buick man

Looking of any good proven leads to obtain a replacement rag joint on my 57 while I service the steering box. Thanks in advance

… Happy , Personally, as per the topic of the OP, we think he should use anything to get that little trailer down the road, safely and reliably. However with that said, and please, not to rain on anyone's flower moment but our off topic point is ….. Being OEM correct in and of itself is by definition, not a semantics argument and it should never be construed as subjective either - not that anyone here needs schooling, right ? ...

… nice ending and you can always pull this yard pump back off and detail it over a weekend. But as it appears now. you do kinda have a rat rod look going on with the pump as it is … ;)'

"As far as the interior, don't sweat it. Personally , I like it better than the "correct" style. "Correct" is overrated. - Ben " … Ben, "Correct" is not a rating. It is the calibrator. The standard. The correct standard, is not something that is rated but rather serves as a benchmark reference. Something that we indexed to. Without correct, then what would be our standard calibrator index on which to refer all other "interpretations thereof" toward - A Resto-Mod ?

… for what it is worth, I know for 1957, Buick had an actual 'engineered approved accessory' hitch the Buick division made and sold through their Buick dealers. Not sure they had the same going for the 1956. So with that said, and you want to be completely correct, there IS a factory correct frame mounted hitch setup that was available. There was a guy attempting to sell me one for my 1957 a few years ago, but when I got back to him, he had already sold it.

Just curious, Did you drop the oil pan, clean it out, remove the oil pump & cleaned it out as well as it's psi spring and ball valve; Flushed the engine oil routes throughout the block with clean oil as well as removing the engine oil filter and filter mounting boss and cleaning it out along with it's psi ball/valve and spring valve inside of it before attempting to start this hibernating engine ? Good luck for what follows on your project.

Jens, the singing song is usually related to a bearing / bearing race scenario. Jack up the rear end completely off the ground and put adequate stands on the frame to secure safely and then shake the car side to side and make sure car is stabile and the front wheels fully blocked so the car cannot move forward. Then making sure the emergency brake is fully Released and free, have someone get into the driver's seat and while they have their foot on the brake pedal, start the engine, then have them shift the car into the various gear positions. While doing this they can also take their foot off the brake allowing the axle to turn via engine idle speed alone in each gear. All the while you get into position under and to one or the other side and observe and listen for movements, noises and finding their locations. This test and observation will tell you many things and help to isolated culprits you may be experiencing while actually driving your car. Also while your rear wheels are off the ground, grab each tire/wheel and attempt to move it to the 3:00 o-clock position then to the 9:00 o-clock position, all the while listening for abnormal noises or movements coming from the axle hub or the center rear end axle pinion area(s). Report back as to what you discover.

… apologize for the late response as I was away. Yes I am still looking for good square OEM Clips but not the brackets.

Yes here are a few photos of before and after I media blasted the clip and it's brace. Notice the distinctive clip configuration and tab. Not like what is available from various sources, even from In-Line as they report their clips are correct which is not correct as they have spent the time and money to copy the standard after market clip that has been cluttering up our universe for decades. As you can plainly see the correct GM clip is distinctively different. Here is a link to In-Line's photo of what they report to be the "real thing from GM" : http://www.ebay.com/itm/B62-82-Disc-Drum-Rubber-Brake-Line-Flex-Hose-Clip-Clips-Retainer-1-each-/200912918734?hash=item2ec757d8ce:g:ca4AAOSw4UtWRPWF&vxp=mtr

…. but after all these years is the upper seal indeed intact and good to go … ?

… Good for you….

…. well ya gotta use heat with stainless or it will crack almost every time….

… Very nice find !!!! However, next time before ruining any possibility of saving the paint patina or not by using using 0000 steel wool on factory lacquer paint, simply flood and rub Marvel Mystery Oil over everything top, sides and bottom. About 2-gallons worth. Then let it set for about 2-months. All that blush will rub off and it will preserve the paint. LIve n learn. Also before starting you will want to drop the engine pan and clean it out. Take off the valve cover and expose the lifters. Take off the engine case mounted oil filter boss from the engine block and clean out the no doubt frozen oil psi valve located inside of it. Then take off the oil pump assembly and attach a 1/4 inch clear tube and stick it into the hole the pump came out of up and into the engine block. This is the main engine oil passage way to the engines main oil gallery routes. Then attach the other end of the 1/4 inch tubing to a cheap drill pump submerged into a 2 qt bucket of cheap oil mixed with Marvel Mystery Oil. Place a large plastic concrete mixing box pan that usually measures 2.5 x 3 ft under the block and start the drill. Oil will flow through and flush throughout the engine and rocker assembly. Make sure to lock off the oil filter block boss as oil will flow from there and you don't want that. In the end, you will have flushed the engine and all the oil passages. By this time after sitting they will have become completely "Gummy Bear" and clogged. If you do not do this and attempt to start the engine after sitting this long as you see all those cowboys doing on youtube high on Miller Lite, then all you will be doing is milling the engine as it sets thereby ruining it. Good luck and once again a great and rare find with lots of preservation and restoration potential.

…. Anyone out there that has a parts car laying around or has some authentic factory front brake line clips on the shelf and want to sell them. I need 2 of them but will take whatever you have? Think 1954-60 will work. Mine is a 1957. These are the nice factory thick and wide clips. Not the pressed thin ching-ching knock offs. Thanks in advance

Yes you can remove the flex plate. Yes loosen the mains starting at the front and increasing the drop amount sightly as you drop the other mains working back to the rear main. Make sure to support the crank with a cross brace just in front of the rear main. Take the rear main off and you should then have ample room to replace the upper seal. Make sure you have the proper tool to catch and pull old and to install the new upper seal. Either start a new thread or take pictures of what you did and post them here.

Like the old Ray-Asbestos linings, if your linings are asbestos all you need to wear is a 3M filter paper mask while arching as it is the filaments that cause the eventual problems and only if exposed for extended periods of time. Asbestos does not have a half life so no need to freak out.

... thanks for posting killy, hope it all turns out O.K. for you and keep us all up to date :')

….. with high temp loc-tite on the threads we hope ….

…. maybe as well the windings on your starter armature are minimal or have partially grounded on the ends of the commutator and applied heat is causing expansion. Either that, you need to paint your starter and detail it as only then will it be happy …. :')

killy…. try and find rivet type shoe material. Then go and have the shoes arched to your drums at a good old well established brake company that does trucks and such. Also buy a few and various type shop manuals. Then try and practice the art of not comparing today's technology with yesterday's technology. Yes it is tempting and an easy fall back. The basic mantra in this the restoration crowd is not to recreate the wheel but to simply put the exiting wheel back in motion. Cool ?

,,,, Oh yeah, perhaps one could also contact these guys regarding a proper replacement boot in matching up for stock OEM configurations and spec sizing : http://www.columbiaerd.com/bellows_convolutedboots.html

Wille: Then the syringe plunger is obviously removed and it is only the syringe cylinder itself you are talking about ?

… Well first one would have to stop and think rationally of how this could even happen in the first place with your Moraine or Bendix setup of which we have been referring. The only way one of these units which is and has been well maintained would fail and fail completely in the real world would be for one of the front rubber brake hose lines to suddenly burst or the rear center rubber axle hose bursting. Installation of steel braided lines would drop this possibility down to a low statistical marginal point. Balance and counter this with the very real and more probable chances of losing your conventional M.C. setup completely and suddenly due to a number of possible reasons from a rubber piston failure or internal M.C. malfunction which is nearly impossible with the Moraine or Bendix units due to their design and construction as explained above as no sudden failure could occur as is not the case with the conventional cup setup we see today. Yes as discussed earlier, the new conventional setups have dual cylinders serving as a sort of back-up for each other; the separation of hard lines between front and back and the proportioning valves that this setup requires. They need all of this because of their innate design weaknesses, not because it is a better design in terms of longevity and reduced possibilities of complete and sudden brake failure. But at the end of the day, driving your well maintained Moraine or Bendix unit down a lengthy coastal grade should be of little concern in terms of duty reliability. More concern should really be focused on controlling heat buildup on brake shoe systems which however, if properly and diligently applied, should pose no real world threat as well.

…. And make sure to high temp red loc-tite the threads as well when duplicating a rivet to bolt replacement scheme due to heat sink and contraction forces ….

…. also wheel bolts for al++ drums are also not the same length as the bolts used for non al++ drums. For safety sake there are NON INTERCHANGEABLE. It is longer and needs to be because of thickness of the al++ hub.