Terry Wiegand

Ed is absolutely right on with his comments. I went over all of the wheel rim wedge nuts this morning. Found only two that needed a little bit more tightening. The two oil lines that feed the sight gauge on the dash need a little snugging up on the fittings up under the dash - had a little bit of seepage onto the top toe board. It will be things like this for a while. Every thing seems tight for the time being. The thing that just blows me away is how sweet that engine runs. The folks at Abrahams Machine did an excellent job with the rebuild. The thing now is to get the miles on it before The Red Flag Tour. Thank You to everyone for the encouragement along the way and the good words about things now. I'm heading out now for a ride. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas AACA Life Member #947918

Neil, Thank you for posting the videos on the Forum. As I said earlier, this is all brand new to me. I'm just a lowly toolmaker who loves old Buicks. Rock, I told my daughter that she did a very good job on these videos. She will enjoy your comment. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas AACA Life Member #947918

This is what everyone has been waiting for. Two videos were done on Saturday (07/16) and they were put on YouTube this afternoon. We are very new to this so please bear with us and everyone will get to see the results of what has been going on with this car for the last few years. What you will see in these videos is a car that has not been detailed out because it is very dusty and in some places just plain dirty. We hope that you will enjoy watching what we had a lot of fun putting together. It was 46 years and 11 days since the last time that I drove this car. I am finding out that I am having to learn to drive it all over again. The steering is very tight, the cone clutch operation is very smooth. The transmission shifts very smooth with the flaked graphite added to the gear oil. I know that I will be going over things every time that it is driven for quite a while. Mark Shaw has given me good information about how to get the brakes adjusted properly. I am working on that and I'm not quite there just yet, but I'm closer than I was. Here is what you need to do to see the videos. Get on YouTube website. Type in my name, TERRY WIEGAND, in the search box. It will bring up the 4 videos that I have on YouTube. The two that you will want to watch are 1916 BUICK WALK AROUND and 1916 BUICK LOCAL DRIVE. Thanks for your patience with this. We have a lot to learn here. Terry and Barbara Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas AACA Life Members #947918

Our daughter and son-in-law were here this morning and they got their first rides. Mary created two videos with the car. The first one is a walk around of the car with the engine running and then I go into some detail about who did what on the car for us. The second one has her in the front passenger seat and we take about a two mile drive. She got some good shots of the speedometer, ammeter, and the rest of the dashboard. She is going to do what has to be done so that the videos can be shared on here. We have over 10 miles on the clock right now and that is just in our neighborhood. I have to get to work now and get the car really cleaned up and detailed out so that we can get the video done on the Douglas Photographic turntable. East Moline is now less than a month away. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas AACA Life Member #947918

There is Great News this evening! We put about 4 miles on the car early this evening in our neighborhood. Went through all the gears and had it up to about 25 MPH for a short stretch. The next thing is to get the brakes adjusted properly. I am going to adjust the rods via the turnbuckles first because the foot pedal is going almost to the floorboard before things take a hold. I knew that this was going to have to be done. Once that is done then the fine adjustment on the brake bands will come into play. There is a huge learning curve to get things like they need to be when all is said and done. I had one instance of some gear clash when going from second to high. The boss said HEY! what's going on here. I told her it's called learning to drive this car all over again. It sure was a fun drive for a while. That engine runs so smooth and the throttle response is better than I ever remember it being almost 50 years ago. We are going to do some video in the morning. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas aka Way Out in Doo Dah AACA Life Member #947918

It's coming - bear with us a bit. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas AACA Life Member #947918

New fresh break-in oil is in the crankcase and I have had the engine running for at least half an hour. It was felt that it was not a good idea to put the engine under load if there was any chance that diluted fuel had made its way into the crankcase. Better to be on the safe side than to be sorry in the end. The bottom toe board needs to go back in place with a machine screw in each end. The boss runs the screwdriver on the top side while a #10 lock washer and machine nut goes in place down below. There really isn't anything holding up that first drive, so we are going to get after it. Terry and Barbara Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas AACA Life Members #947918

The Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper was here at the shop this morning. We received the final inspection for the vehicle so that the title can be moved from non-highway status to regular Certificate of Title. As soon as UPS brings the case of break-in oil this car will be ready for a drive. This has been a long time getting to this point. We just might take it for a short drive this evening. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas AACA Life Member #947918

Neil, you is da man! Thank you for your help with this. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas AACA Life Member #947918

While Luke was here Thursday evening and the engine was running so very nicely, I took a Dwell reading to see where things were at. I got a reading of 28. Hugh Leidlein tells me that this equates to a point gap of .018". When I was setting everything together I set the points at .018". Another friend has advised LEAVE IT ALONE! I'm not going to touch a thing. This engine runs so nice and if anything is messed with I'm afraid that what I have will be lost. The advice is well taken. I'm trying to be patient while waiting on the case of break-in oil to get here. Once that gets here it's go for a drive time. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas AACA Life Member #947918

There is something else that I need some help with. I titled this thread "DESPERATELY NEEDING HELP". A lot of you guys responded and the help with this engine that was needed so badly was given and this car is on its way to being back on the road. Can I change the title?, and if so, how does a person go about doing that? Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas AACA Life Member #947918

Marty, it's always good to hear from you. If you will be at the AACA Fall Meet next month in East Moline, Illinois, you will get to see this ol' gal up close and personal. I am going to have this car judged just one time and then it's try and run the wheels off it. With regard to the break-in oil and time schedule, I am following the advice of the engine rebuilder. Their shop has been in business since 1927 and they have gone through an engine or two since then. They did a wonderful job on this rebuild and I trust the advice that they are giving me. I remember the guys telling me that a person should stay as far away as possible from any type of synthetic lubricant with an engine that has poured bearings. I do not remember exactly what was said, but using a mineral based oil was the best way to go. I personally know of several guys who are running 20W50 as their oil of choice. I grew up watching my Dad use Havoline oil in all of his vehicles and never having any problem whatsoever. Here is a photo of the break-in oil I am using. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas AACA Life Member #947918

The news yesterday evening sure was great and very welcome. That engine sure runs sweet for being almost 108 years old. During the process of getting the carburetor set to run well we had some run time that had an extremely rich mixture being taken into the engine. All of us agreed that it would be a very good thing to change the oil before putting the engine under load. I'm using Champion SAE 30w break-in oil for the first 200 miles and then switching over to Havoline 20W50. I have a case coming from Speedway Motors since I do not have enough for a complete crankcase fill right now. It will be a few days before we can do our video like we want to do. Now is not the time to cut any corners and do anything to mess up this wonderful rebuild. Please trust me when I say that that engine runs so sweet, because it sure does. Luke did a fantastic job with getting that Marvel Carburetor set to the point that it really runs well and I want to drive this car so bad that I can just taste it. I will keep you up to date with the goings on. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas AACA Life Member #947918

There is wonderful news to report tonight from out Doo Dah Way. Luke Chennell from McPherson College came down and helped me get the carburetor dialed in really good so that the engine now runs really smooth and steady. It has good throttle response and we are going to take the first test drive on Saturday morning. We are going to do a video on Saturday morning and the link information will be posted right here on the forum. This has been a long time to get to this point - 46 years and 3 days to be exact - way too long to let a car like this set. It is now time to start making up for all that lost time. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas AACA Life Member #947918

Everything has been put back together and ready for the start-up. This has taken way longer than we had anticipated, but there have been twists and turns every step of the way and problems that needed to be dealt with. There is an offer of help with the adjustment of the carburetor. I am not going to turn down good experience with one of these Marvel units. Probably going to miss the July 4th date by a day or two, however, I want to be on the safe side of things and get it right. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas AACA Life Member #947918

The new Oldham ring is ready for installation and hopefully this will get the engine ready for the first drive in many long years. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas AACA Life Member #947918

Reo M, PM sent Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas AACA Life Member #947918

Mark, You might want to get in touch with Russ Furstnow out in Flagstaff, Arizona. He is the absolute best in the business at reworking these old speedometers. His phone is - (928) 526-1343. His email is - 1stnow@msn.com I am very envious of you at this point. We just have a few days to go and our '16 WILL be back on the road also. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas AACA Life Member #947918

Andy, What you are saying is true. However, the impellor is staked to the shaft and the water pump cover holds the pump shaft gear against the thrust bearing in the timing gears case. When a person looks at this whole thing it is indeed a fairly complicated affair. When I machined the new shaft coupler it then went for heat treating. Making a new Oldham ring was the obvious way to fix this. Going this route let the original drilled taper pin hole continue to be used. I remember the late Del Carpenter telling me to be sure and leave .050" gap in the coupling so that the Starter/Generator would not be put in a bind and not be able to 'motor'. The fellow who helped me with the water pump assembly got a little carried away with that .050" gap. At least things are fixable. This situation would have become known last year had the water pump bushing not gone South. I was told that I do not have the luck of the Irish, but an overabundance of just plain dumb luck to have the engine run for almost half an hour last week like it did. The light is getting very bright at the end of what seems like miles and miles of tunnel. Larry D. has been down that rabbit hole more times than I would ever want to go. This once is way more than enough for me. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas AACA Life Member #947918

Here is a photo of the Oldham ring and the water pump shaft coupling that plugs onto the ring from the water pump side. These are not the actual parts from the car but are extras that I have had for years that are being used here for illustration purposes. The new ring will end up being approximately .080" to .085" thicker than the original to take up some of the excess space between the two mating surfaces. This problem did not reveal itself until the car was ready to be put in service. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas AACA Life Member #947918

The problem has been found. Luke C. from McPherson College came down this afternoon and he was able to determine that the Oldham Coupling between the end of the water pump shaft and the input end of the Starter/Generator armature is jumping out of gear and throwing the timing clear out of sync. The solution is going to be have a new coupling ring made and increase the thickness by about .080". Problem solved. I will post a photo of this piece this evening. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas AACA Life Member #947918

Oldtech, At this point I don't think it would be wise to dismiss anything. But please explain how this engine can be cranked over repeatedly and all of the plugs remain bone dry. It would seem logical that if the vacuum was being maintained in the cylinders, all of the plugs would be sopping wet with fuel and thus flooded out. There has got to be something going on here that is so simple that it is being overlooked. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas AACA Life Member #947918

It is 103 degrees in the shade right now. We tried for about 5 separate times to get the engine to start with absolutely no luck. Please keep in mind that we did 'exactly' as Mark Shaw outlined for us to do. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas AACA Life Member #947918

I asked for help with this situation and I have received a lot of support from you guys out there. I literally had to step back a bit for my own emotional and mental well being. Thank you for your help with this issue. I really appreciate all of your comments about what is going on. Let me give a little background as to what has gone on up to this point. I had the folks at Classic Carburetors in Phoenix go through this particular unit almost 10 years ago. Mark called me and gave me the tracking number so that I would know when to expect the package. It got here, I opened the box and checked things over, and I then closed the box back up and put it in the bottom drawer of my desk out in the shop. It was around this same time that I sent the vacuum tank out to John Wolf and Company in Ohio for restoration. Again, the piece got back home, was checked over, and set aside for later use. As time has gone by the engine has been completely rebuilt, the car has been completely re-upholstered, a new top and side curtains were made. While all of this was going on I had absolutely no idea that when it came time to install the carburetor there was going to be any problem of any kind. We get to August of last year and the water pump bushing sidelined the whole process. It's start over again. I can say at this point that last year the engine started with no issues and ran well until the water pump went South. We get to last week and the engine started and ran really well for between 20 and 30 minutes. Shut it off and haven't been able to get it started since. I have cleaned the plugs, ran a compression check on all cylinders, checked the ignition system and found hot fire at the plugs. Checked the timing to see if anything might have changed - it didn't. I spoke with John Wolf this morning about the vacuum tank. He told me that if the engine had ran for almost half an hour last week, he felt very confident that the vacuum tank is operating properly. I will agree with his thinking on that point. In Jon's posting yesterday he says that the fuel valve that I have in my unit is different from original, but he did not say that it would not work. I opened the petcock on the side of the oil pan to see just what might be running out. I do not hear worth a crap, but my sniffer works really well. I did not detect any odor from gasoline at this point. Mark Shaw has given me some really good advice as to how to proceed from this point. I am going to wait until my son-in-law comes by after work and we are going to step on the starter pedal again with the car outside of the building and the CO2 Fire Extinguisher close at hand. Who knows, I might get lucky and it will start. Will keep this thread updated. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas AACA Life Member #947918

Guys, I do not want to come across as argumentative about this but there is something not right going on here. When gasoline comes pouring out the end of the air intake, that is a little bit more than a flooded engine. After talking with Jon, he asked me to post some detailed photos of the needle and seat for the float bowl. The problem with the water pump has been corrected and things in that area are working fine now. This engine has roughly one hour of run time on it since being completely rebuilt. I had the folks at Classic Carburetors rebuild the unit for this car almost 10 years ago. It sat in the box on my bench until it was put into use last year. On two separate occasions I was able to start the engine with it. Based on what I am seeing here and now I simply do not know how this happened. This whole situation defies common sense. It has been verified that there is good fire through the plugs. The valves are seating properly giving good compression (55-60 lbs on each cylinder). There is nothing wrong with the timing - that has been checked again. Until someone can explain why gasoline comes pouring out the intake of the carburetor when the engine has stopped being cranked, I am going to continue saying that there is something internally wrong with the carburetor. It does not do this on the 1920 and these two carburetors are basically the same. The plugs have been pulled and cleaned (they were carboned up but dry) and they are NOS AC Titan plugs like what was in the engine when the car left the factory. Both times that the engine ran with these plugs it ran just fine. There is something not right going on with this carburetor and we will get to the bottom of things. I have came too damn far with this restoration and I am not about to give up now. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas AACA Life Member #947918