JoelsBuicks

From what I can tell, the Sequoia Cream looks to be a little more yellow but I've only seen pics. Could it be the same color as Francis Cream but with just a name change? I know that the guy at PPG worked for quite some time to come up with a cross reference before giving up. Rod, AutoColor may be the way to go. Thanks, Joel

I've reached a point where I need to purchase paint for my 36 Roadmaster. Originally, the car was black but I want to change it to Francis Cream which is apparently a one-year only offering for Buick in 1936. I've found a website that has cross references to colors but the codes they show are not meaningful to either DuPont or PPG suppliers. In order to get the right color, I either need a small patch of Francis Cream color for them to match or I need the formulation. Has anybody gone through this process for this color? At this point, I'm looking at a single stage urethane, either PPG, DuPont, or Sikkens. Thanks for your help,

Rod, I'm not sure that I'm going to be much help but I just finished replacing all my brake lines on my '36 Roadmaster. My replacement hose happened to be the same length of the old one that I removed and I'm pretty sure that it was original since my car was last on the road in 1947. However, I was expecting both ends of that hose to be fixed in place with the "C" clips. One end would connect to the short line that goes to the MC and the other would clip on the ear that is welded to the torque tube. The hose was several inches from reaching that point and it turns out that the old brake line running along the torque tube extended through that ear, thus leaving one end of the hose connection "hanging in the air" so to speak. I'll plan to install a rubber grommet in that ear hole so that things don't move or rub too much. Joel

Yep, short rubber hose from tank to steel line then steel all the way to front cross member and then about 16-inches of hose to pump. I don't know anything about a vent line? Joel

Mike, rear end and/or u-joint clunking after 39,000 miles just doesn't sound right to me. I wonder if there is a way for you to better pinpoint the problem before you take this thing apart. Did you try running the car with the rear wheels off the ground? Not too long ago, I dropped the rear end out of my '60 to fix a tranny leak. I have no idea if the 58 is like the 60 but I'm sure there are similarities. This was not an easy job but a couple things really helped. One was a good friend who quickly handed me every tool I asked for and the other was getting the car frame about 21 inches off the floor. Do make sure that your car is very well supported before you crawl under it.

I don't know this person but I am guessing that you are looking at the same person in each pic - it's the nose I think. good luck

I still remember quite some time ago when I bought my first battery for my Karmann Ghia back in the late 70's. Being a big math fan back then, I did some quick figuring and concluded that I was only renting the battery. My monthly rent was simply the cost of the battery divided by the number of warranted months. I came to this conclusion because I almost never saw my Dad buy a battery that wasn't credited for a few months left on the old battery and so my paradigm was that batteries didn't last beyond the warranty. In the last 30 years I recall only one battery that outlasted it's warranty period - my wife's Honda Civic's original battery did much better than it's 3-year warranty. As such, I've never changed my thinking that I'm merely renting a battery. If the retailer stops the long term coverage, then I'll go elsewhere to find the lowest rent because I do not believe that battery quality will suddenly improve when there's no longer a long term warranty.

I think you're right. It's been about four years but I recall that you disconnect the control cable through that inspection door and so it goes to reason that you should be seeing the control valve which is on the water inlet side as you suggest. When my valve went bad and started leaking, I went through the thought process of doing a solder job revision and installing a valve in the engine compartment. Almost by accident, I stumbled upon an elderly gentleman in California that rebuilds these valves. Otherwise, my car would have ended up with the same thing that your car may very well have.

I suppose that it is possible that someone put a different heater core in there. My 60 has the valve built into the end of the heater core. Perhaps you're just overlooking it and expecting it to be inline somewhere?

My mistake, I got this confused with a '37 engine and tranny that I bought seperately a couple years ago. I'm still kind of surprised that those two years would be different.

I don't know about the legality but maybe you can find a small airport and buy aviation gasoline aka Avgas. Avgas will probably be over 100 octane, which you don't need, but it has a lower vapor pressure and still has the old lead additive. The lower vapor pressure helps significantly with vapor lock. It will probably be north of $5/gallon. -Joel

I'm in the process of getting clutch assemblies rebuilt for my two 38 Specials. I thought these cars were pretty much original and so I was surprised to see that I have two different size transmission shafts and therefore require two different clutch plates. Have I entered a parallel universe or something? Anyone know what's going on? The only difference I know of is that one has sidemounts. This just seems uncharacteristic to me. If this indeed is a legit difference, what else in the clutch area should I be concerned with? Thanks,

Without specific permission and licensing and confidentiality agreements, we are prohibited from performing research and testing on proprietary products even though they are commercially available. And, for the products that we do gain licensing for testing, there are non-disclosure agreements whereby we cannot discuss results outside of that agreement. That being said, it is my opinion that there are additives commercially available that do perform their stated function. No genius here but regarding my '60 Electra I'll tell you a short story. In the mid to late 60's, I would stand up in the seat next to my dad. He would often tell me the year and make of the cars on the road. Every time I saw a 60 Buick, I would ask dad about it and he'd tell me, "that's a 60 Buick boy". I wanted one of those cars for forty years and finally the opportunity was right. Just got back from about a 500 mile round trip this past weekend and she was "talkin sweet" another one of dad's sayin's.

I'm beginning to see more posts and stories about bad experiences thought to be related to ethanol in gasoline. Part of what I am paid to do professionally is to participate in ongoing research concerning ethanol in gasoline. While the product of this research is overwhelmingly non-public, intellectual property and cannot be disclosed here, I can talk in general terms and about issues of either common knowledge or otherwise available to the public. For the most part, the stories we've heard are not without merit and are explained through an understanding of basic chemistry. There are other documented problems attributable to ethanol that only have causal theories. Anyone who has had basic college chemistry might wonder how a mixture of gasoline and ethanol interact with each other. The thought is that an alcohol by itself behaves chemically different than gasoline by itself. In chemistry, alcohol is a known polar solvent whereas gasoline is almost entirely non polar. So, how does the mixture behave and why do we care? We care because the systems and their materials of construction need to withstand its exposure. We also care because we need to know what time does to such mixtures, particularly when the mixture is exposed to other contaminants like oxygen or fuel additives. We also need to know about varying concentrations of ethanol in gasoline and how this affects all of those things mentioned. Do we know about these things? Not all of them. Steve, I am not at all surprised to hear about the problems you are having but I'd really appreciate a followup from you to hear if your clearing the system works. A researcher wants to hear the followup because if, in the end, you found a bugs nest blocking a line, then your assertion of bad gas might still be true but not necessarily. Generally speaking, once gasoline enters your tank it will degrade according to conditions in and around the tank and according to the condition of the gasoline when it was put in - particularly moisture level and oxygen. In short, it could happen to you and not someone else. Speaking strictly from a scientific opinion, it appears to me that the zeal for ethanol is outpacing the scientific understanding of long term impacts. I am very concerned about concentrations of ethanol in gasoline that approach a level any higher than 15% and that is all I have to say about that.

Well I made it back to Katy tonight and the Electra never missed a beat. That was a great time for me and I've never met a bunch of more likeable people. So Pete says I won an award? I was not expecting that. I really enjoy driving that car, knowing its not a great deal different than it was just 50 years ago. I've been reminded several times by people on this board to keep the car original and so far I've listened but I had to learn to appreciate that good advice. I wish I could have stayed longer and brought my wife but I just feel fortunate to have been able to go. All it cost me was a floor tile job which is needs to be left for the younger guys. Thanks again,

Mike, I made it to Austin yesterday evening and I've got a tile job to do here at my sister-in-law's place. The '60 made it in style without a hitch. I'll drop down on Hwy 1 to 290 west tomorrow morning, hopefully for 9am arrival. I have never shown a car before so someone can show me the ropes and I'll gladly register when I get there. I tried to post with my Blackberry last night but couldn't - if someone knows the trick, pass it on. Anyways, thanks so much and we'll see you tomorrow morning.

Mike, I don't think that your flush program using CLR will hurt anything as long as you do that final flush with clean water and don't leave the final two bottles in there very long or maybe just use one bottle for the second round. CLR is pretty mild phosphoric acid and it may have some acetic acid in it also. I hope that this flush is all you need but I'm skeptical when it comes to quick fixes on overheating problems. I'd bet that over 90% of the overheating cases end up being a plugged radiator and one that is plugged will not flush and may not even be roddable. I guess that is a worst case and it is why we spend a lot of time and energy looking for the other possible causes - hoping for something less intensive or expensive. I wish there were some better ways to either indict or rule out the radiator. I've heard of the IR temp guns being used and I've seen one post that suggested that a radiator should be able to dump its contents out the bottom in about 2 seconds. Perhaps such experiments may be worth a try? Your Buick has a bypass valve that may be circumventing flow in the radiator. If I recall correctly, it needs to be closed so that it does not simply redirect block discharge flow back into the pump suction. You might be able to tell if it's closed by just looking into the radiator and verifying that you're getting good flow there. Of course you can run through all the things that Eric has pointed out and try your best to not end up at his No. 9. Do make sure the outside of the fins are clean. Good Luck!

I'll be coming saturday morning to see the cars. I didn't register a car but I want to see if my 60 Electra will at least take me there. I've got only about a 100 miles on a tranny R&R to fix a leak. It will be a white 4-door if I make it but it won't be shown. I hope to meet some of you there,

David, Rigo sold the car to me a couple years ago. I've started some chrome and emblem work and have it in a nice dry place. I'm looking forward to spending more time with it but it is probably a couple years out yet. By-the-way, I really appreciated my dealings with Rigo, he's a straight up guy and I've shared a few emails with him since.

For some reason, thoughts of Herb Alpert came to mind. Would love to have seen this!

Mike, how about that, I get to be the first to welcome you here. You would certainly have gotten a lot quicker response if you would have posted this in the General discussion forum or as a new thread in this pre-war forum. And, if I knew how to move your first post I'd do so, but I think it's out of my control. Maybe you could just post again or perhaps a moderator will get this in the right spot. Anyways. congratulations on your Buick purchase, I think those big models represent Buick luxury at its best You made a real wise move to get involved with these folks because they are some of the friendliest, most helpful and knowledgable folks around. I mostly lurk here, contributing when I can. Another must, in my opinion, is to join the Buick Club of America. Among many other benefits, it gives you access to the Buick Bugle, a colorful monthly publication that is second to none in its class. I hope that you enjoy learning about your car but I'll warn you, this hobby is addictive. Indeed you'll find NAPA to be a good source for brake and some engine parts and you'll also find this forum to be a great place to ask about the harder to find parts. Again, welcome to this place and congratulations!

A rust free, no accident original and complete car might actually get some attention. Most of the attention would be to verify that indeed the car is without rust because most potential buyers would be skeptical of this claim, given all the places for rust-through to occur. But sticking with a rust free condition and assuming that the curved glass is good, I think that without doing anything else to the car, one could expect no more than about $2000. Now, if you were to clean her up a bit - air in the tires, some wheel covers and show that the engine turns over, you might get few hundred more. Someone will most likely have to invest an average of $800 just to get her home. I doubt that anyone could restore this car and get their money back and that can be said for just about anything these days. But, there are people out there that are looking for original, rust-free projects and would be interested. You really need to push the the rust free claim with lots of pictures showing that there's no rust where rust usually lurks. I love the look of the 58 hardtops, even the four doors.

Scott, you don't mention what car you've got but I can get two '36 bumpers w/guards and '36 grille beautifully plated here in Houston for $1060. I've had a lot of chrome work done here this year and this guy says that business is as slow now as he has ever seen it. I take my parts to him and he looks them over, looks me over, and then writes out a cost estimate. I pay 50% upfront and 50% at pick up. I really can't imagine chrome work getting much better than this - it looks like a mirror. I'm guessing that you do not get a response because they know you're shopping and they can't compete with the lowest cost provider. I suppose they ought to tell you that upfront instead of letting you go through the inconvenience of sending them pics through email. I'm guessing your best deal will be to show up in person with cash and ask for their best deal and have more than just one place line up to visit.

Ok, I'll bite. First, without pics it will be a wide range but I'm guessing that the car starts up, runs good, no smoke, shifts well and goes down the road without having to be "herded." I'd say $8,000 tops with a $5,000 floor. In the last couple years, I've watched the value of these lesser collectible kind of cars go down by 25-40% and that also goes for some of the more popular 2-door versions as well. About all I can advise is to clean her up the best you can, make her sound like a sewing machine, put wheel covers on, and fix anything that really looks offensive. I've seen the words "easy restoration" used before and I suppose that relative to "Ol' Rusty" or "Holey Roller", these original, unmolested, no-rust-through, cars could be called easy. But if you're spending money to make it nice, new upholstery costs about the same regardless of the condition of the old upholstery. Same deal with paint, chrome, glass, wiring, and engine. The cost to do these things continue to go up and nowadays, you can buy the car that has it already done for much less than doing it yourself. It's hurt the demand for cars like yours and commensurately impacted the value.

I've got a similar story for my 36 Series 90 but I doubt that what I found could happen twice but here's what happened. This car was fitted with an electric fuel pump mounted fairly close to the engine. After just a few minutes of running, the car would die and was obviously starved for fuel. When checking the lines with air pressure, I noticed that it was difficult to blow any air back through the fuel line and into the fuel tank. I then disconnected the fuel line at the tank and then tried to blow (air pressure) through the line which runs to the fuel pump - had no problems there - was very open. I then tried to blow through the short tank line and into the tank - couldn't do it - it was stopped up. I fished a wire through the tank line but it stopped abruptly and would not go all the way through the line. I removed the tank and then removed the sending unit and tried numerous times again to clear the line. With a flashlight, I could see the end of the line at the bottom of the tank. I also seen a bead of weld along side of the line that held it to the bottom of the tank. After some guessing and measuring, I concluded that the weld bead must have penetrated the line and partially blocked it thereby making it easy for small debris to complete the clog. I ended up using a long drill bit to drill a hole through the line just behind the weld bead. I retried the wire and sure enough, it was blocked at the weld. No fuel problems since. Now, let me talk a little about the bubbles you are seeing. It could very well be that if you have an upstream clog, like the one I had, the vacuum created by your pump would easily cause a bit of phase separation in the high vapor pressure gasoline. The bubbles could be a butane or isobutane component of gasoline. Once the vapor or bubble is created, it doesn't want to go back into a liquid form very quickly. In other words, you may not be seeing air. This probably won't do you much good as these kind of problems only seem to hang around me! Good Luck with it.