Pete Phillips

Lots of different lengths and sizes for these. Depends on which body style and which series; Roadmasters have different ones from Specials; Supers have different lengths for two doors and four doors, and even the four-door ones can be different, depending on whether it is for a Riviera sedan (extended length 4-dr.) or a regular 4-dr. sedan. Suggest you provide a more complete description and/or measurements. Pete Phillips, BCA #7338

Green is correct for the '53 V-8. The more turquoise shade or blue is for the Special with the straight eight. Pete Phillips, BCA #7338 Sherman, TX

There was a 1950 Super convertible project car for sale at the Buick National Meet in late July. It was complete but needed everything redone: paint, chrome, upholstery, wiring, glass, top, and probably the engine. The price on it was $4000 and it sold by the end of the meet. Restored, it is probably worth $25,000-$30,000, maybe more in a better economy. Pete Phillips, BCA #7338 1949 Buick Super Estate Wagon 1950 Buick Roadmaster 2-dr. ht. 1956 Studebaker Golden Hawk 1958 Rambler Ambassador 4-dr. ht. station wagon 1959 Buick Electra 2-dr. ht. 1962 Buick Electra 225 4-dr. ht. 1963 Chrysler New Yorker 4-dr sedan 1963 Buick Wildcat conv.

I need to buy another hold-down clip to replace the one I broke today on my '49 Super wagon. A used one is fine. Does anyone have a parts distributor, or I would even buy the whole distributor if I have to. Broke another one on a '54 Buick last week. Must be something wrong with my technique! Pete Phillips, BCA #7338 Sherman TX

I have 225-75R15 tires on my 1962 Electra. The next size larger would be a 235-75R15. All five tires that originally came with the car would have been the same size & appearance; the spare would not be different. Don't think I've ever seen an Electra with blackwall tires until I put this set on my car, because I needed tires in a pinch and could not wait for the tire shop to order whitewalls. If you could afford an Electra in 1962, you could certainly afford the extra $6 or $10 cost back then for whitewalls. Pete Phillips, BCA #7338 Sherman, Texas

I, for one, always read each person's signature. Always. Pete Phillips

Lots of them are out there if you do some looking. Ebay has them almost daily. The Buick Bugle magazine is a good place to look, as well. Pete Phillips

Don't expect many BCA members to go flocking to Caldwell, Texas, pay the seller $300, spend the day jacking up and digging out and winching this car onto a trailer, haul it to San Antonio, and then sell it to "Irlforfun" for $300. Yeah, I'm going to jump on that right away, before the line forms. Pete Phillips

Why do BCA events and whether on not to support them, have to get drawn in to this spat? Pete Phillips, BCA #7338

Can anyone identify these radiator ornaments? They may be aftermarket, for all I know, but came out of a collection of a now departed Packard enthusiast. I believe the beak of the bird is broken off? Thanks for any help. Pete Phillips Sherman, Texas

You have to unbolt the bell housing from the back of the engine. Some of the bolts are hard to get at. You also have to remove the access panel on the bottom of the bell housing, and undo the three bolts that hold the flywheel to the torque converter. To get to all three, you have to turn the engine by hand until they come into view. I think it's a 1" socket that fits the center of the crankshaft pulley on front of the engine, and that's how I turned mine. Pete Phillips, BCA #7338 1949 Super Estate Wagon 1950 Roadmaster 76-R 1959 Electra 2-dr. ht. 1962 Electra 225 4-dr. ht. 1963 Wildcat conv. 4-spd.

Are you sure the coolant loss is from overheating and not from a leaky heater core? I always assumed the heater core had a leak, which is usually why the heater hoses are not hooked up to the firewall and are instead looped back to the engine. Pete Phillips

Maybe the battery picked that moment to die? I;ve had them go out very suddenly like that. Standard transmission or Dynaflow? Will the car roll in neutral? Pete Phillips

Wow, that is one nice car! I wonder if the photos were taken before or after the damage, because I really can't see that there is body damage. Yep, this old Buick hobby is just too expensive for newcomers and young folks to get into...where have I heard that before? Pete Phillips, BCA #7338 Sherman, TX

Dave, Good decision on the tires! I cringed when I read that you were going to drive the car 35 miles on those old, rotted tires. I was afraid to drive it more than ONE mile at highway speeds. For the seat adjustment, there are three areas to check. 1. The seat adjustment lever has internal ribs or ridges that fit over a ridged stub on the side of the seat. Many times, the lever's ribs get stripped and will not turn the stub. You can probably tell if it is turning anything or not. Solution is to find another lever. 2. Make sure you put a good coating of WD-40 or similar lubricant on the tracks that the seat runs back & forth on. 3. The most common problem is the cable or rod that runs across the bottom of the seat from the adjustment lever to the passenger side seat track. Usually, it won't release the hold-down on the passenger seat track. The solution is to lubricate everything that is supposed to move with WD-40, then reach under the seat and with your hands or a pair of locking pliers (Vise-Grips), grab the rod or cable and pull it towards the driver's side of the seat repeatedly. This will release the passenger seat track hold-down and the seat should move. You may have to get a second person to work the lever on driver's side of seat while you are doing this. If none of the above works, then you have to take the seat out, turn it upside down, and lubricate everything outside of the car. I'm thinking that on the '49, the seat cushion pulls up and out without having to take the whole seat out of the car, so try that first. That will give you good access to everything underneath. Pete Phillips, BCA #7338

I have a spare fan and hub assembly--the whole thing--but the fan blades are rusted and no good; the rest is fine for parts. It is from a 1925 Buick Standard. $25 for everything, if you want it, plus postage. Pete Phillips, BCA #7338 Sherman, TX

A friend of mine in Italy has a 1948 Cadillac Series 62 convertible. He needs the left rear quarter window with chrome frame. According to my glass interchange book, a 1949 Cadillac convertible and Coupe de Ville 2-dr. hardtop have the same glass & frame. Also the same is the 1949 Buick Roadmaster 2-dr. hardtop and convertible, and the 1948 and 1949 Oldsmobile 98 convertible and '49 Holiday 98 hardtop. I know this will be tough to find. I don't care about the condition of the glass, as new glass can be cut to fit. Thanks for any help. Pete Phillips Sherman, Texas

We used to call those "filmstrips"; ones with educational topics were used often when I was in elementary school. Some of them came with a 33 rpm record that you were supposed to play for the narration, and there would be a "beep" on the record when the filmstrip was supposed to be advanced to the next frame. I suspect these Plymouth ones were used to train the sales force at a dealership. No idea of the value, but probably would be wanted by a '41 Plymouth owner. Pete Phillips Sherman, TX

Measure the length of the cylinder head, from front to back, and that will also tell you whether it is a 320 (Century engine) or 248 (Special engine). A 320 is about 35 inches long. A 248 is just under 32 inches long. Pete Phillips, BCA #7338

You need to contact terrywiegand@prodigy.net That is his email address. Tell him I sent you. He is a friend of mine. He is in South Hutchinson, Kansas and owns a 1920 and a 1922. He has done a lot of this engine work and will know where to get what you need. Have you tried Egge in California? Pete Phillips

This paddy wagon was built from a Standard series car, a model 20 I think is what I read on the data plate, which is a 2-dr. sedan. In contacting the owner today, he says it is 80 inches tall at the rear, which is its tallest point. Deflating the tires would lower it by a couple of inches. He is asking $6000 for it, but may take less. Engine is spotlessly clean and looks brand new, since it has never been run after the rebuild. Has new babbited bearings, rings, etc., but the owner's age and health are not allowing him to continue working on it. Looked to me like it just needed the throttle hooked up, fuel line hooked up, and a battery, but I didn't crawl underneath. Pete Phillips

I have a rear bumper--the whole thing, but I'm willing to take the ends off and sell just them. It is at my building 30 miles from here, so it will be later in the week before I get over there to look. It is a used one from a '64 Wildcat, and as I recall, it has a few small dents, but no rust. A replater could knock out the dents and replate it. You will have to get your dash pad recovered. A few companies do that if you send it to them, but it is not cheap. Pete Phillips, BCA #7338 Sherman, TX

DinoBob, The stick shift in a LeSabre is rare indeed. The 2-dr. sedan was Buick's lightest weight car in 1960, though it is still around 4000 pounds, I think. You will be very pleased with the responsiveness and acceleration that this car has, despite its having the lowest horsepower 364 V8 that Buick made in 1960. The difference between a Dynaflow equipped car and stick shift equipped car is like night and day. It will have good gas mileage on the highway, too. You know that a requirement of owning one of these is that you have to take photos, write up an article, and send it in to the Buick Bugle magazine for publication! Pete Phillips, BCA #7338

I have one of those, too. That's the big, so-called "prestige" catalogue that dealerships gave out only to their most loyal and well-heeled customers. It's hard to find and I paid over $100 for my copy a few years ago, but being a '33 nut, I think it's worth it. Buick production was very low in 1933 because hardly anyone was buying a new car then, so these are quite rare pieces of literature. Has all of the models and series for 1933 Buicks, and fairly extensive specifications in the back. Pete Phillips, BCA #7338 Sherman, TX

I recently visited the garage of a BCA member southeast of Denver in the Parker area, and took this photo of his home-made 1926 Buick Standard series paddy wagon. It has the correct 6-cylinder engine which has been rebuilt, but he has never hooked it up and gotten it running. Headlights are not from a 1920s Buick. He would like to sell this. It has new tires and I don't think it has ever been on the road since he built it. I can find out the price if anyone is interested. It's not mine and I have no stake in this, but it is something different! Pete Phillips, BCA #7338 Sherman, TX