autonut

Well if you think the mounts would be different it has also been stated by one that since it has a dynaflow that it wouldn't interchange with mine which has a standard trans. Thus the idea is dead it looks like. Just that the engine was local and I could purchase it cheaply. Yes it is a little premature for me to make assumptions regarding the existing engine. But with a badly rapping rod when starting it up after auto purchase, a flat crankshaft journal is obvious. As loud as it is and how far it was driven and how flat the journal might be, is only a guess right now. Maybe the crankshaft can be saved. Too early to tell at this point. But in addition, one cylinder does not have any compression. This could be valves perhaps. Thanks for your message. Lee

Yes the serial # is 54655105 which would indicate a Super right? But why does it have an original Dynaflow attached. All the Buick literature states that they only supplied the Roadmaster with Dynaflow and only upon request. Did they sometimes deviate from their usual practice? This would have been a rare combination apparently. Lee

You have a 56C listed. Are you selling parts from it? Mine is a 56C also and need a few parts. Lee

You answered one important question and that is that the manual transmission will fit on the engine with a dynaflow. The other conflict still unresolved is the engine # 54655105. It appears to be the correct number for a '48 Super but it has the Dynaflow attached. Only the Roadmaster was suppose to have the Dynaflow and even then it had to be requested. All the Buick literature states this. But did they make some exceptions???

Haven't done anything on my '47 Super yet but am getting quite confused. The Seventy Years of Buick book I have, states that the Dynaflow did not come out until 1948 and then only as an option on the Roadmasters. But my '47 appears to have the dynaflow. Is the book wrong or what?? Can's get underneath very well to look at the tranny, but the shifting lever has only an up/down configuration, not the usual "H" pattern on a standard gear tranny. There is no labeling or indicator stating drive or reverse. Can anyone straighten out a very confused person at this point? Trying to interchange a '47 engine with a '48 engine with dynaflow. The '48 engine also seems to be from a Super by the engine number which also disproves what is written in the Seventy Years book which states it was only available as on option on the Roadmaster. Help! Lee Sorry but I did finally get it into a figure H so is a standard shift which is what it is suppose to have. But next question was wondering what it would take to convert the '48 engine with a dynaflow to a straight shift providing the engine block is essentially the same. Wondering if the pilot shaft for the transmission would fit in the '48 crankshft?? Answer Anyone?

My engine is bad. I have a chance to pick up an engine, #54655105 which would make it a 1949 engine I believe. Don't know if this engine is from a 40, 50 or 70 however. How to know, from the engine #? Would this engine directly interchange with my engine? I am hoping someone can tell me. Does this engine still have mechanical lifters? Mine does. When did Buick change to hydraulic lifters? I understand that the Roadmaster engine would not fit but how can I tell from this engine number since the owner does not know what it came out of. Lee

Have no voltage at the fuel tank. How do I troubleshoot? From the fuel tank it goes to what is called a body wiring connector. This is about a 11 pin connector. Where is it located??? From there it goes directly to a connector under the dash and to the fuel gage. But how in the hell do I ever get to that connector and how can I remove the fuel gage if that is the problem? Looks like an insurmountable problem, but maybe for someone that has been into this area previously it might not be as bad as it looks. At this point I am stymied! Can anyone help me out?? Lee In Washington Please help

Would one of you be willing to sell that spare '57 distributor you have? If it is a part # 1110870 which I suspect it is, I would really be interested. Mine is messed up and for some reason, the points will not stay in adjustment. It is sooo difficult to take it in and out to try to find out what is wrong with it that I have pretty much given up on it. Lee

Nothing but trouble trying to get my ;57 Century to run after sitting for about a year. Had the distributor out and it was messed up. Got it back in and finally got the beast to start again but doesn't want to run decent. I quickly tried to time the engine and put it on the correct timing mark 5 degrees before dead center. But I was wondering if I should have disconnected the vacuum to the distributor so that I would have no vacuum advance. I tried that and this retarded the distributor way too much in my estimation probably about 20 degrees or so. Would barely start and run. The manual states when the throttle is opened to about 18 MPH the control diaphragm will start to rotate the breaker plate in a CCW direction advancing the spark. Now I am sure that with the vacuum connected, that at idle was not going the equivalent of 18mph. In other words anything less than 18mph would not cause the diaphragm to move. Most autos will always give directions in RPM rather than MPH since one most likely would have a tach to measure idle speed etc. Wondering if I still have a distributor problem or not. Can anyone tell me what 18mph is in RPM on this auto? Lee Did some further testing and at idle I am getting almost 30" of vacuum which is way too much perhaps the reason my advance changes so much when disconnecting. I have the correct Carter AFB carb and am coming out the small port in front of the carburetor with the vacuum tube. Now I am wondering if I have a problem with my carburetor???

I have my distributor out which is not very accessible and wondering about the end play. I have enclosed a picture. There is about 0.200" clearance which seems like a lot. There is so much play that if I lift the point assembly up when the gear is down the point assy will actually clear the vacuum advance solenoid pin which to me does not seem like a good idea. I am thinking that perhaps the distributor was mfg with some vertical play to adapt to the engine internals. But wondering how much play was normal? Have been having trouble with point gap. Hate to put back in if something is not quite right. I am wondering if gravity will always keep the cam lobe down or with higher rpm will it rise? Does anyone have a distributor out to look at it and compare? Lee

My '57 was running fine about a year ago but now I can't get it to continue running. It doesn't appear to be a fuel problem thus at present a little perplexed of what the problem might be. I took the distributor out thinking that perhaps the points weren't breaking properly. I set them to the required setting about .016" and put it back in. It started right off and then again got progressively worse missing and finally died. I checked the voltage to the points and when making there is only 5 volts there. There is a dropping resistor that drops it to that voltage. That seems like quite a reduced amount for a good spark and wondering if this is normal?? I realize a resistor is used on all autos with a point distributor but didn't realize that it dropped so much voltage to the coil. Wondering if perhaps my coil has gone bad. Any suggestion? The auto does start right up but starts missing soon after and gets worse & worse. Should I just shotgun it and replace the coil? Lee

Thank you critterpainter. I had an intermittent gauge reading. Thought it was a bad wire somewhere from the tank to the gauge. But after much time I finally decided it was at the gauge itself. Not wanting to remove the whole gauge cluster I first removed the wires from the gauge and carefully cleaned the terminals both on the gauge and the wires and fortunately this cured the problem. Wasn't a fun problem. Lee

What is the fuel sending unit from a '57 Buick suppose to be for resistance, at 0, 50% & 100% or E 1/2 F?? Need soon. Thanks Lee

Present caps are now vented, and have been so since the 1980's. Before that, they were not. Yes you can purchase a vented cap for the '57 Buick. I have one installed and it works fine. The thing about a vented cap however is that it only vents one way, and the is in the direction of outside air to inside the tank. It shuts off the other way and acts like a shut-off valve. Thus with a vented cap you cannot safely seal off the original vent tube because pressure will then build up in the tank. Thus you must leave the original vent tube open and some kind of filter is prudent to use to prevent unwanted guests to crawl into the tank etc.

Okay thanks for the reply. This had me rather confused, since I couldn't find a rubber hose to connect to the breather tube. Someone previously may have had the tank removed and did not bother to hook the vent back up and perhaps removed the rubber tube completely. Most tanks I have seen, run this breather tube back to a hole in the filler tube. In this way the breather will get good air when the filler cap is removed and yet will supply a limited amount of air for regular fuel use. This works out quite well. To just leave the breather vent just open to the elements doesn't seem like a good idea to me, since bugs can crawl in and dust etc can be sucked in as you go down the road. I plan on adding a piece of rubber tubing and attaching above with a strainer of some kind which this auto apparently did not have. You answered my question and I thank you for solving this mystery. Although when I think about it even without the breather tube, doesn't the fuel tank cap allow some air into the tank? It is a vented cap is it not? More I think about it however, wondering if you really need the vent tube opening since when filling you would get plenty of air through the filler tube. Of course only if you did not have a vented cap, would the vent tube perhaps come into play. Any comments regarding whether the vent tube could be closed off as long as a vented fuel tank cap is used? Lee

I pulled the fuel tank out of my Century to get it cleaned out a few months ago and now ready to put it back in. Trouble is I cannot see where the upper vent tube went to originally. I no longer see any rubber tubing to connect to it. Did it originally have anything connected to it or was it just left open at the tank?? I do not like to just leave it open because we have what we call mud-dabber bees here. They will find any hole like that and plug it up and lay eggs in it I guess. The automatic transmission in my Jeep Grand Wagoneer would throw fluid out of the filler tube so I couldn't go on a trip with it. I took it to a repair shop and it cost me almost $2000.00 and it still had the same problem. Took it to another mechanic and he checked the breather tube and it was all plugged up with mud. Should have went to him the first time. A 10 minute fix corrected the problem. Don't want this to happen with my Buick fuel vent. Do any of you have any suggestions. Help needed badly ASAP, since I am ready to install the tank.

Someone mentioned to me that CARS may have new replacements. But when searching for their website I cannot come up with it. Can anyone help? Lee

Okay I finally got the headlight switch out and what I found was that the rheostat winding is burnt off, where it originally connected to the instrument panel connector. So what do I do now? I know of no way to solder a wire to resistance wire. I must find another rheostat from somewhere? Does anyone have one laying around and would like to sell? If not, does anyone know who might be able to supply me with one? Otherwise the switch appears good however will purchase an entire switch if necessary. Sure need help on this one. Lee

My instrument panel lights do not work. I need to remove the light switch to troubleshoot. The manual states to depress the spring loaded latch button on the switch but I cannot find it. There is a picture of he switch in figure 10-52 but does not show where the push button is. Can anyone help me out by perhaps drawing in the pushbutton using fig 10-52 as a guide. It would really be appreciated. Getting kind of frustrated. Lee

My instrument lights do not work. Need to remove the light switch. Can anyone show me where that spring loaded latch button is located at? I cannot find it! In the manual in Fig 10-52 it shows the switch but doesn't show where the spring loaded latch button is! I have felt all over and can't seem to find it. Yes I have a Century I am trying to get completed to drive to functions. Lee

I need help with a decent electrical diagram for the 1957 Buick. The diagram in the Repair Manual and the Product School Manual is of little use. I removed my speedo about two months ago and finally got it back. Now I need help to figure out where all the wires and bulbs go. The diagram in the school manual for instance doesn't even show or illustrate the speedometer!! Surely there must be a better diagram than this available. Any help would be greatly appreciated. It has been a long time, getting all the pieces together for this auto to get it on the road. Send info to auto.nut@charter.net or call me @ (509)967-2723 Lee

No replies as yet. Thought I would add a couple of pictures of the window rubber wiper strip along with chrome strip as one factory assembly. Hasn't anyone reproduced this piece?

Wondering if anyone could direct me to any place that reproduces the window sweeps for a 1973 Boatail Riv. There are some available but not of the same type as original. The original rubber is the same height sweep in the original sweep is the same height when closed to mate with the other rubber piece to make a tight seal. All the others I have seen the movable piece is far shorter and would allow much dirt to accumulate in the valley of the sweep which of course is undesirable. Any help you can give me will be greatly appreciated. It requires a chrome top piece of course. Lee Noga

Have to replace some wood. Need all the help I can get regarding some old Fisher Body Manual reference material. Also wondering if anyone has any wood patterns at all for either the roadster or the Master sedan because I also have a sedan that needs all the wood replaced. But the roadster is my main concern. Have some of the rear pieces missing and could use some help to try and figure out was was there. Lee

How best to troubleshoot a non working fuel gauge?? I have disconnected the wire from the tank and shorted it to ground and no movement of the gauge. So where do I go from here? The fuse is good. If I have to get to the gauge itself how do you get at it? Are there better ways to isolate the problem? Is there a connector going to the instrument gages that I can get to. I see one connector but not sure it is the correct one. I am working on a 1972 which might be slightly different that the '73. I have the wiring diagram on the '73. Please help, as I know there are always shortcuts etc for someone who has troubleshot this problem in the past. Lee from West Richland, WA