Thriller

My copy arrived in the mail today (thankfully as there may be a strike at Canada Post starting Monday last I heard). I came to ask about the cars on page 27...owning a 29-51, I knew the photo wasn’t right for the caption. Thanks Pete for pointing it out since I was going to ask the year. I knew it was older.

I’d have loved to have had that, but it’s a bit rich for my blood at present. Let’s hope it stays where it is at least occasionally seen.

With the cobblestone street, if it’s in Canada, it would have to be down east. There were never very many British cars out west anyway. Unless Texaco perhaps existed in the Caribbean? That could be another possibility. Left hand drive cars.... Interesting old photo regardless.

Near Birmingham, Alabama, according to the article on the site (http://www.junkyardlife.com/2012/08/cars-in-yards-1976-buick-century-free.html). It’s not one of mine...not sure if that is a good or bad thing, although I am running out of space to store them under a roof. That said, I have three of these in similar shape. Yes, it’s a disease.

KGreen - the province of Manitoba mandated ethanol be added to gasoline at all stations. There was enough push-back that it was exempted from premium fuel. I can’t speak for anywhere else. I can say that I run premium locally in all my hobby cars as a result. I also run a number of small engines. I haven’t had any fuel related issues. Of course, I can’t chalk that up to lack of ethanol, but I’m not prepared to take that risk. RivNut - ethanol in fuel causes the fuel to break down faster and absorb water. Thus, for those of us who are forced into off-season storage by weather / climate, this could be a huge issue. I understand that ethanol has lower energy potential than gasoline, so there can be noticeable loss of fuel economy. When I’ve driven to National Meets and used ethanol-laced gasoline, I haven’t had problems, but it gets burned before it has time to deal with the water issue. That’s ultimately just my experience.

The Manitoba inspection was finally completed yesterday, so registered today and taken out to the country place for it’s first drive by me. There is a lot to do yet including putting the steering wheel on the right direction, carpeting and reassemble interior, attach a few remaining exterior trim pieces, etc. It was interesting in that something must have happened to the speedometer cable as I had neither speedo nor odometer. The GPS receiver wasn’t happy with the lighter socket, so I just ran with the speed of traffic. This is such a neat dash cluster.

Not much for colour on the bald prairie (there are locations that it could work), but I got an opportunity to take a few photos today. There have been a few flakes falling this afternoon, so it’s good that all the old cars are now in appropriate locations. Sigh.

The primary goal was to get it into the collector market rather than the used car market. At the time I’d had some back and forth with Marck and I’m comfortable I’m not upside down on this car. I’d rather play with ones I’m comfortable driving and putting some miles on. This one has such low mileage that you don’t really want to add to it. That’s just my current thoughts...there’s a long winter ahead where things could change. I paid the last bill for the 1959 today (finally everything is in place) and assuming I can locate some documents I should be able to deal with registration tomorrow and drive it out to the country (he typed with fingers crossed). I thought I had everything in the file, but apparently I’m missing an envelope...sigh.

On Sunday I drove Silver Reatta out to the country for the winter. I know I didn’t want to put a lot of miles on it, but it was to an extreme of not driving it. I’m thinking it may not last in my stable too long as I’ve got too many that need exercise.

I learned Fortran 77 in first year university, but we were beyond punch cards.

Welcome! Like Doug, locally premium contains no ethanol so that is what I run. I don’t even try going lower generally. When I’m travelling, I typically use mid-grade...if I’m south of the 49th, it’s still less expensive than our highly-taxed fuel and I’ll burn the ethanol without it having a chance to sit for any length of time and cause issues.

It was kind of a bittersweet day today as I drove the Skyhawk out to the country property to get ready for winter. To put it in its winter location I also had to drive the Wildcat a bit...it has a leak at the power steering pump, so the exhaust manifold was wet and things got a bit smoky...another thing on the list for next year. We had previously rearranged the shop a bit, moving two of the pace car replicas to the old shop. The 1959 should be ready any day, so I needed to make space for it as well. Here are things parked...I will have to pull batteries next time I’m out there. I have a bit more driving left in the season as my new Reatta will also need to move out to the country.

I was one of the lucky ones getting Marlene’s updates on a (nearly) daily basis. It was a highlight since I didn’t make the meet this year.

Thanks for sharing all the photos John. It looks like a great show, with some unusual Buicks to be seen.

Blown 1962 Skylark. I’m not sure a Nailhead would fit. Quite possibly started with a 215. Interesting how the CPR cars were numbered. M235 is a 1939 while M499 is a 1934 Buick at the Western Development Museum in Moose Jaw, SK. I wonder if they may have been numbered by region or some other coding method. Interesting.

I probably left some drool on the Avista in Allentown.

1950 hood on a 1952.

Since I need to get carpet for the 1959 and my den remains a mess, I thought I’d ask the collective wisdom here. What is the correct type of carpet for 1959. It’s a while since I looked at what is available, but it seems to me there were some different options. Of course, I want to add something like dynamat or another modern sound deadener / heat shield. Thanks.

ACC seems to be about the only supplier. Almost all the resellers are selling their kits. Doesn’t leave on with much choice I’m afraid. That doesn’t mean I’ve done an exhaustive search and I am open to suggestions but I do want to order this soon so I have a chance of dealing with everything before snow flies.

Not quite perfect...no A/C ??

Well, I actually did this two years ago. I picked up this car in early September and dropped it off at my mechanic for the Manitoba vehicle inspection...and it hasn’t been in my possession since. A lot has been done, but the hardest was actually getting someone to replace the floors. It’s a shame so few body shops are interested in actual repair any more, especially rust...they just want the lucrative insurance work. So, to take a step back, Illustrious Bugle Editor Pete contacted me about this car since it was close...it was across the border, but not far. Enamoured with the car, I bought it without looking closely at things like rusted out floors. It was disappointing, but since the car was here, I may as well throw more money at it to get things done. I did get a pretty good deal on it initially, but it did take quite a bit to get it back. It is now almost ready to pass inspection with new floors and inner rockers. It should be coming home this week. The next question is where the devil will I put it? I presently have 8 vehicles in the city, one of which is derelict in the yard, and one is forced to park on the street under the trees full of pooping aphids. Something will need to head out to the country. That said, I need to order carpet and get that done. Honestly, this car is a bit rougher than pictures show (and than I remember), but as it is relatively unusual, I’m thrilled to have it and looking forward to finishing it off (like attaching trim) and enjoying it.

T-top and Hot Rod in their new location.

Not much of a drive, but the Wildcat saw the light of day today...it had to move in order to move two pace cars to the other shop...it’s all part of a plan to shift things around...I really am out of space...I need to get my act together and get serious about moving a couple of things out of my life.

I don’t have photos on this device, but many of you have met my family over the years. I got my first Buick about the time I met my bride-to-be (actually, I’ve had the Wildcat longer than I’ve known her but just by a month or two). We went to a local car club event in Saskatoon to drive out to the Berry Barn, where Saskatoon berries and strawberries are grown along with a gift shop and restaurant. As we didn’t have a functional “old” car at that time, we rode shotgun...in the rumble seat of a Studebaker President (1931?). After that, she stated the old car hobby was fine, which set the stage for the following years. We joined the BCA in time to attend the 2003 celebration in Flint. I’d had hopes to drive the 1962 Special convertible down, but didn’t realize how much babysitting was involved in overseeing work to get done so it wasn’t ready. At any rate, we attended the event. At the time, our children were 3, 5, and 7. Since the youngest was too young to take in the children’s overnight event, he stayed with us and attended the Huey Lewis and the News concert. Since then, they have attended numerous national meets. I believe 2 of the three (now 22, 20, and 18) have the points to qualify as Senior Judges with the BCA. There have been many highlights along the way. In 2013, after getting her driver’s license about 3 months previous, Teresa drove the first Reatta the 1,000 miles to South Bend. We had registered before Suzanne had taken sick, so she stayed home...Teresa had Luke as navigator while Joseph was in the 1976 Century PCR with me. When we got back, she said she’d never be afraid of highway driving. She experienced a lot (border crossing, tolls, 75 mph speed limit, convoy). That was the year Mark Shaw trailered our new 1923 to the meet and that was the first time they saw it. They were enthusiastic in helping to push start it. In 2015, the boys were young enough and still in school at the time of the Springfield meet, so Teresa stayed home with them for the Springfield meet that Suzanne and I attended...to make it up to them, Suzanne and the kids attended the Heartland Regional in Wisconsin with the Rainier. 2009 in Colorado Springs had a shortage of judges, so Teresa made the jump from Junior Judge to help judge Reattas and Luke was shadowing the team judging the 1959s. That left Joseph alone, so the late great Dave Corbin showed him around the show field, answering questions and teaching the boy (then age 9). They both enjoyed their time together...now excuse me while I pull myself back together. RIP Dave. For the 2014 meet in Portland, Luke had his learner’s license. I was towing the 1954 with the truck, so Suzanne and the children shared driving duty with the Rainier. Luke tested his mettle driving through the mountains in Montana and came through with flying colours...even putting on extra miles as they turned back to get something forgotten at the hotel the previous night. Luke has taken to driving the Skyhawk this summer as well. The latest chapter has us working on our estate plan, so we’ve asked each of the children to independently provide us with a list of their preferred cars should something happen to us. We’ve amassed quite a collection. The unfortunate part to date is that none of them know how to work a clutch, but that will change in due course. The 1929 is almost ready to be on the road so that will provide a learning experience for us all. Over the last 15 years, our children have grown up around cars and in the BCA. It’s a bit of a dream to have a car show where we bring 5 Buicks together. It will be a project to go to the computer and pull together some relevant shots.

I’m pretty sure I got the rates, but was forced to book two rooms for the five of us. The youngest will be 19. This seems to be getting more frequent rather than being able to get a cot or a rollaway bed. Sigh. I’m almost hoping someone has a job that doesn’t allow them to come to the meet so I can go down to one room.