Raise your hand if you drove at least one old Buick this weekend

[JohnD1956]

35 mile evening cruise yesterday.  

 

[gungeey]

13 hours ago, JohnD1956 said:

That is a GREAT photo ! 

 Buick Bugle Material LOL

[60FlatTop]

Juggled cars around today. Put the Riviera by the door. I have a date tomorrow to have my 44th New York State inspection sticker licked and sticked tomorrow.

 

[EmTee]

2 hours ago, 60FlatTop said:

New York State inspection sticker licked and sticked

 

Yuk -- unless the guy who does your inspections has a 'pica' problem, I'm assuming he makes YOU lick it before he sticks it!  (Lick too hard and the sticker will be VOID...) 

[Buicknutty]

I had the '41 Roadmaster to the tire shop for a new set of Wide White Shoes, well tires, really. I had a couple of issues with the 12 year old Diamondback tires going flat, it is came down to problems with the carcass, so time for new ones.

 The car does get long highway trips so I don't want to take any chances with tires.

 I told the shop that I'd put the hubcaps on myself, as they are a bit tricky as some wheels have replacement clips, which not as good as the originals.

 Keith

 

[JohnD1956]

9 hours ago, Buicknutty said:

I had the '41 Roadmaster to the tire shop for a new set of Wide White Shoes, well tires, really. I had a couple of issues with the 12 year old Diamondback tires going flat, it is came down to problems with the carcass, so time for new ones.

 The car does get long highway trips so I don't want to take any chances with tires.

 I told the shop that I'd put the hubcaps on myself, as they are a bit tricky as some wheels have replacement clips, which not as good as the originals.

 Keith

 

May I ask what tires you went for this time?

[ted sweet]

my car at the Saratoga auto museum show on saturday. and few buicks

 

Edited August 8, 2021 by ted sweet (see edit history)

[parkertom]

Attended a small show they do at the beginning of the county fair with the green 60 LeSabre today. Hot day and the only Buick in attendance.

[Buicknutty]

On 8/8/2021 at 7:57 AM, JohnD1956 said:

May I ask what tires you went for this time?

John, I went for another set of Diamondbacks, as I was satisfied with the old ones. I've found 10 to 15 years for a set of tires seems to be about par. The previous set I had on the '56 for a bit longer than that and I replaced them not because they were worn out but the carcass was showing age cracks, and that car gets a lot of highway driving too.

[dmfconsult]

Went for about a 35 mile cruise tonight with the destination of a micro brewery to see a friend. I’m really liking the stance of the Electra with the new Springs as it raised about 5/8” in the rear. Not significant but noticeable.  Suspension is a lot quieter too. 

 

These guys joined in a bit later. Very nice VW’s!

 

Edited August 12, 2021 by dmfconsult (see edit history)

[Larry Schramm]

I took the '13 back to my shop and crossed the 1,000 mile mark for the year.

[60FlatTop]

Our routine Sunday lunch at the next town up the Erie Canal. We stopped at Podunk Park by the bandstand. The canal is just ahead of my car, perfect Summer day, just cool enough to roll the back windows up for the ride.

[BUICK RACER]

Well, lonely Buick at a Camaro Club meeting today, there was another Buick there, but I forgot to take a picture of it, but it's 108 years old and you've seen it before! LO!

[JohnD1956]

Took the 56 today,  to pick something up. 130 mile round trip, with probably 90% on the NYS Thruway. 

 

Filled it at both ends of the trip and did better than 17 mpg. 

 

It was a cool day here. 74° which allowed me to ride with all the windows open. And that likely resulted in this sweet spot temp

 

On the way home I jumped on the road less traveled for the final leg.

 

 

It was a GREAT ride.. 

[Den41Buick]

Beautiful day for a ride in the convertible. Spent the day with my daughter driving the back roads of western RI and eastern CT. We passed quite a few farms with cows and others with rows and rows of corn. That got her thinking, how far were we from the Farmers Cow Ice Cream Shop? It was only 14 or so miles out away, so I obliged. We had a sandwich and then ice cream. Well worth the ride. We went through several towns that were incorporated in the late 1600"s, with plenty of old houses to see. We drove close to 150 miles round trip. Good road, great weather, nice scenery and the best part I spent it with my daughter!

 

 

[neil morse]

There was a nice old car picnic in Golden Gate Park yesterday, very well attended.  I would say at least 80% modified cars and hot rods, but there were a few nice stock restorations and originals as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jvelde]

AACA meeting at Lake Kiowa, about 120 miles round trip on Sunday. 

[jvelde]

More photos of cars a AACA meeting Sunday. 

[Larry Schramm]

I finally got the '15 Buick truck back together from getting the u-joint rebuilt, front end rebuilt and some other worn out pieces repaired like the spark & throttle gears at the bottom of the column re-bushed.  Over all works great. With the truck not being started for over two years, it started on the fourth pull.(remember it is only crank start).  In essence it started on the first time because as an updraft carb system it takes three cranks to get fuel to the cylinders.  The truck is really dialed in. 🙂  Now to put some miles on it to get it resorted out from sitting for the extended time.  Hopefully it will not be much.  I only put about 15 miles on the truck today going out to get gas and then  to the cruise in.

We took the car to the local Culvers drive in and had fun.  Non stop talking to persons interested in the truck.

 

Next on deck is to do some drive time on the '12 Model T.  Did a bunch of repairs from a tour a while back and now to see if my repairs are successful.  Remember, Drive 'em, break 'em, fix 'em, repeat!

 

Saturday we will be at the Back to the Bricks in Flint by Factory 1 on Water Street.  Should be another busy day.

 

Edited August 18, 2021 by Larry Schramm (see edit history)

[parkertom]

Nice day for the down town cruise-in when they close Main Street to traffic. Couple hundred cars, a little lighter than past years. 
 

Once again, I was the only Buick. I did see this nice original Franklin, 33 Pontiac, some Hudsons, and one that was called “Scrapple”. I believe it started out life as a wrecked mid-50s Ford Crown Victoria wagon. It was customized in the late 60s or 70s. Desoto dash, and a few other odds and ends.

 

 

[parkertom]

[Larry Schramm]

Today at The Buicks on the Bricks in Flint in conjunction with the Back to the Bricks in Flint.  Brian Heil & I had the two oldest Buicks on the street.

[Paul White]

HI all,

 

I am not sure if this counts but my friend drove my new Buick under its own power, probably for the first time in decades. It might only have been in the backyard but I couldn't help myself and had to post it.....just a little excited

 

Cheers

 

Paul

 

[Brooklyn Beer]

5 hours ago, Paul White said:

HI all,

 

I am not sure if this counts but my friend drove my new Buick under its own power, probably for the first time in decades. It might only have been in the backyard but I couldn't help myself and had to post it.....just a little excited

 

Cheers

 

Paul

 

IMO those are the best of drives.

[Larry Schramm]

19 hours ago, Paul White said:

HI all,

 

I am not sure if this counts but my friend drove my new Buick under its own power, probably for the first time in decades. It might only have been in the backyard but I couldn't help myself and had to post it.....just a little excited

 

Cheers

 

Paul

 

 

We (meaning all of us in the old car hobby) always start somewhere.  End of the driveway and back. Then to the end of the block and back. Then around the block.  Just keep driving longer rides to get the car sorted out and build confidence in the vehicle.

 

That is great news.  Enjoy your success.

Edited August 23, 2021 by Larry Schramm (see edit history)

[Den41Buick]

Nice warm day on Saturday for a drive. My daughter and I took a ride before the hurricane to Thompson, CT. We saw and abandoned windmill, tower ? Maybe built by the Vikings? We also met a gentlemen who just returned from Monterey. He reports on auto auctions for Hagerty. Good conversation. Went to lunch in Putnam, CT and them went home to prepare for Hurricane Henri. Stay safe out there!

 

 

[Mark Shaw]

Yesterday, I drove the 15 "Bumble Buick" to Cars & Coffee at the WAAM West Museum in Vancouver, WA.

 

 

[avgwarhawk]

Chesapeake City MD Lions Club Car Show. 200 mile round trip. Performance was great. Even in  25 minutes of stop and go traffic with air temp of 90 degrees. Never got out of the Normal range. Running the original cooling set up. That's pleasing for sure.  Took home a On the Spot award. 

Edited August 29, 2021 by avgwarhawk (see edit history)

[old-tank]

1 hour ago, avgwarhawk said:

On the Spot award. 

What is that?...like a most drips award?

[avgwarhawk]

1 hour ago, old-tank said:

What is that?...like a most drips award?

Lol no sir. It's top 40 out of 500 plus cars. Wanting to recognize other cars that did not make the top 40 the judges have an award awarded on the spot. This girl won top 30 out of 650 cars same show 5 years ago  Mighty proud day for Buick. 

Edited August 29, 2021 by avgwarhawk (see edit history)

[Brooklyn Beer]

Car shows in this part of TX could take a few hints from up there.  Not even a prewar class. But 25 different awards for camaro's and hot rods. If you show up with a mustang you get something.

[MCHinson]

I took my 1937 Model 80C to a local show today. The show was a first show presented by a local college fraternity to raise funds for a military related charity. They had about 50 cars show up, including about a dozen from my local AACA Chapter. Apparently the young college kids who did the judging liked my 1937 Roadmaster. I received a Top 20 trophy as well as The Best of Show Trophy. 

[garnetkid]

Went for a nice afternoon run with the 25-45 for an ice cream and tour some local side roads.Total run was about 20klms in about 25C degree weather with light forest fire smoke haze in the air.

[mp65riv]

Took the 61 deuce out for a run this evening. Sometimes what you need is a little Buick therapy...hahaha

[60FlatTop]

I did the backyard thing myself. But they each got a trip down the road. As usual the '60 went the farthest.

[Buicknutty]

 Sat night we put the top down on the Reatta and took it out for about a 30 mile cruise. It was a great night to just cruise among the tobacco and other field crops.

Keith

[JohnD1956]

I had a winning bid on the Rally rims in the Cernak Buick auction so went and got them today. 220 miles and the Queen ran great. A little more than 19 mpg on this mostly highway trip. It probably helps that the NYS  Thruway and the Mass Pike are all electronic tolls now so there were no stops at toll booths. 

 

One of the best things about this trip is all these items fit in the trunk without having to remove the spare tire. Lol. Try that in those "A" Bodys. 

 

[JohnD1956]

 

 

 

With all due respect to those impacted by the recent hurricane Ida and those in the areas of the world threatened by the wildfires,  yesterday was a chance in this area to finally meet up with Ken @KAD36 and Tim @EmTee in Norwich NY for lunch and a visit to the Northeast Classic Car Museum. 

 

My part of the trip started under clear blue skies, and temperatures in the 60's

 

 

My route took me on Rt88, my favorite highway with awesome vista's and light traffic.

 

 

 

However, the highway is under repairs for a significant portion of the way between me and the Museum, so I was a bit delayed for the agreed arrival time at the Norwich Diner.  

 

As we were leaving after lunch a bunch of kids ranging in age from 14 maybe to 4 approached me and asked to look at the Buick.  That prevented me from getting a picture of all three of us at the Diner but I didn't want to shun the kids request.  They were all oohing and aahing the Buick when I point out Tim's and Ken's cars behind me and then they were overwhelmed.  Amongst their comments I distinctly heard one boy say " I just want to watch them all take off."  lol...

 

 

At the museum they were undergoing a face lift which blocked off most of the front yard parking so we got 3 spots in the lot next door.

 

 

Inside the museum there are many cars which several of us have posted pictures of here before, so I won't bother you with that, but there are some I thought to include here:

 

 

Above: 64 Corvair which is the twin of the one I had in all respects, including the 4 speed, except the hubcaps. Mine is currently owned by my brother and nephew. 

 

Below is the Chenango Camper which I thought worthy of being posted again this trip.

 

 

 

Below a 1904 Pierce, displayed in the Cars Built  In NY display

 

 

 

Amazing to see how far things had changed by the time of the 1936 and the demise of the Pierce Arrow company.

 

 

 

Another NY car manufacturer was this Douglas.  Besides the 1st car and the last car was this set of wooden body panels.  We were speculating about how these wooden dowels were used?  To beat body panels manually? or to create dies for stamping?  Which ever, it is always interesting to see this type of thing.

 

 

 

 

Another NY car:  

 

 

And yet another among the other displays. 

 

 

 

This 1961 GM  Vauxhall was never made in the US. I thought the vent window configuration was an interesting design and very similar to it's various US cousins.

 

 

 

And in the Sleeper of the Century category we found this 

 

 

 

 

 

Whop

 

 

I suspect many challengers were very surprised at the local stop light drag races.

 

 

 

New one of the few Buicks the Docent offered to document our gathering.  That is a 39 Special Sport Coupe behind us.  Sweet Buick!

Then it was on to the Farm Tractor display.

 

 

 

 

 

It is very interesting to see what people find worthy of restoration.  While I initially thought that this display would not interest me, I found I was wrong, and it was VERY interesting to see these tractors, many of which were probably used to near death in feeding our population, painstakingly restored just like many of our cars are.

 

Afterwards the Docent suggested we take the reserved spots in front of the building for a photo op. 

 

 

And then Tim and I had a chance to see Ken's handiwork up close and personal.  For those who don't remember, Ken had a catastrophic experience with his engine rebuild a few years ago.  I'll let him fill in the details.  Here is the newly rebuilt engine, with an added benefit of airconditioning  which Ken hand fitted into the car. 

 

 

 

Ken got a bracket from Mike Middleton for a template and then made his own brackets to hold the new compressor.

 

 

 

Then he fitted the evaporator unit under the dash so it was hardly visible and converted the radio speaker grill into the center vent unit.  And he got a set of original controls from @MrEarl and then retrofitted the new controls into that housing.  The entire thing looked like it was factory done. 

 

 

It was an impressive site!

 

On the way home I stopped outside this field of weeds.  There were so many great places to take pictures, but as usual, being pressed for time I didn't stop.

 

 

Over all I drove the '56 about 190 miles.  It ran great!  Recent resetting of the timing and the coolish weather resulted in zero pinging on the several steep and long hill climbs, even the 2 mile long one where I could not get a running head start. 

 

Had a great time, and look forward to more trips in the future. 

[Den41Buick]

Well does Friday count for a weekend? We went to lunch with Taylor Swift (just drove by her home) in Watch Hill at the Ocean House to celebrate our anniversary (yesterday) and my big birthday (tomorrow). What a beautiful day to drive the back roads in a convertible. The temperature was 54 when we left home for a high of 68 with NO humidity and full sun. Couldn't ask for a better day.  Lunch on the veranda was perfect. Always a nice time. We have been going there for lunch since they opened in 2010. Oh yea. I got to park in front of the hotel as well!!

Edited September 3, 2021 by Den41Buick
Another picture (see edit history)

[EmTee]

 

John, Thanks for the nice trip summary.  As John said, it was a perfect day for a trip like this, sunny and comfortably cool (though clouds rolled-in by the time we left).  Goldie ran great; my route was all secondary 2-lane roads with scenery much like what John posted.  My route was about 110 miles round-trip.  It was great to see Ken again (who I briefly had the pleasure to work for professionally several years ago) and finally meet John in-person.  Great trip, great cars and great friends - I can't wait to do another 'field trip'!  Next time we'll try to find a destination closer to John's house!