60FlatTop

Jack the car up so the wheels are off the ground. Then put it in gear with no load on the bearings. One wheel will spin. Check it and then hold it safely to shift power to the other side. Any issue with the wheel bearings will be very pronounced when spinning unloaded. Bernie

Buicks, Caddies, ans Oldsmobiles from the mid '50's are bad like that. If I still had my '56 Olds I would copy this: Bernie

I turned on the water out to the garage today for the first time in about a year and a half, washed the new tires and thought I'd show off a little: Bernie

Check the vacuum advance; 1. make sure it holds vacuum 2. Watch the action of the breaker plate. The plate should move freely when applied and when released. Bernie

That loose connection could suck in cooler air and keep the choke from opening fully. Bernie

I have a friend who got his Cord from his Dad about 1958 and I have a dash plaque from a 1961 ACD show. That's in the 20-25 year range of production ending. I bet that building never deteriorated a lot. I think a charity collector ca auction was held there in 1971. Auburn is a pretty upscale little town. I bet a lot of preservation effort, luckily, has replaced the usual restoration. I live in Western New York and I have stayed at the Auburn Inn five times specifically to visit the museum. Not bad for a guy a couple of states away. The showroom is great. Last time I was there I took a picture of the L-29 Limo while a volunteer was dusting it. He ducked out of the way and we ended up talking for half an hour about that car. I like the cross section of condition of the cars upstairs. It reminds me of a museum we had in Bridgeport, New York. The New York one had chicken wire barriers along walk ways. Cars were stuffed in. A couple of restorations and some that just looked like back row specials from an early '50's car lot. ACD captures some of that flavor. My perennial favorite is the 1966 Duesenberg revival car. It inspired me to change my Riviera to maroon. Check out those front fender lines. Its not all from Italy.

Started working at 7:30 this morning, had a meeting in a town 8 miles away at 10 AM. I drove along the Canal on the way and saw a big snapping turtle crossing the road. I was afraid to drive back the same way and see him squashed- He made it! Then a meeting in my office at 1 PM; went to 4. Took a 2 mile walk and I can smell supper cooking. And I just realized why I work. I need a rare car: Buick : Other Check description in Buick | eBay Motors Check the feedback. They sell human hair too. Bernie

I visited the ACD Museum for the first time in 1978. I have to say it is probably my favorite place in the world, been back a lot of times and wore out three t shirts. Looks like the same cars caught your eye. Going on a non-event week day is the best. Judging from the response of the forum most might sleep in the car if it wasn't the national meet. Bernie

Found it; See the route the heated air takes from the stove to the choke housing and then through the port to the manifold vacuum:

There is no vacuum tube as such, just a fresh air suction to a small port inside the choke housing. The tube is 1/4" or so and runs from the bakelite element on the carb to the exhaust manifold stove: It takes a route similar to this famous '58 car: I had a '56 Olds with a 4GC that I put an electric element on. I just replaced the exhaust heated element with a junkyard '74ish Chevy one and wired it to the primary side of the coil. No more stumbles. I used to tell people I could park the car across the street from a bank and rob it the next morning with a cold engine; still making my getaway. You know, it takes a special crowd to have a slack jawed look of awe at a statement like that. Or think it up for that matter. Bernie

When GM went to electric chokes in the 1970's they used a 3 minute and a 5 minute opening time on the bi-metal coils. It didn't make a lot of difference since the action was linear. That system used a electric resistance heater to warm the spring. On your car there is a small vacuum port in the carburetor that draws air through a tube in the exhaust manifold that acts as a heat exchanger. The exhaust warmed air heats the bi-metal spring just like the electric heater. For the choke to work properly the tubing needs to be connected and the vacuum port needs to be open. The heat riser restricts exhaust flow and diverts it through the intake manifold passages warming the manifold and base of the carburetor as well as warming that heat exchanger quicker. If you start the car and let it idle for 3 to 5 minutes you should be able to give it just a bit of gentle throttle and set the choke open and the fast idle cam drop. Ta-Da, ready to go. I haven't serviced any collector cars other than my own for about ten years when I made a guy with a '50 Super real happy. Maybe I should start doing it again. About 5000 bucks plus transportation from Chattanooga would put this case to rest in short order. Bernie

I think the real moral is to change the damned things before you end up in the canal or someone's grille, you might never make it to your 80's. If not for your own sake, think about the people in the oncoming car. Same thing goes for brakes. I know there are some who have adapted to poor brake systems. When was the last time you tested them as if your kid ran out in front of you? I used to do quick quotes for brake jobs; "'bout the same cost as two bumpers, yours and his."- full job averages 400 bucks per wheel, but bumpers were cheaper in the mid-'90's. Bernie

It has been getting harder to find white wall tires in common sizes for close to ten years now. Coker has the tires for the show car. Summit Racing sells them at a slightly lower cost and ships free. I saved close to $200 on my last set of 8.20 X 15's; two tanks of gas to hepl me wear them out. Cooper Tires had whites for my '94 Roadmaster. The ones on the convertible were the only set in town. I'm not into black walls for the type of car I drive. When its an upscale car the blackwall tires tend to denigrate the whole presence. My Impala has black wall Nito Envo 255 50 X17's. It's a cop car with leather seats and fancy wheels. Whitewalls would screw that up for sure. I need four 7.10 X 15's for the Riviera, maybe for next season. They will be the same narrow whites I got last time. After that I will be good for tires into my 80's. It sure is great to only think about keeping the cars another 30-35 years. Young guys are gonna have some problems owning what they want. Tires will be the least of it. Bernie

I know where Crayville is. If I hadn't stayed in the Red Ranch Motel near Catskill, NY for three nights I wouldn't believe what you wrote. Since I have the pictures I might as well list the wire on the Catskill Craigslist. Bernie

A few years ago I bought a book by Heather Robertson, Driving Force, The McLaughlin Family and the Age of the Car. It is one of the best car books I ever read. It goes back to the first McLaughlin coming over from Ireland. Can you imagine an O'Daly reading that! , but they cleared it up. I added it to the list of Buick books in my Amazon store in case anyone is interested. The link is in my signature. Bernie

A snap in the rear of the engine, huh. Since it is a holiday weekend and there is time to do little extra "dumb" things, I would take just a little dab of lube; light grease, cam lube, something like that and put it on the distributor cam. Those points could be banging closed and making a hell of a racket. Only happened to me once, but you never know. Bernie

You can put a radiator pressure tester on the car and pump it up to 18 PSIG or so. See if it holds. Try it cold and warm (not hot). That used to be one of my first tests when a car came in for the first time. One Caddy with a fresh rebuilt engine came and I could hear the water running into the left front cylinder because of a stripped head bolt. Its so hard not to write something about those mechanics looking up at the rain with their mouths open, but I won't. Bernie

[ Small town America is saying "Thanks" Bernie

Jim, Sounds like a lot of trouble. Please send me the current owner's contact information ASAP. Bernie

That's not bad and interesting, too. Bernie

I have noticed that sometimes diagnostics can be elusive to collector status Buick owners. Seems like I can usually relate an experience and even poke around the garage and find evidence. When I was growing up my Dad would sometimes point out the wrong things my Grandfather (his stepfather) did as a learning opportunity for me. I'm reminded of that from time to time. I was looking for an old fuel hose that gave an owner fits and came across this little treasure: That wire was on a vintage SCCA race car that I rewired years ago. It went from the fuel pump switch to the electric fuel pump. It is about 18" long and had 6 splices of various types. The car was a 1958 so the Korean War was over and copper was back in substantial supply. I made an innovative "one piece" replacement. Look for this kind of stuff BEFORE your car has problems on the road. If it doesn't look right it probably isn't. Take a picture and put it up to question. Bernie

Bids means an auction doesn't it? I'll go a $50 bill on that old hog. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y2UTjWU4VoM Bernie "Never sold a thing I didn't know the price of."

Actually, I decided to put a rush on the new tires last Saturday. My wife and I took the car to the little village 5 miles away and she drove. We have to cross a fairly new bridge over the Erie Canal about half way there. She was driving when we came back and as we crossed the bridge I was noticing how bad the tires were. I wondered what she would do if one blew out and if we'd end up in the canal or in the oncoming lane. Monday I ordered the tires and got them mounted Thursday. One less risk in life. Bernie

The more you drive the less they leak. The Dynaflows have some genuine rubber seals that need to stay wet with fluid. A 50 year old car that has not been in regular usage probably sat for a long time at some point. If the seal didn't dry out completely and crack it might come back with regular use. The TH's have genuine neoprene. They can leak too. I have both and they perform fine. I have been driving since I was 16 and most of that driving time has been in high gear so one gear, three, four, or whatever hasn't made a big difference in the overall experience. If I was buying a car and saw signs of a drip or leak I would walk on a rebuilt transmission that leaked and consider an un-repaired original. If someone else tried to fix it and didn't do it right I wouldn't be interested in exploring what else they dud wrong. Bernie

I am looking for 4 15X6 1960 ish Rambler wheels. PM me. Thanks, Bernie