autonut

Boy this sending unit has really given me fits. A few months ago I had it out and is had more than one place it wasn't making connection. Soldered them and it seemed to work fine while out. I installed it and much to my dismay the gauge only went up to about a 1/8 tank. I measured the resistance and I think it had about 5-6 ohms. I filled the tank so I knew this wasn't right. So I again dropped the tank which is no fun. took the sending unit out as it was definitely the sending unit that was at fault. Got it out and took it apart again and everything seems to be in order. I get about 5.5 ohm empty, 22 ohms half & 38 ohms full. What is it suppose to be? Wire seems to be pretty worn. I think I have found the problem. With the slider removed and I measure from the output screw I measure an open which it should be. But when I press a little bit on the wound wire, I get about the 5 or 6 ohms when the sending unit was in the car. I think there is suppose to be some insulation between the wound wire and the casing and there is none. Thus when it was all assembled the arm contact pressing on the wire apparently was shorting the wire to the casing. Now how to fix it????

The steering in this auto is really tough unless you are moving of course. A woman could never drive it or park it hardly! Thus was wondering in which year that Buick installed Power Steering? And wondering how it was accomplished? Would it be too difficult or impossible to take the power steering assembly from one of these newer Buicks and convert this Buick over? I have talked to a local auto restoration shop here and they told me that I would have to change out the entire front end etc. Not sure I was getting the correct info. Would be interested in any & all comments on this issue. Lee Noga

Thanks fellows for all your posts as you are very helpful with the pictures etc. Have not completed this project as yet, but at least I know now how to proceed. Thanks much! Lee

Kestral thank you for the photo. If you say that your riser is CLOSED in the picture and ifyou compare that with the picture that I posted, they look almost the same do they not? Thus my riser is stuck in the closed position and that is something I DO NOT WANT. Thus I guess I will have to do more work on it and drop the exhaust pipe. Maybe I can burn the valve out with a cutting torch. I am not sure I can ever get the valve freed again but I suppose worth a try. Do you agree that it appears that my riser is stuck in the closed position??? Lee

Thank you "My047" for the pictures. Kind of clears up the situation. But of course mine is VERY FROZEN! Attaching picture of mine on the back side. Can you tell me whether the valve is open or closed from the position it is presently in?? If open, I think I will just leave it alone.

Wondering if any of you have had any issues with the heat riser on the exhaust manifold? Can any of you send me a picture by any chance? On left is the heat sensor coil but there isn't a place for the spring tab to fasten against. Also on the right side is a spring on the lower part of the lever but it is just a short spring with again nothing to hook to. Plus that fact that it is completely froze up and these are very difficult to free up again. I have had some experience with another vehicle and this one the manifold was off the car and still had great difficulty in freeing up again. I am wondering if any of you have any advice? Hate to remove the manifold if at all possible naturally. Can anyone send me a picture of their heat riser and where both ends are suppose to connect to? That would help but to free the valve is going to be a problem I'm sure. Did spray it with anti-rust spray but doubt if that is going to help much. Tough problem!!! Open to any and all help. Autonut Lee p.s. Also I have one missing zerk fitting on one of the control arms. They usually screw in on most cars but looked at these and they do not appear to be that type. There is no hex on the fitting in order to put a wrench on it and screw it out. Are they pressed in or what??? Why should one be missing if they are pressed in etc. I wouldn’t think they would come out easily. Autonut Lee

Well got on just a couple of sites. One was "Car Covers" which has what they call a Satin Stretch for $180.00 with a ten year warranty. Another stretch type from "Empire Covers", selling for $160.00 with a four year warranty. Then I went to CoverCraft as per your suggestion and they wanted $660.00 with a 4 to 5 week delivery. Others were 2 day FREE shipping. Quite a contrast in price and delivery time. Even though CoverCraft may have the patterns to match your auto, they only custom make the cover after receiving your order. Yes they are custom made for your auto. But not sure if that is good or bad? For instance the auto does not now have any side mirrors, but which I would like to add. Thus if you order without mirror pockets I wonder how the cover would fit since it is perhaps a fairly close fit. And then it would depend where on the door, you would mount them also. All very confusing and maybe I should just order one of the stretchy ones and be done with it. Hate to get something however, and then not happy with it.

I have a 1949 Buick Dynaflow 4dr sedan and want to purchase a really good car cover, to keep off the dust, etc. It will be stored indoors thus do not need a waterproof one. Would like one to be quite soft on the inside however to protect the paint and be very good for keeping off the dust. We have a lot of that. Do any of you have some good recommendations of cover mfgs, that really have a good quality cover. I would like to get a fairly good fit. Does not have to be a custom fit as a semi-custom fit would perhaps be acceptable. Some companies make kind of a stretchy fabric but not sure if that is a good idea. Glad to hear from anyone on the subject. There is quite a difference between covers & that I why I am posting, to get user first hand knowledge from car collectors.

Boy I hate that when I take something apart and then can't figure out how it goes back together!!! The light switch removal is NO EASY TASK! Anyway had to remove it to fix the dash light dimmer rheostat. Well got it fixed & back in with all the wires back correctly I believe. Except for one wire and that was for the Map Light. Got the wire hooked up at the headlight switch and removed it from the switch as I thought that would be easier. But then I looked at the maplight!! I removed it thus how to put back in place?? A MYSTERY NOW!! Don't know how I removed it without being able to remove handle from the switch, because it looks like the mounting has to go in back of the panel. The screw threads are on the switch mounting and I'm sure the screws went in from the front. Does not make sense now! Almost seems like the large pull handle has to be somehow removed from the switch but now does not seem possible! I don't want to break anything. Is the handle removable from the map switch and if so, HOW????? Things seem so simple when you take things apart and you don't think you will have any problem to put back together. But is happening too often lately. Am I getting Senile?? Lee

I have to remove the light switch since I do not have any panel lights. Evidently the variable rheostat has open up or something. How big of a job is it? Are there any easier ways to do it. Can any of you give me any tips before I tear into it. What holds it in place etc. Lee

Can anyone help me out with a picture or description of how the throttle return spring is attached? I think I see where the spring is to be attached at the top end of the throttle linkage on the cowl, but not sure where it should attach forward of that. I cannot find any place to attach a spring to. Just bought this auto so not too familiar. Also how long should the spring be, not stretched?

ALL good suggestions and thank you. The first thing I did was bring the wire ring around 180 degrees since it did not agree with one of the posts. For some reason, this made it a little easier to install and I did get it installed okay. To put silicone in is not a bad idea either.

Thanks much for your info. I will try again today and let you know how I come out. Lee

How do you install the '36 Dodge tail light glass lens? I can barely get it inside with a lot of effort, but cannot get it in front of the wire holder that holds it in place. There has to be a trick to it that I am just not privy to. Can anyone help? Seems like a few years ago I saw an article of how it is done, but have no idea where to locate it now. Any help would be appreciated. Don't want to break the lens since they are so hard to find.

Sure hope someone can help me out. Even if you don't have one, perhaps you might give me a hint of who I might contact. Would be greatly appreciated. Lee

Well I got the sending unit out and took it apart. The wirewound wiper assembly was disconnected from the connection. I was desperate in trying to fix it. I thought worth a try so got my biggest soldering iron out and thought I could get enough heat through the assembly and to the back of the screw assy. Yes I did it without ruining anything else. So instead of riviting back together I thought I would solder since I had the big iron cranked up. BIG MISTAKE because when I got it all together it didn't work. It was no longer open but it didn't change resistance. Thus had to take apart again. Wasn't making good contact at the bottom of the wiper arm. Soldered that. Put back together. Still was not working properly. I thought what next!!! Took apart again and this time found that it wasn't making good contact from the contact point to the arm. I thought this is crazy but successfully solder that also. Put it back together hopefully for the last time. I checked it several times to make sure I got all the problems out of it before I installed it. So got that job done and was a headache but persistence pays off!! Now I need to find a used speedometer since the one in the '49 is pretty much toast.

No one has up to this point. I know that the Packard Club keeps a very good record of all the Packards currently in existence that they know of, and also of present & past owners. Lee

Hmm did not realize that cars of this era had a backup light feature. Real Cool!! And the clear bottom lens was for the license plate illumination. Thanks so much for your info and even a little bit of my education. Never too old to learn they always say. Was sure wondering about the clear lens between the two red lenses. Now I know. Don't think that many cars had this back-up feature. Was Buick the first one to use this feature I wonder? Lee

Well looks like you sure nailed it. Is Gemco & Guidelamp Corp one and the same? Is it mounted by two bolts on either side of the electrical connector? Mine also has a clear lens on the bottom of the taillight. Not sure why the bottom lens. Wouldn't be for backing up or anything. I wouldn't have thought that this was used on a Buick. Thought for a more expensive auto. I am a Buick man however and thought the Buick was always a great automobile. Lee

Okay I'll see if I can find a few pictures of Buicks in that era.

Not sure this is a good place to post but wondering if anyone can help me ID this taillight. It is a larger taillight which looks to be for a more larger classic auto. I was thinking someone could perhaps really use it. Fairly good shape. Does me no good to just have it laying around. In order to sell on Ebay or whatever, I would need to know what auto used it. If any of you have a clue as to what auto might have used it sure would appreciate it. Measures approx 4 7/8" across. Mounts with two bolts It has a "GUIDELAMP CORP" STAMPED ON THE BOTTOM OF THE lamp. Lee NOga

HHmmm, I was looking for a cover that you are speaking of which would surely make the job easier. But could see not cover from below and someone glued the carpet down in the trunk area. Thus I dropped the tank. Odd that you say there is an access cover. Do you have a '49 Roadmaster? Perhaps if you have a Super maybe they had one but think it odd if they had one that my Roadmaster doesn't.

Thank you very much. Lee

Just bought a '49 Roadmaster and have a few questions. What is the resistance of the fuel sending unit? Does the club keep any records of Buick cars by VIN #s etc. and their owners. Just wondering if the club has any prior info on this auto. It has a split exhaust manifold of which I am not familiar with. And it leaks where connected together when cold at least. Is there a cure for that or is this an ongoing issue. The Packard Eights had one complete exhaust manifold. Wondering why Buick decided they needed to split the manifold. It does create some extra problems from what it was perhaps trying to prevent. The auto is ready to tour however the speedometer is not working correctly. Has anyone had one out and written on it? How difficult is it to remove? Wondering if a Packard Eight manifold would fit the Buick engine. Lee

No I purchased mine from a local fellow here in the Tri Cities, WA. Not sure where the car has been before that. Do you have a historian that has a record of cars with their ID's, model etc.. I would like to see if there is any history of the car in the club etc. One other question. Can you tell me what the resistance is suppose to be for the fuel sending unit??? Your '49 Super is almost identical to my Roadmaster. Not sure what the differences are.