Rescue Me - '51 41D

[Eric W]

Been off on home improvement jobs (and probably will be for a while), but here's a few photos of what else I've been able to fit in:

"Fixed" the radiator frame (eBay method):

Survey of inside the trunk:

Tools inside the trunk - old tire removal tools? Jack & lug wrench:

Saw in one of the Buick specialists' catalogs that they offer reduced-price on trunk liner boards if you provide a pattern, and they don't have any '51's yet - so maybe I'll try to flatten these out and send them in. Need a closer-up photo of the wood-grain printed on these:

Pulled the instrument panel close-out on the firewall. Here's the fuse panel & defroster duct:

Firewall close-out panel. Thick sound-proofing on the interior side:

Edited October 8, 2013 by Eric W
removed xtra photo (see edit history)

[JohnD1956]

Like those hubcaps on there. The trunk looks like it's very solid along with a lot of other parts. Too bad about the gas tank.

[Eric W]

I believe the hubcaps are '52 Buick, not sure what model. The shape makes for an interesting mirror. Yes, trunk floor seems pretty solid. I tried to flatten one of the trunk liner pieces and it cracked. Maybe try again with heat gun.

[Eric W]

Still chipping away at cleaning fasteners, flattening the trunk liners, etc. As someone on one of the other threads noted - the spend rate has temporarily exceeded the available budget. Unfortunately in this case the budget was consumed by unexpected house repairs, but no running water in the house isn't an option. So it's going to be a while before I get into the blasting & refinishing part of it.

Any hints on how to lube the push/pull cables for the cabin air vents?

[Fr. Buick]

Any hints on how to lube the push/pull cables for the cabin air vents?

WD40. A little bit all along the length, and it will loosen up like a charm.

[Eric W]

Thanks! It was cruise night again tonight, but I let the smoke out of the '55. We still went, but parked the daily driver out away from the cruise night cars. On the plus side, the very nice '55 Century is back in town (hadn't seen him all summer), and there was a '60 convertible that I'd never seen before. Sorry, no photos, it was night by the time the '60 showed up. (You can see the Century in my Images on this site.) On the '55, I had messed with the speedometer cable under the dashboard the other day, and tonight put the key in, turned to ignition on, and saw sparks and smoke. Well, didn't see the sparks, but saw the light from the sparks. I think I have an idea where one short is, but sparks were from more than one place.

[JohnD1956]

I hate when that spark thing happens unexpectedly. Hope nothing is burned beyong repair. Good luck

[Eric W]

Thanks John. I don't know what it is about a couple of days away, but tonight I found the sparked area within a minute. Repositioned the offending part, and it's working again. It was a small metal tube for an aftermarket temp gauge that a prior owner had installed. When I reached up there a couple of days ago to not really change anything on the speedo cable, I must have bent the temp gauge tube down right over the top of the fuse panel. I think I will at least wrap the little tube with tape before I call this one done.

Though I think it's just as well the car was out of service. I was really tempted to take it to a huge car show in town today. It was one of those "no day of show registrations" things, so my car would have been out in spectator parking. Parking was miserable. I didn't go for either of the 2 huge pay lots they had set up, and ended up parked on the street in a neighborhood about 1/4 mile away where many others were parking because access to the pay lots was taking forever.

This show has grown to the point where the show cars must be "positioned" in their classes on Friday, show runs Saturday, and you can't take the car out until after the show is over on Saturday (or even on Sunday). About 450 cars being shown, and the crowds were such that it was practically impossible to get any photos without someone blocking the car. Of all this, there were about 3 Buicks, 1 that I had seen before (said to have over $200k in it). Though I found a flyer for a GM-only show next April that should be a more Buick-rich environment...

'37, '52, '62 (more photos in my album):

Edited October 20, 2013 by Eric W
Added photos (see edit history)

[Eric W]

Ok, during a week of yet more unplanned home repair jobs, I did try the WD40 on the cabin vent. Worked out just fine. I learned something (other than I should have shelled out for at least a reprint of the owner's manual) - the vent wouldn't move when rotating the control knob on the dash. So from the under-the-hood side, I pushed the vent open/shut a few times - and just like that, I learned the dash knob isn't rotation - it's push/pull! I guess I could have tried that, but the '51 center stack has 6 big, fat knobs on it that sure look like rotation. The top two, electric switches for the heater and defroster fans - rotate. The next two - headlights and lighter - well, those pull, and the headlight one probably rotates as well. The bottom two - left and right cabin air vents - they will rotate if you rotate them, but that doesn't do anything.

So, with this new info about the left vent, I pull on the right vent knob (cable is all under the dash), and the right vent opens/shuts. But I can see (since I pulled the defroster heater core off the firewall), that there's a 2nd door in behind the heater core - must be for the defroster. How's that one work. Not quite bright enough to make the connection, as on the defroster knob I can feel a couple of detents as it rotates to switch the fan, I work the defroster air door open from the under-the-hood side. Go back into the interior, and there it is - the defroster knob also has a push-pull function!

At least all push-pull functions are there, and working well.

Now, what I think is the slider down below to open the valve that circulates the hot coolant through the defroster core appears to be stuck - at the valve. Anyone know any other control "tricks" I should know about? Does the headlight knob have functions from rotating the knob? I don't have a battery yet, so haven't tried anything electrical.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Eric, the headlight switch, when rotated all the way counter clockwise turns on the map lights just above the ash trays. To the right powers the instrument lights, dimming as it is turned farther right.

I would unhook the temp adjusting handle at the valve and then try the valve. Probably just stiff. Same valve adjusts heater temp, as coolant flow to heater is in same circuit.

Ben

[Eric W]

I'll give it a try. The headlight switch - I can feel the dimmer part when rotating the knob, but it also feels like 7 "clicks" past there - I'll see what that means when there's power. Here's some photos for those who haven't seen one of these in action:

Cabin air vents open (pull bottom knobs):

Ashtrays open:

Lighter in heating position and cabin air vent (right side) pushed in to pull the defroster door open (though there can be a "blend" of both partially open):

Lighter in stowed (not heating) position:

Headlights in on position (middle knob):

Light switch in parking light position:

Left side cabin air open & right side set to defroster on:

Edited October 28, 2013 by Eric W
word choice (see edit history)

[Felix]

Help need chrome 51 41D chrome

[Eric W]

Felix - if there's specific parts you need, try the For Sale / Wanted forum. This thread is for my specific car.

[Eric W]

Been a little while. I have pulled 3 of the 4 brake drums. Need a 4th jack stand - have parts of it, but can't set the car on "parts" of a jack stand. Something got lost along the way. Brakes look pretty good, but I still plan to change out the wheel cylinders & hoses + rebuild the master.

Also started pulling the front seat in order to see what the front floor looks like. Anyone have the trick to getting the back of the front seat off? I have the robe cord off, and the book seems to indicate this will uncover additional fastener(s), but I can't see anything. I'd like to separate the back from the bottom - not even sure the whole seat would fit out the door with back & bottom together.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Eric, I don't know about taking apart, but mine came out as an assembly.

Ben

[Dale's Buick]

Eric,

I've done one carb in my life (97 Kawasaki 700), and while I got it running, the cycle shop then had to fix "my" repairs! That said, my carb is at a carb guy's, and the good news was that I was told "how did you even get it started with all this junk in there?" Given that it ran pretty darn good, I can't wait to see what a rebuilt carb does for it! I've spent all of the last 3 days hunting for a Starter/Solenoid Relay Switch. Apparently there are OEM's for 53 (V-8) on, but the straight 8 ......so far nada. One web site says he can get me one, but it won't be cheap, and I'll be talking to a couple of places about rebuilding what I have.

So keep at it, and thanks for letting me learn from you and the rest of our friends on this forum!

Dale in Kentucky (Dale's Buick)

[Eric W]

Holding off on the front seat for now, here's a quick little project that added a lot to the hubcaps. These were pretty low cost, as the "extra" holes in the middle may have been from someone's "clock" project or something.

Having the color on there takes some attention away from the extra holes. These photos aren't all the same hubcap. 3 of 4 I did the red first. First one I did, I did the blue first. Didn't seem to be easier/harder either way. Once I got the first one done, I had the red on the brush so just kept going. I did 2 one day, 2 the next, so as to not get too tired (both hand and eye) in one sitting. It's actually pretty hard to see while doing this, as the hubcap dish shape reflects the work light into my eyes - the same lights that I needed bright to see where the paint was going...

The one other emblem like this that needs the color repainted is on the trunk lid. It's about the same width as these, but about half as high - I think I'll look for a smaller brush...

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Nice work, Eric. Sticking my neck out here, but could the holes be from someone attaching flippers to the caps?

Ben

[buick5563]

Or rat rod spikes?

[Wheelnut]

The painting does help to hide the holes. Looks much better!

[Eric W]

Thanks - I have another idea for the holes to minimize them even more. There were 5 caps in the lot - maybe try it out on the "spare" first. This was an eBay lot, so I have no idea of the history, and I don't think the seller did either. I was thinking clock because it's 3 holes - 1 for the drive to pass through, 2 more to secure the clock-works. It could have simply been some sort of add-on to hide the Buick origins...

[Wheelnut]

How about a bit of aluminum tape on the backside of the holes, then paint over that?

[Eric W]

Moving along... Got the brake master out a couple of days ago. Worked on getting the fill cap and output ports off, but no good so far. The pressure end has a 1.325" hex - what wrench is that? Anyway, I ordered a "new production" master cylinder from CARS, Inc. through their eBay sales. They have these "on sale" via eBay for ~$50 off for the next 2 days or so. Lower cost than rebuild through Kanter at this point...

There seem to be a lot of these catalog items from our favorite restoration suppliers on eBay these days - when today's sale expires, they get relisted (maybe)... When I bought the hood release cables a while back from Bob's, they were listed as "10 available, 9 sold", and when I bought the 10th one, the listing almost instantly reappeared as "10 available" again... Bob's is currently featuring the "u-turn" heater hose between the defroster and the port on the firewall - discounted price, but you again pay the freight on them including their hardcopy catalog in the package...

[Wheelnut]

... The pressure end has a 1.325" hex - what wrench is that? ...

It is called a 'crescent wrench'.

[Dale's Buick]

Eric,

Just saw your posts on the defroster core removal, it helps me a lot...to say nothing of your discussion of the heater/defroster knobs. Thank you sir!

Dale in Kentucky

[Eric W]

It is called a 'crescent wrench'.

Yes, that'll do it. I just have to get one that goes that far...

[Eric W]

Eric' date='

Just saw your posts on the defroster core removal, it helps me a lot...to say nothing of your discussion of the heater/defroster knobs. Thank you sir!

Dale in Kentucky[/quote']

Glad it helps you, Dale. They don't really speak to how the dash controls work in the shop manual, but I guess I'll probably spring for a reprint of the "owner's guide" for ~$18 + shipping at some point... Anyone have a scan of this, just for the instructional information? Not that there's a lot left that I haven't figured out...

[Eric W]

Ahead of more brake work, did some paint work on the trunk emblem. I know, in the big scheme, this trunk emblem is pretty far gone. I saw on one of the car-related shows the other day how to fix chomed pot metal right (I think it was on Car Fix, project '55 Chevy) - where they strip the part to the base metal, then drill a hole at each break-thru of the chrome (without the chrome on there, these show up as different-colored spots), plate it with copper (still looking like Swiss cheese), fill the bunches of drill holes with lead, get the surface all smooth, then proceed with the balance of the chrome plating process... So I added some paint. I'll try some silver paint in the "DYNA FLOW" letters, and some tail-light red translucent paint on the plastic (though there's no lights in the trunk handle/emblem)...

[Smartin]

That is why it's so expensive to replate pot metal. They use a silver solder instead of lead to fill the pits, though.

[Eric W]

Couple of things in the past few days - punted on the brake master - found new/repro units on eBay (from CARS, Inc) for ~$50 off the regular catalog price. Slightly lower price than rebuild, and I don't have to worry about whether the sleeve was done right, etc. Had to transfer the studs over from the original unit. Still need to to wheel cylinders / hoses, etc. Though I've seen some comments on here that CARS may not be the quickest to ship sometimes, whoever is running their eBay sales is right on top of it. Got this <1 week from the other side of the U.S., so they're getting the product out their door same/next day.

Pulled out the front seat. Wasn't as hard as I thought - I wasn't sure a seat with back would fit out the door, but a little tilt and it dropped right out. 8 bolts. Found all of $0.02 under the seat. Pulling up the floor covering, there was a mat under the floor cover on the driver's side. Maybe they expected some severely high wear over there. Anyway, the "insulation" does a great job of retaining water which rusts the floor pretty thoroughly.

[Wheelnut]

Couple of things in the past few days - punted on the brake master - found new/repro units on eBay (from CARS, Inc) for ~$50 off the regular catalog price. Slightly lower price than rebuild, and I don't have to worry about whether the sleeve was done right, etc. Had to transfer the studs over from the original unit. Still need to to wheel cylinders / hoses, etc. Though I've seen some comments on here that CARS may not be the quickest to ship sometimes, whoever is running their eBay sales is right on top of it. Got this <1 week from the other side of the U.S., so they're getting the product out their door same/next day.

It's been 2 weeks since I ordered one from them for my 49 and they still haven't shipped it. I think they had to order it from China first. They happily charged my credit card the day of the order though.

What's your plan for repairing the floorboards? That looks like a big job. Have you found a source for replacements?

[Eric W]

Yes, could be that they had the '51 cylinders available & were ready to unload some stock that had been sitting. '49 not interchangeable?

There are floor patch panels for the '51 advertised on eBay for $49 each, L&R front floors + L&R rear floors. I might try those. The father of a friend of my wife runs one of the hotrod shops around here. I may ask them to take a look. I don't have anything to weld with, but it's on my list of things to try sometime.

It's been 2 weeks since I ordered one from them for my 49 and they still haven't shipped it. I think they had to order it from China first. They happily charged my credit card the day of the order though.

What's your plan for repairing the floorboards? That looks like a big job. Have you found a source for replacements?

[Eric W]

Other fun stuff - tried restoring the lenses in the trunk emblem. Painted the letters with silver enamel. Painted the lens itself with VHT "night shades" tail light paint. Goes on extremely thin. This is with 5 coats:

I have something in mind to make the lenses clearer. But if someone knows a trick, let me know.

[Eric W]

Trunk emblem was yesterday. Did the hood emblem today. Instead of the VHT tail light paint, for the red I just used the Testor's Dark Red enamel. It turns out fairly translucent with just 1 coat, so I left it at that.

[Wheelnut]

This is how I'd try to clear up the lenses. If the plastics are made from acrylic, then that is soluble in acetone. If you can get some acetone to penetrate the cracks, that may weld them shut a bit and reduce them. The acetone will not get along with the testors enamel however if the cracks go all the way through. After the cracks are sealed up and dry, then wet sand with 600 and spray a coat of automotive clear urethane. I've done this with modern plastics, but not with any old Buick lenses. So I don't know for sure how the plastic will react to the acetone.

[buick5563]

I'd stay away from acetone. It will burn your plastic fast!

Polish the lenses by hand. Start with 600 grit sandpaper then go up to around 1500. Then use polishing compound to get the sanding scratches out. It is just like color sanding a car's paint.

[Eric W]

Whatever this plastic is, it's impervious to acetone. I tried a small area. I could see it seep into the cracks. Then a while later, it had evaporated back out again without any noticeable change to the part. This isn't a surface issue. The plastic is maybe 0.2" thick, on average, and the outer 0.1" or so is cracked. So the outer surface is actually smooth and reasonably clear. But the idea of painting it with a clear coat - that might seep into the cracks similar to the acetone, and then cure there.

[Eric W]

So this thread doesn't give too much idea that all I'm doing is taking stuff apart & fixing up some small parts, I swapped out 3 of 4 brake wheel cylinders yesterday. Why 3? Cuz my jack stand collection at this point is only 3. I'll get some wheels/tires back on to set it down and get the 4th wheel. Wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Though the metric system has now invaded the vehicle. I went to try one of the bleed screws - 3/8 wouldn't fit. 7/16 - too big. 10mm...:mad:

[Roadmaster75]

THe fact that there is a metric bleed screw might be a red flag regarding

how or who rebuilt the cylinders.

If they re-tapped the bleed orifice to a metric thread pitch, you'll be pulling

your hair out wondering why a standard SAE fitting/line won't go in right….

Have you put the new lines in already or is that still on the list..?

Just thought I'd mention it

mike

[Eric W]

As far as I can tell, the metric feature is just the hex on the bleed screws. The threads to the pipes/hoses are standard pipe thread. These are new, not rebuilt.