60FlatTop

In 1975, not long after I finely cut a 3/4" strip off the rear of the fender so the driver door wouldn't bind my 1965 Impala four door hardtop gave up its 396/Powerglide to a 6 cylinder Camaro swap by others. $150 would buy a lot of engine in the early '70s. My Impala was a pre-Quadrajet car and came with a Holley 4 barrel at 325 HP with the PG. I used to say that car had no need for a transmission, could have gotten by just fine without one. Great car, New York rust got it.

If I had one I would put it on Craigslist. A $10 bag of cleaning cloths from Walmart, 2 gallons of diesel fuel, and a putty knife over a cheap trap on the floor would do me just fine. All stuffed into a plastic bag for the big green truck that comes on Tuesday. I had a boss one time that would have heard the pump pounding away, seen the steam and water flying all over, and the operator dirty and wet, he would have been aroused. And if the operator got cut and had to run for a Band Aid he would have said "Now there's a worker!"

This newest 19 year old has joined my cars as a stored, summer only driver. It has an electric fuel pump manufactured into it. None of my old cars have an electric pump and under normal spring starting conditions they start in 20-30 seconds of total "crank and stop a few seconds" time. The Caddy starts instantly after sitting even if it has been a long time. I plan to own it 20 years from now. (Plan doesn't mean I will make it, but I plan). This topic has me thinking about all those zero oil pressure, dry starts. I think I will look into a way to disable the ignition so I can give it 20-30 seconds of cranking time to get my engine oil circulating through all those vital parts. Thinking about a dry engine starting without a little prelube gives me that fingernails on the blackboard shivers.

When I was around 12 years old my Dad told me I didn't need to steer a car if it wasn't moving. I have had cars with both power and manual steering. That little tip from Dad has helped me avoid the problems many experience.

Solvent and cleaning cloths are the best way to go. Steam and water will saturate everything. It puddles and leaves rust stains in the deepest places. On my cars I only use a hose on the whitewalls. I don't suds up the body or do anything to get water in the nooks and crannies. Once cleaned I wipe down non-cosmetic surfaces with WD-40 and a paper towel. Three night ago my garage was full and I had to leave my Buick outside. No sign of rain but I was sure of dew. Didn't even want that.

Lots of potential right here: 2008-2010 Chevy/Cadillac Hybrid SUV transmissions should be showing up in the dismantler bins in the $2,000 range. I can see the potential. On that battery weight, my 2005 Silverado weighs in at 4800 on the scrapyard scales. I have left the local sand pit at 7,200 gross. A thousand pound battery is a piece of cake to haul around if you find where to put it.

Often overlooked sources of research can be expired or older patents. As technology evolves many good ideas are patented prematurely. The technology or market is not there for them. Innovative ideas get lost in the pragmatism dujour. You may not use the exact idea but you could be inspired to go beyond what the accepted norms are. In the early 1990s I was granted two patents. The first was an updated adaptation of a 1950s patent. The second was a process that evolved from developing the older idea. There is a lot of good stuff out there from thinkers whom were ahead of their time in nearly any field.

A friend said some go to the beach at lunch time for the sand which is on it. Pretty sure he said that.

I did. And with half a million posts in the General section I would figure there is enough room for a Duesenberg, the Stooges, and even Snow Whites friends.

That statement may be deeper than it appears. I am an old fart that had to help get NASA's stuff out of the ocean. My antenna sprouting ship in the background. That's Apollo 8.

25 years ago I would go to my mailbox and pull out a few checks from Ebay buyers daily. Five years later PayPaL handed them directly. And things went smoothly. I rented a couple of storage units to warehouse large collections I would rescue. About a year ago I sold a not terribly expensive Cadillac Cimarron wheel center caps to a guy in Dandy Dave's neighborhood (check the car. I bet he used them). I got an enraged message that was so stupid it made me laugh. Some technicality in the way in the way I clicked option did not allow for their return. Oh, well. As a result I have not listed some parts and thrown away some that did not seem worth the bother anymore. It has not made a big difference in my life and may not seem charitable to those in need of uncommon parts. But in the end, I won't have to deal with it this year and if you see that Cimarron at a Hudson Valley car show compliment him on his stolen center cars. They will be on the car so he can point out the imperfections.

My reply was to the first couple of sentences. From the picture it looked like there would be no great loss to the Buick community I have had the frame out of my car, transported it nearly 100 miles to get it preped and painted, as well as moving it around the garage to reassemble. I never weighed it. His is is a 4200 pound car. I could get close enough for an engineering project "budget price". My intent was to raise awareness to some of the details he was dealing with. "It is a stove. It is hot.". We can enumerate the possible affects if you need. But not right now. And here are the people who know the often overlooked details.

"They're all growed up now!" Ever see a picture that you hope was staged but just get that funny feeling...

He wrote that he was a young engineer. Expecting a social exchange? He's gotta have The Knack.

My Tuesday morning coffee friend bought one of those two years ago. All the proper vintage equipment. I think the Kodachrome song is about them. It's for sale. https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/listing/1929-ford-model-a-brockport-ny-2773056

That can be hard to diagnose from a distance. I like what these old car guys call "modern cars". I have a couple and ALLDATA now has DYI subscriptions for $20 per month. 15% off spring special: https://www.alldata.com/diy-us/en Even one month for one techie job is a bargain. I did a random check a couple days ago and pluged in a 1982 Buick Riviera V8 and it was listed, quite a range of cars. My '05 Cadillac STS is $60 per year. A set of shop manuals is $500 on Ebay.

Probably making a list of all the things that could crack a bellhousing and checking them off the list would get to the root of the problem. One thought, how deep does the driveshaft yoke fit into the tailshaft when it is assembled?

It is the unobvious reasons that will bite you and sometimes not immediately. My nephew is in the same situation with a 1940 Buick Roadmaster he inherited. I am slowly writing guidelines. Hopefully I will write some on the engine this weekend. So far we have been focused on the brakes. I put a priority on them because I think he will want to move it once the engine starts. And if his first thought about brakes was yelling "Whoa!" in terror our planning might fail. I will add some of my input as it develops.

I had some seepage around the tank on my '60 Electra about 15 years ago. I took it to a radiator shop run by an old High School friend and gave him the blank check. He repaired my original one. He said he would not be able to match the quality of my old core with anything he could source. I also requested that he only use the heat transfer radiator paint on the tanks and fins. He glass beaded the brackets, primered them, and put on a finish coat of Valspar polyurethane satin black that I provided. Still working fine and still looks good. Cutting the frame for the radiator fit, interesting coincidence. I am reading a book that discusses Einstein's philosophy of "Thought Experiments". He could get into the conversation.

21st Century: https://morgan-motor.com/21st-century-coachbuilding/

Unrelated? Why, I bought a pair of front rotors for my truck a week ago and Ebay thought I "also might like" 75 more pairs of front rotors. Five items per row and down I counted 5, 10, 15, 20... A brilliant display. And they firmly told me they would hold the vendor's feet to the fire to guarantee the parts would fit.

The 1936 Chevy I pulled out of my grandmother's barn still had the upgraded nylon stocking to keep the driver's door tied shut. The wood in the doors was pretty saggy. Many cars today use a variation of nylon in their body construction. Probably got the idea from women like her. They also have easier loading of the steel milk cars on the modern crossovers. You don't have to take the rear seat out and risk it being misplaced.

You are waiting too long. I would guess that you really don't want it. Endorphins don't flow for over 20 days. And that is the only motivation I have found to get the cars I really want to keep. Pass and move on. Something better is coming.

Inspiring. On all counts. Especially to an ex-sailor.

I have been reading this and thought the 350 RPM idle was low, only a hair above cranking speed. Here is a tune up specification chart I clipped from the Team Buick site that pretty much standardizes 450. My 1960 401 is set for 450 in Drive. Where did you get your specification?