JoelsBuicks

Hi, I'm trying to locate a 1931 Model A Ford Roadster that my Dad sold around 1972. He sold it to Tulsan Bill Darnell who did a complete restoration and then much later sold it to an unknown person/collector in Arkansas? - maybe in the late 90's. It began life as a Standard but Bill's restoration added the Deluxe package, I'm not sure just what this means but it is what Bill told me. It was the tan color with VIN A3983071 and Original Title Number D857587. If you know about this car or know how I can go about finding out who owns it or where it is, please let me know. I spent a lot of time pretending to drive this car over 40 years ago and my interest is in buying it if it is for sale. Thanks!

I am not sure that I can add much to this but I just finished going through this exercise, taking it off and then putting it back on. Both times it was like figuring out one of those puzzles - you know what I mean. Anyhow, what worked for me was to pull the torque ball and retainer off the shaft and then moving just the torque ball to one side a bit while rolling off the retainer to the other side. Not sure if all the clearances are the same - my car is a 60 Electra. Good Luck!

Just a quick followup on my original post. I decided to fix the dynaflow leak the conventional way - drop the rear end and remove the transmission instead of accessing via removal of the engine. The leak was coming from the torque converter cover and when I opened it up I found the large diameter o-ring to be cracked and lifeless. I've got several miles on her now and have yet to see a fresh drop of oil on the garage floor. I also fixed the fuel tank sending unit, got the back bumperettes straightened and rechromed, and replaced a leaking rear wheel grease seal. I know that hindsight is 20/20 but in retrospect, I believe that the engine removal approach would compete very well with what I did. In fact, if I have to go through this again, I'll find myself trying it!

There are no compatbility issues with ethanol and copper - just ask an old moonshiner!

I found that although I had quite a bit of old pattern wood still intact, it had warped and twisted to the point where I didn't really want to rely on it to get the curves right. Now I'm talking about the doors on a 36 Roadmaster here with curves from top to bottom as well as front to back. What I did was got some cheap 1/4" plywood panelling and a small block plane. My goal was to replicate the curve of the metal on the thin piece of plywood and then use the plywood to scribe the curve onto the replacement wood. This is a trial and error effort that goes really quickly if you can somehow get the intial bandsaw cut about right. Basically you are using the block plane to fit up the plywood pattern to the curvature of the metal. The high points on the wood are shaved until there are no low points/gaps.

Wow, I'd love to have purpleheart at $1/BF! It is very stable and strong and I can't think of a reason to not put it in the car, other than it just looks too good elsewhere. I used white oak for my structural parts because of its strength and rot resistance and I used cypress for non-structural for its lightness and rot resistance. The original wood in my '36 was white oak, red oak, maple, spruce or pine, and I believe some poplar. Since it is not likely that you'll subject the new wood to ants or water, you have lots of choices. I'd recommend you avoid hickory and gum because of their instability and ash seems to be eaten by those powder post beetles, even after it's thoroughly dried. I used water based polyurethane to seal the wood because it soaks in well and then polymerizes to a durable and water-proof finish.

When I had my inspection plate off, I did put a wrench on those plugs on the front of the torque converter. I just wasn't that lucky. The car is leaking about 1/4 pint or more after every run. Come to think of it, my car's engine and its compartment could use a paint job. At one time I was really thrilled about this car's great originality and low miles but its daily use is beginning to take its toll - i had to put in seatbelts, a side view mirror, good radial tires, and that old carpet now has a big hole worn through. On top of that, I find myself really admiring a good clean engine compartment. Seems like everyone that sees this car wants to see what's under the hood and this is certainly not her best side. As far as the engine itself, it is still strong with 70K miles on it and it uses very little oil. Other than having to wrestle with that hood, I'm not too afraid to pull the engine and it would keep me out from under the car. I wonder what motor mounts look like at 50 years old? Pete, I'm located in Katy, Tx and just moved here from northern OK. With the exception of this 60 Electra, my "fleet" is still back in Ok. This move was not exactly what I was wanting, but the alternatives weren't good either. About half of my cars are running and driveable and the others are complete but not running. The '35, 37-40, 38-40, and 39 will each require much effort. I recently added a sidemounted 38-40 that is complete but not running. To me, these old Buicks are some of the most beautiful cars ever built and one of these days, I'll get back on the right side of that river and finish them. Thanks,

<!-- google_ad_section_start -->I've reached a point where I really need to get the transmission leak fixed on my 60 Electra. I removed the inspection plate and it's coming from the front of the transmission, just behind the torque converter - most likely a main seal. A couple years ago I replaced the rear torque ball seal and it has held up very well. I'm really not wanting to get back into this rear part. Has anyone out there opted to just remove the engine to access the tranny as opposed to pulling the rear end out, etc.? If I do go ahead and pull the rear end, can I leave the torque ball joint intact and just pull everything out at once? Maybe the folks at transmission shops have a way to do this relatively painlessly and I should just bite the bullet and let them do it? Advice or comments on the right approach? I know of no compelling reason to have the engine out other than accessing the transmission. Thanks,<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

I'm sorry about that. Anybody here know how to move a post to the post-war forum? Joel

I've reached a point where I really need to get the transmission leak fixed on my 60 Electra. I removed the inspection plate and it's coming from the front and behind the torque converter - most likely a main seal. A couple years ago I replaced the rear torque ball seal and it has held up very well. I'm really not wanting to get back into this. Has anyone out there opted to just remove the engine to access the tranny as opposed to pulling the rear end out, etc.? If I do go ahead and pull the rear end, can I leave the torque ball joint intact and just pull everything out at once? Maybe the folks at transmission shops have a way to do this relatively painlessly and I should just bite the bullet and let them do it? Advice or comments on the right approach? I know of no compelling reason to have the engine out other than accessing the transmission. Thanks,

I get this all the time from my ads for buick parts I'm needing. Nothing but scammers that want you to send $$ Western Union. You'll get used to ignoring them. Joel

Jack, you say that the starting price is $3500. How much do you want for the car? Thanks, Joel

Greg, here is what I did. After removing the T-nuts from the bolts, I pulled/bent the metal back just far enough to remove the bolts. After inserting the new wood, I once again pulled back the metal and reinserted bolts. Then, I ground away the three little barbs on the T-nut and made a wrench to tighten the T-nuts (a spanner wrench of sorts). I had to hold the screw slot while I tightened, but I just used a screwdriver shoved into the slot sideways. I was not able to do this without permanent distortion of the metal, fixable with a little filler. Someday when I have to do this again for my series 40, I will grind away part of the back side of the countersink in the metal so that a new bolt will go in without having to permanently distort the metal - essentially make the hole bigger but leave enough metal for the bolt head to still catch. Joel

I'm certain that it wasn't freehand painted. I've heard that it starts with a based color and then a wood grain pattern is somehow transferred from an etched pattern plate to the base color. There are a few who still do this for restorations. Joel

Larry, for original cars, I've never seen anything but a woodgrain pattern on the interior metal. Joel

My 36 buick had primarily maple, and red oak. I used white oak as a replacement because of its rot resistance.

I recently had Kris do mats for my 36-91 and they are very nice. I did not have to send him the old mats. Instead, I carefully measured the mat and then did a computerized mathematical curve fit to generate a full-size paper template for him. He still has this template and can build your mats using them. No affiliations or associations, just a pleased customer.

What I did was take the rope seal and "bunch it up" which made it fatter but much shorter. As such, the supplied piece ended up being too short and so I had to buy 1 foot of the stuff from Bob's Automobilia. No problem getting a good fit. Joel

My original 36-91 has rear fender welting. It's approximately a 3/16" bead. Joel

For some reason, I've got a soft spot for these old Buicks. It's a thrill to be able to put one back on the road after this kind of shape - but it is far from having any kind of payoff. A few weeks ago, I finished the woodwork on the doors of my 36 Roadmaster and thoroughly enjoyed the process - mostly because woodworking was my first hobby and I've got the tools and patience to see this through. All four doors required new metal on the bottom 1/4th and this wasn't too bad of a job. I just bought a 38 special in about as many pieces as one can get but all there. To me, it's just a head start. Joel

Pete, with a running engine this car has a quick $1400 worth of parts, primarily the drive train, hood ornament, and all exterior lights. The 15" artillery wheels may be worth quite a bit, I just don't know their demand. You can scratch around and probably get another $1200 out of the popular Century rear end, body parts, instruments, and radiator. If you paid much over about $1850, you'd be working for very little. If you want to restore her, I'd go to about $1400 and even less if the inside window garnish is missing. Joel

Brian, I thought that the fuel pressure needed for proper carb operation was around 3-4 psi inlet pressure. If that is true. then you'll need to elevate your gravity feed tank 8 to 10 feet above the carb in order to mimick that pressure. Joel

Gary, have you checked the compression? How's the oil pressure? Do you know where the oil is coming from - rear main or oil pan? Are you wanting to remove the engine or just get it in better shape without removing? I'm guessing that your intentions are something less than a total rebuild, else you wouldn't be asking for advice. Do you know if this car came with rod and main bearing shims? If so, they could be removed to take up the bearing wear. At 66K miles, you might be able to get by with honing the cylinders and new rings. As for the head, at the very least I would take it to a trusted engine rebuilder and get it vatted and have the valves and seats ground and new valve guides installed. You really want the head to be right. Even if you removed the engine, you might consider just doing the above mentioned items. Of course you will want to do a few other things like get a new clutch plate, check the timing chain, and check the oil pump for wear. You might want to get the crank checked for roundness and then have it polished. Don't forget to use the ridge reamer on the cylinders or you might end up breaking the lands on the pistons during removal. Good Luck If you are

Thermal Conductivity and Specific Heat Capacity are two unrelated physical properties. Thermal conductivity is a measure of a material's ability to conduct a certain amount of thermal energy over a period of time and area. Heat capacity has no time function. The thermal conductivity of water is 0.61 W/mK (Watts per meter per degree Kelvin) and 50/50 mixture has 0.41 W/mK. So, the heat transfer rate of pure water is 49% greater than the 50/50 mixture. The heat capacity describes how much heat is in the fluid going to the radiator and so pure water would contain more energy than the 50/50 mixture. So, the benefit in cooling ability with pure water vs. 50/50 mix is due to both thermal conductivity and heat capacity and the impact is indeed significant.

CopperJohn, to answer your question, given everything else working properly, removing the thermostat would make the car run cooler because the radiator would see unrestricted flow and its ability to remove heat would be at a maximum as long as there was no other way to increase the flow. HOWEVER, there would be no advantage in doing this if indeed everything else was working properly. You can remove the thermostat and see what the difference would be but if the thermostat was working correctly, you would only get very marginally improved results. Also, removing the thermostat could indeed cause some minor problems like efficiency loss and slow warmup. Before you go any further, there are a couple things that you can do. First, check to make sure the pump is circulating fluid. Open the radiator and watch as the car heats up. This might also give you a good idea as to whether or not the thermostat is working. Low circulation could indicate a bad pump, a plugged radiator, or an open bypass. I'd check the bypass first. You could also run the pure water with water wetter and the improved thermal conductivity of just water will allow more heat transfer to the water from the engine and then to the air at the radiator. If I recall correctly, pure water has nearly 50% more thermal conductivity than 50/50 antifreeze/water. Last but not least, my bet is that your radiator is suffering from some sort of plugging, be it on the air or water side. The only reason I say this is because it seems that nearly every overheating situation that I've experienced or read about and where the owner has extensively tried and failed to remedy, ends up being the radiator. Good Luck,