Looey

The guy who runs the tire shop where my dad gets tires puts a blob of clear silicone adhesive, like you buy at the hardware store, on a couple three spots on the wheel before he puts on the old fashioned wheel covers. He says he doesn't have people coming back mad because their covers fall off or a air stem gets ripped from the cover working around.

Reatta man, you're right on. Those friends of mine who checked out my '52 the other day are pumped about my Buick. At least now when they hear "Buick" they'll at least remember something interesting they saw that was a Buick. One day before that if they'd heard "Buick" it would have just made them totally laugh. And once kids start laughing at the car make it's really tough to get them to ever take it seriously. Some of my reading says that Chevy was considered an old man's car back in the '40's and early '50's. They changed that by coming up with a cool sports car the Corvette. OK, nobody young could afford one of those, right? But young people at least didn't just automatically laugh when you said "Chevrolet." THEN, when chevy came out with the small block chevy motor (a REAL improvement and NOT just a cheap plastic stick on gimmick!!!)a couple of years after the warm glow had started it became the young guy's first choice of cars. And that young image made older people happy to be seen in them too. Young people don't want to be seen in an old guy's car, but old people want to be seen in a young guy's car. It just works that way. If you don't like it, get with God and have him change Human Nature. Don't yell at me for pointing out the obvious! I mean this is just as plain as can be. YOU DO NOT GET PEOPLE BUYING CARS WHEN THEY'RE MADE AND MARKETED TO PEOPLE WHO ARE ABOUT TO DIE. Chevy did it. Pontiac did it. Buick MIGHT be able to do it if they get off their booties and do something cool. But its pretty late in the game for a Hail Mary pass to work this time.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: BJM</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Yea just what Buick needs to do, market to the 18 to 25 crowd. That's crazy and useless. Lucerne is a scary nice car with somewhat bland styling, probably on purpose. We all say they need a Velite / Riviera type car. Buick will do just fine, they have gained one dealership in our metro area in the last year. The alignment with GMC-Pontiac-Buick is a good move. </div></div> Oh, my God. Tell me you didn't write this response. Go back and read it again. "market to the 18 to 25 crowd. That's crazy and useless." Lessee here. If Buick takes that attitude in the 1950's, the 1960's, the 1970's, the 1980's, the 1990's, and the 2000's what could the result possibly be? I'm only 15, but even to me the answer is as obvious as can be!!! Could it be the average age of Buick owners being 65 and older? Could it be a US market share of less than 2%? Could it be snickers and jokes by comedians? Could it be if a guy drives a Buick made within the last 2-25 years chicks will turn him down flat just because he drives a totally dorky car? But, just to argue your point for you, lets say Buick only produces cars costing $30K and up. Few young people can afford them. But 1) for $30K you ought to be able to put some real engineering effort and neat stuff into the looks and performance of the car. 2) having done so, young people look at the car and say, "I wish..." so that when they CAN afford $30K, they go look at a Buick. Dang. Sorry to insult you, but you'd be a perfect employee for Buick... 25 YEARS AGO. Your ideas are the exact attitude that got them into the toilet they're in today. But TODAY it doesn't work either! YOU need to work someplace where your lack of vision can't destroy a great brand like Buick. I hope to God you don't work for Buick or they really are history! Sorry, bro, but there it is. And can anybody tell me why they named a model the 'Lucerne'? I looked that up in the dictionary and it means 'alfalfa'! They named a car after hay! What genius came up with that!? Dairy cows everywhere are dying to own one. LOL. "Hay, baby, want to go for a ride in my Alfalfa? We can go park somewhere so I can milk your udders." sheesh. NOTE TO GM: Da 'YOOTS' of the world do not get excited about hay or pastures or cud or hay poop. QUESTION TO GM: Does ANYBODY!?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: NTX5467</div><div class="ubbcode-body">IF the Chrysler 300 can have multi-generational appeal, the Buicks can be similar with the RIGHT adverting and vehicle content options. I also feel that some target marketing with a ride-n-drive event (as they did in the later 1990s with the Regals) would be good things to do, too. At the event we went to for the Regals in 1998, there were very few older people there, but lots of "Supercharged Family" types. The Hondas and such that were in the program were typically ignored! Yet these were NOT the allegedly "typical Buick owner". Many of the things that worked back then can work now, too, but with a generation now running things that was not around then, many don't know about these things or how well they can be used as marketing tools and investments--to change people's minds about Buicks how good Buicks ARE, if nothing else. Just some observations and thoughts . . . NTX5467 </div></div> See, I think you're right on here. The Chrysler 300s are really admired by teens/20's... we just cant hope to own one unless our folks are rich and stupid enough to buy us one. But we do look at some of the Chrysler cars as being really cool and affordable, especially as used cars we can buy. The Honda thing is total BS as far as I'm concerned (hey, my Grandpa fought in WWII and I'm not buying any Hirohito Trash!) but they do a wow job of making them fit what young people look for. Chevy still has a lot of cool from the old days as a muscle car builder and the 350 engine. Pontiac is still respected because of the Firebird and GTO. Ford because of Mustang. So a young guy could show up in one of those brands and not be laughed at out of hand. But Buick? Another story. Look, I'm in your corner here. But if Buick doesn't become known for something current that's cool really really really fast, they're history, toast, archives. This is way critical, folks! You CANT sell cars to dead people! GM keeps trying, but they just won't sign on the dotted line! LOL!

Lots of young people go to shows and get really turned off by lots of the owners. Granted that we ask really stupid questions and make really stupid remarks. But when the owners act all uppity and put up signs saying don't touch, etc etc etc, it just makes old cars look like grouchy old people. Muscle car owners are usually the worst. They're these old grey haired guys in t-shirts and tennis shoes acting like their feet don't stink. I met a guy who owns a Hudson like Doc Hudson in Cars. He was really nice to us and even let us sit in his car. He told us all about Hudson and what they were like when they were new. We all liked him and his car because he seemed like he wanted us too. I guess I'm saying car show attitudes really vary. All kinds of mean people own all kinds of cars. But lots of nice people own all kinds of cars too, so you just have to check out the nice people's cars and screw the rest of them. Probably goes for judges too.

Hey, I took my buddies over to see my new '52 Special and they were just wigging out. They were trying to figure out the gearshift on the column even though it has a clutch. What a hoot. Then they went ape when I showed them how the hood opens on either side or completely comes off. THEN they were floored by the str8-8 engine. Most had maybe seen a 4cl in line, and they wondered if it was 2 4cyl engines hooked together. I mean these guys know jack about cars and didn't have a clue. The huge back seat got some of them thinking that you could totally hook up great back there. Gee, what a novel idea. Wonder if that's ever been tried before? LOL. They agreed that no AC was a major bummer, but that was just more of the old school thing after all so it's okay. They laughed at the AM radio and asked me if I was going to cruise cool to Rush Limbaugh. Anyway, all things considered, they really liked my car. They can't figure out how I'll get it going again, but I know we will! So hey, Buick! Pick up the phone! Wanna attract attention and interest again? Just make the bombsight Buicks again! Guaranteed winner for you there!

Hey, I hear you about fart can Honda's. I hate 'em, too. But lots of kids like 'em for these reasons. One, they tick off old folks (yeah, I know, stupid reason, but there it is). Two, they are really really really reliable, so kids can blow their money on pot and beer rather than fixing up their cars (maybe over stated, but you get my point). Three, most kids like video games, not working on cars, so Hondas fit the bill really nicely there. But here's my main point. I'm saying that back when kids WANTED to own an Olds 88, a bombsight Buick, a GS or a GN, and respected Buick even though they had no hope of owning one, see? Now it's like, Buick? Yuck. Gross plastic geezer wagon. Buick has no cool about it, no desirability, no excitement about it period. Yes, older people need slow boring cheap looking cars to keep their blood pressure down and all, but when they finally do croak, no young people are going to want to take their place at the Buick dealership. Sorry if it seems like I'm disrespecting older people. I'm really not. I'm just trying to let you know how the young people feel about Buick and GM. They're both about as respected as beer puke on the floor of a public bathroom. It might not be fair or good for the country, but that's the reality. And GM and their slimy dealers are the ones who put Buick into this spot! They killed their own car, for crying out loud!

I'm way too young to be shopping for a new car, so maybe you guys can comment on this. The article says GM was really good at keeping their dealers happy. When the dealers wanted to sell a cheapo econobox car GM would slap a Buick badge on any hunk of junk and let the dealers scam the customers. So about the dealers, there was a cartoon in the funny papers the other day, Dilbert. The pointy haired boss was in a meeting telling Dilbert and the others that their company couldn't compete on price. They also can't compete on quality, service, or function. They would have to resort to fraud to sell their product. This would be the function of....MARKETING! So did GM and Buick rely on scamming the marketplace to sell junky cars and now it's caught up with them? And their reputation is so bad for it that they'll never recover the trust and respect they used to have? Has GM changed? Have the dealers? Some older people I've talked to say that car salesmen are the lowest forms of life on earth, born to lie and live to lie. They say going to look for a new car is worse than getting a root canal because the whole thing at the dealer is to rip your money away from you and leave you broke. The broker you are when they get through with you the better they like it. You gotta be kidding me. Who'd come up with a way of selling their stuff that makes the customer dread coming into your store? Who'd do business with that kind of person in the first place, let on keep doing it for nearly 100 years? I mean, if a kid is selling lemonade from a stand in his front yard and is deliberately ripping people off by advertizing lemonade but giving out pondwater, who'd come back? Who comes back to the Buick dealer? I guess only people who like pond water instead of lemonade. Is GM and Buick run by a bunch of retardos or what?

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/?p=3816 Maybe some of you have already read this article. I kind of think that some of what they say about the Buick today is true. I don't know ANYBODY who drives a Buick besides me. Not even old people, they're driving Camrys and Accords, mostly. I don't know of any teenager/20's who'd be caught dead in a Buick dealership or who'd drive one in public. I think the brand is in BIG danger of dying. Not only is it irrelevant to most younger drivers, it's actually a laughingstock. Look, I like the old ones. Like, the real old ones. I am fixing up a neat bombsight Buick (1952). But NO WAY would I consider buying a newer one. It simply isn't done. The new ones, and the ones within the last 30 or so years with the exception of the GN's, are totally geezer and cheap looking and just so boring. And if you're going to get mad at me for dissing our favorite car brand, try something out for yourself. Ask a teenager/20's, any teenager/20's, if he'd like to own a Buick and see the reaction for yourself. You're gonna get looked at like you've got worms crawling out your ears. My recipe for saving Buick: hot V8 engines with superchargers, great transmissions including a manual tranny option, 4drs with suicide doors, low roofline, long trunkline, no wedge shaped jelly bean body styling, get rid of all the gross plastic. Young people MIGHT at least look at one a second time. Right now, they don't even register with young people or count as looking a FIRST time. Don't shoot the messenger: Buick is a terminally ill patient and on life support.

There's kind of a sad sack looking '53 Super in a junkyard near me. It has a complete front end, but it's kind of ratty looking, with surface rust and dents. You probably want better, right?

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Reatta Man</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Yeah, that IS the car the YOOTS were driving. Of course, it could never, NEVER make the skid marks in the photo.... </div></div> What's a 'YOOT?' GOTCHA! I know what a yoot is... it's "a YOOOOTTTHHHHHH."That's just a cute way to use the judges question as my own. LOL

Plus lots of episodes have '50's-early '60's Buicks in them. You can get the episodes of this show through NetFlix.

This is such a cool movie. Lots of old cars and trucks (back when they were new!) and airplanes, too. The B-36's are just awesome bombers. The Buick Special 4dr in Strategic Air Command is the Base General's car, driven by a Sergeant. You get to see it a lot in the movie. The movie has great outside and inside shots of the car. You get to see it approach and stop in front of the camera and drive away from the camera several times, complete with sound. I really like it because it looks a lot like my '52 (but mine's a 2dr sedan) and because it also has the 3spd manual transmission, just like mine. The Air Force Blue painted car has no side trim other than the three Ventiports, and has Air Force markings in yellow on the front doors. I got to thinking about it after seeing the movie. It's about the Strategic Air Command of the early 1950's, which was the long range bombing part of the U.S. Air Force, right? So was it only accidental that the Air Force bomber guys drove around in "bombsight" Buicks? That's funny!

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: NTX5467</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Gaskets????? What about that fender cover???? NTX5467 </div></div> Hey, I don't imagine the fender cover is complaining! I sure wouldn't be.

All your "before" photos look better than my '52 Special looks today. It's going to take gobs and GOBS of work for me to get to get nice shiny, clean "after" pics like you've got. But at least now I know what mine is <span style="text-decoration: underline">supposed</span> to look like. Nice work! Keep up the updates.

To sort-of quote Ferris Bueller in the movie Ferris Bueller's Day Off" "The 1952 Buick Special Deluxe 2 Door Sedan Straight Eight with Manual Transmission: it is so choice! If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up." Speaking as a new owner of one, I can second his recommendation!

From what I've been reading, vinyl woodgrain degrades chemically. It's speeded up by the sun, mostly by ultraviolet light. There's longwave and shortwave UV light. The vinyl is in good shape because it's been protected from the sun, right? So keep it in the garage. When you have to go out, put a good UV blocking sunscreen lotion on the vinyl. Sounds crazy but it ought to work. Check out this sunscreen that blocks both longwave and shortwave UV light, just like you'd want (plus the chick looks hot!). http://www.plasmetic.com/skin/antiaging/...-this-fall.html

Word of warning about my post... I'm only 15 and don't know a lot about the Buicks yet. But I'm reading a lot and learning. And I just bought a '52 Special with the 3spd manual so I've been reading up on those in particular. I read on a website that the manual transmission behind '50's Pontiacs and Oldsmobiles were the same as the ones in the Buicks except for the tailshaft housing. The Buick has torque-tube while the PO's have Hotchkiss (open) drive. But the countergears of the transmissions would be the same, if I understand correctly. I'm seeing that there's tons more manual transmissions in early '50's Pontiacs than in Buicks, so maybe you'd be able to contact Pontiac bulletin boards and get more leads on the counter gear? Just a thought, and hope I'm not wasting your time.

Well, I pretty sure I'll be driving an old beater we have until I've gone at least one year as a new driver without any tickets or accidents. I'd hate to make a mistake driving a neat car like the Buick. Besides, this way we won't have to rush to get things done. Looks like parts are pretty much available but not locally so it will take a bit of time to get it done right.

Thanks for the compliments. The original owner has had it parked there for years and it's in pretty good shape, considering. All the trim you don't see is in the trunk and back seat. The grill and bumpers are REALLY nice. The the plastic center in the hood badge is missing as the owner said that got broken way back in the '60's. Are replacements available? I'll check the dash tag for paint code info. There's info on it, but I can't remember what it is. A question for anybody who may know about the rear axle ratios. The book I've got says the dynaflow cars had a 3.6 ratio while the manual tranny cars got the 3.9 ratio. The '53 Super at the junkyard has a complete V8, dynaflow and axle drivetrain present. Should I snag the rear axle and put the differential in the '52 for a bit better gas milage (hey, at $3.30/gal, every little bit would help!) or does decent in-town performance make the 3.9 ratio a must? Any interchange problems between the '52 and '53?

Yippee! Found the stamped engine number on the right hand (passenger) side of the engine just forward of the distributor and just below the valve cover on a special flat part. It was even tilted slightly so that once the 55 years of gunk was cleaned off I could see the numbers perfectly without even craning my neck. Thanks, Buick, for being so thoughtful! The engine number does NOT match the A-pillar number, but the DMV guy says they don't always and wasn't concerned. I wonder why the two numbers don't match? Anyway, I took the tracing I made of the '52 wheel lip out to the junkyard. Comparing it with the '53 wheel lip, the '53 is about an inch longer an opening than the '52, BUT... otherwise looks the same in all ways. It looks like the '53 wheel lip and lower quarter can be cut out of the '53 and an inch section cut out, then rewelded onto the '52 no problem!!! The rest of the quarter panel is different from the '52. The '52 has a crease about 3-4" above the wheel lip which the '53 doesn't have. So nothing above that crease line will work from the '53 but since just the '52 wheel lip is bad, that's not a problem. Hey, here's a funny thing: the color of the '53 in the junkyard is the same green as the '52. What're the chances of that? Actually, what are the chances of any of this happening for me? Most of my friends are going to be driving econoboxes and ricers. I get a '52 Buick Special Deluxe 2dr Sedan with a 3spd manual transmission! Yippeee! Ok, trying the picture thing again! Thanks for all the help you guys have been so far! This is really exciting!

Hey, JohnD! What a great suggestion! I explained what was going on to the owner. He called and talked to the DMV inspector and they told him they will accept a statement of originality from him. No DMV inspection needed according to the guy who runs the DMV office. So that's good news. I guess the ladies at the county tax office weren't sure what I had to do so they kind of shoved me off on the DMV? I got the tracing of the rear wheel lip and this morning. We're heading over to the junkyard to compare it with the '53 2drHT. I sure hope they're the same or close to it. Doesn't seem to be any patch panels available for this car? Anyway, if they'll fit, they're in great shape. I'm really excited that the car has the manual transmission. It seems to shift through the gears really nicely although I haven't actually gotten to drive the car yet. And the gearshift being on the column is really neat!!! That book by John Gunnell says that by 1952 85% of Buicks had the Dynaflow automatic transmission. Seems like that must have robbed power or something because the engine power for the automatic cars was higher than in the manual transmission cars. I wonder why they didn't just increase the horsepower of all the engines?

Thanks, guys! I'll go over and scrub off the grime on the frame and engine spots mentioned and see if I can find those numbers. This is beginning to be a Holy Grail quest for me now and I SHALL OVERCOME! I'll post what I find and what is on the title. The only major body problem on this car is some rust coming through on the rear wheel lips and lower quarter panels. They are mostly intact (not rusted away, just holes needing cutting out), but patch panels will be needed if available. I've found, by a huge stroke of luck, a '53 2drHT Super with PERFECT quarters in a local junkyard. The rear wheel lips look the same as on the '52 Special 2drSed, but I'll make a pattern and compare the two bodies to be sure. By the way, if anybody is needing some '53 2dr HT parts, let me know. I can snag some off the one in the junkyard. Ventiports, anybody?

Thanks, guys! I'll go over and scrub off the grime on the frame and engine spots mentioned and see if I can find those numbers. This is beginning to be a Holy Grail quest for me now and I SHALL OVERCOME! I'll post what I find and what is on the title. The only major body problem on this car is some rust coming through on the rear wheel lips and lower quarter panels. They are mostly intact (not rusted away, just holes needing cutting out), but patch panels will be needed if available. I've found, by a huge stroke of luck, a '53 2drHT Super with PERFECT quarters in a local junkyard. The rear wheel lips look the same as on the '52 Special 2drSed, but I'll make a pattern and compare the two bodies to be sure. By the way, if anybody is needing some '53 2dr HT parts, let me know. I can snag some off the one in the junkyard. Ventiports, anybody?

Thanks for the welcome! If I can get this car bought I'm for sure joining the Buick Club! And thanks for the tips. We went back over to the owner and we found the tag on the A-Pillar. It is held on with what looks like original screws but the number stamped on that tag doesn't match the VIN on the title. The firewall tag under the back of the hood on the passenger side does not have any VIN info on it. The Motor Vehicle people say they won't accept a body mounted tag anyway, so I guess I still need to find the frame stamping. The owner won't let us dismantle fenders, so any other ideas? Getting desperate here! Also, I uploaded a picture of the car, but the attachment won't click to show the picture. What's up with that?