Larry Schramm

I do, usually every spring.

Here are some more schematics. The two earlier ones were wrong car.

Would any of these be close?

Those brakes look like the brakes on an old Schwinn bicycle.

Don't know if this helps, but this is the closest that I have.

PM Sent

Just a thought, you might contact Stutzman Wheel Works in Berlin, Ohio and see if they have a contact in the Amish community that can make new sockets. Noah Stutzman is quite connected in the community. If not him, then try Community Carriage in Pebbles, Ohio. Steven Stutzman also does upholstery work and may have a contact.

What is judging?

I had one as a company car in that time. It had diesel engine and a sun roof. Interesting combination that I did not order. Drove it for about 4 weeks, until it had enough miles on it to sell it.

Me too. And what makes it worse is I have two garages that I work out of.

I would check the wire from the battery to the fuse block wire and make sure that it is good and not damaged... on both ends with clean and soldered terminals. Pull on the wire to be sure that the wire is not broken inside the insulation. Do a continuity test on the wire. I had a wire that had a break in the insulation, got corrosion(+high resistance) and car would crank but not stay running. Also, I had that happen to me with a ground wire on a car. Check to be sure that all of the fuses are clean and not corroded along with the fuse holders. Also had that happen on a car once. Cleaned or replaced funky looking fuses, cleaned the fuse holder contacts with a dremmel wire brush and put some diaelectric grease on everything. No more problems. Just a couple of thoughts.

I changed the clock in our Corvette to quartz. Keeps perfect time, uses less power, and the only persons that would know that it is quartz is everyone on the forum reading this reply or watching the second hand move and know the difference between an analog clock and digital. Not a lot.

Two items that I would consider easy is to pull the seats and remove the carpeting. Power wash the carpeting with some Tide and use some mold killer on the jute backing. If the jute backing is really wet and smells buy some new. It is not that expensive and probably the best route after power washing the carpet both sides. Let both dry in the sun for several day to be really dry. Then if you want, scrub the seats if they are cloth and rinse with a hose. Let them sit outside and dry for maybe a week. Then to the inside of the van look for where the water is getting in. Fix the water leak. Windshields are a good prime suspect. If there are any wiring harness looms in the floor area, inspect for standing water/ mold. If so, remove, clean and reinstall. This is an area that many persons over look. Spray some mold killer through the A/C ducts from the outside until it comes into the vehicle. This should sanitize the heater core and the evaporator core. Try to spray under the dash. If you want to go the the extreme, put a dehumidifier in the van and run it for a few days. This should fix your mold problem.....but find the leak.

We have driven our 1913 Buick Model 31 and our 1915 Buick truck lots and lots of miles in the rain. Probably days if not weeks on tours. Two items to basically fix the rain issue is to have a windshield and top. With both of those not much rain comes into the car. Just be sure that the top of the windshield to top is secured or you can get some water over the top of the windshield. With our experience on the amount of driving in the rain with a windshield, I will not waste my money on side curtains. As for Wayne Shelton's comment on external brakes, he is dead nuts correct. If you have external band brakes, do not expect to have very much braking action if any when they get wet. Just expect to be using the park brake for stopping. After a short while it becomes second nature in the rain. The one time we will not drive in the rain is if we are touring is in very hilly or mountainous conditions. With rear brakes only on our cars and truck and about 6 square inches of friction surface of tire to road x 2 rear tires, not a lot of stopping capabilities. I once slid through an intersection coming down a steep grade and said never again in the hills and mountain areas. Ideally, don't be afraid and go out and enjoy the car as they were driven "in the day"

Robin, I too have a '13 Model 31. I am in the Detroit area. What are you looking for in the VIN number? I can send you the 1913 page of VIN numbers. I have a copy of the original factory records from '04 to 1929. I used to work for Buick. It will be a few days until I can get to the page with the information.

Same for me.

Not the correct caps

What ever color it was, it was ugly. Not this one. I believe that it was painted that color with white vinyl upholstery in the 60's.

I too was told years ago by an oil company executive, maybe 40 years ago that lubricant plants in the petroleum industry were so expensive that different manufacturers kind of share production capabilities at a particular plant. Just changed the additive package and the can to run the next companies oil products.

You should have seen the colors of my 1912 Model T when I bought it. Off white body, black fenders and white vinyl upholstery.

I would argue that one of the reasons the "younger generation" is not buying older cars is because of the cost of living, starting out in life, buying houses, kids, etc..... Buying an old vehicle is truly a luxury and not a necessity at that age. I have my younger daughter and her husband along with our son involved in touring because they are able to use one of our old cars." I am quite sure that they will carry on the touring and car hobby long after I am gone because we have them involved with us now, driving them themselves and enjoying the drive and friendship with other like minded persons. My son started driving our 1915 Buick truck at 16 years old. I was just like them at that age. I did not purchase my first "antique" car until I was in my 50's. When all of the offspring moved out and on to the next stage in their lives, I could not believe all of the "extra money" that I then had. Life was and is good.

In my years as a service rep for GM, I saw a lot of these types of mismatches. Hub cap wheels on one side, chrome on the other. different badging side to side and like a Buick grill on the front and Pontiac identification on the back. Chevrolet grills on the front and GMC tail gates. You name it, I probably saw it. It was definitely an interesting time in the domestic car business.

Could be considered a notification that you need more truck that you currently have to tow the vehicle you have.

I just bought my fourth full size Silverado with 4WD, two 1/2 ton and two 3/4 ton units. I have rarely put them in 4WD, but on the occasional time I have needed it, it is indispensable. Most of the time is going on a tour and needing to park on the grass. When not towing I have used it in winter here in Michigan when the snow is heavy, but maybe only a couple of times a season. I started towing with a 1/2 ton and finally moved to a 3/4 ton diesel a few years ago and will never go back to a 1/2 ton for towing except in a pinch. As has been said before on this forum, buy more truck than you think you will ever need because you will eventually need it. PS: my 1/2 ton GMC Denali crew cab is my everyday work truck/ grocery getter.

In high school I drove a '63 Buick Skylark with the small aluminum V8 and it usually got about 15 +- MPG. I then got a '68 Opel Kadet with the 1.9 4 cylinder and it usually got about 20MPG. Our '76 Corvette which we have had for 46 years averages about 15+- MPG with the L48 engine. On the old Buicks, '13 car and '15 truck about 11-15 MPG is the norm depending on flat land touring or in the mountains.