1937 Century or Special -- carbs and serial numbers

[scott12180]

I know this topic has recently been discussed (sorry) , but I'd like to ask if the Century engine has dual carburetors? I thought it did but I have other sources that say it did not. So I'm confused.

Is there a list available of serial numbers or engine numbers that can be used to identify a particular year and model? (And I guess I should ask, is that list where I can have access to it, as I'm sure it exists somewhere.)

Thanks --- Scott

[Guest ZondaC12]

Hey there hope everything's goin' alright!

1941 and 1942 were the years for "Compound Carburetion" with the dual setup, which had two separate exhaust manifolds, each with its own heat riser for the carb etc. It was an option on the special and century, and I think on the roadie and limited too. The setups are obviously different sizes to account for the different lengths of the special (248 CI) and century, as well as roadmaster and limited (320 CI) engines. It is quite rare to find the smaller engine with dual carbs, less were ordered with that option than the higher models.

If you've seen a '37 and it has the dual-carb setup, someone bought it on ebay and threw it on the car.

[carbking]

Pre-1940 Buick carb applications:

Pre-1940 carb applications - Buick

1940~1964 Buick carb applications:

1940~1964 carb applications - Buick

Buick was EXPERIMENTING with compound carburetion earlier, but as Paul mentioned above, 1941 first production.

Jon.

[Guest imported_Thriller]

Compound carburetion was standard on all series but Series 40 Special in 1941. When the Special had carburetion, it was and "SE" model for Super Equipment or "SSE" for Sedanet Super Equipment.

The Series 50 Super shared the small engine with the Special (125 hp with compound carburetion) and the 320 ci for the other series (Century, Roadmaster, and Limited) were rated at 165 hp.

[Guest ZondaC12]

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Thriller</div><div class="ubbcode-body">and the 320 ci for the other series (Century, Roadmaster, and Limited) were rated at 165 hp.

</div></div>

This figure amazes me every time I look at it. Knowing the '38 320 made 269 lb-ft of torque, I have to imagine with the dual carbs that the output was even better.....my 1987 Cougar, stock,.......made 150 hp, and 270 lb-ft of torque. Forty some-odd years LATER!!! Shameful

[Matt Harwood]

Actually, these days it's fairly rare to see a '41 Special <span style="font-style: italic">without</span> the dual carb setup. As Derek said, dual carbs were standard on all models <span style="font-style: italic">except</span> the Special, where it was optional in 1941 and 42. You'll inevitably see any '41 Buick for sale advertised as having the "rare" dual carb option. It's not, and if you're restoring a '41 or '42, you'd be crazy not to find a setup and install it. Many cars, both big and little series, were retrofitted with single carbs during the war to save fuel, and never switched back. Other owners complained of driveabililtly issues (hogwash) and similarly replaced the duals with a single setup from an earlier or later car.

The Special and Super used the 248 CID engine, while the Century, Roadmaster and Limited used the 320.

Following the war, dual carbs were dropped. In '52, the 320 actually came with a single 4-barrel and made 170 horsepower, 5 more than the dual carb cars.

The 320-inch dual carb engines made 165 horsepower and 278 pounds of torque. I was shooting for 200 horsepower and 300 pounds of torque in my 320 when I rebuilt it. I'm certain I hit the torque number, but I don't know about the horsepower. We'll find out when it is on the road. A '37 engine should have a single carb as original, but the duals can be retrofitted easily and is a neat period hop-up item on the earlier cars.

Hope this helps.

[Guest ZondaC12]

NOOOOO I hate you now youre closing in on my PRESENT numbers LOL. Actually you HAVE matched my torque figure. Uh...uh..uh..uh...I HAVE 18 LESS cubic inches! Ha-HA! Okay Im still good. I think.