Roger Barrett

Just replace the electric pump and you will be better off in the long term. They can be had in either 6 or 12 volts from Napa parts stores. These cars are parked for long periods of time and an electric pump make them much easier to start when tour season begins.

It’s possible, even likely, that the steel tube inside your Marvel heat riser jacket has rusted through. This causes a massive vacuum leak that is undetectable by normal procedures. Remove the intake manifold and look down the riser with a penlight and a pick looking for holes in the tube. If there aren’t any, there will be at some point in the future. The tubes used to be available but now I have to make them. I have done a bunch of these for Buick guys. It’s not a project for the average person. It takes equipment and a machinist.

If you are losing that much fuel you will have to find the leak. Be advised that even if everything else is perfect the porous castings for the float bowls of these carbs are so crude that modern high volatile petrol will seep right through them. Install a shutoff valve at the carburetor.

One possibility is the thin steel sleeve in the Marvel heat jacket between the carburetor and intake manifold is rusted through which creates a vacuum leak that can’t be diagnosed with conventional methods. It will drive you crazy trying to get the engine to run. The only way to investigate it is to pull the heat jacket of and inspect it, trying to punch holes in it with a pick.

I have repaired rods like this with helicoils.

It sounds like you have the transmission in two gears at once. With the clutch released you should be able to pry one and then both of the gears into neutral. Will your engine turn over if you hold the clutch released with a stick, or a helper?

Standard or Master series? I went through this years ago with mine.

Is this Gary’s roadster? I put the overdrive in it for him. Anyway, I don’t think the golf door had a lock. On our car we used door handles from about 1925 vintage Chevrolet open cars that are available in stainless steel from the Filling Station antique Chevy parts house. I used then on the doors, rumble seat and golf door.

Well that is a neat custom bodied car, looks like the smaller series. The wheels are not Buffalo, possibly Dayton or Houk. You will just have to compare your hubs and drums to those on the wire wheels. All things are possible with sufficient time and money.

It’s anything but a simple matter. I put Master series wire wheels on our 27 Standard roadster. The model 54 is of the larger series than the model 26 so everything is going to be bigger and the rear wheel bearings will be entirely different. I solved the problem by using the Master series front and rear ends. There are some simple bushings to be made to attach them to the springs. They have the same track width and you get bigger brakes in the deal too. The driveshaft had to be shortened so I took the opportunity to put in an overdrive.

I built a 27 master with new pistons for a guy and they were either Ross or J&E. They were works of art and it was a shame to hide them in the engine. I expect they will still have the CNC program written for them.

Ross and J&E make beautiful custom pistons.

The relief valve should be set higher than 30 lbs. You may have to shim up the spring. Also watch for leaks in the oil manifold joints. You should be able to hold 40 psi from an external oil source easily. Here’s another tip. The original oil filter had a fitting with an orifice to limit oil flow to the rocker arms and valves. If that is not in place the engine will dump off pressure into the valve cover.

I have a couple sets of very usable wood spoke Buick wheels for the small series cars. Standard six 1926/27 or series 114 in 1928/29. I have a set that came off a nice original 1928 model 27 sedan that was wrecked in a trailer accident. Another set that I took of my father’s 1927 Standard roadster when we went to Buffalo wire wheels. Both sets are natural wood finish, not painted. I also have rims for them. They are for 5.25 - 21 inch tires. What do you have in mind? You say you can use standard or master. They are quite a bit different. I am in Northern California. They are heavy, probably would be shipped on a pallet by truck.

1928 model 20. Where are you located? I may be able to help.

Those lines need some attention. The attachment surfaces need to be dressed so they are flat. Then the joints need to be soldered while the oil manifold is bolted down with the proper gaskets. Both of these issues will cause internal oil leaks that will cause low oil pressure. The dents in the tubes should not be a problem. If you replace the tubes use brass. Pay particular attention the the oil pressure relief valve. When I build these inline Buicks I pressurize the oiling system with an external source to check for problems not visible when the pan is on.

If it’s seized up, you should take it apart and clean everything up then reassemble with proper lubrication. They are not real complicated. If the shaft is good that’s a real plus. Put in a good seal and go with it.

The solution to that is this tool. It does not involve cheesy shims that fall out. It is basically a heavy C clamp that forces the spoke down into the hub while crimping the steel felloe tight around the spoke nipple. This one has several different dies to handle different size spokes. The only downside is that any wheelwright that works on this rim later will hate you for putting the squeeze on it.

We use hydraulic jack oil from the parts store. We have rebuilt a bunch of these Lovejoy shocks. Doing it right involves replacing the shaft attached to the shock arm and putting a modern seal on it. Time intensive and priced to suit.

Something jammed with the oil pump drive?

That’s a fine Buick. 1927 model 24. There were only just over 4000 of them built. Probably a few dozen remain. Yours looks very similar to mine but yours has the correct Patrol Green color above the belt line. My dad said he saw enough of that color in the army and we opted for a darker green. Your radiator guard is not original to the car but looks ok on it. The radiator has issues that will cause you grief in the long term. Leaks and overheating. It would be best to have it recored. Alex Trepanier is a go to guy for that in California. A modern high efficiency core would look just the same behind that faux grille and keep you cool. I just had a 1914 Buick recored locally for $1200. Here’s my late father’s car.

Yes you can.

It’s a good idea when driving one of these long distances to occasionally downshift into second gear so the cluster gear will get oil to the mainshaft bearings. When I build DB transmissions I use sealed bearings on the mainshaft so I don’t have to worry about that.

Contact Tom Van Meeteren. If anyone has it, it’s him. I just bought cap, rotor, and points for my 1914 from him NOS. This stuff is rare and priced accordingly.

MEK, methyl ethyl ketone, is a very powerful industrial solvent. It will dissolve that goo and most any organic compound it is exposed to. Toluene is in the same class of chemicals. Handle them with care. They are often available and paint stores as they are used to clean up airless paint spray equipment.