New to Buicks

[bobj49f2]

I've been an old Ford truck guy for more than 25 years. I have had at last count 17 '48-52 Ford trucks, mostly parts trucks. I have a 3/4 '49 pickup, my baby. It was my dad's truck when I was and kid and practically grew up in the beast. My second truck is a '48 panel that I've been bombing around for the last couple of years. I also have a '48/51 F-4 1 1/4 flatbed that about half done.

I have posted the above to let you know I'm not a novice to the old car hobby. Now I come on to a quandary. I stumbled upon a '38 Buick that I think might be a good deal, not great but a pretty good deal. I just don't have any experience with old Buicks, or old cars. I honestly think trucks are a lot easier, and cheaper, to restore than cars. I come here with the old and boring question as to whether this car is worth the price. I know from visiting other boards that his is an old question and not many like to see it asked so if you don't want to participate please don't answer.

Here is what I know. The car is complete except for the spares in the fenders. The body, while not pristine, is not all that bad. The bottoms of the door have had some patching with what looks like fiberglass mesh but whoever did it didn't go nuts and the damage can be reversed very easily. The floor might need to have some patches welded in. The headlight buckets have pin hole rust in them, I assume this might be a normal problem with these cars because the buckets seem ideal at catching water. The interior is upholstered in an awful flower pattern which I can only hope wasn't stock and is in typical bad shape. All of the glass is there and most is not cracked but is fogging and bubbling. I'm not sure about the engine so assume it's stuck, if not it will only be a bonus. I don't know the condition of the chassis because the tires are flat and the running boards are about 4" off the ground. The frame is not touching the ground. If you have any other questions I'll try to remember what I saw.

The guy wants $500 firm and it's going to cost another $175 in gas to go back and get it. The big question, is it worth it? I can tell what I would pay for a '48-52 Ford truck but Buicks are a new animal for me. Are parts hard to find? If the engine is junk I would probably use a modern drive train but keep the interior and body as stock as possible (I've always been a stocker).

I also know, as with real estate, the value of a vehicle is very dependant on location. I live in the upper midwest, WI, and you don't find much old, restorable iron up here any more so a car like this might be worth very little money in the sunny SW but worth a lot more around here.

The best part is my family, my wife and two sons, are really excited by the Buick. I think the car is really cool and I would like to get it but I don't want to buy a pig either.

Any help or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.

[jscheib]

Welcome,

Well, Sunday night is often rather quite on these forums, so I am sure in a few days you will get much more advice. If it was not for the Sunday night Yankee - Red Sox game living in CT, bewteen the two), I would probebly be not at the computer either.

But for now I would say, your family is probably anxious about the sedan as it may be getting a bit cramped in a pick-up. I am sure they would enjoy the Buick.

Some good points - the glass is flat so can quite easily be replaced. There is not a lot of chrome to be replated. I trust you can do much of the body woirk yourself. It seems like the brackets for the sidemounts are still there, so you would only need the covers, which you might have to have made, or find somewhere.

The unual sources have a lot of replacement parts and you would have to decide regarding original or modify/rod. Those with '38s will tell you aaathe original engine and drive are pretty strong.

Best of luck with your decision and please consider joining the BCA, The National Meet will be in Iowa next summer, so pretty close to you.

John

[1939_Buick]

Could worth it for parts. Side mounts are rare & sought after

[Glassesguy]

Car pictured is a 37. Sidemounts are a valued addition to a lower series car. Covers etc might be hard to find and expensive. Other than that, mechanical parts not that hard to come by on these. Body is all steel so if you have metalworking experience (or a good buddy does), you can do ok. Definitely join the BCA and the 36-38 Buick Club. Great find.

[Thriller]

I could be wrong, but it appears to me to be a '37 grill...similar, but more smaller cross pieces than a '38. Did you happen to get a look at / record the data plate information?

If it were my money I was spending and I had space in the barn, I wouldn't hesitate (and I'm not that far away speaking winter-wise). There are a few dealers who do handle pre-war Buick mechanical parts. The '38 is a rather plentiful year, so there are folks with them and parts / parts cars around. The straight 8 is a good strong engine (I'm betting that is a model 41 - Special), which would have the smaller 8, but it should do 60 mph without a problem.

I didn't realize the sidemounts were rare - worst case, replace the stock fenders with fenders without sidemount wells.

If the family is excited about it, that is an extra bonus...I don't see a down side.

Good luck coming to a decision.

[bobj49f2]

Thanks everyone for your replies.

One of the questions I wanted to ask, and forgot to, was to have the year and model verified. I did a Google search of "1938 Buick" and came up with some very nice examples but we noticed the grill on this car was a little different than the cars that came up. I just thought it might be something to do with the model, I didn't even think of trying 1937. I know cars usually have many different models while the old trucks are pretty much just one, bare bones. It doesn't much matter, I hope, because they're pretty much the same car and I really like the design. I knew it wasn't a '39 because I just happen to see a '39 locally yesterday, about two miles from my house. It was the same car except a '39 in really nice restored but in primer shape. What are the chances of that? I stopped by the guy's house just to check it out and ask him questions about it.

The guy who is selling the car assured me he has clear titles for the cars he sells. He sold two cars to the two guys I was with and with each he gave them a 1/2" thick file of all the documentation he had compiled before and after he bought the cars. The seller seems very honest and thorough.

One of the main reasons I'm thinking about the Buick is because of the flat glass. In all of my trucks the glass is flat and I know I can get the glass for them in a matter of days at the local glass shop. Curved glass would have scared me away.

Metal work doesn't scare me, I love tearing away at rust and forming new patch panels. I don't have any fancy metal working tools like a bead former or English wheel. Everything I build is formed with a couple of body hammers, a piece of rail road rail, a torch, if needed or whatever else I can find to help shape the metal. If you're interested in my truck project you can check out my web site:

www.fatfenderedtrucks.com

The biggest plus is the enthusiasm of my family. They have never been interested in my old trucks, other than riding in them. My wife thinks they're the biggest waste of money even though I do a fair share of wheeling and dealing of old truck parts to keep the cost way down.

If I get the car, which I think I will, I'll be posting here often. One big warning for the board members, I really get into old vehicles, especially the ones I own and I will talk the ears off of anyone who will listen, just ask my wife. If any of you own a '48-52 truck don't get me started

Again, thanks all for your replies, I'm looking forward to more.

[1939_Buick]

Just buy it

[bobj49f2]

What models were offered in '37-38? What were their rankings, most expensive to cheapest? How do you distinguish the differences?

I don't care that much about the standings of the car, I just would buy it because it's a really awsome looking car. I build them to drive, not to show.

[egor]

It's either a Special, model 41, or a Century, model 61, and it's definitely a 1937. There should be an ID plate on the passenger side of the firewall. There also should be emblems on both hood side panel vents with the name of the model. Special was the economy model, Century was basically a Special with a larger motor and a longer hood and wheelbase to accommodate the length of the motor, then the much larger and more expensive Roadmaster and Limited. The last two used 1936 style bodies with some wood framing, while the Century and Special had newly designed all metal bodies.

Buy It!

[Grandpa]

Looks like a 1937 Buick Special model 41. Parts should not be too difficult to find, except for the missing sidemount parts. One way to check, if the emblems are missing: The Special has 16" wheels and the Century has 15" wheels. The car looks like it is well worth the money and worth restoring.

Grandpa

[1939_Buick]

bobj49f2

Are you now the proud owner of a 1937 Buick ?

[bobj49f2]

bobj49f2

Are you now the proud owner of a 1937 Buick ?

In fact I just came in the door from picking up the Buick. I was able to survey the damage a little better today than I did the other day.

The engine seems to be stuck, hopefully with a lot of diesel oil and little work I can free it up. If not the guy I talked to the other day about his '39 said he had an extra engine. The transmission shifter is stuck, again, I hope to free it up.

The floor inside the cab is pretty decent, the floor board in front on the driver's side has a few good holes so the floor will have to be replaced, no big deal, I can fab that part.

The trunk floor is pretty much gone and the area below the trunk lid is rough and the piece between this and the trunk is non existent. Again, no big deal, I can fab pieces for that.

The head light buckets are trash on the bottom halves, I'll either build new pieces or try to find used ones.

The bottoms of all the doors are rusted out but I've done that kind of work it shouldn't take that long to rebuild them. If any one can post, or send me, pictures of this are for reference I would greatly appreciate it.

The good news is most of the trim is there and in pretty good shape. Some of it needs to be straightened. The piece on the side of the front cowl are missing, how hard are they to find?

The frame looks solid, along with the gas tank. Most of the body is surprisingly solid. The front fenders are solid, the front left has the dent but we pushed most of it out today and it shouldn't take too much to finish it out. The rear fenders seem solid and the areas where the fenders bolt to the body are very solid, I didn't see any rust issues other than surface rust on the inside and non outside. The body is covered by what looks like paint brush paint job which seems to help preserve the sheet metal some what.

I got the car for $550, plus $100 in gas and days travel, what do you guys think?

One more thing, I got the original radio, don't know if it works, I doubt it but it's complete and at least I have something to work with. It also came with a very nice outer sun visor with all the brackets. Do you know if this could be a Buick item? The brackets look to fit like they belong.

[1939_Buick]

Welcome to the Buick world ! Follow my link below to join the BCA. Well worth the few $$

$650 look like a good deal

If you post the chassis number (on the frame near the starter motor) & the engine number (machined flat om the head near the distrubuter) the ever helpfull Dave Corbin will tell you when & where is was made.

[bobj49f2]

I'll have to look for the numbers, I would be interested in know some of the background of this car.

I'll check out joining as soon as I get a better idea of the condition of the car. The first thing I need to do is clean it out. There's a lot of debris inside from sitting all those years. I'll have to post some pictures of the interior with the creative upholstering. I think some one used old curtains for the material.

[Thriller]

Congrats. If you can do the metal fabrication, you are well ahead of many of us. Mechanical parts are generally available. I can't speak to the trim pieces. Hopefully someone here has spares or perhaps a parts car that they could be removed from.

Good luck.

[bobj49f2]

Tonight I got around to tearing out the interior and cleaning the dirt and other junk out.

Tell me this isn't the stock upholstery:eek:

Also I have a few questions about some of the parts that came with the car. Is this a stock Buick sun visor, it has a hand written note taped to it that says, "Original Sun visor". I know this doesn't mean a lot but it has all the brackets that fit and there is evidence that it was once mounted on the car.

The car also has a clock in the glove compartment, is this a stock item?

Here's a picture of the radio, it looks complete but the speaker is toast. I doubt it works (I wouldn't be that lucky). Are these kind of rare? I know on the Ford truck they are very rare and fetch big bucks.

Two more questions, after I tore out the rotted headliner I discovered the piece above above the windshield is half gone, is there some one who makes this piece, if not I'll have to fab it myself but this piece I'd rather buy it premade. The floor is pretty decent except the front, in front of the seat. Is there place that makes the floor pieces?

The last question, for now, I have a line on a straight eight out of a '36,with a transmission. The seller says it's out of small series coupe, would this work in my car. The engine in my car is stuck, how bad I don't know, I haven't tried to work on it yet but if I can find a running engine I'll go that route. My concern is, from searching post on this board there are two motors used in this era.

[jscheib]

With all due respect to the previous owner that did the interior update, they must have done this to match a home interior. It must have been quite the conversation piece in its day.

As I recall, there was a period of time perhaps in the 50s when this was done as I think I recall seeing similar in my youth. But no, I am sure it is not stock.

John

[bobj49f2]

With all due respect to the previous owner that did the interior update, they must have done this to match a home interior. It must have been quite the conversation piece in its day.

As I recall, there was a period of time perhaps in the 50s when this was done as I think I recall seeing similar in my youth. But no, I am sure it is not stock.

John

I didn't think so:D

Now I have another engine question, I know this engine is a newer engine but not sure. The guy wants $100 for the whole thing. Said it ran but leaked a little oil. Would it fit a '37 without major modification?

[Larry Schramm]

One thing that you might want to do is take part of those fancy seat covers off and you might have perfect original seats. Many times the seat covers were installed when the car was new to protect the original factory seats. Hope, hope, maybe!!!

[1939_Buick]

Now I have another engine question, I know this engine is a newer engine but not sure. The guy wants $100 for the whole thing. Said it ran but leaked a little oil. Would it fit a '37 without major modification?

The engine is later (after 48 ?) due to the side engine mount. Your 37 has a front plate engine mount. My limited understanding is that if you use the 37 front plate reasoanable chance it will fit. We need both engine number's

Clock was standard. Buick was a classy car in 37. Not some rough work pick up truck .

[Thriller]

There were only one or two running changes in the straight 8. I think everything in the 30s will interchange - there was a change to motor mount tabs / locations, but I don't recall exactly when this was.

The other thing is that they need to match in terms of size - small series vs. large series engines. The small 248 ci / 263 ci will interchange, but you wouldn't be able to shoehorn the big 320 ci in and make it look stock.

I don't recall if we ever established for sure the model of yours. The Special (series 40) used the 248 ci in 1937 while the other series (60, 80, 90) used the 320. I know that isn't a complete answer, but I hope it helps, if nothing else in getting things started.

If you haven't started looking yet, you will want a service manual for your car, particularly since you haven't been restoring Buicks until now.

Good luck.

Those seats sure are something....

[Guest DD1937]

The car also has a clock in the glove compartment, is this a stock item?

Here's a picture of the radio, it looks complete but the speaker is toast. I doubt it works (I wouldn't be that lucky). Are these kind of rare? I know on the Ford truck they are very rare and fetch big bucks.

I believe the clock and the radio were both options, and both were pretty common. I also have a 1937 Model 41, though mine does not have sidemounts; my car originally came with the clock, but not the radio.

[bobj49f2]

The engine is later (after 48 ?) due to the side engine mount. Your 37 has a front plate engine mount. My limited understanding is that if you use the 37 front plate reasoanable chance it will fit. We need both engine number's

I just found this engine on another board and thought I might go for it but I'd rather stay with the correct vintage. There's another one, the '36, that might be in better condition but it costs more and is farther away.

Clock was standard. Buick was a classy car in 37. Not some rough work pick up truck .

that hurt, my baby is my '49 Ford F-2 3/4 pickup. It rides like a buckboard but it's my first old vehicle, my dad had it when I was a kid.

[1939_Buick]

The exhaust manifold on image engine001a.jpg looks a little strange. You may have a dual exhaust manifold from a 1941-42 Buick.

As previous posts if you list all the serial numbers and the firewall plate info you will get more information

PreWarBuick - The Largest Vintage Buick gallery on the web

Links on PreWarBuick

http://1937and1938buicks.com/

Edited September 1, 2009 by 1939_buick (see edit history)

[bobj49f2]

In the guy's ad he said the manifold was split a long time ago and the engine was in some kind of strange modified car. The upsetting thing is he only wants $100 for it and it is only about 25 miles from where I got the car but I didn't see the ad until last night. It's a four hour drive down there. I can arrange to have one of two people I know who are traveling between there and here pick it up for me though.

I'll try to find the tag on the firewall so I can post more information.

You guys are giving me a lot of good info, thanks.

[Grandpa]

bobj49f2,

FYI - There is a pair of Buick Special sidemount fenders now on eBay if you want to replace the damaged one on your car. The ad states 1937-38. From the parking light design, the fender looks like a 1938.

Grandpa

[bobj49f2]

Thanks Grandpa for looking out for me, but my fenders are in about the same condition except for the dent by the pocket. I sure would like to find a set of side mount wheel covers though. I found a set advertised on the net but the guy wants $500 for them, that's as much as I paid for the whole car and a little more than I want to pay for them.

I did finally got the numbers off of the ID tag on the firewall:

Mod 41 (stamped)

VE(?) No 974419 (I couldn't make out what the first character were, looked like VE to me)

Body No 29143

Trim No 300

Paint No 500

Mo Day Year (These are blank, I couldn't see anything printed here)

[1939_Buick]

.... I sure would like to find a set of side mount wheel covers though. I found a set advertised on the net but the guy wants $500 for them, that's as much as I paid for the whole car....

Yep. We said above side mounts were very desirable & sought after. That sort of money for those is not unsual.

[Thriller]

Paint # 500 means it was an Imperial Black car.

The model 41 means it is the Special series with the small engine (248 ci).

[bobj49f2]

If you haven't started looking yet, you will want a service manual for your car, particularly since you haven't been restoring Buicks until now.

That's the number one suggestion I give on the Ford Truck board. I am amazed at the number of new, and a lot of older, members who don't have a shop manual and ask for information that is easily found in the manual. I'll try to get a manual in the next week or so.

BTW, is there any parts suppliers like Dennis Carpenter or Bob Drake for our old Buicks. I've found a few web sites that offer Buick parts but they all seem to either sell simple generic parts like gaskets or light bulbs, I haven't found any that sell items like taillight lenses for '37-38 cars or other parts specific parts for '36-37 Buicks. I did stumble upon Kemp's Rod and Restoration, Inc, looks like they have some good quality sheet metal parts but again, a little out of my price range.

Edited September 2, 2009 by bobj49f2 (see edit history)

[Guest DD1937]

Try Bob's Automobilia (<cite>Bob's Automobilia) </cite>or Cars (Antique Old Buick Parts CARS, Inc.).

You may also want to check out PreWar Buick www.prewarbuick.com they have some parts suppliers listed on their site under the "Links" tab.

Also, be sure to add 1937 and 1938 Buicks www.1937and1938Buicks.com to your bookmarks. They have most of the old Torque Tube newsletters online. These are full of valuable technical information, and deal with 1937 and 1938 cars only.

Edited September 2, 2009 by DD1937 (see edit history)

[Thriller]

Bob's Automobilia - this is probably the best general source for pre-war Buick parts.

Antique Old Buick Parts CARS, Inc. - Cars Inc. - they have a lot of stuff (not sure about '37 though as I've never looked), but their record for customer service seems to be a bit hit and miss.

Oops...forgot to check the next page, so I'm being repetitious.

Edited September 2, 2009 by Thriller
Added Oops (see edit history)

[1939_Buick]

Other suppliers

Kanter Auto Products - Classic Antique Auto Restoration Parts

Buick Farm, NOS Buick Parts & Original Literature, 1935 to 1976

Have a look at http://buicks.net/index.php & Team Buick Have some prewar information.

Download the 1952 manual from Team Buick - Reference***. Engine is very similar to yours. Team Buick Engine ID

Edited September 2, 2009 by 1939_buick (see edit history)

[serb]

Bob,

It looks like you have a project on your hands. The fact that you are able to do a lot of the work will make it that much more satisfying when it is done. Keep us posted with the pictures. Oh, great looking upholstery. (Yipes!!)

Good luck.

Stevo

[egor]

You're not going to find quite the level of replacement part support you get for Fords, especially body parts ( I bet anyone making new convertible coupe bodies could do well, though). There is a prewar Buick dismantler up in Minnesota, Dave Tacheny, 763-427-3460, who can help you out. Good prices, good quality parts.

[Grandpa]

bobj49f2,

For new and repro parts, check Bob's Automobila at:

Bob's Automobilia

Grandpa

[bobj49f2]

I pulled the transmission top off the tranny tonight. I think I found out why I couldn't shift the tranny.

[1939_Buick]

I pulled the transmission top off the tranny tonight. I think I found out why I couldn't shift the tranny

Urggg :eek:

Time to phone Dave Tacheny me thinks or put a "1937 transmission wanted" add on this forum

[bobj49f2]

I have a line on a '36 engine and tranny combo. I was told it came out of a running car that was hot rodded. I just have to scrape up the $$ for it and the gas to go get it.

[Guest RYBUL]

hi!

looking for to buy fender like this but other side.

can you help me,please?

thanks.

rybak