37_Roadmaster_C

There are people/businesses that repair the old mechanical temperature gauges. I have no names or recommendations, but a Google search for "mechanical temperature gauge repair" should find answers. There are probably some in the UK also.

Assuming (no flames please) the 40 is like the 37 the dampening is in the sender. There is a cork friction washer in the mechanical float assembly that dampens the float movement. It has most likely failed and crumbled from age. It can be repaired, but it takes work. @Bloohas done it on my 37 Buick and his 36 Pontiac. Hopefully he will jump in here and add his advise.

This is a REAL and PRACTICAL use for 3D printing. GREAT work Gary!! I am just starting with 3D printing and enjoy seeing things like this. I hope to see more.

The way these temp gauges work is by actually showing the PRESSURE of the Ether vapor at a temperature. The gauge scale is calibrated to the expected pressure. If your repair failed completely there are only a few possibilities. First is that there is still a leak in the system (tubing or gauge head). The other possibility is that the liquid Ether boiled out before you were able to complete the repair. I doubt this as the boiling point of Ether is about 95F and you kept the bulb in the freezer. If you want, one test you could make is on the gauge head. DO THIS CAREFULLY!!! Apply a known low pressure to the gauge head. Compressed air will work just fine. Do not use water of other fluids. Start with VERY low pressure. Watch the gauge for movement. Be careful not to force the gauge to read over the high pegged point, it can damage the gauge permanently. Now what you are looking for is 1: the pressure the gauge reads Hot. Ether will have a pressure of approximately 87 PSI at 212 F., so at 87 PSI (more research required) the gauge will read boiling water hot. If this is not the case either the gauge has a problem or the bulb fluid was not Ether. The next thing you are checking for is a leak in the gauge/tubing. If you get a gauge reading, next SECURELY pinch off the pressure source. Watch the gauge. If it drops off there is a leak. There should be NO leaks at all. Any leak must be found and repaired before further repairs/charging can be done. This is just the basics so you and others have a good starting point. Good Luck! EDIT: I have reason to question the pressure and temperature figures I used. The principal is correct, but the numbers may be wrong. Do some research to find the right numbers. I am now thinking that Ether pressure at 212 deg F. may be in excess of 400 PSI. This would still be workable, but it would make it hard for the average shop to test the gauge head.

@EconoJoe, what was the specific "unsatisfactory" result of your repair attempt? The reason I ask is that there may be different fluids used in mechanical temperature gauges. If the result of your repair was a reading WAY out of spec, it may still be possible to repair your gauge by determining the proper fluid. I won't go into the method right now, but if needed I can give the direction I would go. Another possibility would be to find a shop that repairs these gauges professionally. I know they are out there, but I do not have a name. Someone else here on the forum may know of a shop. A working original gauge is always better looking than an add on. IMHO...

Another option would be to get a year proper spotlight and have the mount machined to fit or a new mount made to fit using the wrong mount for the basic template. As you have probably noticed, the mount fits on the outside of the "A" post, fits the contour of the post and aligns the shaft hole through the post both level and at the proper angle to clear the windshield and stay centered in the post. The way the spotlights are installed on new cars is very simple. The bracket is placed where the light clears and looks good. The screw holes are marked and then center punched and drilled for the mounting screws. The mount is then screwed in place WITHOUT the gasket and O-Ring seals. There is then a drill bushing that is the size of the outer shaft diameter and with an inside diameter of the required post hole size. This bushing is mounted in the bracket and is used to guide the drill bit as the hole is drilled through the "A" post. Once done the mounting bracket is removed and the bushing is removed. The hole is deburred and then everything is reinstalled with gaskets and seals as needed. The handle is installed and power is connected. Job done. Start to finish 30-45 minutes once you have done a couple 😀. I am sure you can find a spot and make the bracket or make one work.

Depending on what is bad about yours and exactly HOW bad is bad a good welding shop CAN fix yours. My 37 Roadmaster tank turned out to have more pinholes than a birdshot target. We have a local welding shop that is family owned on its third generation. The owner repaired my tank, hot dip galvanized it inside and out and soldered it back together and made it look like new. The downside was the cost. Repairs, galv and other misc costs was about $2000. If I had known the cost before the work was done, I may have gone another direction. I am very pleased with the work, but the $$$ was very high.

I have no specific information for you, but I have worked with many spotlights while upfitting police and fire vehicles. The spotlight companies all have fitment kits for their line of lights. With this said, one model of spot can be properly mounted on many vehicles. The only difference is the "A" post mounting kit that is specific to the car so the angle and clearance is right. Hope this helps. Good luck.

Welcome to the forum. The plug you mention is indeed lead. It is possible to replace the plug with a lead fishing weight. It is easy to do and requires no special tools or even good eyesight. There is a member here, @carbking, who will hopefully jump in with advice. Good luck and again, Welcome.

If you could feel it dragging then something has moved. In an ideal assembly the clearance between the impeller and housing of any pump should be very minimal, between .005 and .015 max. It depends on materials as all metals expand with heat, but more clearance means less coolant pumped. Tighter is better as long as it clears. Either the impeller has moved on the shaft or the shaft moved in the bearing or both.

@nat, why would "flipping the disk" cause this problem? I know just for general right and wrong you would put the clutch disk and pressure plate back just like they came off, but I can see no reason it would cause the clutch not to work properly. It may drag a bit due to wear, but it would still work and wear in quickly. @Rick George, I know nothing specific about your 32, but general clutch operation is very simple. I would start by looking at the pressure plate release motion while the engine is off and someone is operating the clutch for you. Later Buicks had several adjustments for the clutch which effect the amount of pressure plate movement. Generally it only causes drag, but......

Beautiful car!!!

As is normal, @edinmass is right on target. Please give us more information. Compression test wet and dry, smoke or no smoke, general performance etc.... The special is by no means a high performance vehicle, but it IS a very dependable driver if given reasonable maintenance. How many miles on the car? Do you have any idea of major maintenance issues (rebuilt engine etc...). We are here to help :).

IN MY OPINION: The simple solution would be to update the moderator. See it is an opinion and I own it!!!

Keep trying Dave between 4 and 7 pm central time. He will eventually answer.

@MCHinson, Matt, thank you for the link to the transmitter. Unfortunately, this is the same design that @Bloo and I have. The problem, for us, is that it only transmits at 1000 Khz. In our area there is a Seattle station on 1000 Khz that interferes with these transmitters. We have searched for other oscillator modules (the silver can) on another frequency in the AM band and have struck out. Other options are possible, for frequency creation, but the cost multiplies a lot. This is ONLY an issue for those of us with a high power AM station on 1000 Khz within a couple hundred miles. We loose 🤬. If we find an answer, we will let the forum know as well as the vendor. It would only need that one part changes, so it would be simple for the vendor to do at the time of order, IF the part were available at low cost in quantities of less than 100000 pieces.... Just to explain why this frequency is used by this device... The oscillator module used is actually for microprocessor chips. It is common and VERY low cost in small quantities. Less than $5.00 for one. Unfortunately it is the only one commonly used within the AM band frequency range. Enough blabbering....

This is exactly what I am planning to do also. This is why minimizing cost is high on my list right now. The car is not 100% stock, so being that picky makes no sense. The car was my fathers and we were restoring it as a driver his way before he passed a year and a half ago. Some minor things are not exactly right, such as the exterior color, leather color, carpet (yes carpet, no rubber mats), etc. I have a simple idea to mount the boards until I get the original mounts either replaced or rebuilt. I am a tinkerer and a hobbyist so doing this myself seems fun and educational. In any case, I will keep you posted as I make progress. Also, @MCHinson, Matt, Could you provide the name and model of the little transmitter you use for broadcasting music to the stock radio. Bloo and I were both planning to build a transmitter like you have, but the design we have is just to prone to interference to be useful. Thanks!!

Thanks @BLOO for posting the pictures. Now for the details... As you can see from @MCHinson pictures, the mounts attach to the bottom of the running boards with 1/4 carriage bolts slid into keyhole slots. As soon as I dig out the remolded boards I will post pictures of them also. Now for the mount details. There are 8 total mounts consisting of 2 parts. The first part is a dark red solid Bakelite like material. The first picture shows 2 mounts disassembled. One is broken as it was when removed from the car. It clearly shows the stud with a large steel backing plate totally enclosed in the Bakelite casting. The second one is how they should be and as the pictures from Steel rubber show. Most of mine are chipped at the top, one is broken at the base and one has a twisted off stud. I could probably salvage 4 if I had to. The second part of the assembly is a steel saddle cage that has a fairly hard black rubber vulcanized into it. This part holds the first part securely in place and bolts flat up to the running board steel. Between the Bakelite and the rubber there is NO electrical connection. This is what isolated the running board steel from the chassis and therefore allows those steel boards, on each side of the car, to act as AM radio antennas. Matts pictures, 2 and 3 from the top, show the wires attaching the running boards to the radio and each other respectively. As you can see from all of the above pictures there are several things that need consideration. First is the insulating properties of the materials at radio frequencies. Not all rubber and plastic is acceptable for this. Second is strength. These parts have to withstand someone stepping on the boards and any abuse from vibration and/or other strains a car may encounter. Lastly and somewhat associated with strength, would be a slight amount of flex to reduce the strain on the solid mounting parts as people step on the edge of the running board. I hope this helps everyone understand the design details of these parts. I will update this post as things progress. Thanks also to everyone that has added to this thread with help, questions and ideas!!!

Update, pictures soon. Life interfered today. Hopefully tomorrow. I have the mounts completely disassembled so pictures will be detailed. Stay tuned :).

I am not sure, but you might look at a 73 Plymouth Valiant. I think the bodies were the same. Never mind. I checked and the body styles were different...A-body VS B-body.

I have dug out the mounts and am in the process of getting pictures. I can firm up a few things. The parts pictured above are correct. It takes one of each to make a complete mount. Each running board requires 4 mounts so 8 total for the car. With that said, at current Steel Rubber pricing the total cost for parts without shipping and hardware would be 404.76 for the shells and 286.32 for the mount pads for a total of 691.08 for all. My estimate was a little high, but it is still a chunk of change for an antenna. Either I or @Bloo will post pictures of the mounts later this evening.

@bobj49f2, Thank You Very Much!!! This is the information I was looking for. I will keep planning and move forward.

My car had an Oldsmobile radio grafted into it with a cowl side mounted antenna. My plan is to rebuild a 37 Buick radio I got from Dave Tachney and use the factory running board antennas. I have not seen the factory install, but the factory antenna information says there is a cable from the radio to one running board and a crossover cable connecting to the other running board. There are cable boots also available from Steel Rubber, but until I get the boards right and the radio rebuilt the rest in WAY down the list of details I need to finish.

I will dig out the original parts that were removed when I sent the boards out to be recovered. Once I get the parts out and all pieces separated I will post pictures both assembled and individual. I should be able to do this tomorrow. Just to answer some of the questions, there are 8 complete mounts, 4 per board. This raises the cost even when parts are $35 each. Give me a day so I can make sure of everything am saying. Matt has me questioning what I am saying.

Hi All, What was pictured is only half of the mounting assembly. There is another part that forms the second half. There are a total of 16 pieces plus the bolts, nuts and washers. The running boards themselves have slots that accept carriage bolts that the upper piece bolts to. the lower piece bolts to the board support that is bolted to the chassis. Then the two board mount pieces are bolted together to form a solid mount. within the mount pieces is a nut assembly that is within the rubber casting. This provides the insulation from the chassis. Just for the math, there are 4 complete mounts per running board and the pieces to make one complete mount are just shy of $125.00.