My 1938 Buick Century Model 61

[rodneybeauchamp]

Gotta say, I really love the wide whites and the black rims. I was going thru the same dilemma when I had my ‘38 wanting to paint the rims Dante red. I think the black wheels look elegant and sophisticated as a ‘38 Buick should be!

 

Just my two bobs worth 😀😀😀😀😀😀😀

[avgwarhawk]

Great looking Buick! Enjoy the work you out into it! 

[DonMicheletti]

Love it Ben.

 

Don

[EmTee]

22 hours ago, Ben Bruce aka First Born said:

Cause we are old farts and been there done that?

Well, if the shoe fits... 

[EmTee]

16 hours ago, rodneybeauchamp said:

I think the black wheels look elegant and sophisticated as a ‘38 Buick should be!

Thanks, Rodney.  I agree - the black wheels with the whitewalls is definitely a more formal look.  I tried to replace the tires with new bias-ply blackwalls with the intent of keeping the red wheels.  Back in February I was unable to find any 7.00-15 blackwalls anywhere.  It then took two more tries to find the whitewalls on it now...  Like I said before, I was not sure about the whitewalls with the red wheels and black body.  I went back-and-forth looking at pictures of other similar cars and ultimately flipped-the-coin and chose black.  I will say that Larry DiBarry's "Lucy" was an inspiration for going with the black wheels.  That and the fact that switching the wheel color isn't too difficult and can always be changed again.

[dibarlaw]

EmTee:

 You must have referenced an old photo of LUCY. While I had the car at the "Restoration Shop" I had them match up the correct Hampton gray my car originally was painted to paint the wheels and stripe them. There was some controversy at the time about 2 or 3 stripe. I figured that some day if resources alowed I would repaint the car the correct color. Never happened...Later checking all available chips the gray they painted the wheels had no metalic and was much lighter than Hampton Gray. I believe they charged me $248. for the quart of paint.

The day in March 2012 when Lucy went to "The Shop". The black wheels and hub caps that came with the car were later 1940s. The tires were 650X16 Garfield. I bought a set of 1937 wheels to sand blast and repaint. I sold the 1940s wheels at Hershey... All they wanted were the tires!

 The color they painted the wheels. With new Firestone 2nd Blems. They looked great to me.

   

Some of the last photos taken. 15 minutes before the accident.

 

[JohnD1956]

1 hour ago, dibarlaw said:

Some of the last photos taken. 15 minutes before the accident.

Such a sad ending to a magnificent vehicle Larry...So sorry!

[EmTee]

9 hours ago, dibarlaw said:

You must have referenced an old photo of LUCY.

Ah, apparently so...  The gray did look good too.  If things had gone as planned, I was going for new blackwall tires and would have kept the red wheels.  Being forced into whitewalls caused me to reevaluate the wheel color.

[EmTee]

Two tidbits to report:

 

1) Noticed that the odometer rolled over to 70.000 yesterday during my test drive after readjusting the accelerator linkage.

 

 

As it was, with the accelerator 'floored' the carb throttle plates were only about 45% open.  Following adjustment I now have WOT with accelerator at the floor.  Matting the pedal at 50 mph in 3rd gear now brings 70 mph in a hurry...

 

2) While going through some of the loose items that Matt included with the car, I came across a couple of scrap pieces of the rear carpeting.  One piece was big enough to have cut and bound to create a pair of floor mats for the rear seat passengers.

 

 

[usnavystgc]

Love the new floor mats. 👍

[EmTee]

The torque ball seal leak has seemingly improved (i.e., less drips on the floor) and today I found out why.  Checked the oil level in the transmission and discovered that I could shove my pinkie as far as possible into fill hole and still not touch oil.  I then cracked the drain plug and oil did come out, so it wasn't completely empty...  I'll go to O'Reilly's tomorrow and pick up a gallon of GL-4 140 oil.  I also checked the differential, to be sure it wasn't over-full and it was OK.

 

I couldn't believe that much oil had escaped the torque ball seal until I looked at the odometer again.  The odometer read approximately 69,300 miles when the state safety inspection was performed last fall.  As noted above, the odometer just rolled past 70,000 miles, so I apparently, somehow managed to drive the car about 700 miles over the last nine months!

 

I'm going to drain and refill the transmission, clean-up the torque-ball area and put a fresh piece of cardboard under the transmission.  Going forward I'll closely monitor the leak to assess how bad it is.  If possible, I'd like to delay torque-ball seal replacement until fall - but if the leak is severe, it may need to be done sooner rather than later.

 

Stay tuned...

[EmTee]

Although June has been relatively cool so far, I decided that today would be a good time to remove and inspect the Gano and stocking filters in the upper radiator hose before the really hot weather begins.  The Gano filter had only a few flakes in it:

 

 

I was hoping the stocking filter would look similar so that I could just leave it out because it's a PITA to install.  The 'toe' of the stocking needs to inside the radiator tank while the open end needs to be sandwiched between the hose and the radiator nipple without sticking out beyond the end of the hose because that allows coolant to wick out through the fabric.  Although the amount of coolant that weeps is not a lot, it still makes a mess as it dribbles down the hose and thermostat housing.  That said, removing the stocking and emptying the contents yielded the following:

 

 

The stocking caught what looks like about a tablespoon of rusty 'sand'.  The particles were small enough to pass through the Gano, but were trapped by the stocking.  Since the stocking is working, I decided it makes sense to keep it in the system.  I'll reassess the situation again the next time I inspect the filters.  As long as they're catching stuff (and therefore protecting my new radiator) I'll keep them in service.  If the next Gano check doesn't show anything more than this time I may remove it and leave the stocking alone in service until the amount of fine material looks more like what the Gano trapped this time.

[Matt Harwood]

I believe I have a torque ball seal in my future as well. I'm going to ignore it for the rest of the driving season, then dig into it this winter. I'm thinking I may as well replace the clutch while I'm in there, so it'll turn into a big job whether I want it to or not.

 

Not looking forward to it but I also understand that it's not the nightmare that it first appears. Let's hope...

[EmTee]

So far, my leak doesn't seem terrible (~45 miles since refilling the transmission).  Two spots in my drip pan.  I'll post a picture of the pan next time I have the car out of the garage...

[JohnD1956]

1 hour ago, EmTee said:

Although June has been relatively cool so far, I decided that today would be a good time to remove and inspect the Gano and stocking filters in the upper radiator hose before the really hot weather begins.  The Gano filter had only a few flakes in it:

 

 

I was hoping the stocking filter would look similar so that I could just leave it out because it's a PITA to install.  The 'toe' of the stocking needs to inside the radiator tank while the open end needs to be sandwiched between the hose and the radiator nipple without sticking out beyond the end of the hose because that allows coolant to wick out through the fabric.  Although the amount of coolant that weeps is not a lot, it still makes a mess as it dribbles down the hose and thermostat housing.  That said, removing the stocking and emptying the contents yielded the following:

 

 

The stocking caught what looks like about a tablespoon of rusty 'sand'.  The particles were small enough to pass through the Gano, but were trapped by the stocking.  Since the stocking is working, I decided it makes sense to keep it in the system.  I'll reassess the situation again the next time I inspect the filters.  As long as they're catching stuff (and therefore protecting my new radiator) I'll keep them in service.  If the next Gano check doesn't show anything more than this time I may remove it and leave the stocking alone in service until the amount of fine material looks more like what the Gano trapped this time.

Can you stuff the stocking into the gano filter so it's easier to replace or clean?

 

[EmTee]

10 hours ago, JohnD1956 said:

Can you stuff the stocking into the gano filter so it's easier to replace or clean?

Not really; the stocking needs to sit in the tank to maximize the open area since the mesh is small and you don't want it to obstruct flow.  It needs to go after the Gano so that I can poke it into the tank, which isn't possible otherwise.  If the Gano comes out with only a couple of flakes next time I may remove the screen and capture the stocking with the Gano tube where the hose is split.  Without the screen I'll be able to use a small piece of tubing to poke the stocking into the tank after attaching the upper half of the upper radiator hose to the nipple.  I'm not sure how much more 'sand' is loose in the water jacket, but hopefully the amount will decrease to the point where I can remove the stocking and re-install the original upper hose.

[EmTee]

11 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

I believe I have a torque ball seal in my future as well.

 

Matt, Don Micheletti pointed me to Neil's TB replacement thread.  It gives a nice overview of what we have to look forward to this winter! 

 

https://forums.aaca.org/topic/300994-neils-41-super-model-51/page/7/#comment-1997899

 

Edited June 19, 2022 by EmTee (see edit history)

[EmTee]

On 6/18/2022 at 10:10 PM, EmTee said:

So far, my leak doesn't seem terrible (~45 miles since refilling the transmission).  Two spots in my drip pan.  I'll post a picture of the pan next time I have the car out of the garage...

So, here's what the drip pan looked like as of last week:

[JohnD1956]

12 hours ago, EmTee said:

So, here's what the drip pan looked like as of last week:

Hardly noticeable. 

[dibarlaw]

EmTee:

When I worked at Pizzica Buick back in 1975-1976 we had a lady with a 1964 LeSabre sedan. I believe at the time it had less than 10,000 miles. Every several months she would come in with a flattend out paper bag with a spot of oil about the size of a quarter. She would take it to the head mechanic and say "Augie, There is a drip again. Fix it!" It did not matter if he had to put in a new transmission pan gasket or rear seal it was to be fixed!

[EmTee]

Well, today's picture would be a little more.  It's not horrendous, but I drove the car about 15~20 miles today and parked it in front of the garage idling while I checked the dwell and idle speed.  When I pulled it into the garage there were two fresh oil spots in the vicinity of where the rear crossmember was.  I cheched the transmission oil today and it didn't dribble out, but was just below the fill hole when I stuck my pinkie finger in.  I'm keeping a close eye on it so that I can get an idea as to the rate of loss.

[EmTee]

So, yesterday I took the car out for a drive and didn't let it warm up in the driveway for a minute or so before driving off.  Pulling out from the stop at the end of my street it coughed through the carb before accelerating.  The air temperature was about 70*F.  Aside from that hiccup, it seemed to run fine and once warmed-up there were no issues.  When I got back home I decided to try to adjust the dwell, which has been sitting at 32~33* since I last set them.  This was to be a prerequisite to checking the ignition timing.  I removed the distributor cap and rotor, rolled the engine to get the points on an apex of the cam and checked the gap. Interestingly, the gap measured 0.015" with very light drag.  The book says set the gap to 0.015", which is supposed to equate to a 31* dwell angle.  Thinking the contact may be dirty, I ran my point file through the contacts for a few passes.  The gap was unchanged.  I decided to try to open the gap to reduce the dwell angle.  After a couple of attempts I got it to 31* and called it good.

 

Today I started from there and set up to check the timing.  Surprisingly, when I checked the timing it was precisely TDC (i.e., 0 degrees)!  I rechecked the dwell and it was still 31*.  So, I bumped the timing ahead to the "ADV" mark on the flywheel aligned with the line in the timing window (6* BTDC).  Once that was verified, I re-zeroed the pointer on the octane selector.

 

I then went for a drive and the car did feel 'snappier'.  Pulled into the driveway and checked dwell -- now back to 32* as before the 'reset' I did yesterday.  I re-checked timing and it was still good (6* BTDC).  I removed the cap and rotor, bumped the motor and checked point gap.  This time it measured ~0.019", so it is in fact, wider than what I had initially measured before the adjustment made yesterday.  I'm scratching my head as to how it's possible to have a wider gap and essentially the same dwell as with the 0.015" gap...

 

With regard to the timing discrepancy, all I can figure is that my initial timing adjustment must have been made before I disassembled, cleaned and lubricated the mechanical advance weights.  This also means I must have simply reinstalled the distributor using the octane selector setting as the reference.  I have no other explanation for why the 6* timing discrepancy.  I still can't explain the dwell variation -- oh, it was back to 31* following another drive later today.  All I can surmise is that breaker plate movement must be responsible for the dwell variance.  I verified that the breaker plate rotates as it should when pulled by the vacuum advance.  (Note that my distributor has the spring-steel insert installed that the 3 ball-bearings supporting the breaker plate ride in.

 

I also checked the automatic choke operation today.  It seems to be a little on the lean side, which may explain the 'cough' when starting out.  I'm going to leave it where it is for now; I think I'd rather have it open early rather than stay closed too long...

 

Now, I'm hoping that the late timing explains why the engine still wants to run on the hot-side when temperature is above 80~85* and air flow is low.  It's supposed to be 83* tomorrow, so I'll take a ride and see how it behaves.

[Matt Harwood]

My car will also "cough" once if I drive it before it's warmed up a bit. Just once, but it is so regular that I can predict when it'll happen. One small pop through the air cleaner, then everything's fine for the rest of the day. With a little heat in it (like a minute of idling or driving) it's perfectly fine and never does it again. I chased it quite a bit, but since it has been doing it since the very first day I had it and despite two rebuilt carburetors and endless tuning and tweaking, well, I'm inclined to live with it.

 

Also be careful with advancing the timing. I advanced the timing about six degrees and it definitely ran better and felt, as you say, snappier. However, there was a pronounced low-speed bucking in high gear when accelerating from low speeds. Putting the timing back to stock largely eliminated it. I have been planning to play with point gaps and dwell but haven't gotten around to it--the stupid thing runs so well I don't want to mess it up. So I can't help there.

 

I thought the cough and the low-speed bucking were related but they are not. I think the cough is carb related but the thing runs so well I'm not going to mess with it. One cough, once in a while, when it's ice cold is OK with me.

[avgwarhawk]

It appears you experienced EFE(early fuel evaporation) problem when the engine is cold.  Gas/air mixture will only burn when atomized. If the atomized fuel(courtesy of the carb) contacts cold metal (intake) or cool air it will form a droplet that does not burn well or not at all.  It causes stumble and backfire(coughing).  This cold running issue is combated with hot air tubes from the exhaust manifold to the air filter housing, passageways from the exhaust to the intake that run underneath the carb,  electric grids under the carb, plumbing of coolant into the intake. Some of our Buicks had none of these systems or very basic EFE systems.  My 54 Special only has a hot air tube from the exhaust manifold to the choke housing. She is no friend of the cold and driving immediately after starting.  My 60 Electra has an exhaust passageway through the intake under the carb to help warm the area quickly and prevent stumble and coughing until warmed up. Letting your Buick warm up before running is the EFE system for the time. 

Edited June 30, 2022 by avgwarhawk (see edit history)

[EmTee]

58 minutes ago, avgwarhawk said:

Gas/air mixture will only burn when atomized. If the atomized fuel(courtesy of the carb) contacts cold metal (intake) or cool air it will form a droplet that does not burn well or not at all.

I was wondering about that, particularly since it's a loooong way from the carburetor to cylinders #1 & #8 on the straight-8s... 

 

I decided to leave the choke alone because with one or two pumps of the accelerator it usually starts immediately when cold, so it seems to have enough enrichment.

Edited June 30, 2022 by EmTee (see edit history)

[EmTee]

9 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

Also be careful with advancing the timing. I advanced the timing about six degrees and it definitely ran better and felt, as you say, snappier. However, there was a pronounced low-speed bucking in high gear when accelerating from low speeds. Putting the timing back to stock largely eliminated it.

Matt, thanks for sharing your experience.  I have my timing set as specified in the shop manual (6* BTDC).  I'm running 91 octane gas since it's ethanol free.  If the timing had been where I thought it was, my plan was to bump it ahead 3 or 4 degrees using the octane selector scale.  Since I found the base timing was late (TDC) I just reset to the book and re-zeroed the octane selector.  I'm going to drive it awhile as-is and see how it behaves.  If all is well, I may try advancing it another 2 or 3 degrees...

 

My wife's cousin's grandkids (10 & 13 yrs) were here yesterday and walked up to my garage to see my cars.  (They're visiting from Texas and I was impressed by their general car knowledge and interest.)  Anyway, I was just wrapping-up under the hood of the '38 and asked them if they wanted a ride.  They didn't hesitate.  Took them and their father for a ~10-mile loop.  They loved it and the car ran great! 

[EmTee]

By the way, I just signed-up for the 76th Revival AAA Glidden Tour (Princeton, NJ) on September 25 - 30.  So, I'm redoubling my effort to get the '38 sorted before that.  I've probably racked-up about 80 miles so far this week (15~20 miles at a time).  My plan is to start increasing the radius from home and hopefully take advantage of the nice weather to make some day trips along 2-lane highways in preparation.

 

If anyone has touring suggestions (or a pre-tour checklist) I'm all ears...

[Matt Harwood]

1 hour ago, EmTee said:

By the way, I just signed-up for the 76th Revival AAA Glidden Tour (Princeton, NJ) on September 25 - 30.  So, I'm redoubling my effort to get the '38 sorted before that.  I've probably racked-up about 80 miles so far this week (15~20 miles at a time).  My plan is to start increasing the radius from home and hopefully take advantage of the nice weather to make some day trips along 2-lane highways in preparation.

 

If anyone has touring suggestions (or a pre-tour checklist) I'm all ears...

 

You're doing the right thing simply by sorting the car out and working through any issues you find along the way. Just keep driving it and fixing whatever pops up. The Limited is to the point where I won't hesitate to jump in and drive it anywhere without anything more than checking the fluids--it just did 800+ miles without a hiccup and all I did was add a quart of oil before I left. At this point, I've had my hands on everything that can break. Of course, that's no guarantee, but it's as good as one can expect. Tweak--drive--tweak--drive. Eventually the car will be bulletproof reliable and you won't worry about going on a tour. I'm finally able to relax behind the wheel of an old car, which is a new feeling for me.

 

I do, of course, carry a few spares just in case. Cap/points/rotor/condenser/coil, voltage regulator, spark plugs, water pump, belt, and fluids, plus a flat folding tool kit that fits anywhere. I hope it wards off bad juju on the road by having any parts I might need (to date, I've only needed the voltage regulator). Anything more serious than any of that stuff I'll be going home on a flatbed anyway.

 

Drive it and it'll get better. That's the only answer.

[avgwarhawk]

6 hours ago, EmTee said:

I was wondering about that, particularly since it's a loooong way from the carburetor to cylinders #1 & #8 on the straight-8s... 

 

I decided to leave the choke alone because with one or two pumps of the accelerator it usually starts immediately when cold, so it seems to have enough enrichment.

 

We have come a long way for combating EFE.  Even today my KIA has coolant pumped to the bottom of the throttle body.   As far as the choke, sounds like you have it set to work well.  Keep on motoring!  

 

EDIT:  The Buick is beautiful.  Enjoy! 

 

Edited June 30, 2022 by avgwarhawk (see edit history)

[Bloo]

Except that it isn't new. Nearly every carbureted or throttle body injected car has has manifold heat for over 50 years, more like 90. I want to bang my head against the table every time I hear someone say a heat riser is for "cold weather" or "carburetor icing". No it isn't. No doubt it helps with those things, but the real reason is because the gas falls out of the air the first time it has to turn a corner. Then more fuel (more choke) is needed to keep the mixture rich enough for the engine to run, and the liquid fuel runs into whatever cylinders are downhill, washing the rings off, shortening engine life, and diluting the oil. Manifold heat also helps even out the fuel distribution between cylinders. The fuel distribution will never be perfect on a long manifold, but the heat helps immensely. The overall mixture can be leaner if it does not have to be artificially rich to keep the end cylinders from going lean all the time. This results in better driveability, better fuel economy, and reduced plug fouling. These things were all well known in the 20s if not earlier. By the late 30s, engineers were getting pretty good at implementing what they knew needed to happen.

 

Edited June 30, 2022 by Bloo (see edit history)

[carbking]

Actually, more than a century.

 

Just to mention a few:

 

Marvel started using their "heat riser" (actually, a exhaust heated tube connecting the carburetor and in the intake manifold), Stromberg, Zenith, and Detroit Lubricator had an adjustable hot air tube connecting to the air intake, Rayfield and Schebler had water-jacketed carburetors, and Johnson had their infamous electrical heating element INSIDE THE CARBURETOR BOWL!

 

Carburetion 101, lesson 2 - the three major methods of improving atomization of fuel are: (1) increase air velocity, (2) add heat, (3) use a richer mixture.

 

Jon

[carbking]

18 hours ago, Matt Harwood said:

My car will also "cough" once if I drive it before it's warmed up a bit. Just once, but it is so regular that I can predict when it'll happen. One small pop through the air cleaner, then everything's fine for the rest of the day. With a little heat in it (like a minute of idling or driving) it's perfectly fine and never does it again. I chased it quite a bit, but since it has been doing it since the very first day I had it and despite two rebuilt carburetors and endless tuning and tweaking, well, I'm inclined to live with it.

 

Also be careful with advancing the timing. I advanced the timing about six degrees and it definitely ran better and felt, as you say, snappier. However, there was a pronounced low-speed bucking in high gear when accelerating from low speeds. Putting the timing back to stock largely eliminated it. I have been planning to play with point gaps and dwell but haven't gotten around to it--the stupid thing runs so well I don't want to mess it up. So I can't help there.

 

I thought the cough and the low-speed bucking were related but they are not. I think the cough is carb related but the thing runs so well I'm not going to mess with it. One cough, once in a while, when it's ice cold is OK with me.

 

Matt - the probable cause is the infamous Delco choke used by Buick in 1937 and 1938.

 

1937 and 1938 Buick carburetors.

 

The "cough" is cured by doing what Buick did in 1939; replacing the entire carburetor and Delco choke assembly with a modified (linkage) 1939 Stromberg or Carter. Both used conventional hot air chokes that would unload based on the temperature of the engine.

 

Jon

[avgwarhawk]

7 hours ago, Bloo said:

Except that it isn't new. Nearly every carbureted or throttle body injected car has has manifold heat for over 50 years, more like 90. I want to bang my head against the table every time I hear someone say a heat riser is for "cold weather" or "carburetor icing". No it isn't. No doubt it helps with those things, but the real reason is because the gas falls out of the air the first time it has to turn a corner. Then more fuel (more choke) is needed to keep the mixture rich enough for the engine to run, and the liquid fuel runs into whatever cylinders are downhill, washing the rings off, shortening engine life, and diluting the oil. Manifold heat also helps even out the fuel distribution between cylinders. The fuel distribution will never be perfect on a long manifold, but the heat helps immensely. The overall mixture can be leaner if it does not have to be artificially rich to keep the end cylinders from going lean all the time. This results in better driveability, better fuel economy, and reduced plug fouling. These things were all well known in the 20s if not earlier. By the late 30s, engineers were getting pretty good at implementing what they knew needed to happen.

 

No one mentioned this was new. Heat risers are for cold start and better drivability until warm where the riser closes. Risers found frozen on some of our old cars. Open or closed. Pinging or not.  For what other reason then cold start when it is shut down at a desired temperature?   Or the hot air tube to the air cleaner snorkel valve shuts it down via a vacuum hose connected to heat sensitive switch within the air cleaner housing. Heat plays a large part in cold start drivability.   Such systems improved over the years.  

[rodneybeauchamp]

 

My ‘38 came equiped with a Marvel and even though garage kept in our mild Australian climate was hit and miss to start. I replaced it with a Carter from a ‘47 that I rebuilt three times to get it correct. Interesting to test the choke coil with a hair drier to understand how it relaxes to release the choke. And I set it more on the lean side.

 

I turned up a copper tube that fitted snuggly in the manifold space where the original Marvel choke coil conglomeration fitted and fitted a cloth insulation cover to retain the heat. It all looked good IMO 😀😀😀😀

 

Once installed I had zero starting problems and it became a reliable runner. Interesting that on the morning that it was taken away (sold) that the automatic choke and fast idle kicked in for the first time as it was left outside for the first time. Much colder than in the garage.

 

As much as I liked keeping it original, ease of starting drivability was paramount. 
 

I also pulled and cleaned and lubricated the three bearing contact plate on the distributor to ensure that didn’t stick, but I think you have done that also. Will post a photo otherwise it never happened.

Tried to add my post from Pre War Buick, but I don’t think it succeeded. It’s about adding a 1947 Carter WCD to my 1938 complete with pictures and stuff! 🤔🤔🤔🤔🤔

Just my two bobs worth

Rodney 😀😀😀😀😀

Edited July 8, 2022 by rodneybeauchamp
Trying to add a post (see edit history)

[rodneybeauchamp]

See post in next post 😀😀😀😀😀😀

Edited July 8, 2022 by rodneybeauchamp
Photo (see edit history)

[rodneybeauchamp]

On 6/2/2020 at 8:02 PM, rodneybeauchamp said:

Hi all, I purchased a group of Buick parts from a 1947 Special which included a Carter WCD carburettor. It had the original tag so was able to confirm its origin.

 

I would like to install it on my ‘38 to replace the Marvel original. Main reason is poor starting and black soot over my driveway at cold start. And because I can 😊. I like the Carter auto choke set up and hope I can adapt it to my ‘38.

 

Jon Carburettor King rated the Carter WCD highly so keen to see this one on my Buick!

 

I have some new kit parts including pump plunger and check balls, needle and seat and gaskets, however I have made my own gaskets.

 

I have disassembled and cleaned it up but did not remove the check balls. Perhaps I should.

 

1. any special precautionary measures to look for in the process of rebuilding?

 

2. any hints or things to consider when fitting in place of the Marvel.

 

All wise words will be thankfully received.

 

[rodneybeauchamp]

And to see the full post go to Pre War Buick “Carter WCD for ‘38 Special - rebuild and fitting”

 

And a photo of the finished product 😀😀😀😀😀

Rodney 😀😀😀😀😀

 

 

[EmTee]

I met @Machine Gun in Norwich, NY for lunch and then we visited the Northeast Classic Car Museum (https://classiccarmuseum.org/).  It was about a 130-mile round trip for me.  I drove the '38, as I'm seriously trying to build-up confidence in preparation for the Revival Glidden Tour in September.  To that end, the trip was successful as the Buick really ran flawlessly and it was a gorgeous day for a drive along the secondary roads between my house and Norwich.  I packed some tools and left early - just in case...  As it turned-out, I got to Norwich about a half hour early, so I stopped for a cup of coffee before proceeding to the diner to meet-up with Machine Gun.

 

 

Gave the car a quick once-over and everything looked fine.  That said, she did have to leave her mark...

 

 

I topped-off the gas tank before I left and the gauge registered a little over 1/2 tank when I got home.  Assuming I burned about 8~9 gallons, that works out to something like 15~16 mpg.  Not too bad for an 80 year-old car.  I ran 50 ~ 55 mph most of the way and the car had no problem holding speed (or accelerating) up a couple of pretty good hills along the way.  I have tentatively planned a day trip with my wife to Cooperstown later this week... 

[EmTee]

The owner of "the biggest little car museum in the world", a die-cast car museum across the street from the Northeast Classic Car Museum was kind enough to snap a picture of @Machine Gun and me beside our cars before we left for the ride home.  I think I'll have to stop in there next time I'm in Norwich...

 

[DonMicheletti]

Good to see a face with the car.

Your mileage is really great. Plus your speeds were moderate.

The last time I checked mileage on the Roadmaster I got 11.3 mpg. However I was on the freeway, with hills and  doing between 60 and 70 mph. The engine didnt mind that at all. Warm day and it ran at 160 degrees. I have a 160 thermostat in it.