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1938 Buick Century Model 61 - Four Door Touring Sedan - Trunk Back


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I have been following this thread since the beginning and it is a true inspiration how you brought that car back. Wonderful Buick, amazing work, and thank you so much for taking us all along with you  throughout its restoration! 

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  • 1 month later...

It has been over a month and I am still waiting for my upholstery shop to take care of those minor interior items before I can call this project totally finished.

 

In my recent driving, I discovered that the trip odometer was not working on the speedometer that I had installed in the car. I decided to solve that problem today. I had another speedometer that looked good except for the faded red paint on the pointer. I removed it from the spare instrument cluster and installed the painted pointer from my original speedometer.  I then swapped the speedometers. This is a simple job. Unfortunately, simple does not mean easy. If I was 20 years younger and 50 pounds lighter, it might not be as difficult. There are only three screws, the speedometer cable, and three snap in instrument light sockets that have to be removed to remove the speedometer from the instrument cluster. Removing those three screws required putting my head on the driver's floorboard, and my torso on the front seat with my feet hanging over the back of the front seat back. This is not a comfortable postition to work in. Using multiple light sources to see under the dash, and a screwdriver with a magnet attached to help grip the screws, I was able to remove the speedometer. I then installed the replacement speedometer. That was even more fun than removing the other one. When I installed one of the instrument cluster lights, the bulb fell out of the socket and into the instrument cluster. I then had to remove the speedometer again to remove the loose bulb. As I was doing that and attempting to fish the loose bulb out, I was reminded of why you should remove the battery cable when working on the car (even when what you are working on is not significantly related to the electrical system). The blub managed to make contact with the amp gauge, shorting out the amp gauge. I then removed the bulb and discovered why it popped out of the socket. The base of the bulb was slightly bent making one of the pins not protrude from the base as much as it should. I reinstalled the speedometer and used a different instrument cluster bulb.

 

As soon as I confirmed that the amp gauge was fried, I then removed the four screws that hold the amp gauge and oil pressure gauge assembly in the instrument cluster. I then removed the oil pressure gauge line. I then installed a spare amp gauge and oil pressure gauge in the instrument cluster. This job is just as much fun as it requires the same work position as the speedometer job.

 

After testing, everything appears to be working properly. I figure my back and neck will be OK soon. On the plus side, I am getting better and faster at working on the instrument cluster, although if I had it to do over again, I might remove the entire instrument cluster assembly to work on the individual components in a more natural position. I was not amused while I was doing this work today, but now that it is finished, I find it slightly amusing.   

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The speedometer that I had last installed was loud enough to irritate me. I cleaned and repaired the trip odometer on the original one. Today, I reinstalled it. With repetition, I am getting better at this job. I unhooked the battery cable, removed the speedometer, replaced the speedometer and hooked the battery back up in 20 minutes today.  

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On Saturday August 1st, on the way home from Cars and Coffe, I noticed that the accelerator pedal did not seem to be fully accelerating the car as it should. The pedal did not seem to return all of the way to its normal position. On this past Saturday, after swapping out the speedometer, as I was about to drive the car to lunch, When I hit the accelerator pedal, it went all the way to the floor, so I drove a modern car to lunch. Later I determined that the webbed cloth flexible link in the accelerator pedal linkage had broken. Today, I stopped by a local military surplus store and picked up a suitable piece of webbed belt material to replace the broken linkage. I ground off the brass rivets that held the original fabric to the accelerator rod and installed the new material with machine screws since I did not have any suitable sized brass rivets. I then reinstalled the accelerator linkage. I guess the accelerator linkage should now  be good for another 82 years.  

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Edited by MCHinson (see edit history)
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I had a few small limbs/branches down and lost power for about 12 hours. There were others here in town who lost some trees, but it was not much of a problem here. Ocean Isle Beach and Southport were the only towns in the area with lots of damage.  

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Today marks 3 years since I arrived at home with this project. While I am still waiting on my upholstery shop for a few minor interior accessories, it is essentially complete and drivable as is. If the weather allows, I will drive it to lunch tomorrow again. I look forward to some cooler weather so I can drive it even more often. Photo from 3 years ago and as it appears today. 

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Edited by MCHinson (see edit history)
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Matt

Your Buick really looks beautiful!  

How quickly we forget all the ups, downs, frustrations, setbacks and busted knuckles once that beautiful straight-8 hums to life!

 

Many happy miles, my friend!

 

Gary

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  • 3 months later...

I am still waiting on my local upholstery shop to finish those few small details, but I have been driving the 1938 Century on a regular basis. It has been to Cars and Coffee each month, and to lunch every weekend so, while I am a little bit upset that I am still waiting for the minor upholstery items, I wish to announce that as soon as those details are completed, this car will be for sale. I plan to sell it for a bit less than what I think it should be worth, as I need to sell it to make room in the garage for my next purchase. An unexpected opportunity to purchase a really neat and rare 1937 Buick has presented itself. I don't feel that I can pass up this opportunity, so If anyone is interested in purchasing my 1938 Model 61, please let me know.  

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  • 2 months later...

My local upholstery shop finished the sun visors and the rear carpet. They should have the rope rail for the back of the front seat and the rear seat passenger assist straps ready on Monday or Tuesday. Now if I can get a day without rain (which is not expected for nearly a week), I can buff the visor mounting brackets and install the visors and the rear seat carpet. Hopefully I can get the rest of the items and get them installed in the next week or so. 

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Edited by MCHinson (see edit history)
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  • 7 months later...

As reported previously, with the addition of my 1937 Roadmaster Model 80C, I needed to sell this car to give me enough garage space to get my modern car back into the garage. I am happy to say that my modern vehicle is back in the garage tonight. Tonight, the transporter arrived to take this 1938 Model 61 to its new owner @EmTee. I hope that Tim enjoys his new 1938 Buick. 

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31 minutes ago, Ben Bruce aka First Born said:

Matthew, if I may ask.  What decided between the Special or the Century to go?

 

  Ben

 

I have never owned a Special. I own a 1937 Century Model 61 that I have owned for over 7 years and driven as far from NC as Ohio and Indiana and back. I restored the 1938 Century Model 61. I was then able to purchase a  1937 Model 80C Convertible Phaeton. The Phaeton is a car that I never expected to be able to own. I actually prefer the look of the grille on the 1937 to that on the 1938, as a 1937 Buick was the first antique car that I fell in love with and attempted to buy about 30 years before I purchased the 1937 Century. With the addition of the 1937 80C, I needed to sell one and chose to let the recently restored 1938 go to a new home. The 1937 Century and 1937 Roadmaster make a good pair. Both are 1937s so I have a matched set including a convertible for top down weather and a closed Sedan for cold or rainy weather.

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9 minutes ago, MCHinson said:

With the addition of the 1937 80C, I needed to sell one and chose to let the recently restored 1938 go to a new home.

 

This is what I consider to be the textbook definition of a "win -win" situation!  ;)

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  • 1 month later...

Thanks for taking the time and effort to post your journey. I learned a few things and am inspired to get back to work on my own cars. Those Buicks are very sharp looking cars. 

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I should start a new continuation thread for this car and that's what I plan to do.  So far, I've been going over the car from stem to stern just getting familiar with it since this is my first pre-war car and my first straight-8.  Matt really didn't drive the car much since he finished it and warned me that there's the usual tweaking and sorting that needs to run its course.

 

The weather here has been warm, but quite wet, so I have only added something over 100 miles myself.  The last significant task I completed was to drain the water from the cooling system and back-flush the radiator.  Good news is that other than an orange tint, the water was clean and I didn't see any chunks.  Added 50/50 mix of antifreeze and distilled water, so she's all set for winter.

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  • 1 year later...
On 9/7/2017 at 3:19 PM, MCHinson said:

fter being well soaked in solvent in the past few days, I did not have too much trouble getting all of the fittings apart

What solvent did you use for the brake line fittings?  Thanks. 

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Just now, Shootey said:

What solvent did you use for the brake line fittings?  Thanks. 

I used a 50/50 mix of acetone and automatic transmission fluid on everything on this project.

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