Rooster

Just got my torque ball retainer kit from FATSCO in the mail today. Can't wait to unpack it and install for a leak proof, hassle free , drip proof , no worries mate ------solution Get one Pat !!!

Derek, the stubbie has almost disappeared here also to the "fashionable " long neck. It's mostly just an Aussie tradition to call beer in a small bottle a stubbie nowadays. And to make matters worse, the long necks have shrunk in size from 375ml down to 330ml ( oz. ?? ) And they cost the same $$ It's a marketing ploy by the big breweries who say they are just keeping in line with international beer bottle sizes. Yeah, right !! BTW we call a large bottle 750ml , a KING BROWN That's also a poisonous snake here as well.

John , please tell us which seals can be got at and replaced without pulling the tranny. My 54 has a few leaks and while I've got the rear end out I can check things out under there. Cheers.

Give Phil Green a ring 03 93112049 . He has restored a few cars of late. He might be able to suggest who to talk to. My 54 has a 322 engine but I have not had it long enough to put it through any different road conditions.

If you have not already , I would strongly suggest you join the BCA ( Buick Club of Australia )to assist you with Buick problems, comradeship ,outings etc. and to put you in touch with a an auto trans expert. There are some here in OZ but you have to find out where eg. BCA members. There are sections in Qld, NSW, WA, & Vic. I can't help you with Dynaflow as I have recently bought one myself and am still learning about them. What state are you in ?

The day after Xmas Day ---- 45 degrees C It's hot man , it's hot !! Thought I was going to melt and never see my Irene again chasing those scrub fires.

Well I put it all back together again, worked out the process to make it all a bit easier. Not bad when you know how. The window now goes up a bit quicker so the lube helped a bit. Not as fast as the passenger window , but accepable. Hi Ho Hi Ho , it's off to work I go. Now on to my next job. Once I get that new bearing / seal, Irene get's a new rear end.

Well, I've got the rear quarters to go up and down like they're turbo charged !! Just the one front is a bit slow on the up. Pulled the motor apart and all working fine, but the spring just looks too big and strong ?? Could be just a case of lube required on the mechanisms but it's a pain of a job to put it all back together then dissmantle again.

Does anybody have their power window assemblies out of the door ? I would like to know the diameter of the circular spring and the number of turns please. Someone has been into mine and I think has replaced it with an incorrect one which is too strong. Cheers.

Thanks for the valuable info. Can you explain in more detail the ladder bar / four link set up please.

Yeah Brian , c'mon , join the Riviera brigade.

Good choice Brian. I like them too. Hope you get one.

There has been some discussion around here as to this device under the dynaflow. Some say it is an oil cooler , others reckon it's a heater ?

Now that I have the rear end out of the 1954 I have a secondary problem. And that is the old chestnut of the leaking torque ball. The ball was very sloppy when I took out the torque tube no wonder it leaked so bad . My question is what is the best way to stop the leak. I see on Bob's, CARS & Steele catalogues, retainers with vulcanized seals on them but I'm a bit confused about their descriptions and don't know whether they will retro-fit onto my unit. Anyone re-built their's lately ? A picture of my retainer is attached. Willie, I sent you a PM.

Can the 54- 55 ring and pinion be interchanged from another year / model or even different make, Olds, Pontiac , truck etc. Maybe someone with a Hollander manual or similar can help ? Is a NOS set available somewhere. On closer inspection of my 2 sets I'm not quite sure about them. I don't want to put it all together and pull it out again if it growls.

Me Too !! Keep us updated with the conversion Gary. Transmission ?? Ken ( aka Rooster) 1929 / 25 1954 / 76R Irene

Good advice Willie. I have the 55 diff apart but not yet cleaned up. I hope to have the 54 rear end out and dismantled next week. I'm guessing ?? at this early stage that a previous owner ( not Lamar ) has had the rear end apart and either put old bearings back in or has not set up the gears correctly. With the condition of the teeth , which I would say is reasonably good, the growl must be coming from incorrect mesh. I will blue them up to see contact when I get it out before taking apart. Thanks for the offer of parts, I will certainly keep that in mind when I re-build. The 55 gears sound promising with the ratio. It will pull the engine RPM down a bit , not a huge amount but with fuel prices these days every little bit helps. Cheers, Ken. 1929 / 25 1954 / 76R Irene.

Thanks Willie. Any idea on where to get those brass shims, the curved ones and flat. Were they made available extra thickness. According to the manual the blocks were available oversize to take up excessive axle end float. Secondly, the smaller spider gears seem to have a lot of up and down movement on the shaft. Is this critical. There is no mention of longer blocks available to take it up. Even with new curved shims I don't think much would be taken up. Ken. 1929 / 25 Tourer 1954 / 76R Irene

I knew Irene 1954 Roadmaster was coming Down Under with a noisy rear end. So I decided this was the first thing I had to fix. Having taken off the housing cover and then pulling out what we Aussies call the spider gears ( the 4 small ones ) I find the following ----- 1. The 2 brass curved shims are badly scored and so is the face on the ring carrier. 2. There is far too much ring / pinion backlash estimate .020 - .025 " 3. Far, far too much axle lateral movement. One axle estimate .30" + 4. The ring / pinion gears look reasonably good. No chipped or broken teeth. Some wear, but not major I wouldn't think for a 1954 car. So, some questions for you brothers please. Where is the growl coming from on acceleration then dies off on de-cceleration. Where can I get those brass shims from. Lamar threw in a spare diff centre which I'm pulling down as well. It looks the same but has a ring/pinion ratio of 47/14 ( 3.35) and the original is 41/12 ( 3.41) Any ideas on which year/model the spare is off ? Thanks. Ken ( aka Rooster) 1929 / 25 Tourer 1954 / 76R Riviera Irene.

Well hi Honey. Sure , come on around. But no fraternising. I have been told strictly by the new man ,no wild behaviour allowed. We can maybe cuddle , but that's about it ! Irene 1954 76R

Hello, Irene here. Once upon a time I was a bad girl, out on the town with my Gal Pals. When I finally got home in the wee hours of the morning my owner Mr.Earl said enough was enough. " You have been a bad girl and you need punishment ! " So he decided I had to go , Down Under to the Colonies that is. A man was interested in taking me off his hands he said to me. Oh well I thought , I'm sick of being pushed right back into the garage with all those spiders anyway so I'm up for a good time wherever. Mr. Earl got all my papers in order and said to me a truck was coming to pick me up any day now. But after nearly four weeks I thought I had got a reprieve, but alas no. Mr. Earl drove me down to the shops to meet a truck driver. He was late and both Mr.Earl and me were getting tired and grumpy. When he did get there I heard Mr.Earl talking to the truck driver who was shaking his head. Mr Earl was too. Then we drove home ? What's this I thought. Another reprieve ? Mr Earl was not happy and when the new man rang from Down Under , well he was not happy either. So I sat there in the garage painting my toe nails and combing my hair for another two weeks. Then Mr Earl runs in and says " C'mon Irene, get yourself together this time we are off and there's no turning back for you" So he drove me down to the shops again to meet another truck driver who jumps in and drives me onto his truck and ties me down. I've been tied down before, but not like this ! Mr. Earl is finally glad to see me go, but I reckon I saw a tear in his eye. Poor man I thought. Anyway I'm off and Mr. Earl follows the truck to make sure I don't fall off. I ride on that truck for a long ,long way until I see a big sign that says Long Beach California. Here the man drives me off and backs me into a big metal coffin. I'm not gonna like this I thought. I heard a man say we are off to China then Australia. Wow , I've never been to China , or Australia. So I spend the next two months cramped up in this metal coffin and boy did it get hot a lot. When the coffin finally stopped moving ,all of a sudden there was a burst of sunlight and I could see bright blue skies. A man walks in and nearly cries when he sees one of the pine poles supporting me up has snapped and fallen on to his nice E Type Jaguar. Oh well I thought, it's not my fault. Why would anybody put a Jaguar underneath me , Irene 1954 Roadmaster. I've got more pride than that! Well I thought,I can be a bit of a Jaguar myself sometimes, wink wink nudge nudge. When the nice men finally carefully get me out, I look over and see a man and a lady looking at me and smiling. I wonder if this is the man Mr Earl has told me about, I'm sure it was after he walked over and gave me a big smile. I spent some time in this big shed while men looked me all over, even getting underneath me and looking up my dress. The nerve I thought. One of them said " No " to my new man so I had to go and get all hosed down underneath. I felt invaded like I was some dirty girl. The new man then drove me home but I was still a bit sea sick and did not like it. But when we got to his house he quickly got out the shampoo and gave me a wash all over. Now he knows how to treat a girl! Right then I was happy again, he even gave me a big kiss. He also said he was going to buy me two new pairs of shoes, one for each foot. I think I'm going to like it here. Ta Ta from Irene. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

There is a thread on this website somewhere from MICHAELMIS who has had the original wool design material reproduced and has some for sale. He has a 1950 Super in original condition, maybe he can take some pictures of his interior for you. Ken. 1929 / 25 1954 / 76R

It is definately a 1930 surround with the crank hole cover at the bottom. The 1930 surround has a thinner horizontal upper " section " and the 1929 is wider. Ken.

This appears to be a 1930 series 40 roadster albeit with some contadicting parts on it. It is not a "master' series because it does not have the round bar that joins the front ends of the chassis. The chrome radiator surround is 1930. The headlights may be 1930 but they do not have the Buick badge on the cross bar, it is missing. The headlights and sidelights are not 1929, they are too round. The 1929 are more pointy. The steering wheel is incorrect for either year, it is too modern. If the pressed crease on the hood lid on the top piece starts and then fades out then it is a 1930 hood. The 1929 continues all the way through. The 4 inch square aluminium data plate on the firewall will have all the info on the year / model. Ken ( aka Rooster) 1929 / 25 tourer 1954 76R ( Iren)

Have you fellas seen the late model Pontiac GTO ? Well guess what !!! That car was designed AND built in Australia and exported LHD to USA. How's that for a coup, selling Pontiac badged cars made in Australia. Here the car is sold as a Monaro , a re-birthed model from the classic 1960s-70s Australian sports coupe. The Gen IV 6 litre engine is the same in those cars as is the EFIGY Ken ( aka Rooster) 1929 1954 76R ( Ire)