1949 Buick Super Sedanet (56S)

[JohnD1956]

If, by the word hub, you mean the pin in your picture, then here's a test that may help determine what you need.

 

Open the door in question, and lift up on the outside edge.  Grab it by the bottom and rock it skyward. 

 

If the pin is worn out, then the door will visibly rock at the hinge. If the pin is tight then the whole car will rock, and the pin is okay.  In that case you may just need to adjust the door hinges.  In either case I doubt the springs in the hinge will impact the alignment of the door.  

Edited April 9, 2018 by JohnD1956 (see edit history)

[Buicknutty]

 Not to say this is always the case, but mostly door sagging so much its' contacting the body is due to worn out door hinges. Barring damage, there are what wears and causes the poor fit.    New pins and bushings, can be bought from several vendors, and aren't too costly. Installation is a bit more of a pain, though.

 John's suggestion will tell you for sure whether or not this is the issue.

 Keith

[Wilf Sedanet]

Thanks guys, I am sorry I made a mistake (it was early this morning). I meant the door handle is sagging, not the door itself per se. This next picture will explain it better: will only the white painted springs do or will I also need the white painted hub?

 

problems are:

 

- sagging door handle that that goes lower than it should (bites through paint)

 

- key works, key makes locking noise but will not prevent the door handle from opening the door

 

- the door knob and interior door handle work fine

[Wilf Sedanet]

This week I hope to get some work done on Rosetta. I bought door springs on eBay as well as a new water pump that was on its way out. The radiator is also being recored and resoldered and I once again ordered lots of stuff at Bob’s. Luckily I have ordered a lot of stock parts there previously so the freeze plugs are in house so flushing the engine is already taking place. 

 

Because ordering overseas is so expensive I always buy more than I need at Bob’s to keep the shipping costs less than the value of the items. As I have already ordered almost every parafernalia and small things I finally bought two accessories that I always wanted but always postponed (because they’re not really necessary: the exhaust reflector and the washer jar lid. Besides radiator hoses I also bought the engine gasket kit because we will be cleaning the outside and water channels and check/overhaul the ignition parts and check the valves. 

 

The engine is is a bit tired but we will not overhaul it since that will set me back in time and money way too far to be a realistic option right now. 

 

After the radiator / engine clean session I will drive once again and check the other to dos later. It’s still a loooooong list with lowering of the seat one of the first. Rewiring will be a close second. 

[Wilf Sedanet]

As always Bob's delivered fast (got the package last Wednesday, that's four working days int'l), still waiting on the eBay stuff. My mechanic got much more done than I thought. Half the car is taken apart now, somewhat scary but because I know it's for the good it also excites me a lot.

 

The engine has been quite disassembled. ? 

 

We cleaned out a lot of crud from the engine cooling system today. There was a lot of buildup behind the freeze plugs. The thermostat was original by the way. I never seen such a system, so cool! We're going to place a 160F new one. We were also working on the antenna, replacing it with a new one. We were working on the door lock, the trunk lock, the radiator is a the radiator shop, my mech filled the original shock absorbers and those seem to work quite good once again. He also shortened that ugly exhaust and at Bob's I bought a exhaust tip cover to really finish it off. He also removed the interior in the front, removed the front seat so we can make it lower and may be further back to fit it more to me. Also because the interior was out he checked the Dynaflow settings because it will not drive uphill in D, only in L, and in R it has serious chatter.

 

I took the valve cover, valve stem cover and spark plug cover home with me for a good cleanup and respray. All in all a good day (although my mech is already working on it for two weeks). ?

 

Because TTIWWP:

 

 

Edited April 27, 2018 by Wilf Sedanet (see edit history)

[Wilf Sedanet]

Now that I have a lot of engine parts off I wonder what color I will give them. I’ve read that the specials had a bluish green color and the ‘49 super should be some sort of blue. Should it be the same as the blue on the oil filter? As that is original (the square warning label is painted and not a sticker).

 

I am also pondering about coloring it in interior colors or even maybe the exterior color to make the car a little bit more special and interesting and making the engine look more as if it is part of the whole car (blue stands out a lot from the rest of the car). Most engines are not colored to the exact factory color anyway. Now it’s flat black over blue and metal. Anything is better than that.

 

By the way: the door lock on the left side seems to miss some kind of connection between the cilinder and the door handle. Does anyone have pictures of how it should look like? I can’t find anything in the workshop manual and the body manual. Probably to not make it thieves too easy back in the day…  

[Elpad]

My 50 engine was painted with this shade as recommended by few members of the forum. I’m going original color. If you go this route don’t be fooled with the color of the can cap. Got these from “Jegs”

[Elpad]

My is a Super model 51

Edited April 29, 2018 by Elpad (see edit history)

[Wilf Sedanet]

Wow, I love that color! Thank you for your pictures, you made my choice easy. Great enamel color!

 

Is this the color?

 

https://www.jegs.com/i/Mopar-Performance/312/P4120752AB/10002/-1

 

I’ll check if I can buy it here somewhere (Europe) at the Mopar shop.

Edited April 29, 2018 by Wilf Sedanet (see edit history)

[Elpad]

I believe that’s the one but give me few minutes and will search for the can to take a picture. The oil filter housing and lid were painted as on the picture 

[Fr. Buick]

I was a little surprised by the correct colors of the oil filter from this era, but then if you compare it to a period AC Delco box, it makes perfect sense!

[Wilf Sedanet]

I’m thinking about keeping the oil filter as is because of the nice patina. Maybe I will change my mind after painting the rest of the engine parts, but for now I love the fact that the warning label is painted, not a sticker. 

[Elpad]

That’s it

[Elpad]

This is not a picture of my engine bay but found this a while ago where they claimed to be a correct resto colors. Not confirmed 

Edited April 29, 2018 by Elpad (see edit history)

[Wilf Sedanet]

Thank you so much! Very enlightening  

 

I found a standard RAL color that comes awfully close: 5018. It’s actually a classic enamel color used on machinery and equipment back in the days so I can’t go wrong on the color. ?

Edited April 29, 2018 by Wilf Sedanet (see edit history)

[Elpad]

11 hours ago, Wilf Sedanet said:

Thank you so much! Very enlightening  

 

I found a standard RAL color that comes awfully close: 5018. It’s actually a classic enamel color used on machinery and equipment back in the days so I can’t go wrong on the color. ?

Post pictures when done

[Wilf Sedanet]

I will do that. First I need to thoroughly clean, sand and degrease the parts so it will take some time but I will take some time off this week so I do hope to finish the paintwork this week. 

 

I also have the Bob’s decal (Fireball Eight) but forgot how I should go about attaching it. Did you by any chance use that decal too?

[Elpad]

I installed the decals as on the picture 

[Wilf Sedanet]

“Sometimes good enough is perfect”, he thought to himself whilst enjoying the result of hours of scraping, brushing, wiping and polishing and noticing some weathering still at the rim of the jar. “This’ll do. This’ll do juuuust fine.”

 

 

 

(Jar lid is from Bob’s, jar itself is original and was full of rust, crud, leaf sediment and god knows what.)

Edited May 1, 2018 by Wilf Sedanet (see edit history)

[Wilf Sedanet]

With the subject “That’ll do” at hand: my mechanic fixed the door lock with a bit of improvisation seeing an original is really, REALLY hard to come by:

 

Broken

 

Fixed

 

 

(Springs and water pump have been delivered in the meantime too - have to bring the springs around still).

[Wilf Sedanet]

Today I was too lazy to be lazy. It didn’t start that way though. 

 

In the morning I went to a paint shop about half an hour driving, waited for them to make the paint and then returned home. Then I started to sand down the parts by hand. After lots of manual labor with sanding blocks I thought that I have a metal brush for my drill to speed things up. After looking for 15 minutes I thought: should I go out again to buy one new or just keep on going by hand? I was just too lazy to go out again. 

 

This is what I started with:

 

 

Then after hours of sanding (after this picture I went on sanding and then cleaning):

 

 

End of the day, three items in different stages of primer (rust inhibiter and epoxy in one:

 

 

The coloring process will have to wait until hopefully tomorrow. 

[Wilf Sedanet]

Whilst watching paint to dry I received a phone call. Naturally I said I was busy but then they snuck in it had to do with my radiator being ready. 

 

So I let the paint drying process go on unattended and rushed to the radiator shop. 

 

 

First thing I noticed is the weight difference. They forgot to put the 20 pounds of crud and rust back! But then I thought this would cool a lot better so I will keep it this way. 

 

By the way I am still in a relationship, my girl happens to be very nice. If one might ask why I’m suddenly working full time days on Rosetta.  I still have work too, I worked too many hours so took some days off.

Edited May 3, 2018 by Wilf Sedanet (see edit history)

[Wilf Sedanet]

The day wasn’t over yet so I went to Rosetta at the garage and dropped off the radiator and installed the new antenna. 

 

Then we assembled the door locks, the left side can be locked again. I also cleaned the inside of the door with a brush. Now I have to ship all the sand back to the desert. Next time I will ML the inside. 

 

 

 

I also reinstalled the wiper washer jar and prefitted the hoses and so found out I need new ones. I also installed a new rubber grommet for the speedo cable and while I was at it also installed a new speedo cable. Why not? It shrinks my new parts collection that is clogging up the house  Not that there will be more space because all those original parts go back on the shelf ?

 

[Wilf Sedanet]

The color is more blue than I thought* but for a backyard** paint job it is looking good so far. Although the good weather, slight breeze and blue color do attract bugs and dust. 

 

 

* On the color chart in the paint shop it looked like this (they had to mix it themselves):

 

 

** okay, actually we don’t have a garden but a terrace

 

 

Edited May 4, 2018 by Wilf Sedanet (see edit history)

[Wilf Sedanet]

I visited Rosetta once again this weekend, my mech is changing out the sway bar bushings and the struts because he has nothing other to do until my parts are dry, and I have everything new so why not swap it out then?

 

 In the meantime I connected the wiper washer hoses. At first I wanted to use the after market T-piece but the original copper one has the two different sizes I need. 

 

 

Also I placed the decal on the valve cover today. I still have to clean the residue off of the letters and cover but I love the look of it already!

 

Edited May 6, 2018 by Wilf Sedanet (see edit history)

[Wilf Sedanet]

Well, that escalated quickly…

 

I was on my way to bring the parts to the shop until the spark plug cover fell off the box and chipped. 

 

I sanded down the chips and started to spray primer over the dings.

 

 

Then the primer started to dissolve the paint so then I tried to contain the spot but it just became a mess.

 

 

So I went out and bought paint stripper to start all over again. 

 

[Wilf Sedanet]

Clean as a thistle. Still some pesky old rust thorns to harvest but I’ll manage. 

 

 

 

I’m gonna get me some rust convertor this time in stead of using the rust primer. Why? Because that rust primer takes a lot of drying time. 

[JohnD1956]

pushing drying time will only result in additional delays when it requires a third try.

[Wilf Sedanet]

I have cleaned and cleaned and used rust converter and metal degreaser and lots of water and put some primer on it at the end of the day. I have put in lots of hours today but I think it was worth it. I’m glad I put in the extra effort and started anew. 

 

 

 

 

I found some lettering by the way that intrigued me. I guess it is from the press dye. It seems to read (?)ANCE or (?)ANGE.

 

 

Also I colored the inside for that extra enamel look, I am actually a little proud now … ?

 

 

I got a photo from the garage with my newly painted parts and it’s looking good ?

 

 

That orange oil filler cap will have to change color as well in the future. 

Edited May 7, 2018 by Wilf Sedanet (see edit history)

[Wilf Sedanet]

Rosetta was ready for a test drive this evening. She purrs like a kitten with her now perfect cooling, correct valve lash, new spark plugs and correct timing. She stops and steers and drives off better too. The slippage is less too although I still have to floor it in R or D to get her on a slope. She rolls back otherwise. That tranny could really do with an overhaul…

 

I got a little anxious from driving her around as I first smelled burning rubber and then a kind of plastic burn odor. It came from the new belt. 

 

Tomorrow I will ML the inside of the doors and put them back together again. 

 

 

One may notice the top top radiator hose isn’t new but the original one. That’s because it now features a working temp gauge. The temp stays 170 perfectly while idling. Nice!

Edited May 9, 2018 by Wilf Sedanet (see edit history)

[Wilf Sedanet]

Today I did some test driving. It is cool to drive her again. The left door handle still has some issues, I desperately want an original one. ?

 

The smell of burning rubber and fire is gone. The generator is just a little tighter now and the engine cleaning residue has probably worn off now too. 

 

I’ll test drive a little coming week(s) and then the next project will be wiring. I will not wait too long with that because of the poor dilapidated state the wiring is in now. 

 

The generator is now also generating a lot of amps when driving. Even when I drive 30 it’s loading full steam. It makes me wary of driving too fast; maybe the generator isn’t regulated good and extra amps trough the original wires is not a good thing. 

 

But most of all I’m enjoying driving Rosetta now. It feels good to have her back!

 

We went out for some groceries and get a lot of attention from everybody. ?

 

 

Here next to my girlfriend’s car (‘64 Dart) ?

 

 

[edit] After driving a lot I noticed the ammeter gradually lowered so the battery probably needed all those amps. 

Edited May 11, 2018 by Wilf Sedanet (see edit history)

[Wilf Sedanet]

After a weekend of test driving I got lot of enjoyment and some new things I know I want to change or what lies ahead in the future. 

 

We went to a rainy meeting called “Rock around the jukebox” with a lot of … jukeboxes and parts and stuff from the 50’s to 70’s. My girlfriend took a picture of me and Rosetta after an hours drive, first successful long drive after the garage work. ?

 

 

I also installed the backup lights but because I wasn’t happy with the fitting I over torqued it (which didn’t help - the gap stayed the same). Only the inside bar warped in stead of the light fixture getting flush. No leakages though. 

 

 

And today I thought about painting the orange oil filler cap. After sanding off the paint I found that it’s made of aluminum and because of all the dents decided to leave it blank. I went a little overboard with commandant (polishing compound) and a cotton cloth though… now my fingers are black. ?

 

 

Some bonus pictures: European cars are a lot smaller and so are our parking spaces. This is what it looks like with a ‘49 Buick ( I used to own a ‘71 Plymouth Satellite custom station wagon - that was even more fun ) :

 

 

[edit] I couldn’t resist polishing just a little more…

 

 

[edit again]

 

I had some time this morning to drive by the Buick before going to work and put back the filler. I may be pedantic but even as I think this is much better than orange I do think I like the engine color even more. The shine looks a little out of place.

 

Edited May 15, 2018 by Wilf Sedanet (see edit history)

[Wilf Sedanet]

It has been extremely hot this May (day & night are 20+ F higher than normal). Luckily last Saturday there was an evening meet. Actually I love driving old cars around dusk, it has something magical I think.

 

 (Filmed from a very nice ‘56 Oldsmobile Holiday two-tone)

[Elpad]

12 hours ago, Wilf Sedanet said:

It has been extremely hot this May (day & night are 20+ F higher than normal). Luckily last Saturday there was an evening meet. Actually I love driving old cars around dusk, it has something magical I think.

 

 (Filmed from a very nice ‘56 Oldsmobile Holiday two-tone)

 

You should post the video on the “raise your hand if you drove a Buick.......”

[Wilf Sedanet]

I raised my hand ?

[Rondek]

Very Nice Car Wilf; a job well done.  I am also restoring a 1949 Buick Super that was my father's; he passed away over 35 years ago and my bother and I being kids put it on block in the back yard.  My project is on year 3 and I am almost there.  I found your blog because I am also having trouble with the gauges.  I am hoping to find some tips to get them working, otherwise I can not drive the car.  Here in Canada I have to pass an inspection and the gauges are the problem. 

 

GOOD JOB... 

[Wilf Sedanet]

Hi Rondek,

 

Thank you for your kind words. Which gauges are you having trouble with? Is it okay to have auxiliary gauges for the inspection?

 

The gauges are quite simple so I’ll run through them here:

 

Amp: The Amperage meter is in between the generator and battery. This makes them susceptible for temperature damage (and even fire hazards) when the car gets more and more after market (modern) stuff like audio amplifiers or auxiliary lights, and when the original wiring is still in place this will exacerbate the hazardous situation. 

 

Temp: this gauge is mechanical. It has a capillary tube which pushes on a spiral due to expanding gas (the needle is attached to it) and if that breaks somewhere or gets squashed or leaking it will not work anymore. I have been trying to rebuild one to electronic but the controllers I tried cannot step the servo good enough. 

 

Solution (for me): an auxiliary gauge underneath the dashboard. That one is also capillary and is installed in the upper radiator hose. There are special connectors/hoses for that. 

 

Oil: this is mechanical too. It uses pressure to push a spiral with a needle attached to it. If this breaks the oil will go anywhere you don’t want it. This is easier to fix than the temp gauge because it just needs pressure in stead of a gas.

 

Gas: This works just like all the gauges until cars went and got computer everything. So it needs a few things: 1. The right voltage for the meter. 2. Good ground. 3. The right resistance. These ingredients make for a right reading. I am typing this on my phone and cannot check it now but I believe the Buick has a fuel gauge resistance reading between 0 and 60 Ohm. So there must be a good connection between the gauge and the fuel float in the tank and the tank and the fuel gauge itself must be grounded commonly like every other electrical part. 

 

If the fuel gauge works partially it could be a bad ground or bad voltage or a meter that’s out of calibration. If the meter is stuck it could be a bad float, a nonexistent voltage or nonexistent ground, or a stuck/broken meter. 

 

Speedo: When the speedometer is way off but working it may be a wrong speedo for the axle. If it isn’t working at all check if the cable is connected between the gauge and the tranny. If it is working but swinging up and down the gear in the tranny may be worn out. If there are noises coming from the speedo the wear is inside of the gauge. 

 

I hope this helps a little.

[Wilf Sedanet]

We’ve been driving a lot last weekend again. Alas my left door won’t open anymore. The lock is really broken now. 

 

In the meantime I also bought an accessory I hope to get running again:

 

 

I’ve already taken it apart and want to rewire it and if possible paint it. 

[Wilf Sedanet]

Back with some updates:

 

Rosetta gives off a lot of heat at the tranny so I’m gonna install some heat reflecting material on the floor. 

 

Also I installed the washing pump for the wipers but it keeps on smoking the fuse to the 12v converter so I guess I need another converter if I wanna use it now in my 6v car. 

 

I bought some stuff to build my custom radio that should look stock (no touch screens, LED or other fancy stuff - it uses Bluetooth and mini jack but invisible. I love the original design and new stuff gets outdated faster than the original well thought of design). A retrosound stereo speaker (6.5”) is in house, now waiting on the DSP, amps and Bluetooth receiver. 

 

I just finished my dash fan. I cleaned and lubed the interior and rewired it and I got it to work just fine I think:

 

 

???

 

The weather is also getting warmer again so I finished it just in time. 

 

Please don’t mind the mess on my tweak desk: too many projects at once. I bet a lot of members can relate. 

 

The beauty of testing it with a lab power supply is that I now know it draws about 3 amps so I can put a fuse in line. 

 

The wires are slightly thicker (metric: the original was 1.25mm diameter, this is 1.5mm diameter) and also colored brown like the original. I am considering using special wiring harness black cloth tape to bundle the wires though. 

 

By the way: before testing it on the bench lab power supply I first checked the wires for continuity between each other and between the wire and the housing to check I would not start a fire. After the check I also knew which one was the negative wire as that one shorts to the body. 

[Model56s]

Hi Wilf, I have always enjoyed your post, from when you were Wilf Desoto. I appreciate your exellent English!

 

I bought my 49 Super Sedanette in February 2012 and have driven the car almost 15,000 miles in that time - when it's nice out I'll try to steal 1/2 hour behind the wheel. I love driving it to work. Buick made strong cars and I love this one, especially her lines. Enjoy!

Geoff

Missouri