jeff

Thanks for the responses! Joe, I assume the mark is in the center of the window, right? Old guy, thanks for the insight, that piece sounds like it was easy for the mechanic to loose. West, great and timely feedback, as usual. I will be sure to check the rpms when I do this. It turns out that there is a great graph in the shop manual that shows the advance curves of the mechanical and vacuum advance systems, with respect to rpm. The mechanical advance effect begins right at 400 rpm. So, based on your insight (which is right in line with the book!) I will keep the rpms below 400. Jeff

I have a pretty quick and simple question. On the flywheel housing of the 248 cu in engine there is an opening or window to see the timing marks on the flywheel. Is there supposed to be a cover for that window, or some other type of insert that would indicate what to line up the timing mark to? My engine does not have any cover over this window, nor does it have a mark to use when timing. I have assumed the flywheel mark should line up with the center of the window, but I would like to know if this is correct. Can someone describe this feature, or, take a quick picture? Thanks, Jeff

Steve, That cover is the best yet. I think the fade works well because of the front cover / back cover setup. If you were to frame this image, go with the version without fade. Personal opinion. Excellent magazine, keeps getting better. Jeff

Wow, first I've heard of that! My '38 Special (two door sedan) was rough, but I don't remember seeing any provision for mounting a rear shade. Did I cover something up when I installed my headliner? Did the shade mount below the window, or above? Can anyone post a picture? Hard to imagine driving with one of these in place - I guess you would use it to block the afternoon sun on a long east-bound drive?? With no side mirror (I added one), that would really limit visibility. Much less traffic back then, I guess. Jeff

Love the car - great styling. I would like it without the modifications, but that's just my opinion. They appear to be well done. Just a comment on the earlier drum brakes, based on my experience with GM cars (Bendix duo-servo) - may apply here also. These brakes had a minor and major adjustment proceedure. The major adjustment procedure includes a method to position the anchor pin and an eccentric for the primary shoe. The effect of this is to center the diameter of the shoes with the diameter of the drum. It's critical to follow this procedure carefully to maximize the contact area of the shoes to drum. Often, the effectiveness of these brakes were pretty good, when set up correctly. Again, can't really speak to the Ford brakes (Lockheed??).

Take a look at the recent discussion on the pre-war forum. One of the guys just did this seal replacement, when he opened it up he found the spring broken - called the parts supplier who advised that the newer seals don't really need the spring. His seems to be working fine without it. Jeff

Good job! These successes make the driving a lot more enjoyable. Plus, you'll know your car inside and out. Did you have to mess around with the shimming instructions to get the right pre-load, or were you able to reassemble pretty much "as-is"? Regarding the spring, I think they are available from either Bob's or CARS, so if the leak re-appears, you can just slip in a new spring. I would agree - it should work ok without the spring. You can see how removing the springs entirely would make the axle removal easy. Next time you are under the car, try hitting the upper bolts with some penetrating oil - use PB Blaster with the nozzle extension tube and go through one of the frame holes to try to get some oil up there. It may pay dividends in the future. Jeff

I have just done this job for the third time! (ok, so I'm a slow learner) You can do it. First, raise up the rear of the car, and support it by the frame, just ahead of the rear axle. Get the car up pretty high, and make sure you use good, stable jack stands. Next, you'll need to disconnect the shocks, and the lateral link from the axle. The book says to remove the link at the body side, but these bolts wouldn't budge, so for three times now I have done it at the axle. Now, disconnect the springs at the bottom - left hand thread. (had to learn this myself!!) PB blaster everything one week ahead of time. If you can also disconnect the springs at the top, you will be a very happy camper - if not, you are still ok. Disconnect the park brake cable and the hydraulic brake line. Slide the park brake cable tube off so it doesn't get damaged. Remove the four bolts at the torque tube, and roll the axle back. The springs will begin to seriously interfere at 3 or 4 inches back, and you need to go about 6 inches. The book recommends you tie the springs to the rear bumper. I like taking them off entirely. The higher the car is at this point, the better off you are. To take the axle out completely, I found that taking the wheels off gives me more freedom to get the right angle. If you are just going back the six inches, you may want to leave the wheels on and let them support the axle. You will want a good floor jack to help move the axle - for the initial movement and the final re-insertion, you need to have the right angle for the spline to move freely. Now you can disassemble the torque ball - its an outer sleeve with a seal, and an inner sleeve with a gasket between it and the housing of the transmission. Clean all of this up, then reassemble without the new seal. Use trial and error to determine the correct number of paper gasket shims to put between the inner and outer sleeves. The correct amount should allow up and down movement, but no fore and aft "pumping". Then, reassemble with the new seal in place. (I can scan and e-mail this procedure to you.) Slide the torque tube back, using your full vocabulary to realign the splines (actually not difficult, but you may need to play with the angle by raising the differential a bit). Remember this - the Buick frames are in nice shape today because of the continual leak from that torque ball. An occasional drip is typical, a puddle is too much.

Has anyone purchased or fabricated the pads that isolate the top of the rear coil springs from the frame? I have some 80 durometer, 1/2 rubber that looks like it will do the job. Any thoughts?

Have you tried electrical contact cleaner yet? Tag all of the wires, pull the switch, and flush it out - CRC seems to be a good brand.

My best results were when I finally took the radiator to a shop and had it flushed and leak checked. The guy ended up repairing a couple of small leaks. No need to core it, just find an old fashioned guy who can do the flush and repair. While the radiator is out, pull the water pump and thermostat housing. With a garden hose, flush the block out using the ports uncovered when the pump came off. Better yet if you pop out the freeze plugs - gives the junk a good place to flow out. Also, remove the brass drain fitting on the side of the block, just ahead of the starter. Even better is if you can solder or braize a brass fitting on to the end of a female garden hose fitting that will allow you to attach about three feet of 1/4 inch copper refrigeration tubing. This can be bent in any shape to get into all the nooks and crannies of the block. Plus, the velocity will be pretty substantial. Rebuild the pump, replace the thermostat and all the hoses and you are good to go. Or, just flush the system as is, and see what happens! You may be OK, particularly if the car hadn't gotten too bad over its life. Jeff

I'd like to find a solution for my '38. Best fix, find a ring and pinion for a 60 series. Good luck, they are pretty scarce. Second best, find an entire rear - some guys on the forum made some recommendations for post war axles recently, but I think they implied that the post war choices only would retrofit to a '40 or later. Maybe someone can clarify.

Is anyone out there still running with the original style Delco Remy choke assembly? (this is the assembly that rests on the exhaust manifold and operates the choke via a cable) I have one almost refurbished and functional, but it looks like one tiny item may be missing - I think I need a link from the little spring actuated lever to the dashpot shaft. If you do have one and haven't opened it up - I highly recommend it. Its a thing of beauty! Never thought so much complexity could be packaged in such a small unit - then be replaced by the simple coiled spring package (mounts right on the choke shaft) just a few years later! So, if anyone out there has worked their way through this beauty, I would appreciate some feedback.

Careful! First check to see which pump your engine has. My '38 Special has a later model replacement pump, no doubt put on in the 40's or 50's. I suspect many other '38s out there are also running with later service pumps. The difference is easy to find. The orignal pumps have an oil fitting on the top of the housing, to periodically add oil to a wick that feeds the bearings. The newer ones have no such access, as they have the more modern sealed double bearings inside. The rebuild kits for '38 pumps will not service the newer water pumps - if you have a newer pump you will need a kit for a '50's vintage pump. The best thing to do if you have a newer one is to tear it down and get some dimensions from the shaft. There are only so many sizes out there.

For my '38 I found torque specs in a Motor's manual (mine goes back to '35). But, I also found plenty of statements like "tight with a 10 inch wrench", etc. In other words, sometimes they defined the wrench (moment arm) and not the torque! Good luck!

Peterson, you're on to something here. While the rest of my good friends are researching and measuring, I knew I could count on you for a solution that even our wives will appreciate. In fact, I am so impressed with your advice, that I will bring one of my air cleaners over yet this afternoon! I will place it on your dining room table. Check it out when you get home. Don't worry, to further protect your table, I will run it through your dishwasher first.

I need some quick help with my growing collection of air cleaners for my '38 Special. Here's my problem - I currently run with a Stromberg AAV 167 and a Burgess brand air cleaner. Its small, and had to be modified at the bottom to fit the diameter of the carb. I suspect it may be a bit restrictive as well. Plus, you can't take the element out to clean it. So, I have been looking for the right air cleaner. I bought a correct-looking one last year - too tall and doesn't clear the choke housing. I got a correct AC air cleaner this week, complete with the right decal, off of a '38 Buick with Stromberg 167. It is still too tall! Can some of you '38 Buick guys advise on carb spacing (my spacer is 1/2 inch),and/or AAV1 vs AAV16 vs AAV167 carb heights and air cleaner compatibility? PS. I am pretty sure the AAV167 is the legitimate replacement for the Marvel carb. Jeff

May not require a photo - I am referring to one of the three switches mounted under the dash (the bottom lip of the dash panel) pointing straight down, to the left of the steering wheel (LHD car). Two switches are rheostats, to control the speed of the heater and defroster motors, and the third switch is a three position slide switch - to the left is dash lights, center is off, and right is the map light. Again, we are comparing the bottom of the line to the top of the line, could be many differences between the two.

In your master cylinder there is a check valve that is supposed to trap something like 6 or 8 psi in the brake lines. This is intended to minimize excess pedal travel. Could this be sticking or restrictive, and only slowly letting the pressure drop off? Jeff

My lowly 40 series has a dome light, which is controlled by a switch in the B-pillar, and up front, there is a map light, controlled by the same switch that turns on the instrument panel lights. Slide the switch one way for panel lights and the other way for the map light. Don't know if this applies to yours or not. Jeff

If you are sure that the air cleaner fits over a 167, (needs to clear the choke housing and still let the hood close - unlike the one I bought at Hershey!) I would be interested. How about a banjo steering wheel, needs a new plastic rim. I can show you what I did with mine to build up a temporary rim, very serviceable, until you sink the bucks into new plastic. If you want to swap, let me know - I put my e-mail on the private message board.

Anyone know the difference between the AAV16 and AAV167? I have seen both numbers used. My guess is that the 16 was offered to dealers as a factory replacement for Marvel, and the 167 replaced the 16 a few years later, due to a minor change. Could also be an early production / later production type of thing, as they made mid-year corrections. Here's a link showing the 167 as a Marvel replacement. http://www.buicks.net/shop/reference/carburetor_numbers.shtml

Were you also interested in getting rid of the air cleaner? Post a picture if you get a chance - I would like to compare it to my own, to see if I should be looking for the right one. I have mentioned before that I am looking for more high speed performance, I have often wondered if my air cleaner is restricting flow.

The Stromberg AAV167 is the replacement for the Marvel-Shebler carb. Apparently the Marvel Sheblers were awful. Got that info from the guy who helped with my car. He was a mechanic at a Dayton Buick dealership in the 30's - serviced Buick-built B24 engines in the war. He knew his stuff. So, keep the Marvel as a novelty, maybe put it on the car some day, but don't expect much. Does your air cleaner fit over a Stromberg 167? It needs to clear the choke housing. I am looking for a more correct air filter - my car has the Stromberg, but not sure if the air filter is correct.

Regarding the quick test to see if your radiator flow is OK. This is exactly what the guy at the old radiator shop said when I quizzed him about my '38 Special radiator! I specifically asked him about the results of his work, because I wanted to know if I found the root cause of my hot running. He said something very vague, so I asked how he knew the flow was OK now. He said, "fill 'er up, then stand 'er on end and see how far the water shoots out!" By the way, mine was hot (like 205 - 210) when I ran last summer at 50 mph on an 85 F day. I had previously cleaned the block with the freeze plugs out, and flushed the radiator myself. I think the shop had more success with the "boiling" approach, seems better now. Keep checking local shops to find one that can still do this. Are you really able to run 60 mph comfortably? Everything I read says I should be able to do so, but mine seems really strained at that speed. I once took it to 65, that was about flat out. Believe me, I backed off quickly. Mine runs so well at 35 - 45, that I can't believe I am too far off with timing, carb settings, etc. Jeff