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


JohnD1956

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55 miles round trip in the 56 today, for breakfast at Gibby's.

 

First time I've had it on the Thruway @ 65 MPH in a long time, possibly 10 years or so.  Ran great!  I believe it likes those longer hauls at higher speeds.  Temp stayed normal and it was a nice smooth /quiet ride, even when I headed back and got into some stop & go traffic, while headed to the store to pick up a few things.

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Ok, I won't tell you, but they handle just great.

Each year during my state inspection, the garage allows me to inspect the underside of the cars.  Each year I go over these tires  looking for signs of any deterioration. So far I have not found any. no drywall rot on the sides or inbetween the treads.  No bulges,  no splits, nothing!  They run straight, stop straight, run smooth, no vibrations, not even at 80 + MPH today for a short period.  Just as soon as I see any of these problems the tires will go, but till then I'm going to let them go the distance.

 

The funny thing is, when I got them, they were the economy tire! 

 

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Got the truck almost completely together today.  Just a few boards to paint and install tomorrow so...........for our 38th anniversary today we took the truck out to dinner and an ice cream.  Great having it out today for the first ride of the season.   And.........that brand new re-cored radiator did not leak and the temp never came up to the caution zone on the Moto-Meter.  Put about 15 miles on it tonight.

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An Electra from a few blocks north showed up a bit later, as well as an '80s Regal. 

 

I think we have the Electra owner on the hook for our October show. Had never met the Regal owner before, but he seemed excited about the opportunity to join the BCA and help our chapter put on the show. Dad lost a copy of the Bugle to the guy, but that's ok. 

 

After dinner we took Ruby home and put about 20 miles on the '56 driving up & down the river...

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400 round trip in the GS today.  Attended a Memorial day weekend car show in my Uncles home town of Hacketstown, NJ, with my Uncle Phil and his 31 Model A pickup, my brother, with his(my former) 64 Corvair,  and my nephew with his 86 Ford 3/4 ton Pickup.  Also my cousins and their husbands, children, and grand kids. We did this last year too but this year my older brother and Sister in Law could not attend.  It was a hot one in Northern NJ.  Left home around 5 AM and returned around 8 PM. Did 80% topless. The last 20 I put the top up and ran the A/C.  The GS is now my  "happy" car.  It just loves to run, no matter what the weather , and it seems to never miss a beat! 

 

 

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The local Memorial Day parade goes right past our house each year. We put the Buick at the end of our driveway and answered questions about it all morning. Not really a drive, but everyone seemed to like seeing the big guy out there. These photos were taken about an hour before the parade started--there were about 10 times as many people there by the time they started marching.

 

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Matt, I like your home, is the path to the garage NARROW, or was it put up later for wider cars?

 

I know how then dare Limited cars attract attention.  I hear, DID YOU STRETCH THAT CAR?  I say YES, and smile, well, I did stretch the wheel base 3 inches, hehe.

 

Some say, DALE, I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU CUT UP A LIMITED, I say,'believe' it.  Other than no door handles, side trim gone, trunk emblem gone, tail light trim gone, well, it looks normal.  Of course the 17" wheels demand questions.  Oh, and it does carry a 1946 bomb site hood ornament, the one WITHOUT the cross bar, and the one that was suppose to be on the car, but the war prevented.  It bolted right up, holes matched, as did contour.

 

No visor though, Ben won't loan me his, he just won't share,

 

Dale in Indy

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 We had the Electra out to a local cruise night last night (Sat). It was a very nice night here, perfect really,  the temp was just right, low humidity, and a few clouds in the sky.

 Today is quite rainy, so I guess I'll be working in the garage!

 Keith

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Guest Skeet67

Last weekend I traveled to pick up this "67" Skylark. 50,000 miles.

unbelievable! 

Stored since 1989 shortly after the owners husband died.

Some real neat stuff is still in the trunk and glovebox. 

I have just been driving it around the block several times. 

I'm real happy to own her. 

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Ben, I could, it's DOWN HILL all the way, YOU, are such a nice fellow.

 

I have family in Dallas, Dad is buried in Smithville, Tx.  He lived in Austin for years.

 

I'm trying to envision how a Limited would look with a VISOR.  Might not be to bad huh?

 

Dale in Indy

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Ok not the weekend, but I finally found time to put the new shoes and hubcaps on the Electra to replace the Ralley's so had to take it for a shake down cruise.  I know it's correct this way, but after 14 years with the Ralley's it's a little hard to get used to!  I received the correct 67 rims from a Wildcat owner in Washington (thanks Badgerman!) and picked up a set of decent hupcaps from Ebay and had them sent to Smartin for his expert treatment.  Rides nice and smooth with the new rubber.

 

Before and After:

 

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Nice Electra!

No pictures from me as I was too busy, but it was the "safety inspection" night at our local cruise, Wed (last night) night and yours truly is one of the two inspectors. This is not a full on inspection that is required to certify a used car here in Ontario, but a through visual check of lights, horn, parking brake, the steering is checked for looseness, fuel system for leaks, and so on. We checked 10 cars, and all of them passed, though a couple showed some wear in the steering system. The owners are generally happy to hear of the good things, but also the bad as well.

Keith

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Doug and others, I am seeing some mighty nice pictures of Buicks here, please consider adding some of the nicer and most picturesque photos to the "Favorite Pictures of my PreWar/Post War/Modified/Performance/Reatta/Riviera Buick"   threads. The threads can be found pinned in each of the respective sub forums.  :)

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I put sormewax on mine and then drove it up to the shady corner of the yard where I used a tiny brush to daub a little white paint on about 8 chips. Then back again. Big deal.

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Tomorrow I plan to drive along Lake Ontario up to a restaurant in Lewiston where you can see Canada across the river. And Toronto from the hill.

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Bernie

 

Edited by 60FlatTop (see edit history)
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Leaving tomorrow morning for the AACA Sentimental Tour. It will be about 200 miles tomorrow followed with 5 days of about 100 miles per day, followed by 200 miles back home. Temperature is expected to be in the mid 90s all week so I will certainly be happy that the 1937 Century has really good vent windows. 

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This was a bit of a milestone day. It was 40 years ago that I bought the '56 Roadmaster! I cannot believe that so much time has passed. I have driven it almost 101,000 miles in the intervening years. It had 51,340 on it when I got it, and today it has 52,260 on it, plus once around, of course.

 For fun and to celebrate this anniversary, my wife and I went out to our storage barn and took it out and did a cake and champagne toast to it.

 Keith

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I rearranged the shop today so that the Wildcat is now accessible and the Electra is not so much. Luke also helped with the Electra - first time he's successfully driven one of the old cars (had trouble with the footwork of the clutch with the '41 previously). He will get a lot more practice on the trip to Allentown. 

 

Lights all all checked out on the Wildcat. Time to switch wheels, change oil, charge R134a, and do some shakedown. 

 

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We drove 232 miles today most of it at speeds between 60 and 70 mph on major highways with temperatures over 90 degrees for all of it. Ready for tomorrow morning's start of the tour. Here are some photos of some of the Buicks in the hotel parking lot this evening. 

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 Tonight (Sun) I took the '41 out for a short drive. I has only been started and moved for the last couple of weeks, and it doesn't seem to like that, so I drove about 7-8 miles topped off the tank with gas, and it seems to be running a bit better.

 Keith

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Keith

I was very conscientious in keeping a spread sheet on hours. I recorded down to 15 minute increments. Besides the obvious I Included things like drive time to pick up parts, time researching authenticity, finishes, searching for parts, etc. 

More eye opening than labor is when you track every cost down to a can of paint at Walmart! It became very clear how turn key  quality restorations by a professional shop can easily exceed $120k

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I admire your tenacity in keeping track of time and costs. In another life, so to speak, I used to do sales and pricing for work that our company would be doing, and I sometimes applied that to what I was doing on my car, and was very glad that I didn't have to be paying for all my labour! So I certainly understand how costly it could get for a full professional restoration.

Keith

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This morning I took the '76 pace car to the mechanic to replace wheel nuts - the ones they'd gotten when we put on the red wheels were two piece with caps that would get loose and pop off. There are now solid nuts on there. We also sat Joseph down to go over some stuff since he will be working there for the summer. The household will get back some of the money we've spent there over the last 11 years. 

 

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6 hours ago, Buicknutty said:

I admire your tenacity in keeping track of time and costs. In another life, so to speak, I used to do sales and pricing for work that our company would be doing, and I sometimes applied that to what I was doing on my car, and was very glad that I didn't have to be paying for all my labour! So I certainly understand how costly it could get for a full professional restoration.

Keith

Hopefully you don't count hours like a lawyer does.  A 5 minute phone call gets billed as an hour.

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