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New girl, need help!


Guest BrittanyGhoul

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Guest BrittanyGhoul

Hello everyone. Just joined the forum.

I've got a 1951 Buick Roadmaster that I bought in May. It was my daily driver for about 3 months before my starter went out. I rebuilt the starter and got it going again, but now headers, new intake, re-wiring, and new shocks are in the works and my poor baby's been sittin' in my driveway for the last 2 months. I've been trying to learn as much and do as much as I can. But I need some help. Any Buick people up here in Washington? I'd really like to start getting to network with some people that can help me with my car.

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Guest BrittanyGhoul

I'm not sure where that's headed at this point. I'm planning ahead.. I don't want this to crash and burn and have to sell my car because I was completely dependent on him.

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Guest BrittanyGhoul

Well he didn't help me with the starter and he said he'd make me headers over a month ago and just now got the steel for the flange. Really, it's just been frustrating depending on him to help me because nothing gets done in a timely manner. He put the floors in it too earlier in the summer and that was a 2 month project itself, even though the actual work only took like a week, and in the beggining of those 2 months, I spent 3 days doing everything that he told me to do to prep it, stripping out the interior, bought the steel, and even cut the old floors out myself then let it sit for 5-6 weeks. He sold me the car in the first place and it was the deal that he was going to help me work on it, but I'm just tired of feeling like I need him to get my car done. Cause when he sold it to me there was this big thing about how we'd work on it cause he didn't want me to drive an unsafe car, but I drove it a month without floors and the shocks are pretty much non-existent. I got a nice case of exhaust poisoning from driving it to billet proof and back too. I mean, I'm not complaining about my car, cause I love my car and I'd drive it anyway I could. It's just.. yeah, I wanna figure it out myself and I want to get to know some people that can help me cause I'm way behind the curve here.

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BrittanyGhoul, there are indeed Buick people in Washington!

Here are a couple of options for you to get connected:

Puget Sound Chapter, Buick Club of America

Meets 2nd Tuesday evening each month, Performance Grill in Auburn, WA (near Emerald Downs). Dinner (optional) at 6:00 PM, Meeting at 7:00 PM.

North Cascade Chapter, Buick Club of America

Meets 4th Tuesday evening each month, Golden Corral in Marysville, WA. Dinner (optional) from 5:30 PM, Meeting at 6:30 PM (I think I've got the times right).

Let us know if you need more information, but these club meetings will put you in contact with repair people, parts sources, etc. Lots of good resources here in the Puget Sound area.

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Welcome aboard Roadmistress, :)

Cutting floors out, rebuilding starters, jeeez, what do you need a boyfriend for. But let me tell you, getting around to working on these old Buicks can take some time sometimes, so be patient.

Hopefully you'll post some pictures of the Roadmaster over in the Me and My Buick Forum. And if you'll dig a little, there's a thread called Girls on Buicks here in the General Forum. Would love to see some action shots of you tearing that interior out. ;)

Again, welcome aboard and hope you'll make this a regular pit stop for tech help and friendly conversation.

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You've brought this car to Wal Mart in Covington before, right???

I drive a beige 1964 Electra 225 and sometimes by Boss' Dark Blue 1948 Roadmaster. :)

And in the last month my Black and White 1966 Electra 225

Edited by 64e225 (see edit history)
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Trust me when I say this....coming from another newb

There is nothing that you can't do on your Buick when you have some tools, a shop manual and an internet connection directed right to here.

Yes it helps to have others around for guidance and assistance but it sounds to me like you know your way around the car enough for you to do almost anything. Take lots of pictures of anything you want to fix, post them here and you will get all the info you need. Need parts?? Just ask here and people will help you find them.

I can't tell you how much I have learned from everyone here...

BTW....What are your future plans for your Roadmaster?

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Guest BrittanyGhoul
You've brought this car to Wal Mart in Covington before, right???

I drive a beige 1964 Electra 225 and sometimes by Boss' Dark Blue 1948 Roadmaster. :)

And in the last month my Black and White 1966 Electra 225

Yep, was there just about every friday. :)

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Guest BrittanyGhoul
Trust me when I say this....coming from another newb

There is nothing that you can't do on your Buick when you have some tools, a shop manual and an internet connection directed right to here.

Yes it helps to have others around for guidance and assistance but it sounds to me like you know your way around the car enough for you to do almost anything. Take lots of pictures of anything you want to fix, post them here and you will get all the info you need. Need parts?? Just ask here and people will help you find them.

I can't tell you how much I have learned from everyone here...

BTW....What are your future plans for your Roadmaster?

Yeah, I'm definitely hoping to get my hands dirty and get some stuff figured out here!! I'm learning my way around it a bit. I've definitely learned a lot in the last year, but not as much as I'd like to have, so I'm kickin' it into overdrive, so to speak.

As for future plans, I'm not sure. Right now, I just want it running and reliable. On the one hand, yeah Id love to make it a beautiful car, but on the other hand, the rough edge it has is what made me fall in love with it in the first place. I'm torn. I've just kinda been slowly making it a little prettier piece at a time. The only real future plan I have is to hammer out the eyebrows in the roof and metal flake it red. other than that, like I said, running and reliable so I can make it my daily again :D Cause boy I miss driving my car!!!

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Guest 64e225

Your car can look like this again: 1936-1992-buick-roadmaster-25.jpg

BTW, do you still have all the stainless trim? If I recall, it was missing when I last saw it. If not, maybe someone on this site can help you track some down.

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Guest BrittanyGhoul
Your car can look like this again: 1936-1992-buick-roadmaster-25.jpg

BTW, do you still have all the stainless trim? If I recall, it was missing when I last saw it. If not, maybe someone on this site can help you track some down.

I don't know if I want it to get FULLY restored. Like I said, I really like the rough edge it has. Gives it character. :D I think I'm only missing one piece of trim, but it might be laying around somewhere.

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Welcome to the forum and the world of Buicks. That's a nice car you talk about. I'm sure the people in Washington will be willing to help you but how about giving us some more detail of the car's current status so we can participate too? I don't ask the following questions to be a wise guy, just to help us understand what level you are at currently, and where you want the car to go eventually.

Is it a 2 dr or 4 dr?

Does it still have the Straight 8? or if not what engine ( including year and size)?

Does it still have the original transmission and rear axle?

Are you interested in keeping the car the way it is ( with current running gear)?

How old are the tires, and are they radials or bias ply?

Need any glass replacement?

What problem is the most important to your immediate goals ( Headers. intake, or shocks)

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Guest BrittanyGhoul
Welcome to the forum and the world of Buicks. That's a nice car you talk about. I'm sure the people in Washington will be willing to help you but how about giving us some more detail of the car's current status so we can participate too? I don't ask the following questions to be a wise guy, just to help us understand what level you are at currently, and where you want the car to go eventually.

Is it a 2 dr or 4 dr?

Does it still have the Straight 8? or if not what engine ( including year and size)?

Does it still have the original transmission and rear axle?

Are you interested in keeping the car the way it is ( with current running gear)?

How old are the tires, and are they radials or bias ply?

Need any glass replacement?

What problem is the most important to your immediate goals ( Headers. intake, or shocks)

well first off, here's my car:

DSCF0010-2.jpg

Still has the straight 8 and dynaflow. I'm definitely wanting to keep as much of it original as possible. The tires on it right now are brand new bias ply coker white walls. All my windows are fine except I'm missing the front ones and there's a crack in the rear drivers side window.

My immediate goals are headers, intake, re-wiring, and shocks.

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Guest 64e225

She looks good with new shoes! Definately need to fix that exhaust. What's wrong with the manifold? If you "need" duals, and "need" a different intake, find a setup from a big series '41 (320)with the dual carbs and split exhaust manifold. It bolts right up, I believe. But save your pennies and look hard, they're rare as hens teeth and expensive. I don't know about any aftermarket intakes etc for the big series straight 8's

Are you in the Kent/Covington area? If you are, you should try Big Wheel Auto Parts next to Staples in Kent on the east hill, if you need any parts.

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Nic pics in the profile. That's a cool color combo. You said you'd like to keep it as original as possible but the headers are certainly leading to a much different definition of original than I would have. So many times we see people post plans using words like that, but they can mean so many different things to others. So I'll ask you to put some more heart on your sleeve, right along with the hot tatoo, and tell us what you mean by "Original as possible".

Meanwhile, as for the windows and for some other original parts I would recommend Ken Reeves of Wheatbelt Parts. Wheatbelt Buick Ken specializes in Buicks around this era and may have good glass ready to go which will help you seal up the interior.

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Guest BrittanyGhoul
Nic pics in the profile. That's a cool color combo. You said you'd like to keep it as original as possible but the headers are certainly leading to a much different definition of original than I would have. So many times we see people post plans using words like that, but they can mean so many different things to others. So I'll ask you to put some more heart on your sleeve, right along with the hot tatoo, and tell us what you mean by "Original as possible".

Meanwhile, as for the windows and for some other original parts I would recommend Ken Reeves of Wheatbelt Parts. Wheatbelt Buick Ken specializes in Buicks around this era and may have good glass ready to go which will help you seal up the interior.

By "original as possible", what I really mean is not original to a car identical to mine, but just everything that was already on my car. I want to keep/fix as much on the car as I can and replace the parts that can't just be fixed. Like my exhaust manifold which came off the car in 3 parts and turned into 4 as soon as it got set on the ground. I just like the idea of as much of it's own parts surviving as much as possible. But I also need it to be safe, so I know everything can't necessarily stay. While I'm excited about the headers, it was also the cheapest/easiest route and that was kind of the deciding factor on that.

Thanks for the advice.

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Well, it looks like you have the exhaust on the mend. Now you'll need a custom intake manifold too. I never owned a Buick with a straight eight but I understand the intake and exhaust were side by side for helping the carb to heat up and vaporize the fuel mixture. I presume your headers are close to, but remote from the intake, so be expecting some drivability problems if you stick with the rest of the original fuel delivery system.

As for the wiring, there are a couple of places which rebuild wiring harnesses. One is in Rhode Island and has had a lot of good reports. But I can't recall the name. Are there specific problems you have with the wires already, or were you just thinking of replacement for a 12V upgrade?

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Guest windjamer

Like Serb. said, lose the boy/friend Join the BCA. Find the correct exhaust parts and lose the headers. At least you wont have hospital visits for carbon monox. NICE CAR join aaca and show it.

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Guest BrittanyGhoul
Like Serb. said, lose the boy/friend Join the BCA. Find the correct exhaust parts and lose the headers. At least you wont have hospital visits for carbon monox. NICE CAR join aaca and show it.

were would i find the correct exhaust parts? I don't really imagine it's really in my budget at the moment

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MAN! no hesitation of offers of assistance in this thread, eh.:)

If Rita and I ever break down on the road, I'm puttin her outside, and me, I'm hiding in the back seat til somebody stops.

Must say though I am impressed with all she's done so far.

In case help is needed finding the latest "Girls on Buicks" thread....

click here http://forums.aaca.org/f115/girls-buicks-iv-259016.html

Edited by MrEarl (see edit history)
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Guest 64e225

It also helps that I live within 5 miles from her, go to school a block from her house, and I have some good local parts sources :cool:

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Guest BrittanyGhoul

I thank everyone that's had anything to help me out with so far. I'm officially on my own now. Trying to cope with it is difficult, but it only motivates me more to get my car back on the road!

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Guest windjamer
:D YOU GO GIRL!! If you now have the right exhaust manifold, puting it back togather should be a snap. Any good exhaust bending shop should be able to fabrecate a single exhaus system for that puppy for less than it cost to cobble up a set of headers and a (blanked) up system. In the long run you will be better off and a lot more happy. See you down the road.:)
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Guest windjamer
:) Hey Alex, Good job. That Buick is worth a little effort. MR Earlllll, imho :D ypu sir are a dirty old man:D:D WELCOME to the club.:)
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Got to see the car in person again tonight, it's been about 6 months since I last saw it. Neat old car, as she says, it needs help, and she knows what it needs and how to get it there. :)

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