Fred Zwicker

I am restoring a 1954 Buick Special 46R 2dr. Hard Top and have a power steering column, gear box and pump, but need the front engine pulley. Engine is 264 cu. in V8. Am willing to pay more than a reasonable price for this pulley, but it must not be damaged and be the correct one. Thanks, Fred fznz at comcast.net

You might think that my choice of metallic gray was not a good one, but when polished, the look combined with the black vinyl top, wide whitewalls and plenty of chrome really set off the car. Picture posted earlier was scanned from a poor photo, so does not do much for the car. I chose a 1968 Cadillac metallic gray and wish I still had this car today, as it was powerful with the big V-8 engine, had a great ride and was a gas hog. When the gauge read 1/8 of a tank, I was walking to the gas station (had this happen twice before I finally learned to keep it over 1/4 tank full). Interior was dark green leather, which wasn't a bad choice, although doesn't sound so good. I never had a bit of trouble with this car and gave it very little attention - in fact, I ran it hard and put over 90,000 miles on the car in about 5 years. Fred

Hello Mr. Earl and Norm, Thanks for the advice. I just published a long post on the '54 Buick Forum, bringing things up to date - check it out. I also printed the published article on changing from manual to power steering and will do some studying. This afternoon, I called Ken at Wheatbelt and we talked for quite some time. He promised to take a look to see if he could come up with the double crank pulley. If all else fails, I may be able to have one made out of aluminum by one of our machine shop vendors, but locating an original is still the best choice, regardless of the pricel Please keep looking and if a dual groove cast iron pulley for the 264 V-8 shows up, let me know ($50 finder's fee leading to a purchase if found before I do). Fred

Mr. Earl, Thanks for the help. I am leaving for work but found a complete good '54 Power Steering unit with pump, hoses, column in Pittsburgh (45 minutes from my home), but he does NOT have the dual pulley for front of my '54 Special Engine. I am willing to pay more than a reasonable price for such a pulley and just posted on the Buick Forum for this part. I also found a '55 Roadmaster complete unit with mint steering wheel for $500 that could be installed, realizing the shaft could be shortened, but prefer to stay with the first choice at $350. The Roadmaster (4dr) is apart and engine has only 16-18 M miles! Engine and transmission are available, but don't know if they will fit without modifications, and I prefer to keep my car original and with the number-matching engine. My engine is out of the car. Need a little help I guess, Fred

It sure does - Thank You. I Googled 1939 Oldsmobile and found a couple other photos that showed this, but none as clearly as your photo. Thanks again.

Thanks Martinos 1 I have a local source with the complete setup from a low-mileage 1955 Buick Roadmaster, but do not feel they are identical. (Steering column on the Roadmaster may be longer than on my Special). Also think that in 1957 a major change was made, although I am not sure. I will check my 1957 Buick Super to see if different. I appreciate your posting - Thank you very much.

Looking to buy a 1954 Buick Power Steering Column and the gear box. I have a 1954 Buick Special with non-power steering and want to convert it to power, as have shoulder trouble. I have a pump. I am located in the Youngstown, Ohio area midway between Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Pictures of what I am looking for attached. Leads appreciated.<!-- google_ad_section_end --> <FIELDSET class=fieldset><LEGEND>Attached Thumbnails</LEGEND> </FIELDSET>

Thank you - the curved piece sure seems the same. Looking at the pictures, cannot say for sure about the longer section (straight one), but it might very well be there, as there would have been something on that part of the hood. These two pieces were wrapped together with wire, so probably were from the same car. I try to mark all of my extra parts on the inside with a small magic marker, or sometimes I attach a tag with tie wire to help the next guy. I have even used a small engraver to mark keys, as they are usually the biggest problem. I keep all of my old car parts on separate sections of shelves by manucturer and usually label each box. This makes for less excitement when the time comes when the parts are needed. For boxes and larger items, I use a small Dymo label machine that hooks up to my computer and instantly makes labels in 4" wide labels with peel-off adhesive backing. These two parts will be labeled "1939 Oldsmobile" for my friend when they are returned. Thanks again for the help.

Looking to buy a 1954 Buick Power Steering Column and the gear box. I have a 1954 Buick Special with non-power steering and want to convert it to power, as have shoulder trouble. I have a pump. I am located in the Youngstown, Ohio area midway between Pittsburgh and Cleveland. Pictures of what I am looking for attached. Leads appreciated.

I posted this information on the 1954 Buick Forum, as am painting a 1954 Buick Riviera 2dr. HT in a similar color (metallic gray with painted black roof and lower trim). Many do not know that GM offered paint in any color at an extra charge at time order was placed. A 1972 picture of my 1970 Buick Estate Wagon is attached, along with 3 pictures of my 1954 Buick Special, now being restored and repainted in the same gray metallic as at present. Back in 1970 I was looking at the new Buicks and wanted an Estate Station Wagon. The problem was that I did not see any colors that appealed to me. Someone told me that you could order any color from GM for an extra charge (around $65 as I recall). I called GM and talked to an engineer who confirmed that they would paint the Buick ANY color (for an upcharge) and that there would be some extra lead time on such an order. I stopped at the local Buick dealer in Youngstown, Ohio and the salesman told me it wasn't possible. I mentioned my call to the factory and salesman talked it over with his sales manager, telling me that they would not be able to accomodate me. I was discouraged and then went to a small dealership in a rural area. Their salesman said the color would look terrible and tried to discourage me - also mentioning a very long lead time. I insisted that was what I wanted and they reluctantly took the order for a new 1970 Buick Estate Wagon in a 1968 Cadillac dark metallic gray with black vinyl top. Again salesman kept telling me that I was making a mistake as the car would not look good. Order was placed anyhow. About 6 or more weeks later I received a phone call that the car was in, so that evening I went to the dealer to pick it up. The car was in the center of their showroom and many people were admiring it. I knew it was going to look good and it was even better than expected! Then the same salesman that told me how terrible it was going to look said that they had so much interest in the car that they were going to give me a new Buick (with full tank of gas and insurance) to drive for a week or two so that the wagon could continue to be displayed. After waiting so long for the car, told him "No Way" and took the Buick home that same evening. I enjoyed this car for about 5 years, even puling my boat. I had a "one of a kind" and to this day wish I would have kept the car. After about 90,000 miles I traded it in on a new Oldsmobile. So if anyone ever tells you that a GM/Buick cannot be ordered in a special color, I am confirming my experience in 1970. See picture for proof.

My friend found this in with a bunch of old car parts and asked me what it was. Not being as smart as he thought I was, told him I would try to find out. I was thinking possibly a Nash, but not at all sure. Dimensions are on the pictures. Any ideas?

Keep checking on ebay "1930 VIRGINIA LICENSE PLATE" Sooner or later they will show up. There is one (1) Virginia 1930 plate on now at around $25. I have located plates for most of my car collection on eBay and sometimes find some real good plate numbers. I check for my needed plates about once a week. You can also check on Google, as there are many who sell plates. In Ohio we are required to have only one model year plate mounted on the rear of the car, but sometimes it is better to buy a pair (if available), as it is always possible that the other plate may have been registered previously by someone. I am in the Youngstown, Ohio area and recently found 1939 plate number "Y-1" on ebay for under $20. It was in decent shape, but is being restored with original white background and blue lettering. Plates are not hard to restore - just glass bead them and spray primer, and then the base color on both sides. Allow to dry and then spray over top of the base color with a few coats of clear coat (available in aerosol). After a few days, it is not too difficult to paint the letters with an artist brush, or you can send the plate to an artist for this. You can later spray more coats of clear coat over top of the finished product and it will look like baked enamel.

Your car is beautiful - really nice. In posting the values, was not trying to work towards an offer, as I have no interest in the car (although since posting of your pictures, she is much better than expected - in fact near perfect and a roadster to make it even more attractive). You were looking for some price guidelines, so I simply stated the published values as of the current guide book, plus stated that the market is extremely soft. If I owned the car, I would wait until conditions improved, as it is too nice to sell at today's prices. I am hoping that your pictures will attract a solid buyer, and that market conditions will turn around in the near future. Fred

Per "Collector Car Price Guide - 2011", a 1930 Plymouth 4 cyl "U" 2-door Roadster Value: Condition 4 (Good Condition - driveable) $6,600 Condition 3 (Very Good - Amateur Restoration) $14,850 Condition 2 (Fine - well restored or well maintained) $23,100 Condition 1 (Excellent - 95 point show car not driven) $33,000 However the market is extremely soft at this time, so you may want to consider any reasonable offer, based on the above. I have purchased several cars late in 2010 and paid about between 50% to 70% of current book values. It is certainly a buyer's market and may be so for quite some time. Fred

According to the 2011 Collector Car Guide, a 1932 Dodge DL-6 4 door sedan value is: #1 (Perfect) $17,000 #2 Fine $11,900 #3 Very Good $7,650 #4 Good $3,400 However, today's market is very soft. There are just not enough serious buyers out there now, unless a true bargain, or if something very rare shows up. Unfortunately, 4 dr. sedans are not hot items and the cars from the early 1930s are not in demand. In October, I purchased a 1931 Chevrolet Independence 4-door sedan with dual sidemounts at an auction in Cleveland for $4,500. Good solid car with good-running engine, new chrome and new LeBaron Bonney interior - dull paint. (An older restoration with $16,000 in receipts in a folder in the trunk). I considered it a bargain, but that is the problem in today's market - too many cars for sale and too few buyers. Good luck - the car looks very nice. Fred

I have a very nice 1958 Lincoln Continental 2dr. HT and the front ash tray insert is missing. It is probably stainless steel, or chromed steel. While I don't smoke and would not allow others to do so in this car, still need this part. Evidently someone removed it at one time to empty or clean the ash tray and forgot to replace it. Here is a picture of the dash in this car, which is not at home, so the measurements are not available at this time, but can be furnished next week. The front ash tray is to the right of the instrument cluster. This car has smaller ash trays (and lighters) in each door and each rear side. The front ash tray insert is considerably larger than the door ash trays. Other pictures of this and other cars can be seen at www.tpcarcollection.com Thanks, Fred

Our medium-size company displays and sells at Hershey and at Spring and Fall Carlisle. For some time, we reported sales taxes twice a year (spring and fall). This made sense, since we were in PA only during those time periods. However, due to large sales during the 4-5 days at each show, PA's computers evidently decided that we should report our sales taxes monthly (was semi-annually). We called numerous times without getting anywhere, and last week we were finally verbally approved for quarterly reporting, but when the time came to report on the Internet, we were listed as being back on monthly reporting. More calls and eventually we were told we could report quarterly, but since approval was verbal, anything is possible - we are hoping we do not receive penalties. Even filing quarterly (instead of semi-annually) means sending in reports in the two off-quarters (zero sales tax returns). It takes a lot longer than expected to file the returns, which previously were on a small card - fill in the numbers and mail it in (5 minutes). Now it must be done on the Internet and things don't always run smoothly - very frustrating. After going to these shows for over 35 years, we are wondering if it is worth the hassle. If we are forced to report monthly, will be taking a good look at the overall sales/profit picture, which is already marginal. It isn't hard to figure out what is happening when you see so many empty vendor spaces (especially at Carlisle). Cost of hotels and fuel are also becoming more and more costly. We can deal with all of this, but are still becoming discouraged with all of the rules and regulations that we must follow for the few days in attendance. In my opinion, if PA and other states do not lighten up a bit, they will find out the hard way that sales tax collections will decline even further than they could ever imagine.

btt

I have a nice 31 Chevrolet Independence 4-door sedan and am missing the front visor, which fits across the top of the windshield. Picture of the car attached, showing the missing visor. Any available? Thanks, Fred<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

I have a nice 31 Chevrolet Independence 4-door sedan and am missing the front visor, which fits across the top of the windshield. Picture of the car attached, showing the missing visor. Any available? 01/07/11 FOUND A VISOR, so don't need now - Thanks.

We have a small car museum at work and keep Battery Tenders on each car, leaving them connected all the time (winter and summer if cars are not driven). We also have battery on-off switches on each battery and leave the batteries in the "off" position at all times, but with Battery Tenders running. See www.tpcarcollection.com for pictures of our cars. As I understand how they are supposed to work, once the battery is fully-charged, a green light comes on at the power supply that is plugged into the wall. If battery needs charged, the red light comes on and a trickle charge is supplied to the battery until charge is complete. When the green light is on, I assume that the Battery Tender is not supplying power anyhow, so do not see the necessity of the timer. Am I missing something? For some reason, everything seems to be working and we have no battery problems. About 15 years ago, I had a 1992 Lincoln Town Car with very low mileage and Battery Tenders were not sold (or I didn't know of them at that time). I used a standard low-priced battery charger to keep the battery up, but unplugged it after the needle showed a full charge (hit or miss method). For some reason, this car had some type of ignition problem, as the ignition key would sometimes be so hot, it could barely be touched. Since we didn't drive the Lincoln much (Sunday car), the battery was always going dead and eventually would no longer take a charge. I took it to the local parts store and bought a new battery. The counter man at the store set the battery on the floor in his shop and the next day the battery "exploded", spewing battery acid all over. The owner of the parts store was not happy. I am thinking that possibly (using the battery charger - NOT a Battery Tender) that I overcharged the battery. (???) We finally got tired of all of this and traded in the Lincoln. I think if the car had been driven on a daily basis, none of the problems would have occured, but the hot ignition switch was always a worry, as our garage was attached to our home. I have a nice 1947 Ford Convertible at home for the winter (car not driven in Ohio winters) and have a Battery Tender hooked up all winter and the green light is always on, so assume battery is fully-charged. Is this OK, or should I unplug the charger for a week or two and then plug it in again to bring the charge up? Attached picture shows the hookup on the battery. Battery Tender is running with the main battery disconnect switch in the "Off" position. Green light on the Battery Tender Power Supply is "On", so I assume it is not supplying power to the battery at this time. In the past, I never unplugged the Battery Tenders while cars were parked, but am wondering if this is the correct procedure. Fred

Thanks for the help. I located the small fuse panel yesterday while removing the radio for service. It is up high under the dash and to the right of the radio. I am working on the antenna problem and hope to get everything running soon. Fred

Thanks for the feedback. This afternoon we removed the radio (lots of fun) and found the small fuse panel just above the radio and slightly to the right. Radio will be sent to the shop tomorrow for an overhaul and hope to have it back in service next week. I am sending in the radio, the power supply, the antenna and the foot switch, along with an extra radio, so should be able to get it running soon. As I remember my previous '58 Continental convertible (about 30 years ago), the radio worked quite nicely and I always enjoyed the convenient foot pedal control. The antenna works just fine when activated - goes up with radio on and down when radio is shut off, but never stops running. I will have my radio man check it out, but if that doesn't work, can always go to a 3-way switch (off in center) and manually run the antenna up and down. I have an extra antenna and it works the same (keeps running). The antenna with the car will never work, as the cord had been removed. Today we removed the Bendix electric fuel pump that can be seen at the upper left side of the photos and replaced it with a Carter electric pump near the gas tank, as electric fuel pumps push better than pull and also wanted to have a cleaner under hood appearance. When we removed the old fuel pump, found a lot of gunk, so plan to remove and clean the gas tank and use an additive to keep it clean. When finished we will have a new fuel line and fitler, a new electric fuel pump and a clean gas tank, so should be all set for awhile. Hopefully the Ethanol in today's fuels will not cause future problems. Thanks to everyone on this forum for the help and advice. Fred Pictures of this Lincoln can be seen at www.tpcarcollection.com

Hello Jim - Thanks for the "instant reply". I guess I didn't explain things well - when I said I had 2 antennas, I meant the one in the car (not working) and I actually have two spares, both of which work on a 12 volt bench test, but neither will shut off once they go up or down. The one installed on the car at time of purchase has a broken cable (actually think it is made of plastic). Other than not shutting off, both spare antennas work perfectly. I will be calling my radio man later today for his input, but thought that possibly there was some type of time delay relay built into the radio, or maybe some contact setup within the antenna itself, but either way- seems logical that the antenna motor should stop running once in the up or down position. As to the manuals, I have a wiring diagram and a radio manual both on order (eBay), so that might help and I have a good radio man. I also have many manuals on this car (owner's manual, Lincoln service manuals, chassis manual and others), but so far was unable to locate the fust panel. I guess I was looking for a simple panel that would be visible from below, not expecting the "spaghetti". Now the best part - back in the 70s and early 80s, I owned a 58, 59, 60 & 61 Continental and other than the usual convertible top wiring headaches and occasional window switch issues, had no other wiring problems. All were convertibles except the '59. I accumulated many spare parts and I still have extra window switches and even have an extra radio marked "OK", plus the two extra antennas. I recall that one of the Lincolns (probably the 1960) had a small fuse panel with a metal cover (about 5" or 6" square) and think it was mounted on the firewall under the hood). But do not recall any such panel on the '58, and for some unknown reason, never had reason to change even one fuse. When I saw this car at auction, knew it had my name on it, as I still have many more extra parts (in addition to the above), plus many service manuals and what I thought was plenty of knowledge about the car. Had it been a convertible, I would have had no interest, but a hard-top seemed to be less of a challenge (electrically), so bought the car. i love 58-60 Lincolns but am aware of the many electrical issues, but truthfully never had any such problems, other than convertible top issues - always hoping that the top would always close when it started to rain! So yesterday we brought it into our shop to check the radio and antenna and my mechanic asked me the location of the fuse panel. (I told him I would come back and show him the location and couldn't believe it, but no fuse panel!). Your pictures are great and I printed them in color and will take them to work this afternoon. I hope you didn't pull all of the wires down to take the pictures? Fred P.S. I knew about the fuel pump push rod issue (thanks). My car has an electric fuel pump nicely mounted on the radiator support, but is being changed to a rear location today, as electric fuel pumps do better pushing than pulling. The original fuel pump is still intact (for looks), but lately I have been adding electric fuel pumps to help with the Ethanol issue, as well as faster starting after the car sits for weeks or months. I got tired of having to remove air cleaners and manually priming the carb. * I will PM you this evening when I have more time and after taking a look under the dash this afternoon. Thanks again for the very informative information and photos.

I recently purchased a 1958 Continental 2-door hard top and cannot find the fuse panel. There is a reference to fuses, but I did not see anything showing the location. Nothing wrong, but want to be sure that I have it figured out for the future. Also I have two (power antennas (one and an extra) and both run up when radio is turned on and run down when radio is turned off, but the antenna motor keeps running on both. Is there some type of delay relay in the radio or in the antenna that shuts off the motor? Otherwise, feel that the motor will burn up. I ordered a wiring diagram on eBay and hope that it will give some information. Thanks, Fred