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1939 Buick Special restoration


39BuickEight

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I took the hood off today.  When I put my hand under the water pump now it seems dry.  Would that be possible if some ran out already while it was leaking?  Is there a “pocket” of coolant that could have leaked out completely?  I have not drained any at all yet.  My brother is coming over Saturday with a pressure tester.  I’m just thinking out loud.

 

I checked on some engine touch up paint.  The small leftover amount I had from when we painted it has hardened over the past 7-8 years.  I only need a little, but they only sell  it in quarts.


   

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Trunk is finished.  I know these cars did not have carpet in the trunk, but they didn’t have it in the floorboards either, and mine does now.  This trunk carpet set was in my parts car and, honestly, I thought it was beyond cleaning.  My wonderful wife scrubbed and steam cleaned it and it came out great.  So, I reused it.  I made a cover for the tool tray.  

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Looking good.

Have you got a clamp and cast iron bracket that holds the spare wheel in place?

Photo below is from Buick.  Very early cars had the metal disk.  Most cars have the plywood above the spare like yours

To me jack is better unpainted

 

 

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Edited by 1939_Buick (see edit history)
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I don’t have that clamp.  The bracket is under there to bolt it to.  I might make one, might not.  I would have to put a hole in the carpet.  It’s stuck in there pretty good as it with the wood cover in the wheel.  It really can’t move too much with the trunk closed.  I haven’t decided yet.  

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Was a great day overall. Adjusted the valves and now it sounds so smooth and quiet.  It’s amazing what a little difference in clearance makes.  Nothing was all that off, just a few a little too much gap, a very little, but there is a huge difference now.  It sounds like a sewing machine, something I have heard folks say before.   I think my coolant leak was caused by one of the reproduction original type hose clamps that Bob’s sells.  We were never a fan of the quality of them.  I don’t know if they were better quality in 1939 than whoever makes them now, but the female side of the repro hose clamps is less than a great match for the screw).  The top of the lower hose attaches near the bottom of the water pump.  That clamp had come apart.  I put a modern clamp back on it.  I am going to check tomorrow, but running it hot today, it did not leak.  Now I am nervous the other clamps might do the same.

 

Also, the best part, the one and only child in the house that still couldn’t ride a bike without training wheels finally took off!

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Poured my go to basic beverage (Beam and Diet Pepsi, because you just can’t beat the value vs. taste of Beam and we always have some diets in the fridge) and refreshed the fasteners in preparation for the rebuilt water pump.  Dad always thought it was neat how Buick bolts had a “B” stamped in them.  I agree.  I wonder why the fan bolts have “HC” on them?  They are clearly very old, maybe not 100% original?

 

 

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While I too love the "B" on the Buick Bolts, I would suggest you might want to consider keeping those as collector's items and replacing the water pump bolts with modern Grade 8 bolts. When I installed my water pump on my 1938 Century project, as I was attempting to tighten one of the bolts just a little bit more, it snapped off flush with the engine. Since the front end was off of the car, it was not too tough to extract the broken part of the bolt, but I would hate to take a chance on snapping one of those off with the front end on the car. The grade 8 bolts from my local hardware store were cheap insurance against having to worry about having to deal with that problem again. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well, the water pump issue seems to have been fixed now with the rebuilt one from Flying Dutchman.  I pulled it out in the sun today, but I never left the driveway because now I have little to no brake pedal.  It was fine last time I pulled it out.  No brake fluid showing itself anywhere....

 

 

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When i took my `41 248 engine down, when removing the water pump all three mounting bolts(B) twisted off flush with the head. Also the two lower bolts had lock washers, the upper left bolt(the long one) had a copper washer on it, this bolt will leak coolant with a lock washer.

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I checked the master cylinder, and it needed fluid.  Worked fine a month ago when we did the taillights.  I guess sitting during restoration made it disappear???  I can’t explain it since there has never been, and still isn’t an obvious leak.  Filled it back and seems good now.  I was hoping to not have to bleed them, and I think I am ok.  Has a good pedal now.  


The owners manual does say check the brake fluid every 1000 miles.  

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3 hours ago, 39BuickEight said:

Put 3 miles on it in the neighborhood.  Shifted all the gears.  Nothing out of line.  It had never been over 5 mph.  I might just have to call the sheriff and make it road legal now. 😀

 

Congratulations of your first long drive ☺️

Time to make it legal a for drive up the hills to the homstead.

Post 1 of this thread was Dec 3 2009.

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28 minutes ago, 1939_Buick said:

Congratulations of your first long drive ☺️

Time to make it legal a for drive up the hills to the homstead.

Post 1 of this thread was Dec 3 2009.

Thanks!  Slow and steady wins the race.  One car every 10 years is plenty for me to handle.

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7 hours ago, 39BuickEight said:

Put 3 miles on it in the neighborhood.  Shifted all the gears.  Nothing out of line.  It had never been over 5 mph.  I might just have to call the sheriff and make it road legal now. 😀

 

I don't know who that grumpy guy at the wheel is, but the expressions on the faces of your passengers tells the whole story. 😄 Congratulations!

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44 minutes ago, neil morse said:

 

I don't know who that grumpy guy at the wheel is, but the expressions on the faces of your passengers tells the whole story. 😄 Congratulations!

Ha!  Studying the gauges.  Making sure everything was as expected.  

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Looks like I have a rear wheel cylinder leaking.  That would explain the disappearance of the brake fluid.  It left a spot this morning, and when I looked I could see something has been leaking on the tire, so slowly it never left a mark on the ground until now—just left run lines all around the inside of the tire.  

 

Also, does anyone have a copy of a chassis lubrication chart?  My owners manual specifically says it’s in the back of the book, but it’s not.  

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  • 10 months later...

This will sound crazy, and it's even strange for me to imagine, but as of today, I sold a part that makes my entire project run into the green.  That's right, my 1939 Buick is now a zero dollar investment.  I was able to buy one car to restore locally, buy another parts car from across the country, spend priceless time with my dad working on the car, and then sell enough duplicate parts to pay for absolutely everything.  The only "expense," if you want to call it that, was time and energy.

 

Of course restoration is rarely even something that makes sense anymore, especially on a car like mine.   All a person needs is time, space, a genius father/mentor, and some planning.  It can happen.

 

...and I still have a few odds and ends left.

 

 

Edited by 39BuickEight (see edit history)
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  • 3 months later...

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