Dan O

I looked at my shop manual and see the fluid fill hole on top of the reservoir but how in the world can I reach it up under the fender? It looks most easily accessed thru the porthole in the fender but I know that cannot be right. It is just too tight to get to in place. Any experience with this anyone? 1949 76c

I saw this for sale on Craigslist and noted in our For Sale forum but it is not mine nor do I know anything about it. BUT I think the Carson top makes this big family car look very elegant! Has anyone seen this done before?

I saw this car on Craigslist and it's something I have never seen before - a four door with a Carson top. I think it looks pretty cool! It certainly needs interior and engine bay attention but I like the exterior. It's not my car nor do I have any more info on it other than it is in Mexia, Texas (the birthplace of Anna Nicole Smith, RIP). http://waco.craigslist.org/cto/5787450123.html

I need a replacement gravel shield that fits behind the grill and back to the readiator for a 1949 Roadmaster or Super. Previous owner had a nice square cut out with a torch so the radiator pops right out (I'd like to strangle that idiot). Please send photo and price.

Mr. Earl - Ha, visit and you'll know. It's that particular shade of yellow and barn-red they use plus the roofing materials and vertical planks and skinny windows on the house. No barbed-wire, clean as a whistle. Plus those damned clouds and flat terrain. AND they have a LOT of old American iron cruising around. Don Tomaso - I'll be in Nybro an hour and a half to the east of you next summer. Perhaps we could meet at a carshow somewhere!

I am not sure about the standard shift or the data plate but that'a great looking sedanette! That photo looks like somewhere in southern Sweden. Am I right? Welcome to the board.

One of my cars has never ever been painted and it's data plate is not painted.

I have been looking for a fog lamp switch for my 1949 and have found three on eBay just this week from $15 used to $99 NOS. I think that's more than in the last three years combined. However, one is GM part number 1997762 for 1949 series 40 ( http://www.ebay.com/itm/201661937392?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT ) and the other is 1997763 without series specification ( http://www.ebay.com/itm/191482067642?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT ). They look just the same to me. Does anyone know if there is a significant difference? Nothing in my Hollander interchange book. And also, what's the difference in a fog lamp switch and a instrument panel switch? It seem to me one could use the instrument panel switch in place of the fog lamp switch. I just bought the used instrument light switch to use as a fog lamp switch Why would this not work as a fog lamp switch? Too much current draw? Would GM really make them differntly for such a similar job?

Does anyone have a reasonably priced mechanic to work on my 1949 Buicks in Houston? I need someone unafraid of 6 volt systems to do a variety of things from check a charging system to replacing a motor and wiring harness. I know about Classic Cars of Houston, Bare Bones, Hago's but that's about it for the actual city. Classic Cars of Houston is super but beyond my project's needs and budget. Bare Bones moved to Alvin. Going to visit Hago's tomorrow out towards Richmond/Rosenberg. If I spoke Spanish I could get something done quite reasonably I'd think but the language barrier is truly a problem. So, can we start a conversation about shops in the 2nd or 3rd largest city in the USA? Now that it's cooler, I am ready to restore.

Does anyone have a reasonably priced mechanic to work on my 1949 Buicks in Houston? I need someone unafraid of 6 volt systems to do a variety of things from check a charging system to replacing a motor and wiring harness. I know about Classic Cars of Houston, Bare Bones, Hago's but that's about it for the actual city. Classic Cars of Houston is super but beyond my project's needs and budget. Bare Bones moved to Alvin. Going to visit Hago's tomorrow out towards Richmond/Rosenberg. If I spoke Spanish I could get something done quite reasonably I'd think but the language barrier is truly a problem. So, can we start a conversation about shops in the 2nd or 3rd largest city in the USA? Now that it's cooler, I am ready to restore.

A mechanic told me the other day that it would be a bad idea to put a dual carb setup on a 1949 320 engine with a Dynaflow as it would just "bog down" and slow down the takeoff speed. I realized that the dual carbs were used on the earlier manual Buicks but never the Dynaflows. He said it's because it just does not work. I'm no mechanic so I am asking here for your experience, knowledge and opinions. I have an old Edmunds dual carb intake fyi.

It was offhand advice from a man who gave up the hobby years ago - I think the complaint was that the connectors were wrong now that I think about it - like Bill Stoneberg states above.

I hear you on the heat and humidity woes, I am in Houston. However, I cranked up my 1949 Roadmaster the other day, in the rain and low clouds, and it started very easily. So, I'd rule out excess humidity and heat. I have a booster electric pump I use to push fuel to the bowl, then give the gas pedal four pumps with the ignition in "off", let off completely of the pedal, turn it to "on" and crank it by pushing down gently on the floor pedal until it starts quite easily. I'd get that carb worked out by a pro in a shop. I did and it's great!

I need to replace dashboard forward on my 1949 Buick Roadmaster, at least, as mine are crumbly and suspect. I see YNZ sells an entire front harness for $1500 or so these days. Looks very nice as I would expect fot that price. Rhode Island sells the harness in sections separately (or maybe all together - have not inquired). But how do the two products compare in quality and fit? A friend said he had heard there were two companies doing this work - one great, one shoddy. He just threw that out as a warning as he did not know names anymore. So, opinions? Advice?

The 1949 sweep spear trim is cast metal, from front to rear. It's quite different from the stainless. If you find an extra trim piece in stainless, I'll buy it!

Generator/battery problems persist - Someone at a parts shop said, "just disconnect the battery lead and if it dies you are not getting proper function from your generator". Well, I did that and it died immediately. Is that a valid test? If not is there any kind of quicky test for this? I have had my generator rebuilt and replaced the voltage regulator on my 1949 Roadmaster 76c - all bench tested. I drove it a while and it suddenly died leading me to believe the charge was not getting from the generator to the battery. I did polarize the regulator per the manual when installing the bench tested generator and regulator but then the regulator fried itself. So, I got a new regulator installed, wrapped any poorly insulated wires and tested all the ancient wires for continuity and they seem to be fine. I would think it would be ok to hit the road but how can I test if the charge is getting from the generator to the battery itself? If there is not some easy test I'll go to a shop. It is just TOO HOT in Houston to work on cars this summer but I got the ol' car fever bad.

All good ideas but let's close this thread as in my more recent, separate post I noted the water jacket has creacked and I will replace at least the block now.

Thanks for the replies - I have sent some private messages to some of you. Yes, I have decided against repair of a stressed block and need to replace the block. I have a freshly rebuilt head and the manifolds, etc but do need a block.

It's been torqued down and still leaks water readily.

I need a good block for my 1949 Buick Roadmaster 76s with Dynaflow. I'd like to find one sorta near Houston, Texas. Will buy whole engine if need be.

Went back to work on installing the rebuilt head, manifolds, etc. on my 1949 Roadmaster 76s and discovered a crack in the block after cleaning off all the rust and grease! I'm embarrased to say it was not noticed before but I thought/hoped it was a casting flaw. Not my day at all. Is it possible/worth it to fix a crack? It's under the manifolds an inch under the head but long and it can be reached easily (photo attached). But I would hate to fix it and find another crack intermally. I've read a bit on this forum of it being done successfully but if I have to pull the engine, I'd just as soon rebuild the whole motor. Anyone in Houston area have a good block? There was one here in town on eBay but it just got shipped to Connecticut last week or so as luck would have it. The new buyer actually said he has another untested block crated and would ship to me for $400 - $500 plus $250 shipping. It came from RPM in Minnesota (?).

Thanks again for all the great insight and advice. What looked like sleeve inserts were just marks from the head gasket afterall - some photos attached show the marks before and during the polishing process. Without going into all the details, the original head bolts were all cleaned (as were the threaded holes in the block) and the head torqued down on a new gasket with no problems. The cylinder walls were still nice and smooth according to my mechanic. I know it will probably blow oil but I'm not in a position to do a full engine rebuild - the head was warped and cracked so it had to be replaced inorder to be able to drive/move this car around for the time being. The project got sidelined due to more important matters but should be all back together next week if we don't flood again here in Texas. I feel bad about neglecting this old car but perhaps this will get the project going again.

TtoTired - I'm not doing this myself and am not inquiring for the mechanic, just for me. Yes, I have a manual and use it but these threads start out one way and lead to other questions that are easy to ask here and draw on a world of wisdom. I said I'm no motor mechanic so layoff.a little, OK?

Thanks to all. I am going to tackle it again this week after some delay. I imagine it's just marks from the gasket. The head bolts idea is good advice. Do they need to be anything special, like hardened steel? Or just a hardware store replacement? My mechanic said we'd need to run a die in the bolt holes for a good seal plus clean the block surface with a type of pnematic plastic brush tool.

Good morning and happy Mother's Day to all! - I pulled the head from my 1949 76S (warped and cracked from heat) and my mechanic remarked that it looks like the cylinders have been previously bored and sleeved during a rebuild - that or they came from the factory like that.. I really don't know much about engine rebuilding and he doesn't know much about old Buicks SO, could y'all look at this photo and tell me what you think? The previous and first owner would have had the dough to rebuild the engine without thinking about it and I imagine it was done in the early 60's if it was done. The engine does not smoke when running and has been run up to 70 mph without any issues so a rebuild was not on the agenda but I stupidly blew the headgasket due to no water in the radiator on a first of spring start up. .