1952 Special Deluxe Project

[Buicknutty]

Glad to see things are working out Robert. Nice article in the Bugle, too.

Keith

[Guest shadetree77]

Thanks Keith. I was honored to be included in the Bugle. Hopefully, I'll have the old girl on the road soon. Just a few more small odds and ends to put back together and a "new" used tire(one of them will no longer hold air)and I'll be there. Shouldn't take me more than a day or two.

[Guest shadetree77]

Wheeew! That was a non-stop weekend. One of those where you have a great time doing stuff but come Monday you don't feel the least bit rested. I spent Saturday combing a junkyard that dates back 3 generations with our very own MrEarl. Had a great time but man, that was a full body workout. Crawling over rusty wrecks and toting old car parts up and down a steep incline for about 5 1/2 hours. The entire place was on a big hill. Came home with a car load of rusty gold to hang on my shop walls(pictures later). I couldn't get my brother's truck so I had to take the wife's car. Man, she would kill me if she knew I had her back seat filled with rusty junk! :eek:

Sunday and Monday I managed to get some work done. I finally got to work on my fins. I used a wire brush to clean up the flaky rust on the fenders. I wiped it down with some thinner and used painter's tape to mask off where the fins go. I didn't want the paint to be visible with the fins back on. I painted over the rust with some rust encapsulating paint. After the paint dried, I put the fins back on and bolted them on from inside the trunk. I never did find replacements for those specialized rubber grommet type things that were on the fin studs. I just put them back on and smoothed black silicone over the gaps. That should keep the rain out well enough. The fins look amazing on there! Nice and shiny! I'll get some pictures tomorrow. I forgot to take any today. I also painted my rusty rear tag holder/light with the rust paint. I cleaned up the light housing and all the hardware and put in a new bulb and wiring. The rubber boot on the back crumbled in my hand so I replaced it with the boot from an old spark plug. Worked really good and looks almost identical to the original boot. I hooked up the light to a battery to check the bulb and it wouldn't light. Turns out, paint doesn't conduct too good. The light grounds to the rear bumper guard so I had to grind some paint off the mounting tabs to get a ground. I should be ready to install the whole rear bumper guard assembly next time I'm working. I finished up a few odds and ends underneath the car as well. I got my crankcase ventilation tube mounted. Took me a LOT longer than it should have!! Those darn clamps wouldn't tighten up. I ended up having to bend them a little to get them to tighten. I also got the access cover back on the old Dynaflow. When I took it off it had a thin cork gasket on it. The manual doesn't mention a gasket on it but I figured better safe than sorry and made my own out of a sheet of gasket material. First time I've ever made my own gasket. I found a small leak at the master cylinder while I was under there so it looks like we're in for more brake bleeding soon. After bleeding some more and getting a new tire, I hope to be able to drive her again!! Can't wait!! In between all this I helped my Dad put a tune up on his Jeep and cleaned up and hung a bunch of my junkyard finds. Busy, busy, busy. But I had a great time!

[Guest shadetree77]

Got my rear bumper guard put back on today. I also did a little rust removal and polishing on the bumper before I put the guard in place. Here are the pictures I promised showing off all of that chrome. There is quite a difference from when I got it as you can see. The chrome is 98% replaced now. I just need the mustache extensions to have 100% shiny chrome. For those of you that noticed, yes the car is currently on blocks but I can assure you the underside has more than enough safety stands. I wouldn't trust my life to a cinder block. Especially after seeing the "Teen Lifts Buick Off Of Grandfather" story.

[smithbrother]

Great story/read..............We had a new 52 Super 4-door, it was CORNET COPPER, with BEACH WHITE TOP. We had lots of folks stop and ask, WHAT COLOR IS YOUR CAR, I never saw another one like it, but we lived in a small town.

Keep up the SUPER ATTITUDE you have with your work in progress.

What are your plans to keep the CHROME SHINING?

Best Regards,

Dale in Indy

[Guest shadetree77]

Thanks Dale! As for the care of the chrome, I've been using the super fine (000) steel wool and mothers mag polish method for about two years now to remove rust from chrome. I first tried it on the bumper of my '79 T-Bird. I was told to wash the chrome and put 3 coats of wax on it when finished with the steel wool process. The wax keeps the chrome from re-developing surface rust. It has worked for me so far. As long as I re-apply the wax about twice a year or so, the rust doesn't come back. Keep in mind though, this only works for surface rust. If it has gone through the chrome coating into the base metal, it will come back with or without wax.

[smithbrother]

0000 steel wool is a tad finer, having owned a hardware store for over 20 years, and working in one for 15 years before that, well I learned a FEW things. MAYBE! LOL

Bless you,

Dale in Indy

[Guest RACEJones]

So Robert what cool stuff did you and Mr Earl find in your adventure in the wrecking yard? I am impressed with all what you've done so far.

Regards,

Randy

[Guest shadetree77]

Thanks Randy. Sorry it took so long to respond. I was visiting my grandparents in the Eastern Kentucky mountains. We got snowed in for an extra day. Anyway, I'm going to start a new thread over in the "Buick General" section soon with some videos and pictures I took at the yard. I'm going to take some pictures of all that rusty gold I brought home tomorrow and hopefully they will make it on here tomorrow night. So stay tuned!

[Guest shadetree77]

Wow. Seems like it's been a lot longer than a week since I've been able to work on Lucy. I've been using every spare moment(and dollar:D)picking rusty gold out of that junkyard. I'm planning on going back to the yard all day Saturday, but Friday my Dad and I are going to finish up things on Lucy and hopefully drive her around a bit. We've got to bleed the brakes again, get her down off the blocks, and go get a new tire put on. Oh, and I noticed the other day that my brake lights aren't working for some reason. I turned the key on so that's not it. Not enough pressure in the switch due to air in the lines maybe?? I can only hope it's that simple!

[Guest shadetree77]

Lucy strikes again folks! My Dad and I started today with the hope that we might be driving old Lucy up and down the road by the afternoon. That proved to be a false hope....again. We got her down off of the blocks(a harrowing experience to say the least). The blocks had sunk pretty far into the mud on one side due to the inch or so of rain we received yesterday. As a result, when placed on a jack the car would lean to one side pulling the jack with it. The car was pretty high off the ground too so this was a scary situation. We finally got her down with some ingenuity and careful planning. Took forever!! After this, we pulled off the flat tire and went into town to look for a replacement. We found one quickly, returned to the house, and got it put back on fairly easy. We got her off of the safety stand and started her up. She started up with no hesitation and ran smoothly. After warming up, we decided to pull the car backwards into the grass so I could bleed the brakes without lying in the mud. I got in, put her down in reverse and hit the gas. She responded by promptly moving.....FORWARD!!:eek::eek: Luckily, I had enough brake pedal to stop her before anything bad happened. We checked the trans. fluid which turned out to be really low. We went back to town, bought some trans. fluid, returned home and topped it off. However, this didn't help. After this, I shifted into each gear slowly and quickly discovered all of the gears were shifted one to the right! Reverse was gone altogether, Reverse=Low, Low=Drive, Drive=Park. I got under the hood and had my Dad shift down into what was supposed to be Reverse. I reached down and pushed the linkage down by hand and held it there. The old Dynaflow then shifted into reverse. So, it's my theory that some how, some way, the linkage is now out of alignment! I don't understand how as we did absolutely nothing to the linkage or trans. that would have changed it. Looks like some adjusment is in order. No time for that today so I decided to check out my non-working brake lights. I had my Dad hold the brake pedal down, then put a meter on the "in" wire and it had 12 volts. I hooked it back up, removed the "out" wire and checked for voltage on the "out" terminal on the switch. It read 9 volts at first, then quickly faded down to 0. Looks like I need a new switch. It's off to the junkyard tomorrow so no time for Lucy this weekend. Good grief....:mad:

Edited March 10, 2012 by shadetree77 (see edit history)

[old-tank]

Robert

It looks like the car has to go back up on blocks. Don't adjust the linkage. The problem is with the thrust pad and maybe the engine and transmission mounts. The whole engine and transmission shifted, probably from the last time it was raised.

Willie

[Guest shadetree77]

:eek::eek::eek: That is not what I wanted to hear Willie. Is this pretty definite? Is there anyway I can check to make sure that is the problem? What would be the dangers of just adjusting the linkage and driving as is if I don't find any serious problems? Any help would be appreciated. I just want to drive my Buick!

[old-tank]

Robert

If you have recently replaced the engine and tranny mounts and thrust pad, go ahead and adjust it. If you have very old parts of unknown condition, then adjusting will last until you put it in gear and drive and it will shift again.

Willie

[Guest shadetree77]

That is truly disheartening news Willie...... I have not touched any of the mounts or the thrust pad. They are original to the car as far as I know. I have noticed that the thrust pad is chewed up pretty bad before but never thought anything of it. The other mounts look good. Guess I'll look into replacing the thrust pad. Wonder what I'm getting myself into with that little job? In the meantime, I might just waste a day adjusting the linkage anyway and see what happens. Thanks for the advice. I'm off to do a little research on thrust pads in the service manual!

[old-tank]

I have noticed that the thrust pad is chewed up pretty bad...

Robert

Just get and install new mounts and thrust pad and you will be good to go for 20 years. Those things can be dangerous: Once I was parked nose in to a curb, but had to back uphill to get out. While backing, the car jumped into low and was over the curve and into some bushes before I could fart (that ain't all I did after it happened). Also if not adjusted properly the fluid channels in the valve body of the transmission do not line up correctly and can result in low pressure to clutches, bands with excessive wear.

Willie

[buick5563]

Robert,

Another thing to consider, is that you shouldn't have to pull the trans to do any of these repairs! The trans mount and thrust pad can be replaced by first removing the engine (motor) mount nuts and jacking up the engine. Replace the trans mount at this time. It is possible that you will be able to jimmy the thrust pad out and and install a new one at this time.

Probably under $125 and well worth it.

[Guest shadetree77]

Thanks for the advice guys. I've been looking into what this job entails and it doesn't actually look that hard. Easier than I thought it would be anyway(I was thinking the worst i.e., transmission removal). I have some questions though.....

Mike, you said that I should remove the motor mount nuts before lifting the engine. I've read over the Dynaflow removal section of the service manual several times and it doesn't mention removing the motor mount nuts. It just says to support the rear of the engine with a homemade support bar and to use it in tandem with a trans. jack to lift the Dynaflow and engine up just high enough to remove the trans. mount and thrust pad. Did they forget a step? Or maybe the engine will pull the entire frame up with it just high enough to remove those things WITHOUT removing the motor mount nuts?:confused:

Willie, after I replace the transmission mount and the thrust pad, will the transmission go back into the right position automatically? Will I have to adjust anything at that point or will it all just fall back into the correct position with the addition of the new mounts?

Thanks again guys.

[old-tank]

Willie, after I replace the transmission mount and the thrust pad, will the transmission go back into the right position automatically? Will I have to adjust anything at that point or will it all just fall back into the correct position with the addition of the new mounts?

Thanks again guys.

Robert

If should be back in the correct position or at least real close, with only minor adjustments needed (which should be checked anyhow).

Willie

[buick5563]

Maybe I am thinking of what I did to also replace my motor mounts, but it seems to me I couldn't raise the trans enough for the trans mount with the engine bolted down. Your patience (and results) may vary.

[buick5563]

But wait...there's more!

I just realized you are working on a straight eight. That seems to be longer than a nailhead, so I can't speak to the specifics.

Carry on...

[Buicknutty]

Let me jump in here, please, but won't the torque ball need to be checked for adjustment (shimming) if the other mounts are disturbed? I also remember having to shim the thrust pad fore and aft to get a good fit before tightening down, but this should be covered in the manual.

Keith

[Guest shadetree77]

Keith, the manual does say the thrust pad will have to be shimmed. It doesn't say anything about the torque ball though. Also, this may seem like a dumb question, but what do these shims looks like? Are they just washers basically?

[buick5563]

The shims are just pieces of paper. If you have a vulcanized rubber (new style) torque ball retainer, you DON'T need shims. The shims were for the original style copper plated retainer. You just use the two gaskets that come with the kit.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Robert, Mike has described the shims for the torque ball. The shims for the thrust pad are about as long as the pad, probably about one inch wide and 1/16 thick. With slots on one side to slide over the bolts between the pad and the mount.

Ben

[Guest shadetree77]

Thanks Mike and Ben. I probably won't touch the torque ball if I don't absolutely have to. I'm sure it's the original type as everything else has been so far. This car has been like a time capsule! Ben, are these thrust pad shims something that can be purchased or would I have to have them made if needed? I'm just trying to make sure I have everything I need before tackling this job. Nothing worse than getting half way through something just to realize you have to order more parts!!

[buick5563]

Jeez, I'm just messing up all of my advice here.

Robert, I'll buy you a beer in Charlotte and just watch other people give you the proper advice...

[Buicknutty]

Robert;

Sorry to confuse the issue, for you. Looks like you got some good advice.

I had to make up a few shims out thin sheet metal for mine. It's not hard to do. I cut mine out of some 18 gauge.

Keith

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Robert, you probably have one or two in there now. They are just spacers. If you have one, you can make more if needed, using origional one as a pattern.

Ben

[Guest shadetree77]

Thanks guys. I really appreciate all the help. Mike, keep it coming man! That bit about the different types of torque ball retainers and shims was something I have filed away for future use! But I'll still take you up on that beer! So far, the plan is for me and Dad to crawl under there soon and check out the condition of the trans. mount and thrust pad. We're thinking next Friday. We're going back to the junkyard this Saturday to dodge some snakes and dig out some more rusty gold.

I had a little extra time on my hands today so when a package arrived with a shiny new brake light switch within I just HAD to install it. I took a few pictures. While I was under the hood, I went ahead and finished re-wiring my park/Dagmar lights. My car didn't have turn signals from the factory. I installed turn signals myself using a clamp-on style switch and following the service manual wiring diagrams. I wanted the park lights to be dual filament bulbs so they could be park lights AND turn signals. I don't know if I mentioned any of this earlier in the thread so sorry if I'm repeating here. Anyway, I finished hooking those up today too. They work great. However, I would like to do something with them and I'm not sure how to go about it. When you turn my headlights on, the park lights go off. From reading the service manual, this is supposed to happen. How would I go about wiring it up to make my park lights stay on with the headlights?? Preferably without messing with the switch. Any ideas guys?

[Guest shadetree77]

I think I may have come up with a way to wire my park lights to work the way I want them. Requires a little modification but no one will ever know........well, I guess they'll know if they read this. Anyway, I'm thinking about getting a simple toggle switch from the parts store and mounting it in a completely hidden place under the dash. Totally out of sight so that no one knows it's there but me....and all of you. Then, I'm going to splice into the wire that carries the power for my glove box light. The glove box light is off 99.9% of the time anyway so that's just wasted power. I'll pull the park light wire off the headlight switch and run it to my toggle switch. I think this will safely and secretly give me what I want. I'm usually against any type of modification on this car but for whatever reason I really think it would be cool to have those park lights on WITH the headlights. Plus, this could be easily changed back if need be. This is only the second deviation from stock I've done on this car. The first was adding turn signals. I knew that if I didn't I would end up getting rear-ended. Most of today's drivers have no clue what the hand signals mean!

[Guest shadetree77]

I didn't think I was going to work on old Lucy today. I walked by her on the way to my Dad's house(he lives right in front of my place)and I guess she was calling my name subconsciously. The next thing I knew, I was crammed up under the dash, the top of my head on the floor and my feet up over the top of the front seat looking for a place to mount my toggle switch! I wired it just like I described in that last post, jumping the power off of the glove box light. I ran all my wires and hooked them up to my switch. I just needed a hidden spot to mount it. I didn't want to cut a 1/2" hole in the dash. I finally found a good spot though. To the right of the steering column there is a button of sorts that resets the trip odometer. It is bolted to the underside of the dash. For whatever reason, up under the dash on the back side of this button there is a large metal plate sticking away from the dash. I have no idea why this is here and I can't see any function it would have other than maybe keeping your hand from wandering too far into the under-dash wiring while pressing that button. Perfect spot for my hidden switch! I drilled a 1/2" hole in this plate and mounted it right there. Easily accessible from the drivers seat and totally hidden from view. I now have full control of the front park lights and all it cost me was $5.00 for a toggle switch and a sore neck.

[Guest jmorrisn699a]

Looking to buy 40-50s inline 8.

jim 813-376-0551

[avgwarhawk]

Great thread Robert! I have enjoyed reading it and getting some pointers.

By the way, my carburetor seems to have fixed itself somehow. It is no longer seeping fuel from that hole.... Any thoughts on this?

What was happening is your cylinders with valves not opening correctly present a condition of high vacuum through the throat of the carburetor. What will occur is gas that is normally squirted from the accelerator pump when you first step on the gas (this is to prevent hesitation) will be physically sucked out of the port due to the high vacuum created by the cylinders not working. Once you corrected the valve situation it took care of the dripping gas issue.

All is good in the land. She sounds great Robert!

Oh, the steering wheel you installed I have in my 54 Special. It was a option for 54. It is called a flexible wheel. I guess safer in crashes.

Ok man, time for paint!

[Guest shadetree77]

Thanks warhawk! I'm glad I could provide some entertainment and some pointers. I get a lot of help and advice from fellow members on here. I'm just trying to give back to the community a little by keeping this thread updated. Thanks for the explanation of the gas seepage problem I was having. I wasn't clear on why it was occurring. I do remember thinking that it probably had something to do with the malfunctioning valve but that was just a guess. Thank you for confirming my suspicions and adding to my knowledge bank. As for the steering wheel, I did read in my service manual that there are/were two types of wheels available. Mine originally came with the flex type so that is what I replaced it with. I have never seen the other kind. At least not on a '51-'52. I am curious as to what they look like. The flex type must have been a very popular option. The paint is in the distant future for right now. I still have a lot of mechanical issues to take on. Then I'm going to get to know the old girl for a few years before the major disassembly and paint work begins. She's isn't going anywhere so I'm going to take my time and enjoy her in the original un-restored state for awhile. Thanks for the comments!

[avgwarhawk]

I did see a picture of the standard steering wheel. Its mundane and no chrome horn ring. The flexible steering wheel is much more pleasing to the eye. Paint or not your Buick is cool. Sometimes a car with patina like yours will fool you. She's a sleeper. Looks to have a lot of age on her by the looks of it but damn she runs like new. Reminds me of a old firebird at the drag strip years ago. Just beat up and primer paint here and there. The tree turned green and the driver mashed the gas pedal. Sure enough, the old car squat down and was gone. Ran the 1/4 in 12 seconds flat. Holy crap, she is a sleeper!

Ever toss around the idea of painting the car yourself? :-)

Chris

Edited March 21, 2012 by avgwarhawk (see edit history)

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

A partial picture of the standard steering wheel.

Ben

[avgwarhawk]

That's the one First Born!!! Not as exciting as the flexible wheel but still fitting of the era. Gives a different look to the dash area.

[Guest shadetree77]

Thanks for the picture Ben. That satisfies my curiosity. The flexible wheel must have been the wheel of choice back then. In all my google and ebay searches, I've never seen the standard wheel. They must be hard to come by. Both wheels have their merits. The standard wheel harkens back to the older wheels of the 40's and gives an "old school" vibe to the dash while the flex wheel, with all of its extra chrome, shines with all of that 50's style excess. Chris, I have indeed toyed with the idea of trying to do my own paint work. I fully intend to do my own frame painting. As for the body, I'm just not sure I have the right work area for the job. My driveway and carport are all gravel. I don't have an enclosed space. I could wet down the gravel I suppose but I don't know if that would work too well. Also, the compressor I have isn't rated for paint gun work. I would like to try it though because I think it would be fun and also save me a LOT of dough. I guess time will tell.

[avgwarhawk]

Body work and primer will save you a bundle if you do this work yourself. This is the step in painting where a majority of the time is spent along with your cash.