DonMicheletti

There is an article in the old Torque Tube about the disassembly of the towers on the net. It is pretty easy to do

I have restored a couple of cars with hydraulic brakes (one my '38 Roadmaster). I replaced all rubber parts and stoplight switches and converted them to silicone fluid. The ;38 was done 25+ years ago and I have not had a bit of problems with the stoplight switch or anything else. The switch failure being attributed to the silicone fluid (which is pretty innert) is surprising, especially since DOT 3 is such an aggressive paint stripper.

I am not certain, but I think on that gen. grounding the field causes maximum charging. Try removing the field wire at the gen. If it still charges max you have a short in the gen. If not, there is a short in the wiring

At 73 I find that I am a lot slower than I used to be. Doing the clutch on my'38 Roadmaster took longer than it should have. But I don't have a rack and had to just work laying on my back. Unfortunately, your experience with mechanics is pretty common. Old cars just do not fit in well with other more profitable jobs on the newer cars. Just finding someone willing to try is difficult so I understand your position. I feel that the torque tube Buicks are among the most difficult cars on which to do clutch and transmission work

I agree that learning is necessary. Finding a mechanic that understands these older Buicks that are a PITA at best when it comes to transmission work, is almost impossible. However, why did he "return" the car when he knew there still was a problem? The job should have been finished. Actually I feel for folks I read about on this forum that have difficulties in sending their cars to someone else for repairs. I have always done all my own work so when something goes wrong on a repair (and it can) - the person to blame isn't far away!

After reading this very long and complicated thread, in my opinion what you really need is a new competent mechanic!

I have a partial answer to the engine removal question. The last time I worked on my '31 and '32 was in 1969. However, I am definitely sure you can remove and replace the engines without pulling the rear end and transmission. I also remember that it wasn't easy

60 Flat Top: I love your "my mechanic" comments. Hitting the nail on the head. One of my favorite comments I often heard when folks found out I was a car nut. They would say " I have a great car - my mechanic loves it!". I just bet he would!!! Those of us who can do our own work are fortunate in that we are not at the mercy of many well meaning "mechanics" who do not understand the older cars.

I have to agree with Glasser - just leave it unrestored. The car does have some issues. It appears the the front radiator shutters are gone, There is a hole in the dash (passengers side for a radio). There is some sort of patchwork on the carb heat tube between the exhaust manifold and carb stove. Missing stuff may be hard to find. Much depends on mechanical condition. My first Buick was a '31-67. I drool over this car.

I looked at the Gaffery Babbiting site. His operation looks impressive and first class.

Trp, I have done it both ways. For just a clutch job, pulling the rear end is actually easiest way to go. However, if you are going to do engine work too, Pulling the front clip and then the engine & trans is easier. In either case it is a GIANT Pain in the rear and a whole lot of work. Clearly the worse part of working on an old Buick!

Dave, I didnt realize that the new setup does have spring loading to eliminate slop (I couldnt see that). In that case it would be superior. Don

Lots of the new mechanics do not understand the older engines, especially those engines with babbit bearings. Today on a modern engine,, you can mike the crank, buy suitable insert bearings and just throw the engine together since there really isnt anything you can do about the bearing clearnce anyway. The old babbited engines, the clearance is adjusted both by machining and shimming. You have to check clearances. On the old engines, I have always done everything myself - including pouring and machining the babbit, then fitting things - I did have mains and cam bearings align bored by a real machine shop after my initial machining. I assembled everything myself. Finding an old fassioned engine machine shop these days is hard. Many modern mechanics dont even know how points work.

When I did my '38's, the breaker plate race was all crudded up on both cars (done 20 years a part). I just used a small wire wheel to clean the crap out of the distributor body race and a wire "toothbrush" to clean the breaker plate races. I replaced the balls with new ones from Mc Master Carr - I still have a million left - but they are cheap. It is kind of a PITA to put together, but they work as designed now. While I do like the upgrade, since the plastic parts have no give, they have to have clearance to work - thus breaker plate axial movement and the attendant point clearance change. (probably makes no difference though). The 3 balls with the spring load does not have this axial movement and will keep the points more precisely set.

It has been over 40 years since I did my '31 - so I dont remember the clearance. The spec should be in the service manual. However, I'd imagine the clearance would be between .0015" and .0025". Be sure to check other rods to establish their condition and clearance. The unfortunate thing about a babbited engine is when it pukes a bearing, often babbit metal pieces will be circulated through the oil system, so clean carefully. If you stopped the engine quickly enough, you may be lucky and no damage will have been done to the crank. The nice thing about a babbited engine is that it could survive a failure like this without damaging the crank - not so with an insert engine (usually). Dwight makes a good point.

Tightness of the rod bolts is unimportant provided the rod cap is shimmed so the bearing has proper clearance. It may be that the mechanic set them up to tight. Dont blame the engine - it is not its fault. If you can, pull an adjacent rod cap, check the shimming and use "plastigage" to check bearing clearance to insure it proper.

Buick used oddball compression fittings. Your best bet is probably to replace both the fitting in that stanchion and the one at the head and the tube with something more modern. I'm pretty sure the hole for the oil fitting is 1/8" pipe.

Both my '38's, Roadmaster and Special, had red primer

New pistons and rings? Check to see if the rings are in correctly. Upside down rings will cause oil pumping and burning

That extra gasket may well serve the same purpose as the bellville washer.

I believe it is a point set from a magneto.

The bellville washer (Clutch spring washer) fits behind the sleeve for the throwout bearing and in front of the input bearing - it puts force on the input bearing to hold it in place. I'm pretty sure the shop manual points it out in the engine / clutch section. Very subtle

On my '31, when the hub started to squeel, I found the little fiber gear stripped. I made a ball bearing hub to replace the original and it looked exactly like the original. Plus, no more oil slung all over the place! I believe someone is making those type hubs now - well worth the cost and peace of mind - that radiator is expensive.

The "A" on the gen stands for armature and goes to the A at the regulator and it is the power for the battery. The regulator sends that to the ampmeter and then the battery if necessary. The "F" stands for field. The regulator sends a signal to that connection that tells the generator how much to charge.

If it isnt that bad, leave it alone. To remove the pulley, you'll have to remove the radiator - no fun. If the wobble is really slight, the crank pulley is so far away from the fan pulley that I'd doubt it would cause a problem. However, do pay attention to the fan pulley hub and make sure that it is OK. I have known of them failing and going into the radiator.