imported_buick5563

Paul, Another thing to check is if they took off the console they could have put the center mounting ear on the wrong side (upper side) of the trans shifter. I had it on right on my Wildcat and when the upholstery guy did my carpets he put it on the wrong way. When my car was in his driveway, on a slope, it rolled down the hill smashing into his 49 Chevy. My bumper and exhaust were damaged but his car was completely wrecked. I can't explain too much better than that, just take the console indicator off and check to see if by any chance the console can go down a bit further to the floor, thus changing the geometry of the gear shift in the groove in the indicator. Good luck, Mike

Hi guys, About 10 years ago, I drove six hours up to get some parts for my 55 which I was told they had. I got up there and paid for the parts which they had set aside for me and was told to go look around. About 3 hours later, I found more parts I needed and paid for them also. I was getting in my car to head back and my starter went out at a gas station about twenty miles out of town. Since I was in my 55 I figured Ken had that part so I called him "at home" and he came and picked me up. Then we went out into the field (at night) and picked one off a parts car, checked it and then he drove me back to my car, helped install it and I was on my way. He didn't charge me for the "service call" and told me to send him money later since I had already spent all of my cash that day. After driving another two hours, I hit my one and only coyote. I didn't even stop. I just thought to myself "I sure hope I didn't ruin anything I didn't get a replacement for today." I sent him a check later and called the Better Business Bureau to let them know what a solid dude Ken was.... That's my Wheatbelt story. He is the first call I make whenever I need a part for either of my cars. Mike

You gotta watch 'em Mr. Earl. Mike

96Roadmaster, Absolutely, Positively, get references from whoever does your upholstery work, your car sounds like it is worth it. I have had the greatest experience of all time by a guy I had good references about, and the worst, crookedest, seams on another car when I took it to a guy who had just happened to be around for a long time (I trusted him based on longevity rather than word of mouth.) Also, pretty much all of the aftermarket suppliers of carpet are just middle men, who order from ACC. Good luck, Mike

I wish I had bid $360.55 Mike

What is the age cut-off for the job? I've been practicing. NO MODIFIED CARS EVER YOU PESKY VARMINTS!!!!! MIKE How did I do?

I admit I have sniped before but like you guys I have "learned" to figure out the max I will pay for something and stick to it. My nemesis was always bidding on the n.o.s. stuff and I was too young and dumb (read: ignorant) to realize that I had to literally sit by the computer and bid at the last second. I also messed up and ran up the bids (on no reserve auctions) in my early bidding days. Boy, that really chaps my butt when I see that going on now. Mr. Earl, I never thought about the RASG's. That's a really good point. Of course they don't care what they pay for a little book. The danger (to them) would be two of those guys using a sniping system and bidding like $200 bucks or more thinking that nobody would bid that high and then a $45 book going for $200. Wow, I'm going to start looking for primo 53 and 54 books just on the off chance that actually happened to me as the seller. OK, back to the garage. Mike

Although I haven't seen this person bidding in a while, I used to get all tangled up and outbid by a guy named arthur55. I was thinking about something entirely different at work today and thought about him for the first time in years. Does anybody else have a nemesis? Let's try to keep this between ebayers and not forum members, PLEASE. Mike

I was trying to get more conspiratorial than this. In the judging handbook it says that tower top clamps are correct. I just figured maybe the first guys who reproduced them were on the judging comittee. I will be changing over (to other clamps) since this is my first judged national and I'd much rather try to defend some other bit of "workmanship" rather than argue about something that is stated in the judging book. Like I said above, I have to make one more "parts run" anyway, I'll just add this to my list. See ya, Mike

While getting my car ready for Batavia, I started to wonder: Is one of the manufacturer/ replacement old part dealers behind the fact that 1955's (and I'm sure other years ) have points deducted for non-tower top hose clamps. My car had all matching clamps on all of my heater hoses and they weren't of the "official" type. The radiator hose had newer replacement modern hose clamps, so they had obviously been changed. Anybody know? I probably still have time to order some from one of the "ALLEGED"( ) kick-back firms before leaving. Thanks, Mike

Ooooops, Since I have been busy working on my car I realize that I hadn't looked at ebay in a while and the Roadmaster I was talking about isn't even listed any longer. Sorry about the confusion. Go ahead and buy the car Mr. Earl. Mike

The first time I rode in Willie's car with the A/C on, I thought the visors had fallen (as they are prone to do when not tightened correctly). I should have known that his car would not have floppy visors. He gave me the same explanation as he gave you and lo and behold, it's true. That 55 Roadmaster on ebay is a nice car. It belongs to a guy outside of Dallas who I rode with to steal all of his leftover 55 parts when he decided to sell it. So it doesn't come with spare anything!!!! Ha.Ha. Also, I am getting close to getting my car back from the painter at which time I will be adding the factory air to mine. My car was originally a South Dakota car, so no A/C in it. (South Dakota is really stinkin' cold, Johnny Be Goode). I am going to look like those guys with the one week deadline to build a car trying to get this puppy together in a month, so I'm going to log out and go work in my garage. See y'all. Mike

$50k sure would buy alot of California Dusters!!! Mike

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body"> Other than my scrollin finger gettin the cramps some time I fully enjoy ol Willis's post though. I've learned a lot from the ol' boy. </div></div> roger that Mr. Earl, But also know that when this conversation initially came up, he was trying to convince Willie and me that the time posts were GMT. Mike

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Yep, Mike and Willie, another "2:00AM+ post" . . . </div></div> I wasn't going to bring it up Mike

Skyking, They were available in the Special series as well in 55 from the factory. None in 56 from the factory. Mike

Hi y'all, here is my hokey story, bear with me.... It was 1985 and I had just graduated high school. My father and I had been searching for a 60's Mustang for months. We drove all around DC pretty much from Annapolis to Richmond to no avail. I wanted something that stood out, and Mustangs (at that time) did it for me. Over the fourth of July weekend my father came home from the dry cleaners and asked if I had seen that big old Buick in the parking lot midway between our house and the cleaners. I (admittedly) knew absolutely nothing about Buicks. I had never heard of a NAILHEAD ??? It had the side windows bb'd out and there were two spare tires in the back seat, but for a car that had been sitting out in the field for the past few years it was relatively rust-free. It had 75,057 miles on the odometer. All it needed was a couple of windows, a brake job and two tires, and I was rolling in my (previously unknown to me) Dream Car. I immediately named her Gladys after Elvis' momma. My plain Jane 55 Special 2 dr. sedan is still with me after almost twenty years and I am treating her to a 50th birthday (for her) face lift ($$$) and driving to Batavia in a couple of months. So I suppose I lucked into Buicks. Mike

Mr. Earl, et. al. My wife is in Northern California this week on business and she heard on the radio this morning that a California station finally hit the $3 mark. $3.05 was what she heard. Now I realize this is hearsay, but it would sure make me ALTER my habits. Perhaps not change them altogether. But then again, I have a company credit card. Mike

Thriller, We sho' don't need any knotted knickers around here! Mike

Willie, I'm in. Come on guys. He said he'd ship separately, so Old-Tank doesn't get a truckload of whitewalls on his driveway. Mike

Thank you gentlemen for your civility. I wasn't intending on starting a rant about/ against clubs. I also was not trying to make everyone see eye to eye. The world would truly be a boring place if their weren't "Odd Couples". I think it's healthy to disagree, it's what our country was founded on: "I may not agree with what you say but I will defend 'til the death your right to say it". But name-calling is just childish. NTX, I agree that there are restorers (doers) and restorers (payers) and I don't hold anything against the latter. In the interest of time (in order to try to get my 55 ready for Batavia) I'm farming out more than I would ideally like to. Admittedly, when my son was born nearly two years ago, my priorities changed. Restoring a car all by myself became an unrealistic goal (to me). I wanted to drive it, not wait five years, when who knows what my situation will be. Another thing regarding the younger member comment. If you guys notice the younger guys aren't "youth". Bigfella and Thriller and I are all in our mid thirties. I think we should be aiming at this age bracket instead of trying to get teenagers (plus or minus) involved as "The Future". At this age, we have (allegedly) got real jobs, a house, a wife (hopefully an understanding and supportive one), and perhaps for the first time, at least in my case, some disposable income. I've been a member since I was twenty-one and I'm just now getting around to fixing my car up, I guess that's my point. Not that I don't want Adam in the club. Of course I realize that these are social clubs and it took me a long time to FEEL like I fit in. Not that they (you) weren't welcoming. I also realize that you have to ask if you have questions. I feel extremely fortunate that I have found good friends and one of the best mentors you could ask for in the BCA. Oh and by the way, yesterday in Salado Texas, at an informal regional show, we heard a 66 Skylark fire for the first time ever. Then we bled the brakes (semi-successfully) and the owner drove a victory lap around the parking lot. It was a good car day. Good evening... Mike

Yup. As long as you don't sit on the needle "improperly". Ouch! Mike

Mr. Earl, I am heading up the road a ways to go to a car show in my Wildcat today, so I filled up with premium at $2.35 yesterday. Ouch. I'm planning on driving to Batavia in my Special which gets better gas mileage and doesn't take premium, but the budget is pretty much shot from when I first started planning this trip. It's still over three thousand miles round trip. She sure is going to look good getting there. Plus, after all of the work I'm doing, I'm definitely still going. Later, Mike

About two years ago I dropped out of the local AACA club here in Austin. Ya see, I'm 36 years old and I wanted to pick the brains of the more experienced hobbyists who had more years of automotive knowledge than I had of breathing. After attending a years worth of meetings, I realized that NOBODY talked about cars. I fear this is where we are heading. I have had to bite my tongue recently with all of the bickering and name calling going on in this forum. Please stop with the politics. Any time my wife hears that I hung out with my best friend in the BCA she always whistles the "Odd Couple" theme. But we talk about Buicks (and sometimes beer). If you want to talk politics and call somebody a "yellow dog" anything, get on Rush Limbaugh's website or NPR's website, Hell, if you really need to start a fight, sign up for Jerry Springer's show. Nobody is going to change anybody's mind about religion or politics and it is extremely irritating to have to wade through all of this BS when I want to read about stuff to take my mind OFF real life. About cars. Remember, it's why we joined..... Mike Middleton 15 year member BCA lone wolf, no club?

Hi there, I have a new twist on the bring a kid to a car show. Last year I brought my son to the Nationals but this year I'm taking the 1800 mile trip with my dad. Yeah... I know, yikes was my first reaction too, but now I'm looking forward to it, plus maybe he'll buy the bologna. Mike