60FlatTop

It's easy to get the driveshaft out as long as you don't break the carrier bolts. Just remove the bolts from the carrier and the flange. Mark the flange so it goes back the same. Reach up in front and hold the back of the shaft up. It snakes right out. Then you can inspect the rubber carrier, carrier bearing, and grease the spline real good. You can separate the halves easily and do a nice job even if you have it jacked up and sitting on jackstands. There are 5 u-joints in that sucker. Once a year is a fine routine. You can do it when you flush the brake fluid. Bernie

Here are two of the 8.20 x 15 Firestones I put on my "60 in 2011. They are Cokers and I bought them from Summit Racing to save about $160 on the set. You can still get them. Bernie

Wasn't there a movie where Jimmy Stewart went back in time as a Firestone engineer and changed one little thing about tire design? Then when he returned to his own time all the cars wouldn't steer correctly, stuff rubbed, hub caps fell off, king pins wore out, and all kinds of stuff sounded funny. I think in the end the back bumper fell off. A set of 7.60 X 15's will do the job nicely and last about 10 years per set. Bernie Psst. An under-inflated radial might pull off that narrow bead at an inopportune time.

I have been selling cars since I was 13. Somewhere along the line one important quote stuck and sums it all up; "The eternal search for the uninformed buyer". Don't advertise to a focus group for the car. They all have one. Target your listing to an audience with discretionary money, a general interest in "scoring" a real deal to show their friends. The New York Times comes to mind. Sell the sizzle and put just a touch of ignorance into your ad so they think they are taking advance of you. Its a Buick made in Italy to compete with a hand crafted Cadillac. Sell a Ferrari and call it a Buick. There are lots of intellectuals in the eastern Rocky Mountain foothills. Good places to pitch a sale there; LA maybe. Avoid logic and quote original sales literature. I sold a V12 Jaguar coupe a few years ago and barely mentioned the condition of the car. I focused on experience of ownership. The guy who bought it was a dealer. He wrote back and told me after reading the ad he had to have the car. I sell cars using the illogical thought process I use to buy them. It works pretty good. Bernie

Crocodile Dundee looked at the 2.0 turbocharged Vauxhall and said "Victor! That's not a performance 4 door sedan." Here's what you do with them: Bernie

Here it is. I'm pretty sure Buick and Cadillac are re-badging Vauxhalls when their creative juices are flowing. If there's a line you can have my place. Bernie

Pick up a clean last generation Riviera. Toss the 3.8 and subframe. Put in a late '90's Camaro subfrane and convert to RWD. Use a Jag XJ6 rear end and snuggle a '70 or '71 455 under the hood. I'm toying with the idea myself. You could always take the easy way out and stuff a FWD Impala SS assembly under a Riviera or an Eldorado. The 5.3 is nice in those cars. Bernie Lasse, maybe I should make two; one for export?

Just teasing about the hat. But I actually wear a hat when I drive my convertible just for the drivers behind me. Here is a pretty good example of what white walls and tire aspect ratio can do: [ATTACH=CONFIG]206649[/ATTACH]

Just teasing about the hat. But I actually wear a hat when I drive my convertible just for the drivers behind me. Here is a pretty good example of what white walls can do:

I do engineering consulting and would like to try collector car consulting. Hold out for a better car that is currently licensed and being driven. It will cost lots less in the long run. All interested parties please send me the $400 consulting fee. Send a private message for my address. Bernie

I had a nice coppery colored '66 Toronado maybe in the early '90's. I liked the car a lot. There were a lot of styling ques from the Cord on that car. A friend of mine had a '36 Cord when the New Toro came out. Phil Lanzatella got him to park it on the showroom floor with the Olds for the introduction. "66 is the cleanest stle, straight grill bars, Cord style wheels. "67 lost the style with the egg crate grills front and rear. '58 got a face bar grille and things just got worse, fatter and uglier. I'd buy another '66. I wouldn't consider any of the others from '67 to '72. Good car. This could be my old car: Oldsmobile : Toronado coupe | eBay Bernie

I was taught to mistrust by people I gave money to. That was years ago and related to old cars. I'm older now and learning to mistrust other people. Avoid logical decisions. Those acts usually have expectations attached. That's where they get you. Illogical choices, minimal expectations, and learning the dance. I hope you see the logic in that. Bernie

Trim rings are available in body shop supply houses. My preference is the chrome plated ones. Chrome has a much more colorful shine than stainless. In the mid 1980's I had a black 4 speed '74 Nova with red buckets. I got a set of Pontiac styled steel wheels, 14's in front 15's in the rear. I painted them gloss black, covered the Pontiac center cap with a Chevy emblem, and put chrome trim rings all around. I made black headlight covers and did some judicious blackout of the chrome. I remember a couple of kids screeching their bikes to a stop so they could get both thumbs up. Bernie

I bet a guy from Craryville would know where this place is. I had a great steak dinner but was too full to bowl with the girls or the mayoral candidates next door: Bernie

Spending money on cigarettes when they could have had a: 1960 Buick Electra (owned 11 years) 1964 Buick Riviera (owned 35 years) 1986 Buick Park Avenue Convert. 1994 Impala SS 1914 BUICK B-37 TOURING 1930 PACKARD 733 7-PASSENGER TOURING 1934 BUICK 34-57 SIDEMOUNTED SEDAN 1937 BUICK 80C ROADMASTER PHAETON (CONV. SEDAN) 1941 CADILLAC CONVERTIBLE COUPE 1954 CADILLAC CONVERTIBLE COUPE 1970 CADILLAC CONVERTIBLE COUPE 1994 CADILLAC FLEETWOOD BROUGHAM 1995 CADILLAC FLEETWOOD BROUGHAM 1986 CHEVY SUBURBAN 2500 454ci/400 1988 BMW 528e 1954 U-HAUL 4x6 OPEN TRAILER 1941 Buick Limited custom sedan 1946 Buick Roadmaster sedan 1940's Whizzer motor bike 1957 German/France motor scooter 1940 Rexner tether car 1950's 67" long IO motor boat, 3 H.P. Clinton engine, childs two passenger. 1946 25" scale model of the Detroit parade float that introduced the 1946 Buick. Made by me. 1963 John Snowberger 24" long hand formed/built Indy car. #98 P.Jones winner 27" model of rendering made in 1941. The vision of a future car hauler. Made by me. Where? Just where do, smoker's priorities come from? Bernie

The interior looks great- as well as the rest. Is it from Clark's? And did you use new rear seat foam? Bernie

Pricey? If it was a Ford or Plymouth ash tray. This is the Buick forum. Premium is always a little extra. Bernie

The mayor of New York wouldn't have a clue about how to find my village or that sugar. Here's a picture of Toronto from a little village where I like to have lunch: Bernie

Wolfgang, I like your car in red. If I bought it from you I would get a set of 7.60 or 8.00 X 15 wide whites on it and stock wheelcovers. Actually I think it would look better than the tutone one. I think the original tires would have an 83 or 85 aspect ratio. That would raise the car about 2 inches all the way around and give it a killer stance. I enlarged the picture and your rocker panel molding looks like a nice buffing would make it real nice. I would probably vinyl dye the convertible top boot black just to break up all the red or maybe make a second one with tan canvas material. Then people at the shows would be saying your car has something special about it and they just can't put their finger on it. Nice car, makes me feel bad I didn't buy more when I was in my 20's. Bernie Oh, and make that guy in the passenger seat wear a hat. He has a haircut like mine.

Well, these small towns always seem to have a little hang out for the locals. And you never know what will be out in the parking lot: Only a man can take the time to hang around the diner: Bernie

'48 and '48 convertibles are real favorites of mine. I like that car. And the shop. I just showed my son the picture of your tools and asked him what I would not like. He said he wasn't sure, but he knew it had to do with the Cresent wrenches. Just to let you know I was paying attention here's a tip. Hang the tools so you have to reach farthest for the adjustable wrenches and keep the sockets and end end wrenches at your fingertips. Great car, Bernie

Here is a website with original brochure pictures. Car Brochures - 1952 Buick Brochure / 1952 Buick Super.jpg It looks like the only Tutone cars are at the roof, no C-sections. If that was available I bet they would have promoted it. Our village Buick dealership is a carpet store now and the whole time I was reading the posts I thought about the body shop attached to the back. I'll bet you a 1952 salesman's cigar that if you wanted a red and white Super convertible you would get one. Bernie

I have been considering reopening a collector car service shop. The rate would probably be in the $250 per hour range. That is not bad when one considers the rate would be for a very high percentage of productive time. Many shops out there are charging to learn. Many are not capable of evaluating the condition of components. They think wholesale replacement or rebuilt replacements will make everything better again. It doesn't. Some shops stay away from collector car work because they have to satisfy the owner PLUS all his picky friends, anyone who informally judges the car on the street, and, potentially, a bunch of forum readers, contributors, and critics. That is a scary list of critique-rs. Then there is the assumed cradle to grave unlimited warranty of any of any component attached within 25 feet of the part serviced. Throw that in with not really knowing what you are doing. In this case there are rusty parts internal to the transmission that are in question. Risk management policy says "Don't reuse them." I understand that. I also know of a disassembled Bentley engine that spent way too many years stored in a chicken coop. There's a corrosive acid environment and you don't just toss Bentley parts an buy new. That engine performs flawlessly today. A lot of neglected Dynaflows have had their innards cleaned by a "driving" flush. Old cars just ain't easy. They are not an end goal to be project managed. They are a work in progress, WIP (sometimes with an "H") Live it, learn it, and love it. I was going to write that starting with farm it out, but three terms starting with "F" got me laughing and I knew the Boss wouldn't like it. On this car, back off and be patient. The right string of events will come along and there will be a net positive outcome as long as you don't push it. Bernie

"Gentlemen, Start your engines!" and drive around the block...frequently. Bernie

The pictures are visible. Is this a car you are interested in buying? Your post is written "What would you pay for it?" Does that mean, What should Rogerr pay for it? You understand the purchase price is just the beginning. Bernie