Gary W Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Hello everyone! Being very very new to the Buick world, and now only 2 weeks into ownership of the '37 Model 48, I am getting ready for the winter restoration. I've read the Shop manual through and it is a wealth of information. I have a few basic questions if you all don't mind sharing your experiences. In these couple weeks, I've done a lot of small things and have it running pretty good for a car that was literally sitting in a dirt-floored barn for the last 7 years. The choke is wired open as the "automatic choke" mechanism is rusted, and the engine hesitates first before going, but I'm getting there. So here goes: 1. The car has a MARVEL carburetor. Do I restore it or (as I was advised) "look for another manifold with a better carburetor" so the car is a dependable runner? 2. How do you get the radiator out? Does the entire front clip have to be disassembled? 3. Can this rusty automatic choke be restored? 4. Same for the rusty heat riser and the rusted out vacuum starter switch that sits atop the intake manifold 5. The car doesn't have a radio. Can one be installed if that blanking plate is removed? Or is that a completely different dash? 6. Can I get a new gas tank / sending unit? This one leaks, and it's rusty and the fuel gauge is inoperable. 7. Where would you go to find a new flywheel ring gear? All the teeth on mine look "scooped" out on one side. OK for now. I'm SURE more questions will pop up once the restoration is underway. I truly appreciate all your help and advice. Have a great day and a blessed Thanksgiving! Gary Wheeler NJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCHinson Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Welcome to the AACA Discussion Forum. It sounds like someone has replaced the original carburetor at some time in the past. I would suggest you replace it again rather than trying to deal with the multiple problems that you have described with that one. You should contact Dave Tacheny. I suspect he would have an appropriate carburetor. He is the number one source for mid to late 30s Buick parts. You can reach him at 763-427-3460. He can usually be reached in the evening in his time zone in MN. Dave may have a radio as well. They also come up from time to time on ebay but they are not cheap and generally need to be rebuilt. Yes, an original radio mounts by removing that plate in the dash. Dave may have a good used gas tank. There is not a source of a drop in replacement reproduction tank but there are several that can be used by simply changing the filler neck location. Someone who has done this job should be able to help you on which reproduction tank works. Most people would suggest removing, reversing and reinstalling the flywheel ring gear if it is bad enough to need it. As long as it is working OK, most would leave it alone. Just looking a bit worn often is not a problem. Lots of old technical information can be found online at this link: http://www.1937and1938buicks.com/The-Torque-Tube/The-Torque-Tube.htm There is also a Yahoo group that you may want to jon: https://beta.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/1937and1938Buicks/info In the recent posts there in the past month or two, you should find a discussion about which reproduction gas tanks can be used. I would also suggest you consider joining the 36-38 Buick Club. You can download an application from the membership page at this site: http://www.3638buickclub.org/ Club members have access to the club's technical advisors who can help you with any questions that may have you stumped and I think you will enjoy the club Newsletter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LAS VEGAS DAVE Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 If Dave Tachney does not have a carb, I have an extra one that is rebuilt. Mine is a CARTER for a 38 with a working choke, it might be the same as a 37, I'm not sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
39BuickEight Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 I purchased a brand new fuel tank for my 1939 from Tanks, Inc. They don't make them for these cars, so what I did was order one for a 1939 Chevrolet (same dimensions, just has the filler neck on the wrong side, and the sending unit is on the bottom). I installed it backwards so the filler neck was on the correct side and ran the fuel line a different route. Worked great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonMicheletti Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 By all means drop the pan and clean it out. Sitting that long may mean there is gunk on the bottom which could clog the oil pump pickup screen - cheap insurance. Just draining the opil and refilling may not be enough to clean gunk out. Also, the online Torque Tube magazines are an incredible source of information on the '37's and '38"s Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Shaw Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Gary, I agree with all of the above and add: 1. Replace the MARVEL carburetor w/ choke 2. Shop manual should explain how to get the radiator out. 3. Can this rusty automatic choke be restored? Probably not see #1. 4. Intake manifold & heat riser should be salvageable. 5. The car doesn't have a radio. Neither does my 38 Special; I use an MP3 player with stereo AM & FM with a 6V amplified compact stereo speaker system. 6. Can I get a new gas tank / sending unit? Yes, see above. 7. Where would you go to find a new flywheel ring gear? The buy/sell forum or Ebay. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary W Posted November 21, 2016 Author Share Posted November 21, 2016 Guys.....THANK YOU for all the great information! I'll call Dave tonight. Really appreciate all your knowledge. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted November 21, 2016 Share Posted November 21, 2016 Gary, where do you hale from? Ben Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonMicheletti Posted November 22, 2016 Share Posted November 22, 2016 Changing the ring gear can be a real PITA. The entire driveline has to come out, Might as well change the clutch too.. Be sure to orient the flywheel correctly on replacement. There are 5 wrong ways to bolt it up and one right way to get the timing marks right. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibarlaw Posted November 26, 2016 Share Posted November 26, 2016 (edited) Gary: Welcome to the problem solving capital of the world! These guys are great!! As to what I did with my 1937-41 with the Marvel BD-1 Carb. First, when I bought the car in 1987 and joined the 37-38 Club and the BCA the Marvel BD-1 carb was (even then) considered an orphan. Although it did seem to run fine. I found out that if I went back to the Stromberg AA series Carb I would need a complete manifold/choke/linkages/vacuum switch etc. and all to make things work. Checking around at the time it would have cost me the same as I paid for the car to make the changeover. I sent the carb out to be rebuilt by an advertiser in the "37-38 Torque Tube Magazine". It cost about $100 at the time. A huge expense for us as a new Tech Ed teacher in 1987. I quickly found out I did not have the money to do things as I wanted and the car sat for 25 years until I could put some time and money into the car. I did work on it as cash became available. The fly wheel was pretty well chewed up on my car also. A fellow at an old line garage said that this was no problem as they could flip the ring gear and dress the teeth. They did this all the time in the old days. I think he charged me $15.00. That is what is on my car today with no problems in another 9,000 miles. I sent my clutch out to be rebuilt by CARS in NJ. They sent it to a rebuilder in Florida. They said that they could not reline my clutch disk since it was an aftermarket unit. When I asked for all to be returned they lost my pressure plate. About 3 months of angry letters before I had "A" pressure plate returned. The one I sent had center punch marks to locate to the crankshaft to maintain balance. All these things were done before 1989. Then it took another 24 years before all came back together. I guess that I am lucky, as my Choke unit still functions properly. The heat riser took a long soaking and heating regiment before things loosened up and still had to re-weld the counter weight back on the shaft. I had to make bushings for the worn sections of the accelerator/starter linkages to have all work smoothly. The vacuum switch has always worked fine. And I have a rebuilt spare in case. Comments on the forum indicate that this Marvel is the worst possible carb for our cars. I did have a spare carb I picked up rebuilt by the outfit in Phoenix. They quoted me about $300 in 2012. The final cost came in at over $650!! So that is the carb I am using. Again, I have put close to 9,000 miles on the car driving it to South Bend, I calculated the trip at 16 MPG average. Same for Nashville and Allentown. Some day I will have to drive a car with the better carbs to see what I am missing. Edited November 26, 2016 by dibarlaw (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibarlaw Posted November 26, 2016 Share Posted November 26, 2016 Gary: Nice talking to you today and congratulations on your new Buick. As you can see by the previous post I was able to recover it. The first photo shows the engine bay with radiator removed to be re-cored. This can be done without removing the nose section. The fan/water pump and bypass chamber removal gives a lot of room to get things out. The hood and the nose to cowl support rods need to be removed. (Check back on the thread "37 overheating" I believe). There is a step by step of what I did before biting the bullet and doing a re-core. I drove it all week in Nashville mostly over 95 degrees each day. Over 1,500 mile round trip. Temp gage never went over 185! Re-installed re-cored radiator. Good insurance... Gano filter. December 1986 Auto Trader Ad for my car. I believe I got them down to $2,500. Which at the time I found out afterward was pretty high for what it was. Photo taken this past summer. Note Hampton grey wheels. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Itstime4me2fly Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 On 11/21/2016 at 10:38 AM, 39BuickEight said: I purchased a brand new fuel tank for my 1939 from Tanks, Inc. They don't make them for these cars, so what I did was order one for a 1939 Chevrolet (same dimensions, just has the filler neck on the wrong side, and the sending unit is on the bottom). I installed it backwards so the filler neck was on the correct side and ran the fuel line a different route. Worked great! would you have a part # or will there only be one option? thanks bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
39BuickEight Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 1 hour ago, Itstime4me2fly said: would you have a part # or will there only be one option? thanks bill this is the one I used: http://www.tanksinc.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=126/category_id=63/mode=prod/prd126.htm 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Itstime4me2fly Posted May 10, 2017 Share Posted May 10, 2017 I have called and checked around and could not find the correct one. i will compare to my 39 roadmaster 81F and also pass along any info. thank you. bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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