DonMicheletti

Captdan. That was because they ran castor oil and it was a total loss oil system

I have restored a 1910 Buick as my oldest and a 1957 Olds as one of my newest. Hands down, the early car is much simpler job (providing it is complete). The newer cars are a lot more complex and take a lot more time.

Steele Rubber Products also has all the rubber pads

I believe Buick used the same manifold gaskets right to the end on the 40 series straight 8's. Same as the early 60 series. However, the later gaskets were not copper clad asbestos like the original '31's.

OK, I'll write something up and send it.

I'll send you one. The stock wire near the pillar is insulated already. I meant the diode wire must clear the pillar. In the photo you also see an uninsulated wire just above the coil, but that is no where near the pillar. Since the diode wire is so rigid, I'm not worried about it vibrating into the pillar. The 2 clocks are still running! The clock in the car has been running continuously since March this year. I was surprised at the pitting I saw already. The clock gains about 5 minutes a month - and that is good enough for me. The photos are of my backup clock. I wanted to experiment on that first. Since it worked fine I added the diode to the clock in the car too. Now I'll have to go back and treat the Roadmaster clock to the diode treatment too.

I installed the diode. Pretty easy jon (thanks to Steve D). It is a bit fiddly to get the soldering iron into the + terminal. fortunately I have an iron with a small tip. Here are photos. A couple of things to keep in mind. Be aware of the points miovement and there is a "pillar" you have to stay away from. Here is the diode installation. The silver ring goes to the + terminal. The second photo is with the magnet attached to the clockworks The second photo is with the magnet attached to thye clockworks, note the "pillar" that must not touch the wire. the clock has been running for a while and appers OK. Sorry for the size of the photos

I got the diodes on Amazon. 5 for about $5. I'll have extras

Thanks. Now I'll go to work. A project for tomorrow. I'll post photos

Steve D, I now have the diodes. Not being electronically inclined, does the silver end go to the + side of the coil? Boy - those are little! Don

Dave Will do

Steeve D, I like the diode idea, I'm going to give it a try. Pretty simple fix. My clock has been running just fine for a very long time, but I know the things can be troublesome. Hopefully adding the diode will put me ahead of the game. Don

$20K on "restoration"? He'll be lucky to give it away

The most common question I get on my '18 Buick is "where do you get the tries?" Also almost everyone thinks it is worth at least $100K since it is old. It isnt worth a fraction of that.

Changing the ring gear can be a real PITA. The entire driveline has to come out, Might as well change the clutch too.. Be sure to orient the flywheel correctly on replacement. There are 5 wrong ways to bolt it up and one right way to get the timing marks right.

I like your logic. If you have a spare part with you it is guaranteed that the one in service will not fail.

By all means drop the pan and clean it out. Sitting that long may mean there is gunk on the bottom which could clog the oil pump pickup screen - cheap insurance. Just draining the opil and refilling may not be enough to clean gunk out. Also, the online Torque Tube magazines are an incredible source of information on the '37's and '38"s

Dave, here is the '38 service bulletin that includes a schematic. http://www.1937and1938buicks.com/1937-1938-Buick-Related-Items/United Motors Service - Auto Radio Bulletin (Submitted by CJ).pdf That near 80 year old main feed wire would be suspect

The mirrors Bobs has come with a rubber insulator that goes between the mirror arm and the door. That keeps the paint from scratching. The clamp screws are hidden behind the door weatherstriping on the inside, but they will chip the paint under there, but it is unseen. I had to shorten the clamp screws on my '38 to keep them from scratching the body because they will tend to poke through the weatherstripping. I cant imagine driving a car these days without an outside mirror.

In my '18 manual, it says "shift quickly". It works for me. Since it is a crash box, everything is spinning and getting from neutral to anything isnt easy

Oh, A Cad. Since this is Buick site I jumped to the conclusion that he was talking about a Buick. Jumping to conclusions isnt a good exercise. However, none the less, the S/G should motor. Not doing so probably means that there is something wrong with the generator portion or the switching. The principle is the same..

I got quotes from 2 places of between $1200 and $2500 per half of my '38 Buick grille (depending on plating quality) per half!! And they arent in terrible condition. I understand that plating copper over pot metal is a cyanide process and that probably makes an already difficult job even more expensive. I'm kind of choking on this one. The fact that I bought the car in good condition 40 years ago for $135 doesnt help. I'm not living in todays car world.

Check the schematic above - negative ground. However either way, it should motor. I dont believe that it has to be polarized since the gen. portion is electrically fed via the ignition switch. It gets its magnetism that way. When I bought my '18 Buick many years ago, the generator part of the S/G didnt work (charge). For years I drove the car as a 'total loss' system where I just charged the battery and hand cranked the engine to start it - very easy. No night driving though. Since your S/G doesnt motor correctly, that means there is something wrong with the generator portion. I agree, getting that ton of a unit out of the car isnt easy - gravity works well.

Not that it makes much difference, but the schematic clearly shows a negative ground. I have never heard of a Buick that was not negative ground.

Great isue. However there is one glaring omission. Photos of Pete and Cindy, the folks who put it together. They deserve a whole lot of credit. (I see they have gotten some here) I am really sorry I was not able to attend this great meet. Don Micheletti #587