaply as possible and without any more concern for quality than that required to maintain sales. The real experts like engineers, designers and assembly line workers are looked on as hired help and are viewed as the unwashed masses; certainly not as part of the decision-making process. In Japan, on the other hand, suggestions from the ranks are taken seriously. Unfortunately, in the U.S., manufacturing decisions appear to be decided almost entirely on the basis of cost and impact on sales. It might help if upper management had to pay their dues actually making cars and then worked their way into management rather than starting at the top and working their way up. I may be overstating my case a bit; I'm sure there are really competent people in the upper echelons of auto making. But as noted earlier, the bean counters and their overriding concern for the quarterly profit statement are in the drivers seat. Regaining market share is going to require long-term planning, discipline and innovative thinking. I don't think the present crop of managers is going to provide that.

I suspect that part of the problem stems from a corporate environment that emphasizes credentials over competence. In the past, the folks who ran GM started as car makers and mostly learned their management skills the hard way. Now, the theory is that if you have an MBA you can run any company regardless of what they make. Moreover, you don't need to know anything about the product, all you need to know is how to "MANAGE". A lot of the upper-level management in American auto manufacturing have backgrounds in finance, insurance, retail sales, dog food and so forth and are probably pretty good at cost accounting, systems analysis, money management, advertizing and personnel management. But I'm sure that darn few of them have ever had dirt on their hands and probably couldn't tell a piston from a pinion gear. In this environment, product is something to be made in large quantities as cheaply as possible and without any more concern for quality than that required to maintain sales. The real experts like engineers, designers and assembly line workers are looked on as hired help and tend to considered as part of the unwashed masses; certainly not as part of the decision-making process. As a consequence, manufacturing decisions are usually decided almost entirely on the basis of cost and impact on sales. It might help if upper management had to pay their dues actually making cars and then worked their way into management rather than starting at the top and working their way up. I suspect that I'm overstating the case a bit; I'm sure there are some really competent people in the upper echelons of auto making. But as noted earlier, the bean counters and their overriding concern for the quarterly statement are in the drivers seat. Regaining market share is going to require long-term planning, discipline and innovative thinking. I don't think the present crop of managers is going to provide that.

A lot of problems of this sort are due to the voltage surge in one wire inducing a voltage in a nearby parallel wire. I've always heard the phenomenon called "cross-firing". Check the wire feeding the plug in question and see whether another wire is close and parallel to it. If so, separate them and see if the miss-fire goes away. This sort of thing was a real problem in a lot of the old (30's and 40's) cars with secondary wiring bundled into looms. I had a 16 cylinder 1939 Cadillac that had a severe case of cross-firing as a consequence of deteriorated insulation. Replaced all of the high-tension wiring and it ran like a watch. Routing of wires on more modern cars with higher voltage sparks had to take cross-firing potential into account. That is why a lot of engines had special separators and mounts for the ignition wiring. See if you can locate a factory guide to routing the ignition wires for your car showing how the wires were supported. Then, try to duplicate the factory wiring as closely as possible; they did it that way for a reason. Of course, it could just be bad plugs. Try switching them around and see what happens. Good luck.