1942 46S Special Sedanet

[drhach]

Hello, as promised in another thread, I'm starting a new thread for this car that I just brought home. I actually bought it last November. But it's been in storage until now. I bought it from fellow member g-g-g0 (Thanks Gary). Apparently, he bought it from another member here as well. Small world. 

 

My Son and I picked it up Monday, 27th of this month (March). I live about 40 miles North of Chicago by the Wisconsin border. The car was in Northern Indiana about 2-1/2 hours away. I'd been looking at it online for quite a while. I stumbled across the ad on the H.A.M.B. I went back and forth whether or not to even call about it. Finally, I did call and scheduled a time to go look at it. I was pleasantly surprised. The car is 81 years old and certainly is no over-restored show queen. But I think it wears its age well and it seems very complete. The car was manufactured in California and seems like it spent most of its life in the Portland Oregon area. The paint is fairly worn out but there's no real cancer to speak of. 

 

At some point in time, one of the previous owners put clear plastic seat covers on the upholstery. You can see some stains under the covers. So, I think they were just trying to preserve what was there. Right now, the odometer shows a little over 97K miles. The dash is in pretty decent shape. I think as much as anything the car needs a thorough cleaning. The engine turning on the dash looks bad at first glance, but the closer I looked, the more it looked like it's the clear coat that's going. It gives the appearance of rust. But when I wet my finger and rub it on the dash, the engine turning shows right through. We'll see. It has fog lights, a windshield washer, clock, radio and heater. both fans work and the radio comes on but there's no sound. 

 

The car has been sitting for probably the last 20 years. Gary started a lot of work on it and it starts up but really isn't drivable (yet). The carbs are leaking from pretty much every seam and the battery is very slow to crank. My first order of business is to go through the carbs. After that, I'll go through the distributor and finally pull the oil pan and clean that out. The tires are at least 20 years old. I couldn't find a date code on the outside; I'm thinking there may be one on the inside walls. I don't consider them roadworthy, so I'll have to take care of that after I get it running right. 

 

 

 

Edited June 16, 2023 by drhach (see edit history)

[g-g-g0]

Nice start to “the new beginning”! Thank you and enjoy!

[neil morse]

21 hours ago, drhach said:

The engine turning on the dash looks bad at first glance, but the closer I looked, the more it looked like it's the clear coat that's going. It gives the appearance of rust. But when I wet my finger and rub it on the dash, the engine turning shows right through. We'll see.

Be very careful not to get too aggressive trying to clean up those engine-turned panels.  The engraving is very light, and you can easily rub it right off if you go after the rust with anything too abrasive.  One sees many cars where the engine-turned pattern has been completely polished off in places.  Here's the dash on my '41, for example.  This is the way it was when I bought it.

 

 

Your car looks like a worthy project.  I look forward to watching your progress!

 

[drhach]

Thanks for the tip. I've read through your thread a couple of times. It's a good cautionary tale. I've been giving it a lot of thought. It seems like a gentle approach probably will be best. My impression is that it looks worse that it may be, I think a lot of what's there is the clear coat failing. My first approach is to try to preserve what is there and not make anything worse. 

 

I pulled a door lock last night and stopped at a locksmith today to get some keys made. I'm getting conflicting information about how many different keys were used for these cars. Some sources say one key for all locks, others say one for ignition, one for all others. The locksmith told me he thinks the doors and ignition will be one key and the trunk and glove box will be another. I guess I'll find out when I get home tonight. The code was on the barrel of the door lock. They key they made opens that one up great. I also bought some lock lubricant while i was there. 

 

Regards,

Dan 

[neil morse]

Sounds good, Dan.  On my '41, one key opens everything, but I don't know if this was true when it came out of the factory.

[drhach]

Well, 4 out of 5 is pretty good, right? My new key fits everything but the ignition. I imagine the key was lost at some point and someone just bought a new ignition switch, and then lost that key too :). I lubricated all of the locks. The trunk is still really stiff. I'll probably just have the ignition rekeyed to work with the rest of the locks. 

 

In other news, the car came with a few extra parts. I had a little time yesterday, so I decided to change the passenger side hood release. The pot metal was broken on the surrounding trim. I got that replaced. 

 

Just for fun, I took out the rear ashtrays and tried gently cleaning one of them. I just used warm water and dish soap on my finger. It cleaned up great. When the time comes, I'll clean these up and spray a little clear over them to protect the finish. 

 

Lastly, I know I'm going to have to dig into these carbs. They're leaking pretty bad. I started looking at what I had there. It looks like the flapper for the rear carb was replaced with a phenolic spacer. My intention was to rebuild these two carbs and then, once I got the car running good, replace the rear carb with a front carb. But given that the flapper is gone, I think I'll just do that change now. I already have a new carb that's ready to go on. So, I guess I only have to rebuild one carb :); and make a new linkage. I also started soaking the rear heat riser with PB blaster. It's pretty stuck. Hopefully I can get it loose without too much drama. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Regards,

Dan 

Edited June 16, 2023 by drhach (see edit history)

[sebastienbuick]

woww beautiful !! , my parents have a 1941 Buick Eight special  serie 40 type 46S  

[drhach]

Hi Sebastien, thanks for the compliments. I've seen your postings about your car and your parent's car. Both are fantastic projects. Keep up the good work.

 

As for this car, it has been quite a learning journey. The car has been sitting for quite some time. The carbs were both leaking, and the gas smelled very much like varnish. I was able to drive the car on and off of the trailer and into the garage. But anytime I gave it throttle it would bog down. Clearly there was a fueling issue to deal with. The front carb was labelled as a 528S, which is correct for this car. However, when I started disassembly, I discovered that the venturi size is actually 1-1/16". A 528S has a 7/8" venturi. So, among other things, the front and back carbs were of different venturi sizes. I also discovered two different jet needle sizes. To make matters worse, what I thought was a rebuilt 528S that I ordered online turned out to also have the larger venturi. That actually played in my favor because I have two carbs with similar venturis. I was able to find jets and needles to make it all match up. I took some pin gauges and compared every opening I could find and they all matched. So, I soldiered on. I don't know what the bigger venturis will do for my throttel respnse, I guess we'll see. 

 

Given the state of the gas, I felt it would be best to clear the fuel lines and empty the gas tank. I drained the fuel tank and then poured new gas into it. As I was pulling the nozzle out of the tank, the safety valve for the gas can popped off and shot into the tank. Grrrr! I tried to fish it out, but it only pushed in deeper. So, off came the tank. I pulled off the sending unit (which looked brand new) and was able to see the parts and got them out without too much drama. However, I discovered that the float was pretty full of gas. There were 3-4 cracks in it and I figured by them time I soldered them all, it wouldn't float anymore. I decided to coat the whole thing in a very thin shell of Epoxy. I figured worst case, I'll just buy a new one. But I'm trying to repair wherever possible rather than throw parts at this thing. Probably that means there'll be times when I do things twice. Needless to say, the float.... floated when I was done. So, I put it back in. I'm also trying to avoid scope creep with this car. I've been down that road before and a simple thing like an oil change can turn in to an engine rebuild. In spite of that, I figured while I have the tank off, I'll clean the bottom of the trunk pan, neutralize the surface rust and give it a quick spray. I really had to resist the urge to just "clean around that one corner". I picked an area that I wanted to do and just did that. It was hard to maintain that level of restraint, but I did it. I put the tank back on and life was good. 

 

 

So back to the carbs, I got them all hooked up. I made a new linkage for the dual front carbs and got it all hooked up. I started the car but it had a really nasty vacuum leak and was idling quite high. I think those stacked phenolic spacers didn't like being disturbed. I also noticed with the higher idle that there were tons of exhaust leaks. So, I pulled the intake and exhaust system for sealing. I also bought a block of aluminum that I am going to make into a proper spacer so I can get rid of the phenolic stack. 

 

One question I have is that the manual says no intake/exhaust gaskets are required at the head. But they were on there. I know my Nailhead doesn't need them (for the exhaust). I'm wondering what other peoples' experience has been with this. I have a set just in case, but If I don't need them, I won't use them. 

 

Regards,

Dan 

 

 

[drhach]

Just a couple more comments about my findings so far. Note from the discoloration on the right side of the intake manifold. The heat riser valve was stuck open. So it was constantly heating the intake manifold. I'm sure that led to drivability issues too. I was able to unstick it and it actually moves quite freely now. I reversed the spring on both valves so that that they are effectively closed and disabled (always bypassing the intake). I put some lubricant on the shafts in case I ever want to go back to the OEM setup. But for now, I don't see myself driving this in cold enough weather to warrant using them. 

 

I cut a piece of spacer out of aluminum block yesterday and I still need to drill the proper holes. This wilI allow me to get rid of that stack of phenolic spacers. I also ordered some 1/2" Phenolic and another care package from Bob's. 

Edited April 25, 2023 by drhach (see edit history)

[JohnD1956]

44 minutes ago, drhach said:

The heat riser valve was stuck open. So it was constantly heating the intake manifold.

With no insult intended I find it interesting in your description of "open"vs "closed".  On my V8's I always thought the valve closed, to redirect the exhaust to flow around the carb base, and opened to direct the flow out the exhaust pipe. Is that different on a straight 8?

[Century Eight]

Keys:  I just looked on page eight of my 1942 owners manual and it says the following verbatim; Your Buick is equipped with two identical keys either one of which will fit the following locks: Ignition; Glove compartment; Doors; Trunk.

 

Also my 40 has only one key for all.  I was thinking my ‘50 had two keys, but it also only has one key.  I am the third owner and bought the car (50) in 1975 with 12,943 miles on it.  So your lock must have been changed.  That was a common thing to do, it was easier (or lazier) to give the customer a new lock and key instead of re-keying all to match.

Edited April 25, 2023 by Century Eight (see edit history)

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

19 minutes ago, Century Eight said:

Keys:  I just looked on page eight of my 1942 owners manual and it says the following verbatim; Your Buick is equipped with two identical keys either one of which will fit the following locks: Ignition; Glove compartment; Doors; Trunk.

 

also my 40 has only one key for all, but my 50 has one key for everything but the trunk, and a separate one for the trunk.

Phil, something has been changed. My '50 has, and I think all came with, only one key.

 

  Ben

[drhach]

I debated about which term was correct for the heat riser valve. I suppose I should have deferred to the manual. Mostly they talk about "heat on" and "heat off". Obviously "heat on" means the flapper is oriented in such way that it is allowing exhaust gases to move through the intake manifold heating chamber. "Heat off" means the gases are bypassing that chamber. However, there is one section of the manual where they talk about the adjustment of the valve anti-rattle spring. As I read it, the spring is meant to exert tension when the valve is in the "heat-on" position. In that paragraph, they also refer to the valve as open when the spring is under tension. I guess at least according to the manual, I was right. I had a 50% chance of that happening  so I really can't gloat. 

 

Again, referring to the manual, I found that section about the key too. Nonetheless, the key that I had made didn't work in the ignition. It worked on every other lock, but that one. There are some folks who believe there should be two different keys, including those who want to sell you two different key head shapes. I think the key was lost at some point and someone just bought another ignition switch. Or the switch wore out after 70 or 80 years and they replaced it. I also thought that maybe the key that the locksmith made just wasn't a good enough replica.

 

I tried making a key with a file and I was actually able to get it to work in the ignition. So that allowed me to pull the barrel out of the cylinder. It was my first try making a key using this method and it only worked on the ignition. I got really lucky. 

 

Speaking of luck. I was looking the car over and I found some electrical tape on the passenger side horn. Electrical tape repairs are pretty common sight in old cars. I didn't think too much of it. But as I looked more, I didn't see any actual wires going in to or out of it. I decided to remove the tape and hope that it wasn't holding the whole car together. Well, guess what? As I unwrapped the tape, underneath it all was what I think is the original key. It still had the little key code knock out in it and the code matched the code on the lock barrel in the door. This key also opened every lock except the ignition. That further supported my notion that someone had changed the ignition at some point. I'll use this to get the ignition key barrel matched to the rest of the car. 

 

 

 

 

[JohnD1956]

Hey! Thats a great find!  And a good idea too for hiding a spare key.  If it means anything at all, on the two '56 Buicks I have owned, they were both one key (for all locks) cars.  The one 57 I had a long time ago was also a one key for all car.  I faintly remember Dad's '60 Olds as being two keys. 

 

[Century Eight]

Ben, you are right. I just rechecked my ‘50 and it only has one key for all.. I have no excuse for bad information other than I haven’t driven it since last year and I am one year older than the car!    I will edit my post.

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

2 hours ago, Century Eight said:

Ben, you are right. I just rechecked my ‘50 and it only has one key for all.. I have no excuse for bad information other than I haven’t driven it since last year and I am one year older than the car!    I will edit my post.

 

 

 Young whippersnapper!   I am 13 years older.

 

  Ben

[drhach]

Time for a few updates. This is a very busy time of year for me and my family. So, I've had to pick away at the car the best I could. I have to say it's been quite a saga. I discovered that the front carb was the wrong size. The tag said "528S". But when I took it apart for rebuilding, I discovered that it has a 1-1/16" venturi. The 528S has a 7/8" venturi. Probably this is from a 320 compound carb setup. But who knows? The metering rods were mismatched and the carb just generally sad. I sorted things out the best I could and put the units back on the car only to discover copious exhaust leaks. It turns out both exhaust manifolds were cracked. I took them in to get welded, but the guy was pretty hesitant to do it. There was already a repair on one of them and he said in all likelihood, they would crack again. For $600, I really didn't want to roll those dice. I found a nice set from a gentleman here (Thanks Greg). He also set me up with a flapper valve for the back carb. The "Y" pipe is another issue. I ordered the correct one from Waldron and I'm waiting for it to get here. In the meantime, I cobbled the one on there now just to get the car started. But it still leaks. The car is still very hard to start. In fact, it won't start without Ether. Once it starts, it runs pretty good (not great). I'm going to look at the ignition system and be sure everything there is up to snuff. I suspect a weak spark. I also haven't done a compression check, so that's on the list too. Plenty more to do. But she's getting there. I pulled it out of the driveway and drove it to the corner. The car is very unfamiliar to me and i don't really trust it. So I was very tentative and didn't want to go to far until it is starting reliably. Just in case I brought starting fluid and a fire extinguisher. 

 

Once I got it back in the driveway, I took a short video 

 

 

 

Still lots to do, but every little bit helps. I found a proper 528S and that is on the way. So, I'll go through that and get it installed. Probably in the next week or two, I'll get my new Y pipe and get that on it. 

Edited May 31, 2023 by drhach (see edit history)

[neil morse]

Hi Dan:

 

I don't want to anticipate problems that you're not already having, but I wanted to make sure that you had seen this thread about my problems with the Y-pipe that I got from Waldron.  It all worked out in the end, but I had to get a second down pipe from Waldron because the first one would not seal in the slip joint.

 

 

[drhach]

Thanks Neil, I hadn't seen this before. I've only ever heard good things about Waldron. But mistakes happen. I'll definitely be on the lookout for this. Hopefully it will go right the first time. 

 

Regards,

Dan

[2carb40]

Thanx for the kind words Dan! I'm glad those dual carb/ex parts helped out!

[drhach]

The saga continues, I've moved over to the other side of the car. The engine has three different types of plug wires, also, with all of the old frail wiring here, I found that the coil wire from the negative side to the distributor has very poor connections at both ends. I'm sure this isn't helping the spark situation. Surprisingly, the points look pretty new. I have a new set as well as a new ground wire. Those will go in. 

 

[drhach]

I made a new set of plug wires and a new negative wire for the coil. I also pulled the valve cover. I just wanted to see hew messy it is in there. I have to go under the car this weekend to check trans fluid. My plan is to pull the oil pan while I'm down there to ensure the sludge is cleared out. 

 

I noticed paint on the top of the valve springs. I'm curious if this is a factory thing or if the head has been off and someone painted them. Anyone have any thoughts on this? 

 

Last of all, I got my exhaust pipe from Waldron. I may try to get that installed too. If all goes well, I might be able to take a longer drive this weekend. I'm very nervous about the tires. They seem to be pretty old. But a few spins around the neighborhood should be ok. This assumes it's drivable  I don't really want to buy tires until I feel like I'm in a position to actually use them. 

 

[EmTee]

Check that there is a ground wire between the breaker plate and the distributor body.  It would normally be an uninsulated, braided wire.  I didn't see it in the photos that you posted.  See the circled wire in the picture below.  The electrical connection between the points and ground would be unreliable without the ground wire.

 

 

 

Edited June 9, 2023 by EmTee
typo (see edit history)

[drhach]

Thanks EmTee, I think that's in the lower portion of the picture. I bought a new one from Bob's just because. It's o my "to-do" list for the distributor. 

 

I started adjusting the valves last night. I know Buick wants you to adjust the valves with the engine at steady state and running. However, I wanted to get a sense of what I was starting with as it relates to valve clearances. The engine is hard to start and I know that tight valves can affect that. So, I wanted to get accurate measurements just to satisfy my curiosity. For a first pass, I'm adjusting them cold. I started on it last night and I got through Cylinders 1 and 2. Exhaust lash on the first one was 0.0 and cylinder 2 exhaust was pretty close to that. Intakes were also tight but not as bad the exhaust valves. I'm curious to see how the rest look. Probably more of the same. 

 

 

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

Wow, those valves were tight!   More clearance is better than not enough.  When I set mine cold I adjust 1 to 2 thousand wider than hot spec.  Only downside to wider gap is a little noise.

  When hydraulic lifters came along, they were set differently and have NO clearance.

 

  Ben

[drhach]

"A tappy valve is a happy valve"  

 

I'm doing the same thing with the clearances. Just a hair over spec. I understand why they want it done hot. It should be a more relevant and accurate setting. But I think as long as you err a little on the side of loose, it will be fine. 

Edited June 9, 2023 by drhach (see edit history)

[EmTee]

22 hours ago, drhach said:

he engine is hard to start and I know that tight valves can affect that. So, I wanted to get accurate measurements just to satisfy my curiosity. For a first pass, I'm adjusting them cold. I started on it last night and I got through Cylinders 1 and 2. Exhaust lash on the first one was 0.0 and cylinder 2 exhaust was pretty close to that. Intakes were also tight but not as bad the exhaust valves. I'm curious to see how the rest look. Probably more of the same.

I did exactly the same on my '38 for the same reason with similar findings.  I set mine to 0.18" cold which seemed to be pretty close.  I later pulled the valve cover immediately after a drive and checked clearances (engine off).  I used that information to re-adjust any valves that I felt were too loose.  The valves now make a little noise (very light tapping) immediately after a cold start as the engine warms up, but they're all quiet when I get out of the car to raise the garage door after a ride, so I'm leaving them alone for now.

[drhach]

I got my valves adjusted. The car runs much better. I'm still fiddling with the choke on the front carb. I was able to find a proper 528S. I think rather than continuing to spend time on a carburetor that isn't correct anyway, I am going to focus my energy on the 528. The rebuild kit should be delivered today. I think I'll play the "Father's Day" card and spend some time on that. I still need to get under this thing and change the trans oil and the engine oil. If I feel like I have time, I'll drop the oil pan. I'm really curious to see what state this engine is in. The valve cover has obviously been repainted. I just want to see some evidence of a rebuild internally (or not). A sludge free pan or aluminum pistons would certainly indicate that. 

 

I also found a really nice Easter egg yesterday. I was going through a box of things that came with the car. Among everything else there were several pieces of wadded up paper. I started to take them all out. At the bottom of the box, I found a grimy looking piece of paper that wasn't wadded up but looked a little like garbage. When I picked it up, I noticed that it said "1942 Buick Fog Lamps" on it. Ok, not garbage, but what is it? It turns out I have the mounting instructions for the factory accessory fog lamps (which are on the car). Very cool. 

 

I thought maybe these were some kind of aftermarket lamps because the switch is mounted under the dash on left side. From the instructions, it turns out that was an optional placement point and you could either do that or mount them on center grille. What a great surprise. This car continues to impress me. 

 

 

Happy Fathers' Day to all of you to whom it applies. 

 

 

Regards,

Dan 

 

 

[NailheadBob]

Dan if you need any mechanical parts there is a 1949 Super in a junkyard in Chabanse, IL. (by Kankakee)

 

Bob

 

 

[drhach]

Thanks for the tip Bob. I'll look it up. I'm not sure hw much would interchange at that point, but it's worth checking out. 

[drhach]

Hi Everyone, time for some updates. I apologize for the lack of pictures, Its really hard for me to stop what I'm doing and take a bunch of pictures. I always have the best of intentions with that stuff, but I end up getting caught up in what I'm doing and forget all about it, 

 

So, I installed the new Y-pipe from Waldron. It fits great and the car is much quieter. I also discovered that the muffler is pretty well shot. It's more of a straight pipe than a muffler. So, I'll add that to the list. The previous owner replaced the tailpipe not too long ago. So, once I do the muffler, the entire exhaust system will be as new. 

 

I got the correct front carb installed as well as the correct 42' flapper valve. Apparently in 1942, they added a bi-metallic friction thermostat to the flapper wheel to hold it closed before warm-up. It was nice to be able to get a hold of one of those. 

 

I had to adjust the accelerator pump to get a little bigger shot, but otherwise, the carbs worked pretty well. In spite of that, the car was absolutely gutless and still had a fairly good bog and really couldn't get out of its own way going up a hill. Bearing in mind that most carb problems are electrical in nature, I moved on to the distributor. 

 

Overall, it was in good shape but there were a couple of glaring things. First, the vacuum advance pot was inoperative. I was able to suck air through it. So that left me with a pretty good vacuum leak. Also, the bearings that the breaker plate rotates on were pretty notchy. There was a replacement race in there, which was good. But the three counterparts on the breaker plate were the problem. I had a bearing kit from Bob's but given the issues with the breaker plate, it really didn't work. I was able to find a NOS breaker plate on eBay and that did the trick. I cleaned, regreased and reassembled it. I set the points on the bench and then reinstalled it. Happily, she started right up. The timing was way off so I got that sorted and took it for a drive. What a difference. No bog, no hesitation going up hill, plenty of torque. 

 

I was hoping this might also solve another issue, but it didn't do the trick. As the car warms up, the fuel gets super-hot, and the car dies. I think it's more a matter of fuel percolation that vapor lock. I'm thinking about three possible approaches to this. The first is that I want to flush the block with Evapo-rust so that the engine runs cooler. The gauge doesn't really show the car to be overheating, but I want to do all I can to keep it cool. I also put some insulator over the fuel line. I haven't driven it since then, so I'm not sure how this helped (or didn't). Last of all, I have fuel filter with a return line. I can route fuel back to the tank and tr to keep it cool that way. As a possible fourth option, I'm considering rerouting the fuel line to the front of the engine. This would allow the fan to blow on it and possibly cool it off. The pictures in the manual show it routed around the back of the engine. But it seems like it would run cooler with the fan blowing on it. I can say that the line was quite hot to the touch when I opened the hood. 

 

The last issue (for now) is the transmission. I started another thread about it, and I won't go into the full detail here. But my findings are that I have a bad synchro in second gear. I've been stalling a little on tackling it. My logic has been to sort out some of the other drivability issues first. I can double clutch it or float the gears and it works fine. But that isn't the long-term solution in my mind. 

 

I've driven the car about 12 miles, just around the neighborhood and it gets better every time. So that's encouraging. Still plenty to do before it's really roadworthy and trustworthy. 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 25, 2023 by drhach (see edit history)

[drhach]

Well, maybe you can polish a turd after all  It looks way way way better in the pictures. But at least what's left of the paint has some protection on it now. 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 1, 2023 by drhach (see edit history)

[drhach]

One more from the other side.

[EmTee]

Looks pretty good from where I'm sitting! 

[rodneybeauchamp]

Neat. Those wide whites will come super clean with some sand soap, running water, bristle brush and elbow grease. Best solution I know for keeping white walls white!

 

Looking forward to seeing more on this one!

 

Rodney 😀😀😀😀😀😀

[edinmass]

This thread is a GREAT example of how to do it right. Small projects, don’t jump in and take the car apart. Slow steady improvements. Car looks great. I would buy a used transmission instead of fixing the one you have. Cheaper and easier……..then you also have a parts trans if you need anything. Open up the replacement unit first, inspect and clean it…….then you can do the clutch and swap it out all in one day……no down time. Taking a running car apart is a great sin in my shop………we think long and hard before we jump in and end up with garage art for months on end.

[drhach]

3 hours ago, edinmass said:

This thread is a GREAT example of how to do it right. Small projects, don’t jump in and take the car apart. Slow steady improvements. Car looks great. I would buy a used transmission instead of fixing the one you have. Cheaper and easier……..then you also have a parts trans if you need anything. Open up the replacement unit first, inspect and clean it…….then you can do the clutch and swap it out all in one day……no down time. Taking a running car apart is a great sin in my shop………we think long and hard before we jump in and end up with garage art for months on end.

I debated about that approach with the transmission. My only real issue is one of space. Having a bunch of parts kicking around is kind of a pain. But I think your thoughts on that are very sound and in the end, I suppose I could sell my old trans if I don't need it. 

 

Regards,

Dan 

[1935Packard]

Nice!  '42 Buick Sedanets are unusually attractive cars.

[NailheadBob]

Great looking car, I would love to drive and be seen in your new (old) car

 

Bob

[sebastienbuick]

Wowww Gorgeous ! I like  !