bluenash Posted October 2, 2015 Share Posted October 2, 2015 Evening all. Just posted pics of my new 55,000 mile Buick in the gallery. Hoping to decide the fate in the next couple months. It has a bad tranny, but everything else seems good. Motor is great. Hoping to find a tranny within driving distance here in upper central Ohio. If not I am thinking of a drivetrain update. Would rather leave it stock though. Just have to ask around I guess. I have been "doing" cars since my early teens. Rodded most though. Anyone in Ohio doing a drivetrain update with an extra 5 bolt top transmission they wont be using? Thanks all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buicknutty Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 Hopefully, someone here will help you out with a tranny, but do you know what is wrong with it? I'd like to see more pictures of your car too. Welcome to the forum! Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluenash Posted October 3, 2015 Author Share Posted October 3, 2015 Thank you Keith. I am hoping to get better pics a bit later. It was froze up. Looks as if it was under water, or a lot of condensation. I kept soaking and tapping, did get first and reverse to work. Haven't been successful in getting 2nd, and 3rd to move. Does the spiral barrel slide back and forth like the gear does? I may remove it and take it apart and go from there. I have all winter to explore options. Would love to keep it stock though. Problem being is buying the tranny, and have it shipped to Ohio. A lot of cost, and I am far from a purist. But this one just screams, leave me alone, keep me stock, lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1939_Buick Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 (edited) Welcome to the forum and prewar Buicks Keep it stock! Try Dave T Hard to contact, so keep tryingNot 100% sure but 1940 may be same as later years. 1939 is different You would get a better response in http://forums.aaca.org/forum/60-buick-pre-war/ with a better thread titlehttp://forums.aaca.org/topic/207201-39-buick-team-membership/ Edited October 4, 2015 by 1939_Buick (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ILIKECARS53 Posted October 3, 2015 Share Posted October 3, 2015 I agree ....... keep it stock. Have seen transmissions and transmission parts for sale for 1940 Buick's. What series is the car? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1939_Buick Posted October 4, 2015 Share Posted October 4, 2015 I agree ....... keep it stock. Have seen transmissions and transmission parts for sale for 1940 Buick's. What series is the car? As its a 5 bolt top cover on the transmission its a series 40 special 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glassesguy Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Try Doug Seybold, Westlake, OH440-835-1193. Lots of parts for your car. He specializes in 1940&1941. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glassesguy Posted October 6, 2015 Share Posted October 6, 2015 Try Doug Seybold, Westlake, OH440-835-1193. Lots of parts for your car. He specializes in 1940&1941. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluenash Posted October 19, 2015 Author Share Posted October 19, 2015 Thank you all for the info, and input. I have been busy, but managed to pull the engine/tranny. Sadly the block is also cracked. Explains why it sat so long, and had three owners. I will be keeping the parts though, and maybe later on use some of them. I will be putting in a Ford 300 with floor shift tranny. I hope to someday put the original stuff back in. If I decide to part any of it, I will offer it here first. Thanks again all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1939_Buick Posted October 19, 2015 Share Posted October 19, 2015 Engines - blocks are available What are you going going to with the torque tube - diff? A lot of work to make into an open drive system? Ford 300. Is that the straight 6? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Straight-6_engineOr a 302 V8? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluenash Posted October 22, 2015 Author Share Posted October 22, 2015 Straight six engine. I will remove the torque tube rear, and go with a Ford rear of the same trac width, or as close as I can get. Again, I am saving all the parts maybe put back later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 Straight six engine. I will remove the torque tube rear, and go with a Ford rear of the same trac width, or as close as I can get. Again, I am saving all the parts maybe put back later. Poor, poor Buick!! Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NC-car-guy Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 (edited) I'm very of the opinion, your car do what makes you happy. Let me caution you though as someone who got eyeball deep in a similar idea...... It's a lot of work to change that stuff out. Nothing fits standard. You will have to have a rear end made, or buy one so tiny it won't really be rated for the torque of that inline 300. Making mounts, getting pinion angle right, etc etc sounds great on paper, but unless you run a pro auto shop, is a real challenge once you're into it. Just my experience.... Before you invest in all these mod parts, measure... A thousand times. Unlike Chevy and Ford, you can't just buy bolt on everything for these cars. Edited October 22, 2015 by wndsofchng06 (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 Straight six engine. I will remove the torque tube rear, and go with a Ford rear of the same trac width, or as close as I can get. Again, I am saving all the parts maybe put back later.You will never put the parts back later, so make them available to others. I understand that you are probably more comfortable working with technology you are familiar with, but the old stuff once understood is not that intimidating and would be easier and just as dependable in the long run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Simmons Posted October 22, 2015 Share Posted October 22, 2015 I'm with old -tank on this 100%!!! The only thing can add is a modifacation to the last part of his statement .......and more dependable in the long run !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 (edited) Hey I just got a 40 Buick special with a stuck engine. Straight Eight 248. Been garage kept most of its life so the body's not very rusty. All glass is good and original, windows work, original paint, badly chipped. Got it cheap due to the stuck engine. Clutch works, brakes work, everything is here but very old. Totally original car, needs restored. Interior pretty deteriorated. Started working on unsticking it today, got the rocker arm assembly off and went to get the hammer wrench to get the head off and it got dark. Tomorrow I'll get the head off and see what's down in there. If it's all rusty and corroded I have work to do. Nobody has ever worked on this car since it was last registered in 1984 (it passed inspection then). Just sat for 30 years. Tubes still hold air but tires are rotted as heck. Morgan Edited November 11, 2015 by Morgan Wright (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 Have you tried soaking the cylinders with anything before pulling the head? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted November 11, 2015 Share Posted November 11, 2015 No, because I want to get a good look at everything dry before I pour the soaking solution in. Shine a flashlight into each cylinder and look for what sort of corrosion there might be to the walls, and stick my hand down to feel it. If it looks good I'll pour soaker solution in and let it sit. The rocker arms looked great, no rust at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 (edited) Change of plans. After I got the valve cover off and took off the rocker arm assy and push rods, took out all the head bolts, and was ready to pull the manifolds and take the head off, some friends came over and were looking at the engine and said "I can't believe how clean everything looks" and "it looks new" so I said "It's only got 40,000 miles on it." After that I thought a while and slept on it and decided, it would be a shame to take the head off an engine with 40,000 on it So, change in plans. I found out that 6 of the spark plugs were finger tight, one was missing, and one was still tight. Some previous owner before me took out 7 plugs and put who knows what in to free the engine, and put 6 plugs back in finger tight. They didn't put the 7th one in because they were too lazy, it was under the air filter. That's the same reason they never bothered to take out the 8th plug out at all, it was the one deepest under the air filter. So whoever did this was too lazy to take off the friggin air filter so wasn't a mechanic at all. They obviously didn't get the engine unstuck (probably the 8th cylinder they never even got to) so they let it sit another 10 or 20 years, with one plug out the whole time!!!!!!!!!!!! So I took all 8 plugs out, they showed carbon so were the plugs used in the 1980's when the car was last running, so I shot in a whole can of Deep Creep in the spark plug holes, waited 2 hours, and put a cup of WD-40 into each spark plug hole (almost used up the whole gallon). Tomorrow I put the head bolts back in, torque them, and try to unstick the engine by gently rocking the car in 3rd gear with another car. Edited November 15, 2015 by Morgan Wright (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 Put the head bolts back in, went to put the 16 push rods back in but 1 of them wouldn't fit back into the push rod seat at the cam. Wiggled it around to get it to fit in, I must have wiggled it the wrong way, the seat fell down into the engine. Now that one push rod sits lower than the others and is loose. This is a major problem because the only way to get that seat out is to tear apart the whole engine. Wasn't expecting this to happen. Total rebuild not in my plans at this time. Just for fun I might still try to unstick the engine now, but what's the point? Anybody want a 1940 Buick? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 Where are you, Morgan? Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 Where are you, Morgan Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NC-car-guy Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 Oh no! Dont lose faith yet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 Does anybody know what part that was that fell, some sort of seat or guide, at the bottom of the push rod channel, right where the push rod touches the cam shaft? Is it possible for me to just get another one and try to put it in? Maybe it fell all the way to the oil pan and I can find it there. Oh yeah, the engine isn't stuck anymore, the Deep Creep and WD-40 worked after an overnight soak. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NC-car-guy Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 (edited) Are you sure something "fell" maybe you just had a stuck lifter and it moved down? The push rods don't touch the cam directly and don't all sit at the same height at the same time necessarily. Can you see in there? Edited November 15, 2015 by wndsofchng06 (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted November 15, 2015 Share Posted November 15, 2015 It's definitely lower than the others, and loose at the bottom. I think it's some sort of push rod guide or seat that got loose, probably when I took the rod out. And I heard it fall. Tomorrow I'll drop the oil pan and look around for it. Pan probably needs a cleaning anyway, 75 years of sludge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 (edited) I took the side cover off the engine to open it up. Turns out it was the lifters themselves that were on their sides. Turns out, when I pulled the push rods up last week, two of the lifters came up with them, out of their bores, and were laying on their sides. I thought there was some sort of seat or guide between the lifter and the rod, but no, and it was easy to put the lifters back in their bores where they belong once I got the side cover off. The noise I heard was not anything falling in the engine, it was the lifter moving over a couple holes, where it wound up blocking a different push rod from going in, so when I tried to put that one, the lifter was in the way. A few rods down, another lifter had come out and was laying on its side and blocking its own hole. Easy fix. Problem solved. This engine looks so clean inside it's like working on a new engine. The lifters looked new and shiny. Thanks everybody. Edited November 19, 2015 by Morgan Wright (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NC-car-guy Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Sweet! Glad it was an easy fix. I couldn't wrap my head around anything falling into the engine! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 Well I finally got all the parts I was waiting for and installed them, new plugs points wires cap rotor etc, all fluids changed, temporary fuel line hooked up, time to start the car and see how it runs. Tried to wake her up after a 30 year nap and make a video of the event. Well, it's a good video anyway, even if it didn't start. Probably has some sludge in the bearings and tarnish in the cylinder walls that are slowing down the starter motor, or else the starter is weak. Anyway, it turned over too slow to get the engine started. Nice video though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 Morgan, nice car. If I may, a couple observations. The engine is not the original. It is a 1948 or later. I believe a 1950 or later. A couple things are giveaways. The motor mount holes on the side of the engine, about 1/3rd of the way back from the front. Another is the water pump. That one might have started in 1948, but for sure not in 1940. I know 1950 has it. As far as starting, I bet the starter is ok. Probably the cables are too small. Difficult to tell in the video. The cables must be 2 ought [00] or larger in order to carry enough amps with the 6 volt system. I like to say the cables need to be as large as your thumb. If they are more like your pinky, they are too small. Check size, clean all connections really well, make certain battery is fully charged and try again. Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted December 10, 2015 Share Posted December 10, 2015 (edited) Hey I'll check the engine number and see if I can get an exact date for it. I'll also get thicker terminal wires. Nice advice! edited after I checked the car: The positive battery terminal which goes right to the starter is very thick (thumb size), much thicker than the ground wire (pinky size), which is the standard size for a modern 12 volt system. I'll get a thicker negative wire or ground strap tomorrow and see how it goes. I don't know if you saw the second video I made an hour after the first one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ThttocGNWsc Edited December 11, 2015 by Morgan Wright (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 The engine number is 70104064. Must be from 1953 because even though the V-8 was on most Buicks in '53 the Special still had the straight 8 up to '53 with engine numbers starting at 69xxxxxx according to this: http://www.teambuick...ngine_53-58.php So mine must be one of the last straight 8's made, and it appears to be from 1953 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted December 12, 2015 Share Posted December 12, 2015 ...which makes it a 263 not a 248 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted December 14, 2015 Share Posted December 14, 2015 I would pull the spark plugs out, and disconnect the positive wire on the coil, then three things. #1 put some motor oil into each plug hole. A few drops ought to do. #2 spin the engine while in the drivers seat, to make sure you are getting oil pressure.#3 do a compression test. If you have gas and spark the third required component is compression. The rings may be stuck, or collapsed/broken. I would expect that you will have uneven readings, so don't panic at the results. But please let us know what the reading per cylinder is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 Good idea. Some of the rings may be bad, but on all 8 cylinders? I should be getting a hit every now and then, even if 1 or 2 (or 3??) of the pistons are bad. I'll get with the compression tester tomorrow, see what's up. Also, if I take all the plugs out it should spin a lot faster. If not, that's bad news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 You may also find the plugs are fouled when you pull them, even if they are new. Clean and re gap them. What gap did you use on the points and plugs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buicknutty Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 These engines crank pretty slow, even with no compression. You will be surprised at how little difference it makes. If you have a volt meter you can check the battery voltage, that will help to determine if the battery is weak or not. A fully charged 6V battery will be between 6.5-7 volts, and it will drop under load. Old engines that have been sitting for years and years can lose most of their compression on most cylinders, enough that they won't start. Often the rings will come back enough to get you started, blowing lots of smoke in the meantime, but that might clear up with some running. These were low compression engines, and if you have 50-60 lbs on most cylinders, that will be enough to get you started. Also, all that cranking to do a compression test will be hard on the 6V battery, so have your charger going to put power back in it. These 6V systems do not have the kind of cranking reserve that we all used to on the 12V systems, but when all is well, the 6V system is fine. I like your idea to clean out the oil pan, to make sure that the oil pump pick up is not blocked, and as John said, see if the oil guage is showing some pressure when cranking, even a bit is a good thing. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 There is no harm renting a dolly from U-Haul where you can strap the front wheels on the dolly and drag the car around on the rear wheels. Do it with the tranny in 3rd gear, and you can drive the car around for a few miles to get all the engine parts loose. I probably have tar in the bearings, tarnish and rust on the cylinder walls, etc. But I'm going to do a compression test first (and after). Heck, get a second driver and use the dolly to start the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted December 15, 2015 Share Posted December 15, 2015 The gaps I used on the points and plugs were per spec in the 1940 shop manual which I have a reprint of. I'm sure they apply to the 1953 engine I just found out I have! (It's nice to gain a few cubic inches, I went from 248 to 263 without doing anything!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Morgan Wright Posted December 16, 2015 Share Posted December 16, 2015 Here are the results of the compression test: 1----822----353----684----465----716----617----808----75 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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