Thriller

Threw away? Sigh. I liked it, but the issue that I had is that somewhere along the way, it would get blocked, presumably on the concept of it being spam or similar...large e-mail to many addresses with an attachment and not much for text. When I heard about it coming out, I'd e-mail Mike & Nancy and they'd send it to me without any issues. It was nice to get it in a more timely fashion and to have the option of reading it at the computer or in paper. It is funny...I know often enough when I read the paper version, either an ad or some tidbit of information pops out, forcing me to go to the computer to send an e-mail, check an advertiser, or search on something...if I didn't do it as I read it, I'd forget.

Whose golden shifter is Miss Hurst after? Would be neat to get down for some southern hospitality...better to do it in the winter though when I can go around with a t-shirt instead of a parka.

Drool....

Just put "Bob's Beautiful Buicks" with or without plural with a cartoon car. I've seen something similar before and it was great. I've been debating adding something to my hauler, but keep bouncing between not wanting folks to know exactly what is in there and telling the world the contents.

All it takes is time and money and with sufficient quantities of one, the need is reduced (but not eliminated) for the other.

Colin - if I may make a suggestion, there is always something to see. I would try to start with an idea of what the family is interested in. I know with my children, eventually they get bored of historic sites. Then again, if there is a pool / waterslide at the hotel we spend the night at, they tend to forgive me. Also, if natural beauty / landscapes is the thing, then perhaps look at scenic roadways or similar along the way. Another thing I like to do is to lay out approximately how far I want to go, then do an Internet search on the vicinity (i.e. pick a town / city that has an appropriate place to spend the night and see what's there...if nothing interests you check the next town). Good luck. Did someone say vineyard? (hic)

All that shows on the auction site is that reserve wasn't met.

Not 5454? Others could be 5469, 5472, 5476, etc. Your a bit ahead of me...does that mean you BS more than I do? Congrats sir.

My thought is that a thousand dollars in the old car game is a pittance. While there are better cars out there for less money, you don't get much for a grand. This is an ambitious project, particularly with missing bits. Ultimately, the decision is yours, but there are a few other things to consider. First, a family of three doesn't take much space. The trunk is big enough in our '41 Special that our family of five could carry luggage for a few days / nights and be comfortable, so you don't necessarily need a big series car. Another point to consider, coming from a fellow with four project cars, is that it is very easy to put off the work. In my case, I keep bringing home additional Buicks that get in the way of the projects, but unless you are very focused, the project could languish for years. All it takes is time and money, and with sufficient quantities of one, you don't need as much of the other. We've also discussed that you can buy more car in a restored state than buy purchasing a project and restoring. Look at it this way - if you spend $20-30k or more restoring this car, how much does the purchase price matter? On the other hand, there are driveable pre-war Buicks that could be had for $10k or less...they won't be perfect, but my '41 is an example (granted four years ago), but I paid about $7500 for it and did some brake work and a couple other odds and ends and had a driver. Since it isn't perfect, I am also much more comfortable driving it than if I'd just laid down a pretty penny on body / rust repair and a paint job. For what it is worth, here is an example - 1940 Buick Super 4-dr Sedan, Used Cars For Sale - Carsforsale.com - 1940 meets your pre-war criteria, St. Louis is quite a bit closer to you than PA (if I have my geography correct), and the price is reasonable. Of course, if your starting budget is lower, the expectation to get a running car has to be lower, but as soon as they don't run and move semi-regularly, some things deteriorate so quickly that you wind up doing a bunch more stuff than you hoped to. I don't think I tried to talk you into or out of the 1936 (last year for wood), but I hope I gave some food for thought.

The original 1949 VentiPorts were a mesh surrounded by a chrome ring. I think that was the only year they weren't solid definitively. I believe it was lack of a definitive benefit and dust / dirt that made them decorative.

There was a 1918 at auction in Denver two weeks ago, but enough information pointed at it being a car converted to a truck that I left it alone. Since there was a reserve on it, I decided that it wasn't worth it to pay the bidder's fee because I was quite certain it would be higher than I wanted to pay for a conversion. If there had been more time to either get someone to inspect it or get additional photos from the auctioneer, things may have changed.

We aren't quite that bad, but warm for us snowmen...it feels like my spare tire is melting, but I don't seem to be losing weight nor tightening the belt any more holes. July was the driest on record here with about 4/10"...we still had some days with humidex around 106 (working from memory). I love the A/C in the truck, but I'm beginning to wonder if it needs a charge. The A/C in the Wildcat isn't blowing particularly cold and the '75 Electra didn't work last summer when Suzanne drove it to Ames.

Willis - I thought the production year on the tail light lenses was based on the first year that casting was used, so if the same lens was used for multiple years, it wouldn't necessarily match the year of the car, but would be correct. Is that correct? Caribou - there are a variety of vendors, and some depend on what you are looking for. ClassicBuicks.com has a variety. The Buick Farm has NOS parts (they used to be exclusively NOS). That's what comes to mind right now. Mechanical parts will generally be available through NAPA or other local parts sources. You may want to check with local wreckers as well - there may be parts cars for you there. They would also have Hollander Interchange Manuals, which give the information of what parts cross which cars.

The body plate is missing from my Roadmaster, so I don't know whether it is a Canadian or US car, but I'll have to take a closer look the next time I am in the country. Yes, the Custom replaced the Special for Canadian cars...there was no reference to the Special. There's a recently restored one up here owned by a relatively new BCA member. GM of Canada Vintage Services can provide information on the car - print up the appropriate sheet, fill it in, and fax it to them along with credit card information and they'll provide information about the car.

Ouch...did you need to be picking on me like that?

Hey Caribou - there are a couple other Albertans here. Which part of the province are you in?

Sorry Dave. With everything I've read, I decided I wanted spares...I don't have a critical need, assuming the one I got from Jim works (mechanic got behind on things). I'd intended to bid on the ABS box as well...thought I had more time, but the auction was ended by the time I got back to the computer.

Colour combinations also depended on who was doing the ordering. If dealerships put in orders, then generally, they would order what they know they could sell. However, if a customer was able to place an order through the dealer, a dealer (with sufficient deposit) would order whatever they wanted. A number of years ago, I wanted a 2 wheel drive truck...the dealership was needing to place an order for 2WD trucks, so they let me spec one out without a deposit so long as I ordered something that wasn't too outlandish. The funny part is that when it came in everyone loved it (2000 Sierra green with grey interior, chrome steel wheels, SLT package). As a matter of fact there was another green truck with alloy wheels and they wanted me to get my truck off the lot before that customer came and saw the two trucks together since the chrome wheels looked better than the (dull) alloy wheels. This was at a time when Pewter was the most common colour. So, if you didn't care about colour and went to a dealer, you could easily buy whatever they had, but if you wanted something more distinctive, you had to convince the dealership to think outside the box. When we got our Rainier, the dealership had none...and had only sold one or two in the years they were available. When ours came in, it attracted a crowd of customers and the dealership operatives were also impressed with it. The problem for them was that there wasn't demand, but they may have been able to "create" demand by actually having a couple on site and possibly one in the showroom.

That's a lot of verbiage when the math is simpler (at least to me). (2*50)^3 = (2^3)*(50^3) = 8 * (50^3)

Roy Faries...TxBuick on the forum. His e-mail address may be in the BCA roster...he's in Texas.

I concur with Roy.

Engine power output at particular rpms is one factor, but the drag coefficient is an other. The coefficient of drag (Cd) is directly proportional to the cube of the velocity. That is to say, 55 cubed is 166375 and 60 cubed is 216000, or 32% greater than at 55. Yes, finding the "sweet spot" of engine power output is part of the overall fuel economy olympics, but speed itself plays a factor.

Do you mean the flasher? RockAuto Parts Catalog lists that part, although I suspect that is available at your local NAPA / Pep Boys / O'Reilly's. Of course, I may be misunderstanding. Good luck.

Looks like it was a great day...my '61 Invicta convertible is the same colour (exterior and interior) as that LeSabre. That last photo you posted is a Limited, right?

Welcome aboard Blake. The Sun Coupe is a neat model.