1937 Special Lower control arm Shaft kit

[dibarlaw]

I ordered and received a pair of lower inner shaft kits for my 1937 Special. When comparing them to my car I've found that the shaft kits I purchased have hex bushings at both ends of the control arm shafts while my car has no hex bushings. It looks as though the lower control arm rides directly on the threads of the shaft. Also, the grease fittings go right into the ends of the shafts wereas the grease fittings in the repair kit go into the bushings.

Do I have the correct parts? If so, must I have the control arms bored out to use the hex bushings in the kit? My factory manual shows no hex bushings for the 40 and 60 series, but is kind of vague on the subject. The reprinted 1937 Service buletins mentions something on page 95 but the reprint only goes up to page 93.... This was an unanswered post from 2003. But states my case perfectly. Larry

[jenz38]

On my '38 ('think the '37 was the same ) was the old ,and also the new ones ,with that hex head bushings what you discribed.

Your have only ordered the Bushings? I would use only a complete Set with the Shaft,because the Thread on the Shaft inside the Bushings are often worn too and only if you change it all together you have a playfree Controlarm.

M2C

[39BuickEight]

I had the same issue on my '39. Apparently in the late 30's there was a change to the hex head bushings with the grease fittings from the rubber ones and many parts suppliers don't have the proper reference when you order. The ones you got would be for my car and the ones I got the first time around would have been for your car.

Also, pre-39 the arms were bolted together rather than welded, so many people changed to 37-38 parts when they did maintenance as the bolts were easier to take off add reattach than the welds, so often the front suspension parts on these cars you buy are not the actual year correct parts. That might be some of the mix-up.

Call Bob's and have them look up what they sent me the first time. I bet that's the kit you need. They know me by my restoration thread. When I call they always say, "oh yeah, the guy in Kentucky"

Edited May 21, 2013 by 39BuickEight (see edit history)

[1939_Buick]

For your information from 1928-52 master parts book

Edit:Trying to show image a diiferent way (url c&p)

http://forums.aaca.org/members/1939_buick/albums/buick-straight-8/152459-1939-s40-60-1940-s40-50.jpg

Edited May 22, 2013 by 1939_buick (see edit history)

[danhar1960]

Well, I would have thought that '37 and '38 would have been the same but I guess not.

It seems that the early '37s shaft does in fact bear directly onto the A-frame arm as you say Larry.

I would think that to do the job properly you would have to change the shaft and the A-frame arms as I would imagine that they would both have wear after all the years.

I would suggest that it may be a better option to keep the later shafts and bushings and get some later A-frame arms as I would imagine that the original type would now be hard to come by. In '39 they changed to a rubber bushing but it seems that was not very successful as they went back to the steel bushes in '40 and onward.

Billy, all my A-frames were riveted together. I had to remove the rivets to install a new lower bumper and then replaced the rivets with bolts.

Danny

[Guest gmorse]

Hello. I have been reading the above comments regarding the lower inner A-frame bushings. I agree that the '39 series 40 and 60 used the type with rubber bushings, not the threaded type. It appears that this was one year only. And yes, you have to remove the rivets to change the bushings and the rubber bumper. I have done my '39 with the original type rubber bushings, and the only problem I see, is that if you have a front engine oil leak, or if your front shock starts leaking, the oil goes right into the bushing area and the rubber does not last long. If I do this again, I will try to find out if a previous year with the metal bushings and grease fittings will fit. Gary.

[39BuickEight]

My '39 has the threaded type, so someone must have changed the arms at some point??? Maybe got the whole assembly off a '38 or something?

[danhar1960]

I went with the original rubber bushings but I am tending to think that if they ever need to be replaced I'd go with the steel type.

I have been lucky over the years to be able to pick up a couple of sets of NOS that have turned up at swap meets over here.

Danny

[dibarlaw]

Than you all for your input. Finally getting around to analyzing what is there and checking the diameters. Looks to be that the original arm bore and the new shaft O.D. is exactly the same. The new bushing is about .270 larger My problem now it to see what lower control arm will be compatible. 38 special? And then try to locate them. Another solution is that I machine new bushings to fit the existing arms from hex stock. Also turning down the existing shafts about .125 undersize and chase new threads.This is a big job. But I already have over $150 in parts that don't fit. This has always been my experience with the Buick parts supplier out of New Jersey. Larry

[jenz38]

Not good to hear from this Problems with mixed Parts .In the last Time I had the same disaster here with some 60's US Cars,especially T-birds and Caddys with mixed Steering components.... I wish you good luck with fixing this.

(If you want I can give you the Meassurement from my Old '38 exchanged Shafts that I have stored)

Edited June 20, 2013 by jenz38 (see edit history)

[dibarlaw]

I am still trying to get the 37 tripworthy to the Buick Nationals. Worked on jury-rigging the lower control arm and shafts. This was since the shaft kits sent by CARS (with bushings) don't work. When I ordered them from their latest catalog only part # shown was SK377 they didn't ask and I didn't know to ask untill I reciecved them if this was the only style available. And the type I would need requires the dissasembly of the entire bottom half of the suspension. Already had the alignment done when we found this problem. Thought I could just remove the shafts and turn them down and re-thread. Then make bushings to fit. But as I already said to remove the shafts would require the removal of the control arms and they are out of round also. The tolerance on these parts were originally to be .005-.010". Most were worn close to .100" at the largest gap. Instead I cleaned the threads well fitting them to the undamaged mating threads at the bottom of each part. Then file fitted up some cresent shaped pieces of brass and drove them tight to take up the space. This should get us to South Bend and back. Yesterday checked on CARS website catalog it shows a #SK37 shaft (Non-Bush) added in 2010. That would have been good except the threads on the control arms are enlarged way past a good fit. Larry<!-- google_ad_section_end -->

[dibarlaw]

For some reason my computer will not let me post a new thread. So I have added this to one of my previous ones. Have been working on my 1937-41 to get ready to drive to South Bend. The latest dissapointment was that "wiperman" said that he would not be able to rebuild the vacuum wiper unit. The car was suposed to be able to drive to Concord last June. But the "Restoration Shop" that had promised to have it ready did not get it back to me till September. And it was not able to do a 3 mile trip around town. They said all it needs was a little bit of "Tweeking". Well I have been "Tweeking" for a year and still finding problems that they were to adress and I have had to redo. We paid them a lot of money for partial efforts. That could not be evaluated untill we were able to drive it and asessed by other mechanics. One thing missed was the steam cleaning of the underside of the front end. Since they were having to remove the radiator to be sent out to be redone and rebuild the front end/brakes. I thought that part of the prep made sense. When I made an issue of it later it was going to be a extra cost item. And by that time cost had already broken the Bank!!　　　 When I had the front end aligned (since they put in all new brake hydraulics hardware etc. king-pins, tie rod ends, and pronounced the front end tight) the mechanic found the lower control arms and shafts were very worn. They were well packed with grease and not noticeable. So another item to rebuild and while I was under doing a temporary fix to this problem I scraped several pounds of 75 year old guck around the front cross member and frame. No cleaning as I asked for. They did paint up some of the frame over top of road grime. I remember getting charged for several cans of "Kyrlon". Yesterday I decided to flush the cooling system and check what thermostat may be in it and remove. I noticed there was blue sealer around the thermostat housing and did not recall it being there before they took the car.　They did replace the water pump and put on new hoses. When I removed the 2 bolts one was snapped off and the head was just left in place and much sealer was used to fill in. Since they already had the front nose and radiator out it would have been much easier to drill out the broken bolt. Instead it took me over 2 hours in cramped quarters. I mentioned on an earlier post about the wiring harness and the added turn signal fiasco. After 2 months of them avoiding sending for the harness they said it would be to late to be ready to drive to Concord last June. When checking on the car in Aug we found out that they ordered　and installed the regular harness without the extra turn signal wires. 　I was furious but the owner said they would take care of it. They did by charging me over $300 for extra materials to cobble up a turn signal set up. Now I have extra loom showing everywhere. But when we got the car home I kept having electrical problems. I had to check each connection and there were several incorrectly placed. The bigger problem was that I had to go over and clean each connection. They never cleaned any corrosion off. I believe we have most of these issues solved. I only expounded on these things because I have been dealing with some of the items over the past year and several just showed up this week. I also know it is a delicate negotiation when dealing with a Restoration Shop as they have your car and your money and then it is about their timeline not yours. I know now I made this expensive mistake. Please take heed!.

Edited July 7, 2013 by dibarlaw (see edit history)

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Every time I read such a post, I thank GOD he made me mechanically inclined. But full disclosuer, even that is no guarantee. Larry, sorry for all your problems. Hang in there.

Ben

[Daves1940Buick56S]

Yup. As I am finding out with my car also. Looks like some whopper lies were told somewhere. How can guys in business like that sleep at night? Don't they realize there is a thing called the Internet and that we enthusiasts can compare notes and circulate info on the "bad" people? Sigh...

Hang in there as well, Dave