DonMicheletti

I believe the pilot bearing isnt necessary with a Hydromatic

Nice - pretty fancy photographic setup.

I machined the dummy shaft. I made it a few thousanths smaller than the steel shaft and with tapered ends to assist with driving it out with the "real" shaft. Nothing fancy

Some of the '31 model 50's had an open (driveshaft) driveline and non synchro transmission. I had one. Is yours open drive or torquetube drive line?

A long time ago my dad toild me about running with headlights on to not overcharge the battery. I didnt really understand that until I had my '31 Buick with the third brush and I adjusted it high to accomodate the headlights being on....and burned out the generator. On my '18 Buick I have it set it as low as possible (I never drive at night with it). I really dont care about the battery, I can get one of those easily. However NAPA is just plum out of starter / generator parts! I dont want to torch that.

Did you put the bolts into the pump housing before you positioned the pump? That should work. The 80 and 90 series cars are the same I believe and I was able to change the pump on my Roadmaster.

Are the "ears" of the intake and exhaust flaanges the same dimension? If not you'll never get the 2 manifolds to bolt up properly

The side covers can be very hard to seal up. I hate doing them

Good to hear that you got the oil leak stopped

Interesting. I have had '10, '18. '31, '32 and '38 Buicks. All had all ferrous water pumps. No aluminum. You learn something every day. Brass is another good substitute if you paint the pump.

The pump should be made of all cast iron - no aluminum

EmTee, Doing this stuff is a vacation for me.

Neils elbow was rigid conduit. I cut the threads off before we started and established the correct length. The other elbow, that was too small, was thin wall conduit.

To advance, turn the distributor clockwise. The rotor turns counterclockwise

Edinmass hit the nail on the head.

Terry, If you read the manual, that is exactly how they tell you to shift. No messing around with double clutching. The coarse pitch of the gears and such makes it possible and easy. You just have to get the hang of it. Quickly really means quickly.

The seal of that pin is no different than that of the cluster gear counter shaft. The tight fit can seal it. But who uses a new pin as the manual says? No one. The groves only extend part way on the pin at the outer end. So re-using the old pin usually requires sealant. I had an Oldsmobile with the same setup and it had no leaks. When we rebuilt Neils trans, I didn't want to remove the reverse Idler just to avoid that possible leak.

Cleaning and sealing the holes is a pretty easy job. Cleaning the bolts is obvious. We cleaned the holes using a round wire brush in a battery powered electric drill and using gasoline as a solvent. It worked well. Leaking there is a fairly common problem

The first time Neil Morse visited me with his '41, when he puled up I could smell hot oil. I mentioned it seemed he has an oil leak - he confirmed that his engine did leak. It didnt take long to find the source of the leak - from the spark plug cover. I was familiar with the problem. We cleaned the bolts, holes and sealed them. No more leaking. His was poarticularly bad. On that back stud. It is extremely important the threads be sealed (it even may be a pipe thread). If that leaks, water could get into the oil. I had a nightmare with that issue with an engine I had that was rebuilt by someone else and they used a regular bolt in that back hole with no sealant. After running a while, the crankcase was filled with water.

You may not have a gage problem at all. Your symptoms are right line with those of a plugged oil pump pickup screen. Has the engine sat for vely long periods of time without running? I'd drop the pan and check the screen and pump. Clean and check everything. Pulling the pan on a '41 isnt easy, but is possible.

Good to see a face with the car. Your mileage is really great. Plus your speeds were moderate. The last time I checked mileage on the Roadmaster I got 11.3 mpg. However I was on the freeway, with hills and doing between 60 and 70 mph. The engine didnt mind that at all. Warm day and it ran at 160 degrees. I have a 160 thermostat in it.

My Buick, My locomotive. I headd up its restoration and mechanical aspect of operation

Good you solved the problem.

The holes in the pedal give access to the screws. However, if they are rusted as bad as in Matts photo, I doubt you could get them out. Clearly the easiest way to work on the rubber link is to remove the pedal with the rod. Since the carb end can be rotated (it is an adjustment with thread) you can re-bend the rod so the pedal end tab is oriented properly and just align the carb end correctly. Your rod might have bent wrong some way along the line. The rod is pretty soft and bends easiiy

There is something wrong with your carb to pedal reach rod. The tab at the bottom of the rod should align with the lever on the accelerator pedal with no twist in the rubber. Unfortunately I do not have a photo of that