Terry Wiegand

Kevin, I love the way you have added the dimensions onto the photos. Is this what is called 'Photoshop'? I am running Windows 7 as the operating system on our computer - will this support this program if this is what it is? These wooden framed bodies at this point in time were really complex structures. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas

Would anyone of you Buick enthusiasts know of a gentleman by the name of K. P. Yost in Kutztown, Pennsylvania? In the early 1990's (before Dean Tryon started his newsletter) I bought a bunch of NOS 1916/1917 Buick D-45 parts from this man. For the life of me I cannot remember how I got connected with him, but, I am just wondering if by chance he might still be with us and possibly in the Kutztown area. I do not throw too much of the old stuff away and I ran across the box that he shipped some of the parts to me in. I just thought I'd ask if any of you might know of him. Thank you for any and all help with this request. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas

Rod, I have a couple of questions for you after looking at these photos. It looks like you are using two species of wood here - I think I know what they are, but I'm going to have to ask anyway. And what kind of oscillating spindle sander are you using? I knew a fellow in Waterloo, Iowa who worked for a pattern company. He was a neighbor of ours and he talked about an OS Sander that they had in their shop that was built by a company named Clayton. The thing had a table about 3 feet square and weighed close to 1500 pounds. He told me that they could sand dimensions to within a few thousandths in wood no less. The epitome of precision woodworking - just like what you are doing here. Beautiful work in these photos. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas

Rod, from what I can see in your photo, your restoration looks like a work of art. Could you possibly get some close-up shots on both sides of the engine and the body framework and post them on here? Would love to see your detail work. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas

I believe John Beatty out in Mass. has a '22 Model 55 and if he by chance should see this, I think he might be able to shed some light on the Sport Touring body. I know that he has told me that a lot of the trim on the Sport Models was Nickle Plated cast brass. The bodies and trim on these cars were entirely different from the regular production Roadsters and Touring's. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas

Rod, I have always heard that the Sport Touring bodies were physically narrower than the 5 and 7 passenger touring bodies. If anyone on here can confirm this, I hope that they will chime in. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas

Mike, the house in the photo is the old Price Mansion here in Hutchinson. Mr. Price was the Division Manager for the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe Railroad. He had the house built in 1885 and reportedly spent over $5,000 at the time. This was a horrendous amount of money at that time. The folks who own the house now have had it since 1965. My wife went to school with their son and we of course have been all through it. They started in the early 1980's and restored it. It took about 10 years and almost a half million dollars to get what you see in the photo. There is a carriage house with servant quarters behind the house proper. There is even a two-lane regulation bowling alley on the back side of the carriage house. The house is completely furnished with period antique furniture that the owners scoured the whole Midwest gathering up while the house was being restored. At Christmas time it is decorated like it would have been back in the day. They open it up for two days to the public. They charge $5.00 a person to go through it and all of the money is donated to charity. It is a very fascinating place to see. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas

Rod, in the initial post the fellow says the caps measure 3 1/2". This is the outside diameter of the caps. The caps he has will fit your '20. Sorry about not getting that in the above response. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas

Rod, my 1920 caps measure 3.375" inside diameter on the threads. I hope this will help you out. If you get a chance to pick up a perfect condition brass hubcap, you had ought to do it. Those don't come along too often. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas

I'm with Barney on that. Looking at the cars in the photos I cannot help but wonder if a lot of these are still in the club and if not, where did they end up? There are some really beautiful automobiles on display. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas

And we are kinda partial to this one too. I hope that Ben is paying attention here - both of these cars have sun visors on them. We don't worry a whole bunch about the gas mileage on them. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas

This photo was taken several years ago and the only change to the car is the addition of the spare tires cover. Whenever we get this car out and drive it people just seem to go nuts over it. My friend here in town who runs the one Dairy Queen loves for us to come by on a weekend afternoon and hang around for a while. He tells me it is the best customer magnet that he has ever seen. Terry Wiegand Doo Dah Kansas

Rod, I will measure the cap on my '20 for you in the morning and let you know the thread size. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas

And rumor has it that Ben voted several times! Terry Wiegand Doo Dah America

Brian, where did you run across that piece of information about the tail light and the one millionth car? That sounds like something that the late Dave Chambers would have uncovered. Your talking about the plant running 6 days a week is something that I have wondered about for a long time. Do you think that they ran shifts around the clock? Let's just suppose that the factory was assembling on a 10 hour shift. That's just shy of 15 automobiles per hour or roughly one every 4 minutes. Foundry operations and heat treating processes are two areas that demand the necessary time to complete. I would think that the assembly operations could outrun the component parts production very easily. What I wouldn't give to be able to go back in time and walk through that plant and watch how things were being done and all without computer assisted machining. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas

A quick update on this 1918 Buick. The owner's youngest son called me earlier this afternoon and told me that the car has been sold. It will be going to England and the new owner is making shipping arrangements as I write this. It is my understanding that the car sold for $18,000.00 I think that this proves that there still is interest in the 'old' vehicles. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas

In regard to Tom's earlier post about the 4-Cylinder rear end gears - there is a very good reason that those cars' gears are easier to fix and come by - they were straight cut gears as opposed to the spiral bevel gearing used in the larger cars. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas

It is 1923 or later because of the lettering style on the hubcap. 1922 was the last year for block lettering. 1923 was the first year for the underlined script. Brian says the rear frame horns do not look what is on his '23-45. If there was just a tad bit more showing us pre-war guys could nail it down to the color it left the factory with. I'll bet Dandy Dave knows but he just ain't talking. Terry Wiegand Doo Dah America

We don't do things like that out here in Doo Dah! We is cool dudes I'll have you know. You know we are - we drive Buicks! Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas

Something else that you guys might not know or realize is this - in the middle teens and on up into the middle to later twenties, Buick and General Motors sourced radiators from three different suppliers. They were Harrison, Fedders, and Rome-Turney. It is possible to have three different 1920 Buicks setting side by side and each of them will have a different style of radiator fins. They will be completely original and correct to the cars in question. Our 1920 Model K-46 was evaluated at the 2006 BCA Meet in Rochester, Minnesota and the remark was made to me later that the one judge thought I was trying to pull something funny by recoring the radiator and trying to pass it off as original. There was also a 1919 Touring car at the meet that had a radiator with a different fin style. The people looking at the cars did not have a clue as to what went on with the suppliers of parts to Buick and General Motors back at that time until they were educated. Our car had less than 4,500 actual, and documented miles on it at that time and the radiator had only been off the car to be flushed, back-flushed, and checked at that time. The head judge at that meet now knows about radiators and Buicks in that time frame. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas

There is something that I forgot to put in my last posting. The rear end gears in my '16 D-45 are fine. I am getting the new set of gears as an insurance against the existing gears deciding to go south on me. If they do, I'll have the new set to replace them with. The way I figure things, as long as that new set is on the shelf in my shop, the old gears will continue to run just fine. We all know about that guy named Murphy and his laws. Terry Wiegand a very, very rainy Doo Dah

Help is on the way. Gregg Lange is having 15 sets made as I write this. These will be the 13 - 53 (pinion and ring) ratio for the 1916 and 1917 D-Series cars. Five of these sets will be for the 1918 and up models that used the larger diameter taper in the pinion gear. Anyone wanting to get with Gregg can reach him at (989) 220-7566. I know that Dean Tryon and I have spoken for a set and that leaves 8 sets or less left. This has been a problem for several years finding a reputable gear machining company to produce spiral bevel gears. The problem has been solved, so get with Gregg and get your set of gears reserved out of this initial run. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas

The car in my photo is our 1916 D-45. The photo was taken after I got the car back from having the new top put on it along with a full set of side curtains and having the car completely re-upholstered. You are very observant - there is no tail light on the carrier in this photo. The car came from Flint with one tail light only. It was mounted on the driver side of the license plate bar in the center of the spare tire carrier. The tail light on this car was just that - a light. I am sure that someone on here will correct me if I'm not, but, I believe Buick automobiles did not come from the factory with a brake light until the 1928 models. Also 1923 was the year that the tail light moved to the center of the tire carrier. There are two Duplex carriers listed on eBay right now. Not sure of their size ranges though. The extension arms are something that you will need to get the word out that you are looking for. Those are probably going to be hard to find. You will never know until you start looking and asking. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas

The most common way back in those days was a Duplex Spare Tire Carrier. However, you will have a problem with using one of those because of the tail light being mounted in the center of the existing carrier. From looking at your photo it is obvious that you have the correct spare rim needed to fit your wheels, so, the logical solution would be to find the extension arms to tie in with the carrier that is mounted to your car. If you felt like moving the tail light then the Duplex Carrier would be a nice solution for what you are wanting to do. Something to think about. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas

Bob, I can agree with just about all of what you say about these old radiators. A non-pressurized system like these were calls for these old radiators to be handled a bit differently than a modern unit. I have three of these old Buicks and I am extremely fortunate that all three are in great working condition. I have had all three flushed, back flushed, and checked at 1/2 pound of pressure with excellent results. You saying that had your radiator checked at 1 to 3 pounds of pressure scares the daylights out of me. You must be living a charmed life to not have that radiator simply rupture at the seams. Something that has not been mentioned here is the coolant to be used in these old systems. I run the Zerex 'original formula' (the Green stuff) in my old Buicks. Running this formulation of anti-freeze does two things. It will let the cooling system run a few degrees cooler and it will not attack the solder in the radiator. As some of you on here have found out, recoring a radiator is not a cheap proposition. I'm gonna do everything I can to keep mine running happy. Just my two cents here. Terry Wiegand South Hutchinson, Kansas