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

[parkertom]

[JohnD1956]

Went to a show today. Just a few miles from my home. It was run by the Adirondack Shelby Club and featured Fords. But there was an "other" class and I was able to park next to this 15k mile 76 Lesabre. 

A few other Buicks that I have posted about before.  And I like to look for the odd ball entry so I was surprised to see this sweet thing.

 

The owner said he bought it like this and the builder stuffed a 302 V8 in the center engine compartment. It really had beautiful bodywork and paint too.  It was a cool unit. 

[avgwarhawk]

Drove the 60 to the farmers co-op for bird seed and squirrel feed.  Took the 54 to Lost in the 50s cruise in that's held every Saturday night. She is still covered in bugs from the trip to Hershey/Carmania.

 

[parkertom]

Attended an all GM show today. Put on by the local Oldsmobile club and the Metro Area Chapter of the BCA.

 

A lot of nice cars, my green 60 LeSabre sedan got a Top-25 award. Best Buick was a 60 LeSabre Convertible custom.

 

I really liked the 1915 Buick, it received Best Pre-War Car.

[Ed Luddy]

Had the 72 Skylark Custom out yesterday. North of London Ontario Canada

[95Cardinal]

Drove the 1910 Model 19 to the Troy Traffic Jam show on August 7, along with several other Southeast Michigan BCA chapter members' cars.

[Matt Harwood]

Melanie and I enjoyed a nice day tour with the Northeast Ohio Buick Club. About 180 miles total, mostly country roads ending up at a nice lakeside restaurant for a late lunch. Another flawless performance by the big Buick, which kept pace with the late-models that made up the rest of our group. Kind of a downer that the "old car" roster included our 1941 Buick, a 1969 GS, a 1978 Riviera, and a 1985 Riviera, plus about a dozen modern cars (the day was slightly overcast and everyone was apparently afraid of rain that never came--bah). Nevertheless, the drive home from lunch was especially enjoyable as we had the road pretty much to ourselves, speeds were 50-55 MPH, pavement was fresh, and temperatures were in the mid-70s so both the car and its passengers were comfortable and cool. Overall, a great day of driving.

 

      

 

  

Edited August 15, 2022 by Matt Harwood (see edit history)

[Buicknutty]

 We were out with a local car club for breakfast this morning then a tour to a historic mansion in Brantford Ontario. Called the Yates Mansion after the original owner and builder of it, who made his fortune in the early days of the Canadian railroads. Sadly he passed away around 1923 and the family remained in the house, but these were the days when they had servants to do everything so the cost to run it were high and they ran out of money rather quickly, and the grandfather of the gent who now owns it bought it in 1927. It has stayed in his family ever since and he restored it to it's full glory in the 1980's and he rents out portions of the property to cover expenses.

 He is a lifelong car guy and had 20 or so cars there, plus another dozen stored off site. He is in the planning stages to build another 20 car or so garage on the property.

 We drove the '41 Roadmaster and like Matt's '41 Limited it ran and drove great, it was the second oldest car on the tour, with the oldest being a '31 Chrysler coupe, but nothing else came close to our vintage with the rest except for a mid 70's Chevy Caprice were 80's and up.

 A good day for driving, decent weather, not too hot and my wipers work just great so a but of rain doesn't worry me.

 The cars were so packed in there it was tough to take decent pictures, but here are a few.

 Keith

 

Edited August 14, 2022 by Buicknutty (see edit history)

[MRJBUICK]

The Long Island chapter had its annual picnic. I took the Reatta for the drive. This year we had a tour of the Stony Brook Carriage museum. For anyone with an interest in horse drawn vehicles this is an quality museum and quite extensive in their displays. A good day weather wise, a nice drive. And of course food. Fun times.

[TexRiv_63]

With my non-air conditioned '60 in a storage garage and the blast furnace level heat here in the DFW area, this my weekly routine. I get up a bit early on Sunday morning and drive to the storage place (luckily close by). I uncover and start the car and very carefully back it out through the very narrow door opening, lower all the windows and take it for a leisurely drive. There is hardly any traffic on the road so I can listen to the nailhead unobstructed. Yesterday it was actually in the 70s and not very humid so it was very pleasant. Then back to the garage and back under cover for another week. At mid August we may actually start seeing a little moderation in temps soon allowing some additional use. This video is from last summer, I may have posted it before...

 

 

https://youtu.be/BHO5Fs4045E

[Brooklyn Beer]

4 hours ago, TexRiv_63 said:

the blast furnace level heat here in the DFW area

I am just west of Fort Worth in Springtown so we normally run a few degree's higher. My 49 Roadmaster is doing very well with the hardware and beer store run around 11 when it is only 96 degree's.  We get a break starting Thursday it looks like. I had the old girl out a couple weeks ago when it was 111 just to see how she would do and though running warm, not bad for an 8 mile jog to town and back.  But boy I wish I could slip some insulation under the carpet. Nothing compared to driving the Franklin though when above 105

[95Cardinal]

@1957buickjim joined me my wife on a Woodward Dream Cruise preview run on Aug 17.

 

Jim drove his 1957 Special 2-door sedan and we took the '58 Caballero. His car is pictured in front of ours in the first photo.

 

Evening traffic volume on Woodward has been increasing as the official "Dream Cruise" date (Aug 20) approaches. We confirmed that the Caballero can handle at least 3 miles of stop and go traffic without a whimper!

 

Weather was perfect after a brief thunderstorm around 4pm. Lots of people on the move and lots of spectators lining the street in Birmingham and Royal Oak.

Edited August 18, 2022 by 95Cardinal
Added comment (see edit history)

[Centurion]

1 hour ago, 95Cardinal said:

@1957buickjim joined me my wife on a Woodward Dream Cruise preview run on Aug 17.

 

Jim drove his 1957 Special 2-door sedan and we took the '58 Caballero. His car is pictured in front of ours in the first photo.

 

Evening traffic volume on Woodward has been increasing as the official "Dream Cruise" date (Aug 20) approaches. We confirmed that the Caballero can handle at least 3 miles of stop and go traffic without a whimper!

 

Weather was perfect after a brief thunderstorm around 4pm. Lots of people on the move and lots of spectators lining the street in Birmingham and Royal Oak.

 

95Cardinal, BCA member Terry Boyce captured an image of your car on Wednesday evening and posted it on Facebook.  Thought you might like to see it.

[dibarlaw]

Over the last week I had pulled apart the rear wood spoke wheels on my 1925 since they had loosend up so badly. So yesterday I finally got to go driving again.

 I did a 14 mile drive to check out my work. Both were very solid afterwards. Last night it was nice to do a local Cruse-in (only 1/2 mile away). About 20 cars turned out. Mostly modified and hotrods. Only 2 stock type vehicles other than my 1925. A 1929 Model A ford sport coupe and a 2022 Corvette. Tonight our church is also having a Cruise-in (3/4 mile away.) I should have some photos of that turnout.

[Buicknutty]

 Today I had a fair bit of driving to do, I had to drop my son off at his sister's place an hour's drive away, then see a gent about some work he needs doing on his '40 Buick coupe, plus some extra stops.

 With temps in the mid 80's F I decided to use the Electra to see how it performs on longer highway trips with the AC on, plus the inevitable traffic jams, etc. going through the city.

 The total mileage for today was just over 150, and basically it did fine. We ran into several backups but nothing really radical and the temp got above 210F a couple of times but came down quickly once we moving again.

 It started excellent every time even hot, and ran pretty well. The qualifier on this is that it has a slightly unstable idle at times. I was checking the timing the other day and it is not stable it goes back a few degrees from time to time, and comes right back virtually instantly. This is a rebuilt distributor with about 6,000 miles or so on it, but it looks like it has issues as everything seems tight on it.

Quality does not seem to be what it was!

 

 If I have to replace it again I'm seriously considering a rebuilt later model electronic unit, even though the look is slightly different.

Any thoughts on this?

 Here's a shot of the mileage on it as I pulled in my driveway a very cool number I think!

 Keith

 

[BUICK RACER]

Hey Keith, just thinking have you thought about timing chain, I think they had nylon gears that dry out and crack and so on, could be your issue with unstable idle, just a thought.

[Buicknutty]

1 hour ago, BUICK RACER said:

Hey Keith, just thinking have you thought about timing chain, I think they had nylon gears that dry out and crack and so on, could be your issue with unstable idle, just a thought.

 Thanks Roberta, but it is completely rebuilt and it has new steel gears in it. About 7,000 miles or so on it now so it's getting broken in now.

Edited August 20, 2022 by Buicknutty (see edit history)

[Buicknutty]

 Just an addition to my earlier post about the Electra. It tended to run 190-195 most of the time and I had a blast across the highway on the way home at higher speeds and it still ran about the same temp.

 Now I'm waiting for a 90+F day and lets see how it goes. I have been running a 160 stat and am planning to go to about a 180-185 as it seems to stabilize 190ish unless I'm in cool air.

 

Lastly, and on the subject it tended to heat up easily when stopped or slow traffic and the fan clutch seems to be working properly, but with a four core high density rad would the stock fan be sufficient to pull air through fast enough to cool it?

 

 Thanks everyone.

 Keith

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Yes it would.   210 is nothing. even 230 is good. The idle is probably carb. As far as the distributor is concerned, the stock one can be modified to an electronic pickup with the module mounted externally.   Works good on my straight eight.

 

  Ben

 

  

[old-tank]

11 hours ago, Buicknutty said:

the fan clutch seems to be working properly

If you don't hear a huge roar when over 200 degrees, it might not be.  I use an AC Delco thermal after 3 failed tries with Hayden.

[dibarlaw]

Finally have a photo of "Beulah" out and about. After rebuilding the rear wheels and doing about 20 miles around the county drive we did some Cruise-Ins.

Event noted in the upper right corner of the photo. I was on the committee so I was mostly parking cars for the evening. My car being the oldest with the next being a 1930 Model A 2 door with a 1937 Mullins trailer.

Most of the rest of the 75 cars were hot rods, customs etc. even had a Peterbuilt tractor.

 

 

 

[Buicknutty]

3 hours ago, old-tank said:

If you don't hear a huge roar when over 200 degrees, it might not be.  I use an AC Delco thermal after 3 failed tries with Hayden.

Yes, it bears looking into again as it is tending to run hotter when sitting. I went though a couple of bad ones till I got this one off of Pete Phillips a few years ago.

I worry about a long delay in traffic, hot weather etc. Though as was said earlier I am kind of micro managing the temp, but I want it to be as good as possible.

[Buick Regal GS]

Went for ride today 8-20-22 at Marbelhead Lighthouse on Lake Erie before the rains coming,,was going to go to Back To The Bricks show but changed mind

[Larry Schramm]

Joyce & I took the '15 truck from our shop in Grand Blanc to the Back to the Bricks & Buicks at the Bricks in downtown Flint today. We put about 30 miles on the truck getting ready to do the Lansing-Dearborn tour in a couple of weeks.  

 

Jump to about 1:52 in the link and you should see us arriving at GM Factory One.

 

https://www.wnem.com/video/2022/08/20/tv-news-update-saturday-evening-august/

 

Edited August 21, 2022 by Larry Schramm (see edit history)

[parkertom]

Took my ‘60 LeSabre sedan to a cruise-in today in a nearby town. They had a good turn out. Back to being the only Buick.

[JohnD1956]

This past week I took the 56 out for an advertised Cruise In outside Amsterdam, NY.  My son Doug and Grandson Anthony came with me.   This was the first time Anthony was in the Super, and he loved riding in it.  The problem was we were a week too late for that Cruise In, as they closed the business early and had their last cruise in the prior week.  So we just went in a big circle to get back and stopped for ice cream along the way.  Probably racked up 40 miles or a bit more.  Then, today I took the Electra to a party in Wallkill, NY for a family member turning 80. It was a 200 mile round trip.  I used the AC for about half the trip and ran the quickest route which was the NYS Thruway.  The car ran a bit more than 16 mpg, and rode great, like the big Buicks I remember.  No pictures even though I was on some beautiful roads.  There was more traffic than I was comfortable with to take my mind off the driving.  

[Mark Shaw]

We lost one of our club members who we often toured with on HCCA tours.  Yesterday, I helped his widow get his 1921 large series Buick touring car started and loaded on an open trailer.  A production company bought the Buick for scenes in the next Yellowstone sequel being filmed in MT.  The truck driver was not very familiar with how to load and tie-down older cars, so I was glad to help.  

[EmTee]

My wife & I went to the Friday evening cruise-in.  It was a beautiful evening and we enjoyed the weather and the company.  A few minutes after I parked the '38 a another 'regular customer' pulled-up next to it with his '37 Chevy 2-door sedan.

 

[Den41Buick]

Nice day for a short 52 mile ride down to Coventry and back up to North Scituate to take a photo in front of the Congregational  Church. The only green grass I saw was near the Scituate reservoir. We haven’t seen a significant rain in months. 
 

 

[cxgvd]

Moving cars around, here is my 1905 Cadillac with my 1913 Buick.  Gary

 

[Machine Gun]

After I cleaned up my carburetor vomit I drove out to a clambake in the Pennsylvania Poconos where a 95-year old amateur radio operator hosts an annual get together for his ham friends. The Skylark performed flawlessly during the three-hour round trip, and I had a great time among my fellow geeks. Sorry, no photos were taken, nor are any necessary. However you imagine ham radio operators, that's what we look like.

 

I'm trying to drive the Buick as much as possible in the weeks leading up to my upcoming trip down Route 66. I want to make sure everything is working properly.

Edited August 22, 2022 by Machine Gun (see edit history)

[EmTee]

7 minutes ago, Machine Gun said:

Sorry, no photos were taken, nor are any necessary. However you imagine ham radio operators, that's what we look like.

Found one!

 

[60FlatTop]

5 hours ago, Machine Gun said:

Sorry, no photos were taken, nor are any necessary.

Reminds me of times I had to change my pocket protector because it clashed with my tie clasp.

 

 

 

[MRJBUICK]

On 8/19/2022 at 8:38 PM, Buicknutty said:

 Today I had a fair bit of driving to do, I had to drop my son off at his sister's place an hour's drive away, then see a gent about some work he needs doing on his '40 Buick coupe, plus some extra stops.

 With temps in the mid 80's F I decided to use the Electra to see how it performs on longer highway trips with the AC on, plus the inevitable traffic jams, etc. going through the city.

 The total mileage for today was just over 150, and basically it did fine. We ran into several backups but nothing really radical and the temp got above 210F a couple of times but came down quickly once we moving again.

 It started excellent every time even hot, and ran pretty well. The qualifier on this is that it has a slightly unstable idle at times. I was checking the timing the other day and it is not stable it goes back a few degrees from time to time, and comes right back virtually instantly. This is a rebuilt distributor with about 6,000 miles or so on it, but it looks like it has issues as everything seems tight on it.

Quality does not seem to be what it was!

 

 If I have to replace it again I'm seriously considering a rebuilt later model electronic unit, even though the look is slightly different.

Any thoughts on this?

 Here's a shot of the mileage on it as I pulled in my driveway a very cool number I think!

 Keith

 

Keith

just as a quick test i would disconnect my vacuum advance and cover the port and watch the timing

see if the stumble is causing the vacuum to change and in turn affecting your advance, just an idea it might narrow it down a little

Marty

[95Cardinal]

On 8/18/2022 at 11:45 AM, Centurion said:

 

95Cardinal, BCA member Terry Boyce captured an image of your car on Wednesday evening and posted it on Facebook.  Thought you might like to see it.

This is GREAT! Thanks to @Centurion and Terry for sharing the photo!

Joe

[Brad Conley]

On 8/22/2022 at 6:29 AM, EmTee said:

Found one!

 

I resemble that remark...  de KG8S Brad.

[Brooklyn Beer]

21 hours ago, 95Cardinal said:

This is GREAT! Thanks to @Centurion and Terry for sharing the photo!

Joe

How many hours it take to clean the grill after driving through a grasshopper swarm ?

[60FlatTop]

I don't seem to get much more than a ride around the block or around the yard. But I am always pulling out of the garage and juggling stuff around.

[95Cardinal]

20 hours ago, Brooklyn Beer said:

How many hours it take to clean the grill after driving through a grasshopper swarm ?

Let's see...

160 squares x 2 minutes per square=

Too Much Time!

🤣

[EmTee]

2 hours ago, 95Cardinal said:

Too Much Time!

🤣

Maybe this...?