differences btw. 1942 vs post war wheel rims

[tinsled]

One of the steel wheel rims on my 1942 series 70 roadmaster project car is different from the others...

All are 16", with 5x5" bolt pattern, but while the originals support 9" hub caps, one seems to fit with 10" cap.

 

Are the post war car rims different in this respect (only)?

 

Was the 1942 one year specific wheel rim?

 

Thanks,

Pekka

 

p.s. Below the 1942 wheel rim with 9" hub cap supports

Edited July 6, 2016 by tinsled (see edit history)

[Matt Harwood]

I think your '42 Roadmaster should have 15-inch wheels. If what you have are 16s, then they're not correct and from an earlier car or a small series car. I don't know if that makes it easier for you, but 15-inch wheels are easier to find and probably more universal in terms of fitment. Hopefully someone with some expertise on the '42s will chime in to confirm.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

I think Matt is correct. That does not look like a Buick wheel.

 

  Ben

[ILIKECARS53]

In 1942   15" wheels were found on   40-A    60  and  70  series.    16" wheels were on  40-B    50     and   90 series.      the widths  and  thickness all varied depending on the series.   if you have a repair manual  look at page  10-7  for all the specs.  also  i have been told that  the 90 series used a bigger hub cap,  but have been unable to confirm this,  never looked in the master parts book.  hope this helps

[Matt Harwood]

51 minutes ago, ILIKECARS53 said:

In 1942   15" wheels were found on   40-A    60  and  70  series.    16" wheels were on  40-B    50     and   90 series.      the widths  and  thickness all varied depending on the series.   if you have a repair manual  look at page  10-7  for all the specs.  also  i have been told that  the 90 series used a bigger hub cap,  but have been unable to confirm this,  never looked in the master parts book.  hope this helps

 

I believe 90 Series 16-inch wheels are unique. How, exactly, I can't say, but they have a separate part number and since it became public that I own this limousine, I've had three separate 90 Series owners contact me to ask if 1) I had any spare 90 Series wheels or 2) would I be willing to sell my spare? From that I glean that they're unique to these big cars, else I don't think anyone would be that desperate to have them.

[BuickBob49]

As I understood it, the front wheel bearings were larger on the early 1940s 90 series cars.  Consequently, the dust caps are taller and don't clear the hubcaps used on smaller series with 16-inch wheels. The 90 series cars need deeper hubcaps.

[Dynaflash8]

3 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

I think your '42 Roadmaster should have 15-inch wheels. If what you have are 16s, then they're not correct and from an earlier car or a small series car. I don't know if that makes it easier for you, but 15-inch wheels are easier to find and probably more universal in terms of fitment. Hopefully someone with some expertise on the '42s will chime in to confirm.

Matt, you are absolutely correct.  Century and Roadmaster had 15 inch wheels.....Roadmaster Series 70 starting in 1940, Century on back to 1936 (I think all the way back to '36)

[Dynaflash8]

2 hours ago, ILIKECARS53 said:

In 1942   15" wheels were found on   40-A    60  and  70  series.    16" wheels were on  40-B    50     and   90 series.      the widths  and  thickness all varied depending on the series.   if you have a repair manual  look at page  10-7  for all the specs.  also  i have been told that  the 90 series used a bigger hub cap,  but have been unable to confirm this,  never looked in the master parts book.  hope this helps

I forgot about the 41-42 40-A.   No books here, I'm on travel in NC.  Also, all 1941-1950 hubcaps are the same except for 1941-42 Limited Series 90

[Dynaflash8]

Question for Matt Harwood:

 

I've seen several 1941 Buick Series 90 and 90-L cars advertised recently with the jump seats standing up vertically from the rear floor in the closed position.  As I recall, that was only part of it.  They continued to fold up into the back of the front seat or divider window back.  In some glimpses I have seen of the Prestige folder for sale on eBay, they were also shown that way.  I sold my 41 Series 90 in 1981, and now I can't remember.  They look silly standing up in the middle of the floor, and I do not think that is correct.  Please take a look at your car and let me know.

 

[Matt Harwood]

34 minutes ago, Dynaflash8 said:

Question for Matt Harwood:

 

I've seen several 1941 Buick Series 90 and 90-L cars advertised recently with the jump seats standing up vertically from the rear floor in the closed position.  As I recall, that was only part of it.  They continued to fold up into the back of the front seat or divider window back.  In some glimpses I have seen of the Prestige folder for sale on eBay, they were also shown that way.  I sold my 41 Series 90 in 1981, and now I can't remember.  They look silly standing up in the middle of the floor, and I do not think that is correct.  Please take a look at your car and let me know.

 

 

I know exactly what you mean, Earl. The jump seats do indeed fold tightly against the back of the front seat when they are stowed properly. However, it takes an extra step and a bit of muscle to do it. When you fold the backrest down and tip the seat forward, they do stick up and away from the front seat back the way you've seen in those ads (note the acute angle of the bracket that attaches to the floor and the lower seat cushion in the first photo below). There's actually a hinge between the bracket and the lower seat cushion, even though it only needs to move 10 or 15 degrees to fit against the seat. Once they're folded on the floor, you have to give them a pretty good shove to get them to fit flush against the front seat. One, they're quite heavy, and two, the joints are pretty stiff, which I believe is intentional so they stay put and don't rattle.

 

Hope this helps!

 

(These are both photos of my car, but sometimes the camera flash makes the interior look bluish. It's actually gray with blue seats.)

 

[tinsled]

16 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

 

I believe 90 Series 16-inch wheels are unique. How, exactly, I can't say, but they have a separate part number and since it became public that I own this limousine, I've had three separate 90 Series owners contact me to ask if 1) I had any spare 90 Series wheels or 2) would I be willing to sell my spare? From that I glean that they're unique to these big cars, else I don't think anyone would be that desperate to have them.

Thanks for all the information.

Yes, You're right the shop manual states the 1942 series 70 cars came with 15"x7.00" wheels. My car has 16"x6.50" which would be series 50 if the same year. Series 90 had 16"x7.50".

 

What about the hub caps? As I told, I have 3 pcs 16"x6.50" rims with 9" diam cap and one same tire size but 10" diam hub cap...

Best for me would be to find one more to match the 3 odd (could use the odd 16" rim w. 10" cap as spare) --- Or else I need 4+1 pcs (4+spare!) original size 15"x7.00".

 

This is how the car looks like with the incorrect 16"x6.50" rims (+ old B.F. Goodrich bias ply WW tires)  -I do not think the tyres look too big for the car, though.

p.s.

If you look closely, you see I'm missing the hood center moulding behind the hood ornament - where to find one at reasonable cost?

 

Thanks,
Pekka

 

 

Edited July 7, 2016 by tinsled (see edit history)

[Dynaflash8]

All 1941 through 1950 hubcaps are the same, except for the 1941-1942 Limited.  So, yes, the Limited does have different wheels.  I don't have my books, but it seems to me the Limited wheels go back to at least 1938 for Limiteds

 

The 1937-1940 non-Limited wheels were the same, but the hubcaps were different in 1937 1938 and then 1939 and 1940 were the same.  They have a thick lip on the inside.  Beginning in 1941 the lip became very thin and the outside of the diameter of the cap may have been somewhat larger, but I don't know that.  The 1941-1942 Limited caps, and I think 1939 and 1940 were the same, looked like the 1939-1940 regular caps but they hare somewhat fatter to fit over the large protruding front hubs.  1939 and 1940 40-50-60-70 hubcaps will fit the rear wheels of the 1941 and 1942 limited and to the naked eye nobody will know the difference.

[critterpainter]

The 1941 90 wheels ARE quite different.  For one, they weigh quite a bit more and (this is the problem), the bolt circle is larger than other models.  One cannot bolt a smaller series wheel to a 90 series.  I learned this the hard way while trying to change a flat tire.  The 41 90 hubcaps are deeper to clear the front hub.  The normal 1941-50 hubcaps will fit the rear and will fit the front if you take the grease cap off the front hub.

[FLYER15015]

Just to jump in here, My '40 series 90 has 16" wheels which look a lot like "tinsled's" first post.

 

As far as hub caps go, I ordered a set of "standard's" from Bob's and though the back ones fit fine, even with the front dust caps off they would not fit on the front wheels, ended up selling them on evilbay.

 

A new set of caps for the '40 series 90 would cost me about the same price as the car, so I live with my dented ones...........

 

Mike in Colorado

[allcars]

Brings to mind a question I've wondered about...are the regular steel Buick rims from the late '30s and '40s date coded? (I've seen date codes on the '53-'55 wire wheels, on the inner portion of the rim.) Thx

[Dynaflash8]

If it is really a Roadmaster, the wheels should all be 15-inch.