New Member, 1929 Buick 51-129

[Guest ProgressCity]

Hi Everyone,

As I had mentioned in the "introduce yourself" thread, my wife and I are proud (and very excited) new owners of a 1929 Buick 51-129. There's so much we have to learn about the car, and we're always willing to accept advice as we're very new to the antique car lifestyle, so please bear with us and hopefully we'll spare you from any stupid questions .

The car itself is currently in transit down to us in Southern California. Unfortunately, due to the time constraints (the original owners are moving out of the house today) we had to get the car towed into storage until Intercity could come and pick it up next week.

The car starts and turns over but there's a leak somewhere near the radiator. I've added a picture of the leak. I'm guessing it can be welded, though I'm wondering if it wouldn't be better to just replace the part.

Again, my wife and I are very new at this, so we're really really looking forward to absorbing a lot from the veterans and resident experts. I'm sure there will be more than a few beers to buy for help and assistance along the way .

Thanks for having us!

Former owner pointing to the leak.

[bubba]

Congrats on getting a beautiful car. I was looking at buying her a while back and I just saw it again on the net. Those wire wheels just add so much to a great body style. The model is a 29-51, weighs 4,230 lbs, cost $1,875 and they made 7014 of them.

The leak is coming from what is called the water manifold, a series of pipes that take the hot water from the engine back to the top of the radiator. People used to reproduce these but I don't know if you can still get one. If the rest off it looks ok you can have a plumber weld a piece of pipe in it's place.

There are three clubs that you might want to join. The 29 Buick newsletter which is just 25 years old, the 27 Buick Club on the net and the national Buick Club. You should have a local one also. Check out Bob's Automobilia on the net.

http://www.29buick.ca/

1927buicks@yahoogroups.com

http://www.buickclub.org/

Best of luck with her. I'm crying in my cup of 40W.

bubba

Edited June 9, 2011 by bubba (see edit history)

[michaelod]

Beautiful car. That leak is a very common area for them to occur in the Master series engines. Frequently these pipes are rusted beyond repair and if that is the case in your car you may wish to consider a new one. I have what is basically the same engine in my car as yours (although with a larger bore) and had to have mine replaced. If you search for the following message thread you will see the discussion related to that very subject:

Need a fabricator for a 1930 60 series water tube.

Thanks,

[Guest ProgressCity]

Wow thank you both for your immediate assistance. I've already started the ball rolling.

I think I'm going to like it around here .

Best to you both,

-D

[Mark Shaw]

D,

I too congratulate you on you new old Buick. A 29 Model 27 Buick was my first collector car and is now my son's car. I encourage you to join the BCA and with that membership also join the BCA PreWar Division for free...

What part of S. California are you from? I have another business trip planned for your area in two weeks... I would be glad to stop by to help with your new Buick.

Edited June 9, 2011 by Mark Shaw (see edit history)

[michaelod]

D,

As a side note your engine appears to be missing an exhaust manifold bolt at the front. These take a special washer designed specifically for this application.

Thanks,

[Guest ProgressCity]

D,

As a side note your engine appears to be missing an exhaust manifold bolt at the front. These take a special washer designed specifically for this application.

Thanks,

Hi Michaelod,

Thanks for the heads up. God I feel like such a noob for not noticing that. . My interest in cars came a bit late in the game as my father isn't really a car guy (stepfather is).

Is the part generally hard to come by or can it be obtained from a place like "Bobs"?

I'm kind of glad the car is in need of some work. It'll help me learn much more than just driving around and being ignorant about it all.

Thanks!

P.S.

I've already joined the Buick Club of America and have currently submitted my application for the Silver Anniversary Buick Club. Thanks everyone!

Edited June 10, 2011 by ProgressCity (see edit history)

[Guest ProgressCity]

Another pic.

Here's the state as it exists now. If anyone would like to offer any critiques or comments based on what they might be able to see, I obviously welcome any insight to things that might be obvious to the more educated Buick veterans. I do have a much larger version of this pic as well.

I wish the car was here already. I'm chompin' at the bit to start working on her.

[jscheib]

Welcome and Good Luck with your purchase.

Is the heat exchanger between the exhaust to the carb riser functioning? That is the flexible tubing on your photo, and it should be two concentric pipes to be proper. Some just blank it off as you are not running the car in colder weather. And it is usually not needed. If you want details, you should get a Marvel booklet for that year Buick.

John

[39BuickEight]

What a great car!!!!

[Guest DaveCorbin]

Dear D:

If you post the frame number found on the small metal tag on the right front frame rail (Look thru the front wire wheel with a strong light.) and the engine number (stamped by the front water jacket), I can tell you about when your car was made and if its the original engine to the car.

Regards, Dave Corbin

[Guest ProgressCity]

I've been a member of a lot of different forums, but the generosity around here absolutely astounds me. Thank you all so much.

The car has not arrived at our home yet, and probably won't for another 2 1/2 weeks as I'm waiting for Intercity Transports to pick it up still. Once I have it, you can bet that I want to know everything about it .

Again, thank you to everyone .