A text message while out sorting a car….and another car adventure begins….

[Peter Gariepy]

I moved all of Phil Schubert's posts and comments here:

 

[edinmass]

More things and such……….today we flushed the rear end. Unstuck the brake linkage, and did a countless bunch of dirty and nasty jobs so we could get this thing going down the road tomorrow……..after 60 years, hurricane Ian isn’t going to stop us from driving it. 
 

All the little things take time……like a simple gasket. 
 

Edited September 26, 2022 by edinmass (see edit history)

[Paul Dobbin]

I have set of Allstate tires that are 52 years old.  The rubber is so hard that when air pressure drops they don't go flat, or even look soft.   Lots of tread and no visable cracks.   Been driving that way for 32 years.

Keep it under 45 MPH and take you AAA Card with you.   HPOF tires.

[edinmass]

Another minor problem, a lower push rod clip was missing……….so we had to make a few. Fortunately a local machine shop that thinks we are nuts helps out and does work for us at special rates………they made this clip and hardened it for us. We probably have five hours in it, 80 bucks worth of gas, and then the cost of manufacturing it. We made a few extras if anyone need it.

 

 

[George K]

1 hour ago, edinmass said:

More things and such……….today we flushed the rear end. Unstuck the brake linkage, and did a countless bunch of dirty and nasty jobs so we could get this thing going down the road tomorrow……..after 60 years, hurricane Ian isn’t going to stop us from driving it. 
 

All the little things take time……like a simple gasket. 
 

I was using the same gasket cutter today. Good old tool. Gaskets are time intensive. Great choice of material. Good luck with the shakedown cruise.

[wayne sheldon]

5 hours ago, Paul Dobbin said:

I have set of Allstate tires that are 52 years old.  The rubber is so hard that when air pressure drops they don't go flat, or even look soft.   Lots of tread and no visable cracks.   Been driving that way for 32 years.

Keep it under 45 MPH and take you AAA Card with you.   HPOF tires.

 

 

I have a few old Allstate tires from the 1960s. Model T/A 21 inch size. I wouldn't hesitate to put them on a model T and head across the country on them! The key point is that they are nylon cord tires. Nylon cord tires do not suffer from cord-rot like old cotton cord tires do. Cotton cord tires could get anywhere from five to thirty years old, and IF (huge IF) no moisture ingresses into the casing? The tire might still be okay? However, even microscopic cracking can let humidity inside the casing.

Minute amounts of moisture can activate the microscopic organisms already inside the cotton cord (even the heat from manufacturing the tire does not kill all of it!). In a couple year's time, the tensile strength of the cotton cord can reach near zero! Cotton cord rot is like dry rot in lumber. It is an organism that literally eats the strength out of the material from the inside out. It grows, and travels, infecting the next piece over, and can eventually destroy all the substance and strength of what was once a solid structure. It does not require much moisture to survive and thrive!

 

Twenty years ago, I had gotten an old 30 X 3 1/2 model T tire in with a pickup load of model T parts I bought from an estate sale.  I knew from the source it was an old tire, but not all that old I thought. It was a well respected brand still at that time being made and sold in the hobby. It looked nearly new. NO apparent age cracking, and only a minor looking abrasion in one spot on the clincher bead. So I carefully tried to mount it onto a rim to use as a spare.

It was then I discovered that the tire was cotton cord! I broke the bead in spite if being careful with it. The then currently sold tires were nylon cord. I don't know how far back it had to go to be a cotton cord tire? It looked just like the then available tires, except for the cord being cotton.

The cotton cord was so eaten away, I could literally rip the sidewalls of the tire with my BARE HANDS! And yet, the rubber looked like it could have been only a couple years old.

 

On the other extreme?

About thirty years ago, I bought my 1925 series 80 Pierce Arrow sedan (Oh I miss that car). It had been in Harrah's collection, and then bounced around for a few years as a very nice what would be called an HPOF car today. Harrah's crew had done some work on it, to make it look really nice, but as a mostly display car, a lot of it remined "as found". 

Tire shortages in the hobby are nothing new, although they are clearly a lot worse now than they were then. I bought the car, fully intending to sort it and use it for club tours. The tires on the car when I got it probably dated back to just after the World War 2, and possibly even earlier! The appropriate size 22 inch tires for the car were temporarily not available! So, there I was sorting a nice low mileage somewhat original car, with six cotton cord tires already near fifty years old! So, what to do?

For about a year, I drove the car carefully, and carried my AAA card. After a couple months, one of the tires went completely to pieces! One of the two spares went on the ground. Strictly for looks, I managed to mount a 33 X 5 tire I had onto the now empty rim. Up on the spare tire rack, behind the other proper spare, it looked good. And I said a prayer to the antique automobile gods that I would never have to try to use it.

Several more months went by, and I noticed (inspected my tires OFTEN!) one of the other tires giving signals it was ready to also disintegrate. So the other spare was now on the ground. One horribly wrong size tire for a spare, and one breaking down half century old cotton cord tire barely holding together for a spare. But, I made it through a couple more club tours with it. And then I got the phone call. My new tires were ready to be shipped! And did I still want them? Turned out, that time, all the tires made went to pre-orders. There were no extras. I asked.

I probably put a couple thousand miles on those half century old cotton cord tires! I think I still have two of them in my storage shed.

 

You just can't always tell about cotton cord tires. They might hold up? They might not?

 

Enjoy the first drive!

[Robert Street]

On 9/25/2022 at 7:18 PM, edinmass said:

Nice a “Sun” distributor machine.

Robert

[32buick67]

On 9/14/2022 at 7:46 PM, edinmass said:

Mario……I will take some photos. We have been pounding on the car day and night. It will probably be running early next week. Cadillac used a similar item in 1932 to the Wizard Control. I have worked on a few of them. But it was thirty years ago. I’ll give some more background on the car and what has been going on soon…….

Ed,

Did you or Phil see anything like these power clutch parts in the car?

In my research, I have found only one original 1934 Buick actual car with the hand-operated pull lever power clutch parts like those shown in these photos per the 2nd Edition Buick shop manual from Nov1933.

One is amazing, more would be incredible....

 

It seems by the time the June1934 shop manual was published, the hand-operated vacuum power clutch was eliminated from production, which is about the same time the low cost 40 series was introduced, and the Buick chief engineer FA Bower, who was an advocate of the vacuum power clutch, became sick with a serious career and life-ending illness.

 

Well, aside from unique historical clutch systems, hope you gents are enjoying nice cruises in that fine 34 Buick!

 

Ciao,

Mario

 

[edinmass]

Don’t think we have the automatic clutch linkage. Car is in storage till about November 1st. Lots happening here, and there just isn’t enough time to work on the Buick straight away. We still are poking at it when we find a few spare minutes. Here is Phil cleaning up the wire wheels. To be honest, if this car had artillery wheels, Phil would have probably passed it. They add quite a bit to the looks. The tires were a nightmare to remove. Typical of a 70 year old tire. They were totally flat, but since the car was up on stands for well over fifty years, they were rock hard and somewhat round. More on tire availability issues, suppliers lying to me on the phone, being overcharged for items out of stock, and stuff just not showing up after I was told it was shipped. Wanna guess the tire company that pissed me off? I can’t say……….and I have promised to be nice. 🤔

 

Anyway, we have two new tires on it. Directly from India. They look good. More later………here is Phil hard at work on the rims………

 

 

Edited October 14, 2022 by edinmass (see edit history)

[wayne sheldon]

Does Phil think it is more fun to work on his car? Or get paid to work on other people's car?

[edinmass]

1 hour ago, wayne sheldon said:

Does Phil think it is more fun to work on his car? Or get paid to work on other people's car?

He is OLD school. He’s working non stop every day. He doesn’t care what it is, as long as he is busy. 

[wayne sheldon]

That is the best way to stay healthy and be happy! Keep working at what you enjoy.

[edinmass]

Finished getting new rubber on the car today. With rock hard tires it has proved to be more work than we wanted. We manage to do two every other day. The blood, sweat, and swearing are exhausting. Each rim makes me feel like I did five rounds in the boxing ring with Tyson. The rubber under the side mount covers was even worse than what was on the ground. I would have bet twenty bucks that was impossible. Off on tour for two weeks, so Buick updates will cease for a while. Also, there was a 1910 White OO Steam Car for sale on Bring a Trailer. We made our best attempt at it, and came in just short……….but a steam car isn’t too far off in the future if we can find the right car. 
 

Weather up north is getting cold, and the leaves are changing. The front yard has some decent color. Another year gone by in 60 seconds. 

Edited October 15, 2022 by edinmass (see edit history)

[SC38dls]

Can you tell us where and what you will be touring in? 
dave s 

[edinmass]

Ok……so now this car…..take a look……

 

This is  was one I was chasing that was lost to the world. It’s now on EBay. I went to try and pry it out of its 60 years of slumber………..close, but no cigar. This is what makes me hunt cars……….I was first through the door. Interestingly this is not the best car I was hunting while out at Pebble this year. The big scores are still out there, you just need to kick over the right rocks. And no, I can’t identify the other car yet……….

 

Edited October 16, 2022 by edinmass (see edit history)

[edinmass]

3 hours ago, SC38dls said:

Can you tell us where and what you will be touring in? 
dave s 

Pre war……..🤫

 

PM sent.

[SC38dls]

Pre war is the only way to go. Have fun. 
dave s 

[Milburn Drysdale]

3 hours ago, edinmass said:

Ok……so now this car…..take a look……

 

This is  was one I was chasing that was lost to the world. It’s now on EBay. I went to try and pry it out of its 60 years of slumber………..close, but no cigar. This is what makes me hunt cars……….I was first through the door. Interestingly this is not the best car I was hunting while out at Pebble this year. The big scores are still out there, you just need to kick over the right rocks. And no, I can’t identify the other car yet……….

 

Why did you pass on this Packard? Price? Missing pieces? 

[edinmass]

8 minutes ago, Milburn Drysdale said:

Why did you pass on this Packard? Price? Missing pieces? 

On a real V-12 1107 roadster, you only pass because of price. 

[Grimy]

4 hours ago, edinmass said:

Ok……so now this car…..take a look……

 

This is  was one I was chasing that was lost to the world. It’s now on EBay. I went to try and pry it out of its 60 years of slumber………..close, but no cigar. This is what makes me hunt cars……….I was first through the door. Interestingly this is not the best car I was hunting while out at Pebble this year. The big scores are still out there, you just need to kick over the right rocks. And no, I can’t identify the other car yet……….

 

Just think....that photo is about 70 years old...

[prewarnut]

Ed I presume you're not the "expert" he's citing in the write-up....Shouldn't there be a sitting-3-miles-from-the-beach-under-a-tarp-for-60-year discount applied?🙄

[alsancle]

This car probably deserves its own thread.   A 34 12 Couple Roadster is the top of the mountain for production bodied Packard.  If this car was a little nicer or had its original engine it would have quietly disappeared a while ago.

[trimacar]

In the 1980s, I stumbled across a car in my hometown of Alexandria, Louisiana, I couldnt believe it…..an all original 1933 V12 Packard coupe roadster, in beautiful condition.

 

I tried to buy it with no success, even had cash on the owner’s coffee table, just not quite enough.  One problem was owner couldn’t wrap his head around what “enough” was.

 

It ended up with a dealer in Little Rock, Arkansas.  I wish I’d noted serial number, would like to know where it is now…

[George K]

8 hours ago, Grimy said:

Just think....that photo is about 70 years old...

Yea, me too. Sure know how to hurt a guy. lol 😆 

[Matt Harwood]

13 hours ago, edinmass said:

Ok……so now this car…..take a look……

 

This is  was one I was chasing that was lost to the world. It’s now on EBay. I went to try and pry it out of its 60 years of slumber………..close, but no cigar. This is what makes me hunt cars……….I was first through the door. Interestingly this is not the best car I was hunting while out at Pebble this year. The big scores are still out there, you just need to kick over the right rocks. And no, I can’t identify the other car yet……….

 

 

I was offered this car a few months ago. Cool car but asterisks all over it.

[1912Staver]

12 hours ago, edinmass said:

On a real V-12 1107 roadster, you only pass because of price. 

Now Ed ! How many times have you counseled us all that life is short and just grab your dreams ? The starting price is only $65,000.00, not that much in the grand scheme of life. How high can his reserve be ? Surely not double his starting bid. If it is the Ebay auction is just a fishing trip and the seller is being disingenuous.

 

 

Edited October 16, 2022 by 1912Staver (see edit history)

[Matt Harwood]

4 hours ago, 1912Staver said:

 How high can his reserve be ? Surely not double his starting bid. 

 

Um, I have some bad news for you...

[1912Staver]

In that case he should be on Bring A Trailer, not Ebay. Or perhaps RM Sotheby's.

[John_Mereness]

On 10/15/2022 at 8:32 PM, edinmass said:

Ok……so now this car…..take a look……

 

This is  was one I was chasing that was lost to the world. It’s now on EBay. I went to try and pry it out of its 60 years of slumber………..close, but no cigar. This is what makes me hunt cars……….I was first through the door. Interestingly this is not the best car I was hunting while out at Pebble this year. The big scores are still out there, you just need to kick over the right rocks. And no, I can’t identify the other car yet……….

 

The only thing I can say is that you have a photo with proud Packard owners and it is a shame that they just did not keep up on car to some degree for years since photo taken and enjoy car via use with AACA, CCCA, or maybe even a trip around the block.  "I am going to restore it" is fine and dandy and certainly is a car worthy of restoration, but what Ed is doing with the Buick (and White's) is a really nice route. 

[John_Mereness]

On 7/16/2022 at 9:03 PM, edinmass said:

 

I don’t do Cadillac’s anymore for myself…….been there, done that. 

I still do them, though with a lot less patience than I had years ago.  

 

  As to 36 to 48 Cadillac/LaSalle flatheads and anyone reading -need a clean block (they sorta kind rust and fill water passages with rust residue), blocks full of crap also crack on drivers side rear cylinder and yet people insist they are bullet proof so never manaflux in a rebuild - that is a mistake, pay extra attention to grounding (paint is not a good electric conductor when building up an engine or a starter), ground the starter to frame and the battery to frame too, put on a 7 bladed fan from something like a 54 Pontiac, the thermostat from the radiator shutters is a flow restrictor and must be left even when blocking open shutters, wrap the exhaust (especially at gas tank), put the fuel line "in steel" into an wrap - black asphalt laden, braided cloth loom, put a high tech wrap on the "steel"  into a high tech coating, and ...  And, no I did not have an electric pump installed.  Mileage from purchase in 1979, to sale in 2017 - 80,500 miles (and certainly helped I had a 17K mile car to begin with) in 1941 60 Special Fleetwood with automatic and matching high speed axle - magic speed 76mph).  Sidenote: As to "Speed Equipment" for them - neat, but not neat (I can write a book on lessons learned feom the 1939 LaSalle Bohman & Schwartz car).  

Edited October 23, 2022 by John_Mereness (see edit history)

[edinmass]

Ok, back to the Buick. Unfortunately, due to family, work and me with some significant health issues….the Buick has been on the back burner. Looks like another month before I’m back to full speed ahead….maybe a bit longer. Naturally, the car keeps kicking our ass. Not in money…..in time. All four brake cables were frozen solid. 20 hours got the back ones working. Looks like the fronts will take 40 or more. Some small stuff getting done. Wanted to take the last owners daughter for a dinner and night out for her 55th birthday next month. Gonna miss that date. Such is life. Busy as heck at the collection, so burning the late nite oil has been a difficult task. More to come soon. The 1917 White is fine and getting used a bit more now that the weather has broken. And the other White will get the full press in January. Best to all……

[wayne sheldon]

When I was still in high school, oh so very long ago, and had joined a local "antique" car club, there was a very nice older couple that had an early 1930s Buick sedan. It was a very original car, never had much restoration done to it, but looked and ran really nice. They were quite active in the club and toured with the Buick a lot! He probably told me fifty different times how he was never able to get the rear wheel cable brakes freed up! He had disconnected the rears, and used only the front wheel brakes. He often said he had to be a bit careful not to need to hit the brakes too hard because that could throw the car into an uncontrolled skid! However, for the most part, he said the car stopped just fine on front wheel brake only.

So, I understand Buicks and their brakes from that era. At least you don't need to worry about the squirrely skids.

 

Take care of you and your health my internet friend!

[edinmass]

Thanks Wayne……the cables seem to be a problem since day one. The right front seems to be a factory replacement done in the 40’s. 
 

Update: Car and driving impressions. I managed to take it for a spin with absolutely no brakes….they were disconnected. Car seems exceptionally fast. Shifted well with the new clutch. We have two oil leaks. Everything works…..horn, charging system, all lights, I mean everything except the electric clock. It seems as fast as the Auburn SC851 speedster. Basically it’s a power to weight thing…….it’s like a oversized go cart compared to a big Packard or Pierce. That said it’s comfortable sitting in it. Has good throttle response and we haven’t done the carb yet or any tuning. Oil pressure is great, even hot and at idle. Engine is quiet. Small missing parts have been acquired. We still have lots to do……pull drums and check brakes after the cables are freed up, wheel bearings front and rear, generator, and a bunch of other mind numbing details. Overall I’m impressed with what a good car it is. 

[edinmass]

 

UPDATE: Well between health issues, family issues, the Hollidays, and a bunch of other things.......the Buick is back on track. We will have it registered and doing milage sometime next week. Added the finishing touches today..........Goddess, new horn trumpets, ect. While we still have 50 more hours of sorting......the end is in sight. It's cold up north, come on down to the Gold Coast and go for a ride in it............Merry Christmas. 

 

 

 

Edited December 23, 2022 by edinmass (see edit history)

[wayne sheldon]

That is a great looking car! I think you and Phil should sing a round of Christmas songs while driving it in the next few days.

 

Sounds like you and family are doing a bit better health-wise?  We want you all feeling fine!

[pkhammer]

 Cold up North?! I'm in Virginia which is considered the south and right now the wind is blowing 30-40mph and the temp out is 10F. Supposed to be around zero tonight. 😬

 

  In any case that is one fine looking Buick. I love the style! Ed, reading your posts makes me think you guys are having so much fun that you can't help but post about what you're up to. I for one am glad you do! Makes me want to make the fifteen hour drive south! Let's see, if I leave now I could meet you guys for breakfast tomorrow morning...........

[pkhammer]

1 minute ago, wayne sheldon said:

That is a great looking car! I think you and Phil should sing a round of Christmas songs while driving it in the next few days.

Wearing Santa Suits! Please post photos.

[edinmass]

Hammer……..come on down and drive it. Still more sorting to do, but she is a fine little buggy. 

[edinmass]

 

Built a sand man today, got a bit sunburned. Stay warm up there people! 😎

 

 

 

[bill pritchett]

I hope you do not have to put snow tires on it with the weather forecast.  Hopefully, you will not have to build a snowman.