edinmass Posted April 25, 2022 Share Posted April 25, 2022 I will be at the Gilmore show in early June. 😎 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted May 29, 2022 Author Share Posted May 29, 2022 (edited) Spent the day getting the Buick ready for a road trip later this week. On Thursday we're cruising to Auburn, IN for a CCCA meet up before the Gilmore meet in Michigan on Friday and Saturday. The car is always ready to go and pretty much all I had to do was check fluids, check air pressure, and give it a quick bath and it was ready to go. I fired it up and took it for a 50-mile shakedown drive and once again, it was smooth and effortless. Easy cruising at 45 MPH on some back roads, temperatures at 170-180, and zero issues. I inflated the tires to 37 PSI which seems to improve both ride and handling and I like it there. More importantly, the car feels a bit more substantial with the soundproofing. It's purely subjective, of course, but it seems more solid. There's still one rattle in the front suspension that I suspect is the lower inner bushings, which I have and will replace next winter. But overall it feels heavier and better assembled, if that's a thing. It was, however, notably cooler in the driver's seat and that wasn't my imagination. All that insulation is definitely keeping the heat out of the passenger compartment. Nice! The only thing that gave me pause was some rubber fuel line between the electric pump and the mechanical pump that I had completely forgotten about. If you'll recall, I was going through the fuel system a while back and had some...issues. It seems that once I got everything back together and running again, I never went back to replace those rubber parts. I thought about going after them today since I have two days off to work on it, but then I remembered the last time I tried a fuel line project that was only supposed to take a few hours. I decided to leave it alone for now and simply grabbed a length of fuel hose and some hose clamps and put it in my spares box in the trunk. I'll be OK if I need repairs on the road and will replace the fuel lines with metal after we're done with the road trip. Some rubber fuel line remains in my fuel system and I don't like it. It's been there since before I bought the car (10 years) and goes through a hole in the frame, but so far it has held. Dealing with it before a road trip seems like a mistake... Drove it 50 miles and then took it home for the Memorial Day parade tomorrow. I'll park it out in front of the house with the Admiral's stars on the doors and flags on the bumpers. Edited May 30, 2022 by Matt Harwood (see edit history) 16 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted June 1, 2022 Author Share Posted June 1, 2022 Not entirely Buick-related, but last night we went to the big cruise night that we sponsor every Tuesday. This week's theme was pre-war, so we decided to hit them hard. Riley and I loaded up the Marmon Sixteen, Melanie grabbed a sweet little '32 Ford coupe, and we called friends in the CCCA to bring some hardware and show the locals what real cars used to look like. My friend Phil Tobin brought his Seybold-restored 1941 Limited Model 91 touring sedan and Margus Sweigard brought his show-stopping 1932 Buick Model 95 sport phaeton. Photos? Oh, yeah, neither Melanie nor I thought of that--we were too busy talking about the cars to the surprisingly large crowds that formed around them. Sorry. I just have this one photo Riley shot from the back seat of the Marmon on the drive home: Here's Phil's Limited next to mine at one of our Harwood Motors shows (you can see why I don't like to park my car next to his--it's REALLY nice): Parking was a little congested at the show so Phil (who is 89 years young) asked me to park his car for him. I obviously didn't drive it very far so I can't make any comparisons other than to say his engine felt better isolated than mine. I mean, I couldn't even feel it running. Mine is smooth, but I can still feel it humming through the steering wheel. Phil's car had nothing. That had me wondering if my motor mounts are shot. Hmmmm... 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 45 minutes ago, Matt Harwood said: Mine is smooth, but I can still feel it humming through the steering wheel. I know you had your exhaust done but make sure it is completely isolated from the frame. Makes a huge difference. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted June 1, 2022 Author Share Posted June 1, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, JohnD1956 said: I know you had your exhaust done but make sure it is completely isolated from the frame. Makes a huge difference. No worries there. I have that beautiful new stainless system with custom hangars that ensure nothing is touching. It's not a bad vibration in my car and I would have been happy to say that's how it was when it was new, but now that I've experienced Phil's car, maybe there's something more. New motor mounts are not that expensive and are probably worth replacing next winter. We'll see what happens, if anything... Edited June 1, 2022 by Matt Harwood (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted June 1, 2022 Share Posted June 1, 2022 4 minutes ago, Matt Harwood said: I have that beautiful new stainless system with custom hangars that ensure nothing is touching I also wonder if the custom exhaust headers vs the cast iron exhaust manifold may be to blame? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted June 2, 2022 Author Share Posted June 2, 2022 (edited) Greetings from lovely Auburn, Indiana! We had a great drive, albeit with three unexpected stops. Buick was flawless all the way, running at 170-180 degrees without any issues whatsoever. This was a fast crowd so there were a few stretches where we were blasting along at 65+ and the Big Guy never hiccupped nor complained. The weather was perfect, with temperatures in the mid-70s and only a few sprinkles along the way, which all cleared out by midday. A really good drive. Tomorrow we wake up and hit the road for Hickory Corners, Michigan and the CCCA Experience at the Gilmore campus. Started the day at a friend's house. Six cars total in the caravan, including the 1941 Cadillac 62 convertible, 1940 Packard 180 Derham convertible sedan, 1934 Packard Twelve convertible sedan, a 1942 Packard 160 convertible coupe (behind my Buick). A 1947 Cadillac 62 convertible is still in the garage behind the Packard. Jon Leimkuehler's 1934 Packard Twelve is just STUNNING. Not colors that you would pick from a catalog, but the orange wheels really work. This car's performance on the road was also extremely impressive--he says it cruises at 70 thanks to high-speed gears. It had no problems running with the newer cars. Finally we hit the road. Kept to secondary roads primarily with speeds between 45 and 55 MPH. Easy for the big Buick. Unexpected stop #1: 1947 Cadillac rear end gives up the ghost. One loud BANG! and it was over. Some roadside diagnosis showed the driveshaft spinning but obviously nothing was happening. Transferred passengers and luggage to other cars while fellow club members in a modern car waited for the tow truck. A few sections of high-speed freeway driving were necessary. Packards with overdrive and Cadillac with Hydra-Matic were running fast but the Buick had no problems keeping up at 65+ MPH. It was fun to put my grille in their mirrors going up hills. Unexpected stop #2: Fellow driver had a medical issue that required a stop at a CVS drive-thru. Like lemmings, we all faithfully followed him into the CVS parking lot like it was part of the drive. Derp. Kids at this elementary school were very excited to see all the old cars driving past. Unexpected stop #3: freight train. A looooooooonnnng one. Debate whether to shut down the engine (and risk it not starting) or sit and let it heat up. I let it run and it never went above 190. Disaster averted. I shouldn't have worried, the car never hesitated for a moment. Also, WTF, Porsche guy? I'll have more over the weekend... Edited June 3, 2022 by Matt Harwood (see edit history) 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valk Posted June 2, 2022 Share Posted June 2, 2022 Great pics, and love the senior Packard, not that your car is any slouch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted June 3, 2022 Share Posted June 3, 2022 12 hours ago, Matt Harwood said: This was a fast crowd so there were a few stretches where we were blasting along at 65+ and the Big Guy never hiccupped nor complained. Go Buick! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted June 3, 2022 Share Posted June 3, 2022 Wtf the Porsche guy is right. What a jackass. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted June 3, 2022 Author Share Posted June 3, 2022 (edited) Day 2. Got up early to hit the road and found that we had conflicting signals. The Ohio group said we were leaving at 10AM while the Michigan/Indiana group said, no, no, they were leaving at 9AM. Got a little frustrated with a few obstinate Ohio members who weren't leaving until 10, come hell or high water. Not wanting to be the only old car bringing up the rear an hour behind everyone else, I decided that we were leaving with the earlier group. Fortunately, another old car made my decision obsolete--a 1940 Packard refused to run so everyone stopped what they were doing and took turns sticking their heads under the hood to effect a cure. I didn't offer to consult but it sounded like the choke was stuck. While they futzed around, I took some photos of the other cars that weren't there last night. CCCA Brain Trust discusses recalcitrant 1940 Packard. A few late arrivals: 1935 Auburn, 1940 Packard 160, and a 1947 Cadillac Series 62. 1941 Cadillac Series 67 uses the same body as my Limited. This one came from New Jersey and is equipped with both power steering and A/C. Pretty clean install once I got a closer look at it. Looks odd without the fender skirts, though. We finally got on the road about 9:30, travelling with three other cars from Ohio. We followed Dan Hanlon's 1940 Packard 180 Derham convertible sedan for a while and I realized he had no brake lights. I called him and he said he was aware of the problem, so I decided to stay behind him and pay attention. We cruised about 40 miles to our lunch stop and had about an hour to kill before our reservation--apparently the 10 AM departure time would have been the smarter choice, but whatever. Lunch was a Dutch buffet that was pretty good and I was able to get breakfast instead of lunch. Who doesn't love breakfast? I wandered around the parking lot while we waited and helped Jon Leimkuehler put the top down on his Packard--that's a really rare car: a convertible sedan with the top down! 1934 Packard looks great, top up or top down. I'd give a kidney to own this car. I include this photo only to point out the kid in the Indians jersey there on the right--that's Jon's grandson, who is 19 and has been at the helm of the Packard from the start. Does he know how lucky he is? Also, the incapacitated Packard is now, uh, capacitated. 1940s cars are by far the most popular CCCA tour choice. What is that telling us? After lunch we drove to Hickory Corners and the Gilmore Museum(s). I was following that 1942 Packard convertible, above (owned by my former business partner), but he veered off and decided that he was going the wrong way. He was mistaken, but in true Top Gear fashion we left him behind and led the remaining five or six cars to the Museum, including the 1941 Cadillac 67--I pushed it a bit just to see if he could keep up and he did pretty well. I used to think Ohio's roads were bad, but Michigan's are AWFUL. If there were any loose components on my car, they've fallen off. I probably have some new rattle abatement to do now. Grrrrr... Half of the drive was through some pretty heavy traffic and some drivers were less pleased than others to have a line of old cars maneuvering through town, but everyone managed. Strangely, Melanie didn't even notice how bad the roads were... After about 40 miles, we arrived at the Gilmore, which is a truly wonderful place. We didn't visit any of the museums (we'll do that tomorrow) but driving down the "Main Street" area we saw the beautiful period-looking buildings which house the various marque museums. The Cadillac museum is especially cool. Lincoln and Cadillac museums, respectively. Cadillac is modeled after a factory-recommended showroom design. There's also a period diner and gas station, which apparently houses all the bathrooms. Beautiful campus with lots or room for shows. Tomorrow we have a driving tour that will visit a few local collections then we'll have the afternoon to check out the museums. Sunday is the concours--do I leave the bugs all over the front of my car (my preference) or clean it up (just so I don't seem like an ass)? It's sitting across the street in the hotel garage right now... Edited June 6, 2022 by Matt Harwood (see edit history) 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted June 4, 2022 Author Share Posted June 4, 2022 Craps. A fellow club member called me and said my car was leaking fuel so I went out to investigate. Yep, there's gas on the ground. I filled it up just before we got to the hotel so it's just leaking out the vent tube due to the angle of the garage floor. I know there's no damage to the car, but there is a big puddle of gas there on the ground. One stray cigarette and FWOOOM! This might be bad. Unfortunately, the garage is full (I know this because there's a sign at the entrance saying "GARAGE FULL") so I can't move the car. I took my spare gallon of water and doused the puddle and it got rid of a lot of it. Still a bit of a fuel smell, but I came back up to our room and refilled the jug with water and I'll go give it another dousing before I go to bed. It should be OK, right? Right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
valk Posted June 4, 2022 Share Posted June 4, 2022 Living’ the dream… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted June 4, 2022 Author Share Posted June 4, 2022 OK, that was the scariest goddamned moment of my life. Decided to go throw another gallon of water on the gas spill before going to bed. Walked down the hall to the elevator and casually glanced out the window to see this: Yes, that's exactly what it looks like--FIRE! Down a few floors below our 5th floor and across the street. Right...about...where...I...parked. I sprinted carrying my gallon of water. I mean, Usain Bolt wasn't going to catch me. 52 years old and I FLEW across the bridge and down into the garage--so fast, my shoe fell off. And, of course, the Buick was fine and there was no fire. I dumped the water on the spill anyway, then fired the car up and moved it to another space higher up in the garage where things were starting to thin out (there's some kind of festival going on up the street). When I got back up to the 5th floor, I looked out the window and took this photo--it must be a fire pit in one of the apartments across the street. I had no idea how I was oriented relative to the garage so I didn't know it wasn't my car burning. I just reacted. That was one hell of a long elevator ride down to the ground floor. Ultimately, no disaster, no harm, no damage. I'm not going to be able to sleep for a good, long while tonight... 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
95Cardinal Posted June 4, 2022 Share Posted June 4, 2022 Matt, That must have been a terrifying few minutes! Take a breath and enjoy the weekend. I always enjoy our Gilmore visits; it's a wonderful place. Joe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibarlaw Posted June 4, 2022 Share Posted June 4, 2022 Matt: Glad all is well. My 1937 would do the same when tank full and parked at an angle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted June 4, 2022 Share Posted June 4, 2022 10 hours ago, Matt Harwood said: -FIRE! Down a few floors below our 5th floor and across the street. Right...about...where...I...parked. I will say my heart skipped a beat or two in sympathy with you Matt. Otherwise it looks to be a fantastic outing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted June 5, 2022 Author Share Posted June 5, 2022 (edited) Day 3. Got up early to get to the Gilmore in time for the 10:00 driving tour. Grabbed some coffee in the lobby and then walked across the street to the parking garage. Buick was thankfully unburned and ready to go--in fact, it started so easily that the fellow in the 1940 Packard next to me said, "That isn't fair!" I pointed out that it took a lot of time and money to make it start like that and he laughed. Still, it was a slightly weird morning: This lady was at breakfast. That's a couch on fire by the side of the road. At the Gilmore, we lined up for the driving tour and I had a nice conversation with Phil "with hands like George the Animal Steele" who came to the event with Ed. I enjoyed talking to him and learned quite a bit and he sure seems to be having a good time. I hope I see him again sometime. Cars lined up for the driving tour. The driving tour's first stop was the Bill Parfet car collection, which is right there next to the Gilmore museum, so it was an easy drive up a path. The collection was very impressive with some significant cars, and I was particularly pleased to see evidence of use on every one of them--this is no static collection. No photos of the collection to respect his privacy, but every car you saw, the next one was even more amazing. Path leading to the Parfet collection. Lined up outside the Parfet garages. Wow! After the Parfet collection, we went back to the Gilmore and had a nice box lunch and photographed the second group of cars as they drove by on their way back from the collection. After lunch was the second stage of the driving tour, which was a nice drive through cottage country and along the banks of Gull Lake. The destination was a beautiful 1920s home in a well-to-do section of town. I like old houses as much as old cars and it was quite appealing. However, I also feel uncomfortable walking through someone's home like I'm at a display at Disneyland so I just don't do it. Melanie and I just waited outside and had a good conversation with Ed Minnie and a few other guys. Then we had a wonderful drive back to the Gilmore and I took some photos of my car in front of the vintage gas station. Main part of the driving tour was lovely. Back at the museum for some additional photos. Wrapped up a nice day with a nice dinner with some friends on the tour as well as my aunt and uncle who live in Grand Rapids, so that was good. It started raining on the way home--the big Buick doesn't care--so hopefully it'll be nice tomorrow for the show. Then we have to hammer home to get our kids. Edited June 6, 2022 by Matt Harwood (see edit history) 13 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil morse Posted June 5, 2022 Share Posted June 5, 2022 Thanks so much for posting your report and great photos of these wonderful automobiles! I would love to be able to attend an event like this. I especially enjoyed the couch fire photo! Neil 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted June 6, 2022 Author Share Posted June 6, 2022 (edited) Day 4. Concours-style show with about 50 extremely impressive cars. We arrived around 9AM to get things lined up and watched many of the cars roll in--hearing some of these machines under power was worth the price of admission--two Duesenbergs in particular. The weather was a little overcast but there was no serious rain in the morning, just a few sprinkles here and there. Show field was pretty impressive. This gray '36 Cadillac V16 was my personal favorite. Just a few of my favorites at the show. And one last look around in the museums, just in case we missed anything. The actual Rolls-Royce and an oversized movie set created to match its interior for a Disney movie back in the '60s. The detail is pretty impressive. Remarkably enough, there are more Buicks on display in the CCCA Museum than any other marque. There are three others besides these. Upstairs, you'll find the tooling used to make the all-new Marmon V16 cylinder heads a few years ago. And, of course, a row of identically restored 1934 Auburn V12s, one of each body style. INCREDIBLE! We hit the road around 2:30, just as some more substantial rain was settling in. The Limited just blasted along at 60 MPH without much effort. We did get stuck on the Michigan turnpike at the toll booths where there was a HUGE traffic jam because there was only one functioning booth. Coolant temperatures inched up to 205 on the gauge. Not a surprise and that's a real torture test--cruising at high speed then coming to a full stop and sitting in 85-degree heat is a bad combination. Nevertheless, the car never lost its composure and the carburetors didn't even stutter; it appears to be immune to vapor lock with the intake disconnected from the exhaust. Once we were rolling again, temperatures settled down to 190 or so without any drama. We stopped for a snack and once we came out it had cooled off, so we got some gas and hit the road. It remained at 180 the rest of the way home. Total for the weekend was 776 miles and the car never hiccupped once, never acted up, never gave me a moment's pause--you can't ask for more than that from an old car. Better yet, we pulled down a little over 13 MPG total for the trip. Nice! I have some new rattles to address (Michigan roads were murder), an NOS gas gauge to install, and a few other details to attend to on the car, but I couldn't be happier with this old Buick. It gave us a great weekend. Edited June 6, 2022 by Matt Harwood (see edit history) 13 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted June 6, 2022 Share Posted June 6, 2022 Thanks for the nice 'play-by-play'! Glad to hear you had a good time and the Buick performed like the whole affair was no big deal... 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCHinson Posted June 6, 2022 Share Posted June 6, 2022 When I was at the Gilmore for the AACA Grand National back in 2007, I enjoyed seeing the Rolls Royce and the set piece from The Gnome Mobile. I remembered seeing the movie when I was a child. Somewhere I have photos of my daughter, who was 9 years old at the time, in the car and the set piece. I also have a DVD of the movie. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted August 1, 2022 Author Share Posted August 1, 2022 It appears I have acquired a second 1941 Limited limousine, complements of the Sloan Museum auction. I'll have to go retrieve it next week, but the price was certainly right. Seems to be fairly complete as far as the important stuff goes (complete dual carb setup, interior moldings and hardware, rear window, "Limited" hood pulls, and other unobtainium bits). I also now have a complete replacement rear end with correct end caps, so I'm going to investigate whether it's in better shape that my current rear end--it seems to be holding up fine with the fabricated caps, although it's maybe a little noisier than I think it should be. Alternatively, I now have a spare torque tube into which I can install an overdrive... The best part is that the whole thing cost less than what I paid for a single dome light lens and an escutcheon plate a few months ago when I was soundproofing the interior. It'll cost me more in fuel to go to Flint and back with a trailer than I paid for the whole car. I wonder if I was the only bidder...? 14 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinmass Posted August 1, 2022 Share Posted August 1, 2022 (edited) I called Matt and told him about this car…….but he had already sniffed it out. Just trying to keep our members here on the trail of parts…….Matt’s Buick is a long term keeper……so a parts car makes total sense. Can anyone say……”Road trip!” 😎 Edited August 1, 2022 by edinmass (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usnavystgc Posted August 2, 2022 Share Posted August 2, 2022 That's awesome. I love the dual carb setup. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted August 22, 2022 Author Share Posted August 22, 2022 We were finally able to coordinate with the Sloan Museum to get the parts car picked up. They've been wracked with Covid up there so they had nobody available for the past few weeks to meet our driver and get the parts car out of wherever they were storing it. Mike picked it up today and called, panicked, thinking we'd been taken--he didn't realize the car was a wreck and thought we bought something unexpected. All good. They put some air in the tires and--remarkably--they held. Using some clever strapping techniques, Mike was able to load the Limited into his trailer and get it to us this afternoon. With some help from the guys in the shop, we were able to push it into the shop and position it next to our limo. Mike was able to get the parts Limited into his trailer without any problem. Getting it off was surprisingly easy--it rolled without much effort. Then we rolled it inside next to our car. A few immediate observations: One, it appears that this car has a similar color combination to my car but the interior patterns are slightly different. I'm going to do some research. The trim tag itself is also kind of weird--it's obviously a model 90L limousine, but it doesn't say 90L, it has a hand-stamped OMP. It's also a much earlier car than mine (#74 versus 402). Trim tags: parts car (left) versus my car. A few anomalies, including the missing "90L" denoting an 8-passenger limousine with divider window. Trim code 913 is blue and gray broadcloth, while 908 is tan Bedford cord. That seems odd because I believe the rear compartment of my car is original. Paint code 561 is Rainier Blue, while 560 is Carlsbad Black. Parts car on the left, my car on the right. Both are blue but the combination is noticeably different. I believe my rear compartment is original so Buick may have offered two different blue/tan or blue/gray combinations. But more importantly, this car is chock full of goodies that will be invaluable. First and foremost, there are the unobtainium bits that are unique to the Limited which I would never find on eBay or at Hershey. Some of those bits include: Door hardware and escutcheons. These are unique to the Limited and you may recall that I broke two of my escutcheon plates during the sound insulation project. I bought one from Doug Seybold, but one was all he had. This car has ALL of its escutcheons and handles 100% intact. Nice! Power divider window switches and "consoles." It's worth noting that this car also had the little mirror and compact that fit into the consoles. The mirror's leather case was shot but the mirror itself is intact. We're hoping we can recondition the leather. The divider window itself is also intact, as is the drive motor and cables. Interior lamp lenses. My car was missing a dome light lens since I bought it. I eventually bought one from Doug S. in March when I bought the escutcheon and vent window crank mechanism. All that stuff cost me about what I paid for this entire car. Oh well. This car also has its original back seat floor light lenses (my car has plain glass that I painted with frost paint), but sadly they're both cracked and are not usable. One of my front seat floor light lenses is cracked and fortunately, both of them in the parts car are good. So a good score there. LIMITED hood pulls. Good luck finding one of those when they (inevitably) break. A little pitted but they could easily be re-chromed. Oddly enough, the Limited uses unique wheels and hubcaps, and this car has four of each in good condition. I've actually had other Limited owners contact me looking for wheels since they have larger center bores than the standard 16-inch Buick wheels. The hubcaps are also unique, as they are deeper to clear the taller front bearing housing. The trim rings can be polished while the hubcaps will need to be re-chromed. The picture doesn't show it very well, but this car has both its original engine splash pans intact. I will surely remove those although I'm not sure I need to install them on my car. We'll see. Oh, and this is awesome: the parts car has a fully intact INTERCOM SYSTEM! The speaker is in the headliner above the driver's head. You can bet I'll pull that out and try to get it working in my car. Torque tube and rear axle. Mine are fine, but I have a Gear Vendors overdrive on the shelf. Does it go in the Buick or the Lincoln? Either way, I now have spare torque tubes on which I can experiment without worrying about permanently crippling my car(s). Brake drums. Unique to the Limited. Where would I ever get another set? Gas tank. Also unique to the Limited. 22 gallons compared to 18 on the other models. I don't know its condition, but now I have a spare that can be restored. This one little piece made the entire purchase worth it--a factory FOG LIGHT switch and knob! My car is currently using the generic ACCESSORY knob. Not for long! A complete 320 cubic inch dual carb setup, including air cleaner, two Carter carburetors, intake manifold, both exhaust manifolds, and exhaust pipes. It even includes the little breather tube from the valve cover to the air cleaner. This setup alone is probably worth three or four times what I paid for the entire car. Hopefully the exhaust manifolds aren't ruined. Factory dash switches and knobs. My instrument lights are acting up so maybe a replacement switch will fix them. Misc. bright trim. The grille is cracked and anything that's chrome is pitted, but it's there if I need it. Stainless is in good shape and can be polished and reused. Sadly, there are no rocker panel trim pieces (which I need) or fender skirts. All four doors. In good shape with remarkably little rust. Rockers are shot, but the doors are fine. Glass, particularly the unique curved rear window. None cracked or even delaminating. Gauges. The faces are discolored but not cracked or damaged. Can they be salvaged? Steering wheel. Shot, but a good core for a restoration. So for a few hundred bucks plus $600 worth of shipping, I got a pretty full inventory of Limited-only spares that would be completely impossible to replace. If I need to get my money back on the purchase, all I need to do is sell that dual carb setup and it'll more than pay for the whole thing several times over. And I have to admit that it looks pretty cool sitting next to my car--suddenly my scruffy limo looks like it's ready for Pebble. I'm calling this a very big win. I'm not sure if I'm going to start disassembling it or if I'll leave it intact to save space. For now, it'll sit there in the corner as a conversation piece. So... Anyone got a 1935 Lincoln parts car laying around? 13 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 Great score, Matt. "Gotta win sometime". Ben 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
38Buick 80C Posted August 23, 2022 Share Posted August 23, 2022 I'm very curious about the stamped OMP on the body tag... I really think you need to research that more before you write this off as a parts car...just sayin'... 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sean1997 Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 The stamped OMP are accessory option codes: O=grained garnish molding P= Limousine dictaphone sorry don't have M It's not unusual for the Buick model number not to be stamped. Since Fisher used the body style number, I'm guessing that was more important to Fisher since they made the bodies. I've attached some more trim tags from Fisher body style 4933 cars. 7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MCHinson Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 A longshot, but it might be interesting to pull the differential cover and see if the differential seems to have different gears than your other car. Maybe the guy with the stamp had the stamp upside down. Maybe the "M" was supposed to be a "W". In some fonts, the M and W are identical but inverted, while in others they are shaped differently. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 10 hours ago, sean1997 said: O=grained garnish molding That's interesting -- why wouldn't a limousine have this as standard? What was the standard finish for them - solid color? Matt's car has them grained as well, and has the "O" on its trim tag. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted August 25, 2022 Author Share Posted August 25, 2022 10 minutes ago, EmTee said: That's interesting -- why wouldn't a limousine have this as standard? What was the standard finish for them - solid color? Matt's car has them grained as well, and has the "O" on its trim tag. Actually, all my window moldings are chromed. I think that was the standard finish. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 10 minutes ago, Matt Harwood said: Actually, all my window moldings are chromed. Oh, I was looking at the tops of the door panels... I went back and looked again and I see the window garnish moldings are chrome - which begs another question. Why are they chrome if the trim plate says "O"? Maybe a previous owner chromed them rather than attempt to match the existing woodgraining? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted August 25, 2022 Author Share Posted August 25, 2022 (edited) 1 hour ago, EmTee said: Oh, I was looking at the tops of the door panels... I went back and looked again and I see the window garnish moldings are chrome - which begs another question. Why are they chrome if the trim plate says "O"? Maybe a previous owner chromed them rather than attempt to match the existing woodgraining? The window moldings in the parts car are rusty, but with close inspection, it sure looks like it may have been painted woodgrain. I don't see any trace of chrome on them. I presume this is what the "Grained Garnish Molding" option refers to. The ones in my car are chrome: The fact that there's an O stamped on my trim tag but my car has chrome garnish moldings and the interior doesn't match the trim tag code now suggests to me that the rear compartment was restored at some point. I know the front compartment has been restored as it's much newer and fresher than the rear compartment, so maybe restored at two different times? Everything I could find in the car strongly suggested that my rear upholstery is original (the rear springs are still wrapped in little linen bags), but all these clues don't seem to add up to an original interior. Not that it matters, I guess, it's still beautiful. Odd... Edited August 25, 2022 by Matt Harwood (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
usnavystgc Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 That's some interesting stuff there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil morse Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 (edited) On 8/22/2022 at 3:51 PM, Matt Harwood said: Gauges: The faces are discolored but not cracked or damaged. Can they be salvaged? Short answer is yes, they can be salvaged. You can get reproduction plastic pieces. Or in some cases you can buff out the old plastic to remove the discoloration. You scored a lot of great stuff, Matt! Especially the Fog Light switch! Edited August 25, 2022 by neil morse (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kgreen Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 Matt, started to wonder if an item was standard on a particular series that there would be no designation. My reasoning is that the tag data told the line what to change on any particular car. Thoughts? I see the convertible top designation as having three choices. Would that be a color choice? Black, Tan or White? Looking at the "O" stamped on one of your data tags, the shape of the data tag where the stamping took place makes me wonder if the data tag was stamped on the line. I would assume the stamping would occur at the start of the line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted August 25, 2022 Share Posted August 25, 2022 9 hours ago, Matt Harwood said: Not that it matters, I guess, it's still beautiful. Odd... You're right, Matt - it doesn't matter. I agree, your car looks great and I'm certainly not knocking it. A lot can happen over an 80-year span. I'm just trying to understand how Buick identified the options and materials that went into the cars on the production line. My question to anyone who knows is just what was the standard garnish molding treatment? Maybe it was chrome, or maybe painted a solid color? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted August 26, 2022 Author Share Posted August 26, 2022 It took me a while to find it, but here's a page from the Engineering Information book that seems to suggest that chrome is the standard finish (that is, if the painted finish is an option): 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted August 26, 2022 Share Posted August 26, 2022 Thanks Matt - now I can sleep tonight! That book is certainly a great resource to have. So, maybe whoever previously restored the interior of your car simply liked the look of the chrome better than the woodgrain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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