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Machine Gun

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Posts posted by Machine Gun

  1. On the way to Buick Gardens on Friday morning the car began a subtle vibration. It felt like a failing U-joint. The vibration began to intensify pretty quickly to the extent that Ruthann and I decided to head directly home on Saturday instead of continuing our trip to Warm Springs, Griffin, and Savannah before heading home the following Thursday. Our decision to go straight home shaved 550 miles off the trip. Good thing, we'd never have made it home had we continued on. Things got really sketchy halfway through Pennsylvania and I wasn't sure we'd make it all the way home. All I wanted at that point was to get at least 100 miles from home so we could get a free AAA tow. Miraculously the Buick got us home under its own power.

     

    I dropped the driveshaft this afternoon and found the front U-joint all but destroyed. 

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  2. @MrEarl Our heartfelt thanks to you and Rita for generously opening up your place to host this wonderful event. Thanks also to those who took photos, and took the time to post them. I hope all of you enjoyed safe and trouble-free rides to your destinations. Looking forward to meeting up with you again at future events. 

     

    Ruthann and I got home this afternoon, having cut our planned trip short by four days and many hundreds of miles. Persistent carburetor problems and an ever-increasing driveline vibration that acts like a failing U-joint made us think better of doing anything but making a bee line for home. Not to be deterred, we're driving back down to the Carolinas in Ruthann's car tomorrow to visit the friends and family we planned to see.

    • Like 8
  3. Not knowing just what your ticking noise sounds like, I'll relate a similar experience I had shortly after buying my Skylark. I would hear a slight tick coming from the right front wheel. It drove me nuts for a couple of days until I figured it out by chance. It was my wheel cover. It ticked only when there was full weight on the wheel, like when driving down the road. No hint of anything when the car was up in the air. If you can't replicate the noise with the car in the air and there's no other obvious cause for the noise, pop the wheel covers off just for yuks and see if that's your issue. A long shot, admittedly.

    • Like 7
    • Thanks 1
  4. Wow, those standards are a cramp. Not so much for what they are, but for how far back vehicles have to comply. I have it pretty easy here in NJ, where no such standards exist for vehicles manufactured prior to certain features being mandated for new vehicles. In other words, if a vehicle complies with the standards in effect in the year of manufacturer it's good to go. It's a moot point for passenger cars manufacturer prior to 1995, in which case motor vehicle inspections are no longer required in NJ regardless of whether the car is registered as an historic vehicle or is used as a daily driver. 

  5. 12 hours ago, Lab64Skylarkragtop said:

    I found some wider 14 inch rims so I could put some fatter tires on my 1964 skylark. A bead of silicone around the exterior perimeter of the hubcap where it meets the wheel has kept them on really good.

    The wider tires like nice on your car. The RTV bead was offered as a possible solution to my projectile wheel covers a few months back when I was whining about the problem. I decided right off that I wasn't going to do that. I don't doubt its effectiveness, but it's not the sort of "solution" I'd implement.

  6. @60FlatTop I'm not so concerned with temperature that I'd emulate any technique employed by the Prince of Darkness 😛. Capacitor temperature ratings up to 105 degrees C are standard. Higher ratings are available on special order, but if the environment the ignition capacitor finds itself in gets that high there are probably bigger problems I would have to worry about.

     

    @old-tank Thanx for the tip on mounting the capacitor externally. I will do that for testing purposes. I like to think that I'd have come up with idea on my own but I wouldn't bet on it. As for re-stuffing a can, I will probably to that despite it being an unnecessary effort. On rare occasion I will re-stuff old radio capacitor cans during restorations. Whether I eventually do that here depends on the physical size of the replacement.

     

    @Daves1940Buick56S I have capacitors on hand that are rated at 400V. If tests are successful I will order and install one rated at 600V. I have several 600V caps on hand, but not with the proper capacitance value.

    • Like 1
    • Thanks 1
  7. @EmTee Based on my limited research it seems that ignition capacitors have a value around 0.22uF. That's a common value in electronics, and I have a bunch of them in my parts store. Experimenting with ignition caps is another Winter project I have in mind. I would replace the innards of the can with a proper high-temperature, high voltage cap and see how it performs and holds up. 

    • Like 2
  8. @EmTee Very interesting about your door glass! Fortunately that's not the issue in my case, as replacing the mirror glass should be a simple task. NOTE: I'm generally cautious when using the word "should" because things that should be are often not.

     

    If I can find the right size mirror glass I'll replace it before my trip to Buick Gardens.

    • Like 1
  9. I wasn't aware that Buick's remote mirrors are swappable side-to-side. My car didn't have a passenger side mirror so I bought a non-remote version from a well-known vendor. It's a POS (POC for those who are slightly more refined than I). The glass is so distorted as to be completely unusable. I wish I had checked it when it arrived, but I let it go far too long and now I'm stuck with it. My bad on top of their bad.

    • Haha 1
  10. @tdutch Never mind. I did a look just now and Buick/Delco/United Motors auto radios were no longer included in Rider manuals that late. Rider stopped publishing those manuals in 1954, with the final volume covering 1953 radios. When I have more time I will see if any of my other literature shows similar AM car radios so that you might have a starting point regarding what value capacitor to start with.

  11. I have the complete set of Rider radio service manuals that covers radios back to the 1920s. Most auto radios are included. Give me a day or two and I'll search your model number and see if I have the information you need. These manuals include parts lists for many models. That particular trimmer isn't something that would be expected to fail, hence no value might be provided on the schematic. A parts list may help, although some radio manufacturers provide only their replacement parts numbers and not their electrical values. If all else fails, I'd do what @Lee H suggests.

  12. 15 hours ago, NTX5467 said:

    Now . . . when are the 14" whitewall tires going to arrive to complete the OEM look?

     

    Just a thought,

    NTX5467

    I really like the look of whitewalls on certain cars, mine included. The only reason I didn't put whitewalls on it is because the industry hasn't yet come out with self-cleaning tires, if you get my drift.

    • Like 1
    • Haha 1
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