1952 Special Deluxe Project

[Guest shadetree77]

Willie, I'm thinking a large piece of sheet metal placed on the ground under the transmission will allow the jack to roll out from under there. Thanks for the advice on the adapter thing. I'll go with the jack from H.F. It's not that much more money than the adapter. I have a question for you. I know the rear tires must come off during this process, but is it necessary to remove the front tires? Must the car be sitting on jack stands under the frame or can you leave the tires on and put them on ramps like in the picture chevydude posted above?

Chevydude & Rob, I'm a little "clammy" myself thinking about this job. Especially considering the uneven driveway I'm going to be working in. I'm not sure mine needs to be quite that high though. The service manual says, "Frame side rail should be at least 20" above floor". That's not much higher than I've had it before. I'm a big fella' and I need quite a bit of room under there!

Edited August 23, 2012 by shadetree77 (see edit history)

[avgwarhawk]

My suggestion is 2x8 cut to size under each jackstand. Two to three 2x8 fasten together to form a gang plank that will be used to roll the tranny and jack from under the car. Plus it gives a surface to lay on to perform the work. However, I'm guessing the plank needs to be 8 plus feet. Either way, jackstands or nice expensive hydraulic lift, both made me feel uncomfortable when I used them.

I just had a crazy thought, why not create concrete forms to size for the jacks and pour your own? Pour six squares for six jack stands. Pour them thick with some re-bar to reinforce. Sakrete per bag is not expensive.

Edited August 23, 2012 by avgwarhawk (see edit history)

[smithbrother]

Robert, you have received lots of FOOD FOR THOUGHT regarding this project. It is apparent to me/us that you have your head screwed on right, you THINK THINGS OUT, and are SAFETY MINDED, so DO it the way you feel is best for you.

Keep us posted, and I know you will, and ENJOY.

Thanks for your informative posts,

Dale in Indy

[old-tank]

The service manual says, "Frame side rail should be at least 20" above floor". ... now you need to add the 9" compressed height of the tranny jack. Whatever you put on the floor, test it with 300# on the jack before committing to the project.

(A concrete slab for the carport would run $6-10 per square foot. Material cost if you do it yourself would be $2 per square foot.)

Willie

[Guest Rob McDonald]

SHEESH, we now have concrete and rebar to add to our toolbox essentials. The pour-in-place ramps are an intriguing idea but the hitch is, what the heck do you do with them when the job's finished? We don't all live in unlimited countryside, like Sintid. (Go check out his new playhouses.)

Edited August 25, 2012 by Rob McDonald (see edit history)

[avgwarhawk]

SHEESH, we now have concrete and rebar to add to our toolbox essentials. The pour-in-place ramps are an intriguing idea but the hitch is, what the heck do you do with them when the job's finished? )

Open up a garage and repair the locals vehicles.

[buick5563]

That's what I did

[Guest 4 bufords]

robert,do you have friend with a lift you can use? my 57 fell off the jack in febuary on a somewhat level floor and broke my leg.still recovering,be careful,4 bufords from ct

[Guest shadetree77]

The concrete blocks are a good idea but I think we might be able to get away with using wood blocks on top of some thick sheet metal. We'll just have to see what we can come up with while keeping cost at a minimum. Rest assured though, my Dad won't allow me to get under there if it's not 100% safe. He's a stickler for safety under a lifted car. Got some good news today. The wife's school loan money showed up a week early. I anticipate a wonderful day today. We were already planning on attending a car show at Hooters. But now after I've had my fill of old cars, hot wings, cold beer, and bountiful scenery I get to go to Harbor Freight and go on a tool shopping spree. What more could a car guy ask for??

4 Bufords, I wish we did know someone that had a lift. That would make this a whole lot easier and safer. We'll be extra careful, believe me.

[1953mack]

. . . . . I wish we did know someone that had a lift. That would make this a whole lot easier and safer . . . . .

Have you thought about trying to find an old-time gas station, shop, or farmer in your area that has a "grease pit"? Just another idea.

Al Mack

BCA #8965

"500 Miles West of Flint"

[Guest shadetree77]

Al, we've asked around and nobody we know has one or even knows of anyone that does.

After Saturday's outing I now have everything I need to do the job. Well, actually it was two trips. :mad: I got home, unloaded everything, and went to bed. I had been up since the day before (I work 3rd shift). When I got up around 4 AM I went up to the shop to open up my new toys and made an unfortunate discovery. When I lifted the transmission jack out of the box I heard some small things hitting the concrete. I put the jack down and looked in the box to find a bunch of ball bearings. Upon closer inspection, one of the caster wheels on the jack was bent allowing all of the ball bearings to spill out of it.:mad::mad: This resulted in a large string of choice words that I hope did not wake the neighbors. My anger kind of made me forget it was 4 in the morning. So, another 100 mile round trip to Harbor Freight to exchange the jack. Better believe I took that one completely out of the box and inspected it before leaving the store! I should have know better the first time.

So now I'm just waiting on my Dad to be able to help me with the job. He hurt his arm at work recently so it might be a while. Hopefully not too long though. I'm itching to go here! I want to get this thing pulled so I can see what I need to do next.

[Guest chevy_dude97]

Hope your dad heals fast, I gotta see what you come up with to yank her out.

[avgwarhawk]

Sorry to hear about you dad's arm. Keep up updated on both dad and the car!

[Guest shadetree77]

I finally convinced my Dad to go to the doctor. Turns out he has some sprained tendons in the lower part of his arm. The doctor gave him a brace and some meds. He's already feeling a little bit better. I think our plan is taking shape. We came across some free 6x6 boards today. I think we are going to do something similar to the picture Chevydude posted above with the ramps and boards on the front end of the car. For the back end....well, we haven't fully decided yet. Probably end up building a similar platform to set the jack stands on.

We are going to home depot this morning to buy a piece of their thickest plywood to put under the car sideways so that one side hangs out beyond the car to allow us to roll the transmission out. We are going to cover the plywood with a long piece of sheet metal so the wheels of the trans. jack don't gouge into the wood and get stuck. As for the rear end, that part will be on concrete so the rear end will roll out easily. I know the rear end doesn't have to come out but I'm going to take it out anyway. I want to do some cleaning and painting under there. I also bought some heavy duty ratchet straps to pull on the rear end while attempting to disengage the torque tube, as well as an angle finder gauge so we can get the rear end level with the trans.

I am getting more and more excited about this project while my Dad is growing more and more apprehensive. He has a tendency to worry too much when it comes to old Lucy. I can't complain though. That excessive caution of his has helped us several times. Anyway, I'm hoping to at least get our platforms built this weekend. Time to break out the seldom used woodworking tools. Have a good Labor Day weekend Buick people!

[Guest Rob McDonald]

Speaking of Labour Day, I hope you dad is getting good support from his employer. Trade unions may seem outmoded in this high-tech world but it's because of them that we have a 40-hour work week and workers compensation plans for job-related injuries, like your dad's.

I'm still nervous about your plan to elevate Lucy but, like Dad, I'm a worrywort. When you build the timber platforms, please be sure to lash them together somehow, so the outer pieces can't squirt out when the load comes on. Good plan with sheet metal on top of plywood. To keep that assembly from squirming around, screw them together around the perimeter at least.

I've really got to question the quality of the jack you bought - made in China, no doubt. If it didn't cost at least $200, ooo, be very, very careful with it.

[smithbrother]

I have said it before, but worth saying again.....

" I LOVE LUCY "

I wish you well,

Dale in Indy

[Guest shadetree77]

No worries Rob. My Dad's injury was minor. He's almost back to 100% now. He was even able to help me over the weekend. As for the jack, yes I'm sure it's a Chinese special. We will be extra careful with it. I checked it over closely, greased it, and filled it up with hyrdraulic jack oil. We tested it and it appears to be working just fine. Not to mention that Willie said he purchased the same jack I believe, with no problems.

Speaking of the weekend, we have officially decided on a plan of action. We are in the process of building some heavy duty "cribbing platforms" or "cribbing blocks". These are basically wooden platforms designed to hold heavy loads. They are sometimes used to move buildings, work on tanks and other heavy equipment, and hold up other extremely heavy objects. I found the plans for them online and I have tweaked the designs to account for a much heavier car. We are building them out of 6x6 and 2x4 boards. When I say heavy duty I mean HEAVY DUTY! We have the front two completed already. They are 2.5 feet long, 1.5 feet wide, 18.5 inches tall, and boy are they ever heavy!! It takes two people to lift each section. They are made to come apart in the middle so that you can raise the car a little or a lot. Each platform actually has two pieces. The 18.5 inches added to roughly 10 inches of tire will give us approximately 28.5 inches of lift. Looking at our setup and accounting for the height of the trans. jack, I think this will be plenty of clearance to roll the Dynaflow out.

We are going to set the front tires of the car on the fully assembled blocks. For the rear, we are going to set the jack stands on top of only a half platform with the frame of the car resting fully on the jack stands. I haven't taken any pictures of our platforms yet, but I have included a picture below taken from the interweb of something similar. KEEP IN MIND, ours are much bigger and made from much heavier, thicker boards than this one. This one is made to hold up a small car.

Scary stuff, I know, but after looking at all of the options available to us this one seems like the safest. These cribbing blocks are a proven tool for holding up heavy objects and if they can use them to move tanks and submarines, they should work on an old Buick. Of course, we'll have multiple jack stands and extra jacks under the car in case of a catastrophe. I was going to go for the ramp on top of the blocks idea but after looking at it, I just didn't feel safe with that setup. It looked unstable to me. These blocks should provide a rock solid support for old Lucy. I'm hoping to get the rear platforms built sometime this week and I'll have pictures as soon as they're complete.

P.S. Be on the lookout for this month's (September) Buick Bugle. It should contain my introductory tech. article.

Edited September 4, 2012 by shadetree77 (see edit history)

[Guest shadetree77]

Not much getting done lately. We completed our cribbing blocks this weekend. Man are those things heavy!! I have no doubt in my mind that these will hold up my Buick. I wanted to get to work on pulling the transmission ASAP but the lady that owns the property told us that she was going to have our driveway graded and put some new gravel down. So that means I have to wait until that's done before I start on the trans. because I had planned on doing this partially in the driveway. She claims that it will be done sometime within the next two weeks but let's just say she's less than reliable when it comes to getting things done around here. I'm going to wait a week and a half and if they don't show up to work on it I'm going to go talk to her about it.

I'm really frustrated because I'm raring to go and now I just have to sit around doing nothing for two weeks while I wait for something that (if her reliability track record continues) isn't going to happen. :mad: Here are some pictures I took of our platforms. We are going to leave the front tires on the car and place tires on the front (taller) platforms and put the jack stands on the rear (shorter) platforms and set the frame of the car on the stands. The fun part is going to be stacking wood under our jack to get it to go up that high. I hate doing that! It makes me nervous every time.

[Buicknutty]

Robert;

Your stands are looking good, and I should work well. I understand your frustration, as I've been stuck and not been able to get on with the program. Hopefully it will get moving again soon for you!

Keith

[smithbrother]

Wow, nice work Robert. Looks like those would hold a M-48 tank.

Slow process, but you will get there.

Dale in Indy

[buick5563]

Tech article / introduction looks great Robert!

[Guest shadetree77]

Thanks guys. As heavy as those things are they should be able to hold up just about anything. I like how they are designed to come apart in the middle to allow you to raise the car a lot or a little as needed. The things you have to do when you don't have a lift huh?

Thanks Mike. I appreciate it. I thought it came out pretty good. I never expected to have my car OR my mug plastered in a magazine. It's pretty exciting. My next article will be in the November issue as the October issue is full up with National Meet coverage. Thanks again Mike!

[Guest shadetree77]

So absolutely NO progress lately. This is driving me nuts!! The good news is that the guys showed up to do some work on the driveway today. I couldn't believe my eyes! The bad news is that they put down several truck loads of.....well, I can't remember what the guys called it. It looks like mud with rocks in it but they said it was a mixture of clay, dirt, rocks, and concrete dust. At any rate, they told me that it has to be rained on several times for it to set up and then they will be back to lay down the gravel on top of it. So that probably means a few more weeks of spinning my wheels. I haven't been this long without working on my car since I've had it!! I'm having Buick withdrawals! Trying to keep myself busy by working on a few "garage art" type projects but it's maddening walking by Lucy every day. I'm headed to Eastern Kentucky this weekend with my Mom to visit the grandparents. Maybe that will occupy my brain for a few days.

[buick5563]

It's called road base. What, they don't have a hose?

[Buicknutty]

Robert, I just my Bugle today, and loved your article!

Keith

[Guest shadetree77]

Mike, that may be another name for it but they called it something weird. Sounded like "churt".:confused: I have no idea. As for the hose, let's just say this didn't appear to be a well-funded organization and the two guys definitely didn't seem like the sharpest tools in the shed. I heard that these two are the local grave diggers and they do driveways on the side if that tells you anything. If my hose would reach I'd be spraying it down myself!

Thanks Keith, I'm glad you enjoyed it. My next one will be in the November issue.

I'm headed to Eastern Kentucky today, have a good weekend Buick Brethren!

[buick5563]

Not to cast aspersions, but road crews and concrete guys seem to be cut from the same cloth. They break their backs all day long doing hard, mindless, dirty work. Then go drink beer. I have worked with both sets before, and they are generally about as bright as a nightlight in the daytime.

I actually thought their excuse to wait for rain was so they didn't have to finish it immediately.

Enjoy your weekend and hope for rain...

[JohnD1956]

... We are going to leave the front tires on the car and place tires on the front (taller) platforms and put the jack stands on the rear (shorter) platforms and set the frame of the car on the stands. ....

Hi Robert. I noticed the picture with the small car shows the front tires are chocked by 2/4's while sitting on the platforms, while your front platforms do not have any chocks.

I once rolled my 56 off a set of blocks. I made a note not to do that ever again.

[Guest shadetree77]

Sharp eye John. We held off on putting the chocks on the top until we see where the tires are going to sit. The design called for putting them out on the ends but my Dad decided it would be better to put them closer to the tires to prevent the car from having any room to roll on the platform. Makes sense to me so I guess that's what we shall do. Sorry it took me so long to respond. I've been out of town for the last few days visiting the Grandparents in Eastern Kentucky. Had a good trip but man, am I ready to tear into that transmission! Unfortunately, there has been no sign of rain thus no sign of the roadwork guys. I'm seriously toying with the idea of starting on it anyway and telling them to pile the gravel for that small area next to the car to be spread out by us with shovels when we get done. Can you tell I'm getting a little impatient?

[Guest Rob McDonald]

ROBERT, once you get Lucy self-motivated again, she'll make a very adequate packer for that gravel.

This is billed as a Happy Dance but it looks like a Rain Dance, to me.

[Guest shadetree77]

Hahaha! Looks like a rain dance to me too. Just missing the feathered headdress. Yeah, I guess she would steam roll that gravel pretty good. While I'm at it I'll stick a snow shovel setup on there and grade the road myself. Wouldn't that be something? A Buick roadgrader/snow plow? I could make a fortune!

Edited September 27, 2012 by shadetree77 (see edit history)

[Guest shadetree77]

Still no sign of the road guys. Meanwhile, the mud they put down in my driveway has been rained on several times and has turned to soup. If it continues to rain I will not be able to get into my driveway! Also, due to the fact that they did not grade the road at all before they put that stuff down, the mud has sunk in and the large pot holes have now reappeared and filled with water once again. I was under the impression that you must grade a road almost completely level before you begin to fill it with material, otherwise the sink holes will reappear which seems to be what is happening here. I don't foresee this driveway coming out any better than it began. That being said, my Dad and I have decided to go ahead with the transmission project. If they do ever show up to put gravel down they can pile the gravel for our small car area next to the car and we'll spread it out when we're done! I'm tired of waiting!

We got the car part of the way into the air this weekend. It would have been all the way up if not for the Honest Charley car show on Saturday (pictures coming soon) and the non-stop rain all day Sunday. Let me tell you brother, she is WAY, WAAAAAY up there too! Neither of us has ever had a car up this high without it being on a lift. Looking at it sitting that high is quite surreal. It was a bit of a chore and required a bit of thinking as well. We started out by lifting the rear end up onto the half platforms. Our plan was as follows:

1. Raise the rear tires onto the half platforms

2. Jack the front up and set the front tires on half platforms as well

3. Build up wood under the jack, raise the front some more and place front tires on the now fully assembled platforms

4. Return to the rear, raise the tires off of the platforms

5. Move rear platforms to the frame locations and set jackstands on them, then lower the car onto the jackstands.

Hope that makes sense! We did run into a problem while raising the front of the car. We originally intended to simply build up a combination of 6x6's and 2x4's under our jack to get it high enough to place the tires on the fully assembled platforms. This proved to be highly unstable. The jack is designed to roll back and forth a bit while raising the car and having it on stationary pieces of wood caused it to become very wobbly when only about half way up. My Dad suggested that we use our leftover wood to build another half platform similar to the ones we already built to place the jack on. This would allow the jack to be built up as high as we needed it to be by placing more wood under the platform while still allowing the jack plenty of room to operate as it should by rolling back and forth on the top of the platform. Once we got this into place, it was smooth sailing.

However, by the time we figured all of that out and got the front taken care of, it was way past my bed time (I work 3rd) and we left the rear end to be further elevated another day. I snapped a few pictures as we cleaned up. Like I said, seeing my big ol' Buick up that high and at such a severe angle was surreal to say the least! My favorite picture is the last one. She looks like she's ready for take off! Reminds me of that scene from the animated movie Heavy Metal that came out in 1981. There's a scene in there where an astronaut jumps in an old Corvette, launches it out of the space shuttle orbiting Earth, and rides it back to the surface through the fiery atmosphere. I think a Buick would look much more appropriate in that scene than a Corvette.

EDIT: Here's the scene if I've piqued your interest.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DWMPe3wF9jQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Edited October 2, 2012 by shadetree77 (see edit history)

[JohnD1956]

I am absolutely lovin this idea and execution. Gotta go back and see those plans for those block platforms.

[Guest Rob McDonald]

Leapin' lizards, Sandy, that autymobile looks 'bout ready to pounce!

Edited October 3, 2012 by Rob McDonald (see edit history)

[Guest 4 bufords]

like i said before,be careful,4 bufords from ct

[Guest shadetree77]

I am absolutely lovin this idea and execution. Gotta go back and see those plans for those block platforms.

Thanks John. It's working out well so far. The platforms are rock solid and the car isn't going anywhere. We built them so heavy duty that there wasn't so much as a creak from the wood when the weight of the car hit them. The best part is that now that these platforms have been built, I'll always have them around to put cars on. At least until I win the lottery and have a lift installed. Later on I'll be putting up exact dimensions and maybe even scan the sketches/blueprints I drew up. I want to make sure these things are completely safe and tested before I advise anyone to build their own.

4 bufords, don't worry. Safety is paramount around here. You can be sure that we'll have plenty of jackstands under there as back up when we start working. It is kind of scary when you see how high the car is, but if you could see one of these platforms in person and see just how heavy duty they are it might put your mind at ease. We do appreciate the concern though. You have my word, we will be as careful as possible.

[Guest chevy_dude97]

refering back, you said you will be yanking the rear out.

Are you planning on using the cribbing with the jack stands onto the frame?

Thats my guess, anyway looks good brother, I sure do wish I had thought to use these back in HS...

[JohnD1956]

One concern I would have is: will the transmission jack reach that high?

I don't know what your jack looks like, but if it is a sissors type jack, then I'd be leery of raising it to the top of it's mechanism with that heavy transmission on there. Remember, just getting the trans to this height is only one part of this job. Besides getting the trans up there you will need to pull the trans off locator pins on the back of the engine. So it will be raise and pull to get it out and raise and push to get it back in.

[39BuickEight]

Robert, your platforms remind me of when we took the body off our car Love it!

[Guest shadetree77]

Chevy_dude, yes that is exactly how we're planning to do it. Look at the picture below and imagine the car sitting on there with the front tires on the blocks in front and the frame sitting on the jackstands. This is the only way I can see to do this. I would much rather the car be sitting on something more solid in the back but since you have to take the rear end loose (and we're going even farther by taking it out completely) this is the only way to go I think.

John, my trans jack is like the one below. It's a BIG thing and should go up high enough. I took some measurements before we started this and made sure it would work. Hopefully I didn't mess up on those measurements! With the way this jack is made and looking at how large and sturdy it is, I don't think it will be wobbly when fully extended.

Billy, I like your body holding rig. Man, there wasn't much "head" room in there for the old girl was there? Looks like you darn near had to remove some ceiling tiles for it to fit! If only we had a nice huge garage space to work in huh?