BUICK 1940 320 - 60 series rebuild in progress

[Tadpole One]

Hello all,

 

New to this site and was looking to gather information for my project.

 

I have a 1940 Buick 8 320 in the garage in pieces. Looking to complete rebuild from ground up.

What I am looking for to begin with is the information relative to the missing VIN plates for vehicle ID.

The car was built in Australia with the Motor No 3812490 and Chassis No 13599401

 

From the manual the car is a 60 series with the Flint body built in Australia by Holden in Adelaide.

It has the split rear window.

 

The car appears to be a cream/grey colour on the firewall and I assume it was this colour for the vehicle. I have found the paint codes and trying to put together now. The motor is a lighter blue grey with age so not sure if this was in the colour code but similar to Bandelier Blue or yosemite grey.

 

I am trying to gather as much information relative to the VIN for originality. 

The trim is red.

 

I am also looking for inner guards, they are 4in longer than the 40 series.

 

With this information I should be able to generate a code I believe. Just need to originals from looking at other vehicles I see:

1940 MOD   51 - 

Style No      40??

Body No      ????

Trim No       ????    Red seats and doors, light roof

Paint No      ????    Grey fire wall, internals

 

Any assistance would be invaluable.

Thanks

Terry    

[Mark Shaw]

Welcome Terry. 

     Just so you know, the last split window and floor shift Buick production in the USA was in the 1938 model year.  Buick was also known to ship previous year (left over) models internationally so they could introduce the new models in the USA.  However, I have never heard of a two year gap like you have indicated.

[rodneybeauchamp]

Hi Terry, welcome to the world of Buick.

There is a Pre-War Buick forum here as well as Post-War that are very helpful and have a wealth of information. Norm Darwin’s History of Holden Since 1917 also has snippets of information on these cars including Australian paint colours as these bodies were used on other GM cars (Oldsmobile, Cadillac and Pontiac). Some parts (locks and winders) will interchange but from the firewall forward was all Buick.

 

And reach out to the guys in the Australian Buick Club for information and parts advice.

 

Enjoy!

Rodney 😀😀😀😀😀😀

[1939_Buick]

On 7/20/2022 at 9:20 AM, Tadpole One said:

New to this site and was looking to gather information for my project.

 

I have a 1940 Buick 8 320 in the garage in pieces. Looking to complete rebuild from ground up.

What I am looking for to begin with is the information relative to the missing VIN plates for vehicle ID.

The car was built in Australia with the Motor No 3812490 and Chassis No 13599401

 

From the manual the car is a 60 series with the Flint body built in Australia by Holden in Adelaide.

It has the split rear window.

 

The car appears to be a cream/grey colour on the firewall and I assume it was this colour for the vehicle. I have found the paint codes and trying to put together now. The motor is a lighter blue grey with age so not sure if this was in the colour code but similar to Bandelier Blue or yosemite grey.

The Australian made GMH body shell is very different to the USA Buick Flint body.  The most noticeable difference is 2 piece rear window and sloping trim at the rear. 1939 & 1940 series 40 & 60 GMH body shells are basially the same (small difference)

GMH did not use the same coding as USA.  Nor a USA style data plate.  Paint colours are not the same as USA

 

This the GMH 1939 Buick body tags

 

 

 

https://forums.aaca.org/forum/60-buick-pre-war/

https://www.buickcarclub.org.au/

http://buickcarclubaustralia.com/welcome/magazines/aussie-pre-war-buicks/

Sign up for the Buick Club QLD prewar e-magazine (free) if not already on the mailing list

 

Edit

https://forums.aaca.org/topic/175607-39-fisher-holden/

 

Edited July 23, 2022 by 1939_Buick (see edit history)

[Daves1940Buick56S]

Mark - he does have the column shift on the left side of the column

[EmTee]

6 hours ago, Daves1940Buick56S said:

...he does have the column shift on the left side of the column

I think that shifting left-handed would be the hardest thing for me to adjust to if I had to drive down-under...

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

  I did it.  So betting you could.   Only turned the corner into wrong lane ONCE.

 

   Hoping for lots of follow up on this project, Tadpole.

 

  Ben

[danhar1960]

G'Day Terry

That's a Holden body for sure. Have one just like it on my'39.

Did it come in pieces ??  The 2 body tags above are what you need to find.

They will tell us the colour of the car.

You have the Astor radio head there. Just don't come across them very often. 

I'm in Sydney.

 

Danny

[rodneybeauchamp]

On 7/24/2022 at 9:26 PM, EmTee said:

I think that shifting left-handed would be the hardest thing for me to adjust to if I had to drive down-under...

You gotta remember, we are upside down, making LH shift a piece of cake. 😀😀😀😀😀😀

 

And what about all those with a floor shift or console automatics. Its what you get used to. We have four vehicles and three have the flasher stalk on the left. The Subaru has it on the right. How many times you hit the wipers to indicate 🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃🙃

 

Rodney 😀😀😀😀😀

Edited July 29, 2022 by rodneybeauchamp
Extra information (see edit history)