Pistons for 1918 E-6-45 Buick

[Mark Hatton]

I live in the UK and have just bought a 1918 Buick E45 six. It is a great car that came from Kansas in 2016, and had been owned by one family until then. The motor needs a complete rebuild soon, though the car is running and driving. I need a set of pistons and wondered if anyone had any advice on where to get some, or what pistons from other applications might fit. I know that Egge can make a set if necessary. I have put an ad in the parts wanted section.

[Morgan Wright]

I have 6 pistons for you. Do you want the piston rods as well? The babbit looks good. They are from a 1918 E-49. Message me and make an offer.

[Terry Wiegand]

That is the Bob Cole car that was sold new in Hutchinson, Kansas by The Reno Buick Company.  If you are going to rebuild the engine you will want to do it right.  I am just finishing up the rebuild on our 1916 D-45.  We put Ross Aluminum Pistons in the engine.  The problem with old Babbitt bearings is that it has a tendency to want to flake because it gets brittle with age.  Stay as far away from old, used parts as you can get.  Egge is not really any cheaper than Ross in the long run, so my advice to you is be very careful with the rebuild.  You will want a car that you can get in and go anywhere with no worries.  I have copies of the original sale documents for this car.  I went through the fuel system (carburetor, vacuum tank, and gasoline tank) for Bob and we had it running pretty good when Nick bought the car.  Get in touch with me and I would like to visit with you.

 

Terry Wiegand

South Hutchinson, Kansas

(620) 665-7672

renobuickman@gmail.com

[Morgan Wright]

What is wrong with your old pistons? Why do you need different ones?

[dibarlaw]

I offered on that car while the Cole's still had it. With the assumed very low original mileage I would think possibly only rings may be needed. (long term storage and rings not sealing properly) At one point there was an issue of the engine being locked up from many years not being run. After Terry got the engine freed up and the car running again he took me for a ride in the car and I only detected a slight rod knock. When I made my offer, it was on the assumption of having to pull the pan, check and adjust the bearings. Of course Not Running and Driving a car can cause same types of problems over 100 years.

[Morgan Wright]

Respecting rod knock, I checked the pistons I have (still attached to the rods) and carefully checked to see if there is any play in the wrist pins. All 6 appear good and tight. I cannot answer about rod knock on the other end of the rods because that depends on your crank shaft. These have all 4 shims still on most of them. Just clean them up and toss some new rings on from Otto. The rust on these is very low because they were always in an intact engine until I sold the jug 2 years ago, and they have been boxed since then.