1916 Buick Rear

[redbaron1930]

Hello all;

   Christmas day something between the driveshaft and pinion gear let loose on my 1916 Buick( I haven't taken it all apart yet). Upon inspection of the differential, I see that the ring gear is missing 2 teeth ( not next to each other). While I know that I will probably have to provide more information on the particulars as I dissassemble it, I was wondering if anyone had any leads or info on a complete rear end, parts(i.e.pinion shaft) or gears for this model. It is a Model D-45 with a Weston-Mott rear end. Any information will be very helpful as I would like to get the " old girl"  back on the road at some point for her 100th anniversary.

 

 Thanks in advance

      Andy

[Larry Schramm]

Try calling Dean Tryon.  He is in NC and a BCA member.  I believe he was doing something with the ring & pinion gears some time ago.

Edited December 28, 2015 by Larry Schramm (see edit history)

[redbaron1930]

Larry;

   Got in touch with Dean Tryon ( e-mail), he did look into getting ring and pinions made but it was cost prohibitive about $2500 for the set. I did subscribe to his newsletter though.

So for now the best plan of action seems to be to try and find a complete rear or parts, I would imagine that there are other makes or models that used the same rear end or internal parts.

 

 Thanks!

[Mark Shaw]

Andy,

     Please provide the diameter and the number of teeth on your ring gear so I can check my parts.  I may have a Weston Mott rear end with parts that could work. 

 

If you send me a PM with your direct email address, I can email photos more easily.

[Leif Holmberg]

Maybe this will help to find the right parts.

Leif in Sweden.

[redbaron1930]

 I checked the ring and pinion last night; ring gear has 53 teeth and is 10.5" in diameter. Pinion has 13 teeth, which gives me about a 4.08 ratio.

[Mark Shaw]

I have two similar rear ends, one is not yet apart to identify, but here is the one that is apart.

 

[redbaron1930]

 A bit more research seems to indicate that the 4.08 ratio was used in 1917-1922. The ratio in 1916 seems to have been 3.78. but al least this starts to open up the window of what can be used.

[tblack]

From my recollection of Dean's newsletter the 1916 six cylinder rear end was a real weak link, I had a 4 cylinder same year and found it easier to come by the rear end parts.  Good Luck

[Brian_Heil]

I have the same recollection as Tom and perhaps we both read the same thing in Dean's newsletter.  I just know the upgrade was made before 1923 so I didn't worry about it.  Maybe someone else knows when the Buick axle design was updated?

[Guest buickguyflint]

My dad had both 1923 Buick 4cyl touring and a 6cyl touring. He was a Buick employee until 1948.

I remember him telling me that the rear axles were weak in some pre 23 cars and they beefed them up to

end the problem of breaking. However the fix caused the ring gears to fail and again they strengthened them

to end the problem completely. So I think you may find early cars with different gearing not unusual. Jim

[Terry Wiegand]

Help is on the way.  Gregg Lange is having 15 sets made as I write this.  These will be the 13 - 53 (pinion and ring) ratio for the 1916 and 1917 D-Series cars.  Five of these sets will be for the 1918 and up models that used the larger diameter taper in the pinion gear.  Anyone wanting to get with Gregg can reach him at (989) 220-7566.  I know that Dean Tryon and I have spoken for a set and that leaves 8 sets or less left.  This has been a problem for several years finding a reputable gear machining company to produce spiral bevel gears.  The problem has been solved, so get with Gregg and get your set of gears reserved out of this initial run.

 

Terry Wiegand

South Hutchinson, Kansas

[Terry Wiegand]

There is something that I forgot to put in my last posting.  The rear end gears in my '16 D-45 are fine.  I am getting the new set of gears as an insurance against the existing gears deciding to go south on me.  If they do, I'll have the new set to replace them with.  The way I figure things, as long as that new set is on the shelf in my shop, the old gears will continue to run just fine.  We all know about that guy named Murphy and his laws.

 

Terry Wiegand

a very, very rainy Doo Dah

[Mark Shaw]

Yeah, and some folks wear a belt with suspenders.....

[Terry Wiegand]

We don't do things like that out here in Doo Dah!  We is cool dudes I'll have you know.  You know we are - we drive Buicks!

 

Terry Wiegand

South Hutchinson, Kansas

[Marty Roth]

12 hours ago, Mark Shaw said:

Yeah, and some folks wear a belt with suspenders.....

 

... and that would be me !

[Terry Wiegand]

In regard to Tom's earlier post about the 4-Cylinder rear end gears - there is a very good reason that those cars' gears are easier to fix and come by - they were straight cut gears as opposed to the spiral bevel gearing used in the larger cars.

 

Terry Wiegand

South Hutchinson, Kansas

[redbaron1930]

On the front end of the torque tube there is a seal which seals around the spinning driveshaft. It is clamped onto the torque tube with a metal clamp and some sort of thin material which holds the actual seal housing.

Does anyone know what that material is? it almost looks like a thin piece of rawhide, but I can't be sure after 100 years!

 

Thanks      

            Andy

[Mark Shaw]

I believe it is leather

[redbaron1930]

Finally after 7 months, my '16 Buick rear is rebuilt, installed and works really well. I did just notice now that the keyway on the rear axle hubs has been widened quite a bit by the broken axles. Does anyone have a lead on where I may be able to find others in better shape? I replaced the axles with axles from a '27 opera coupe which were an exact fit for the '16 model d-45, so my guess is that there is probably a range of years of floating axle hubs that would fit.

  I would like to thank all who have helped in getting this rear axle assembly back together.

 

 Thanks

             Andy