Slawnski Posted January 27 Posted January 27 Started working on my 1927 Buick. I bought this car from a gentleman whose father had passed. He had a collection of vehicles and they moved them out of his fathers property and onto the lawn of this gentleman‘s house so they could sell his father‘s property. The cars sat for 9+ months. Here are the photos from the purchase date. I’ll keep posting progress as I go along. What was meant to be a - just get it running and driving is now progressing into a body off frame restoration including at some point restoring some rotten wood- any advice would be appreciated. 6
Slawnski Posted January 28 Author Posted January 28 Low compression across all cylinders so the head was pulled. Ordered new valves, valve guide and springs 5
Slawnski Posted January 28 Author Posted January 28 Found some old repairs to the frame so the engine and transmission were removed. 5
Slawnski Posted January 28 Author Posted January 28 Steering column is out as well- removed the front suspension- might as well right? 4
Slawnski Posted January 28 Author Posted January 28 Engine mounted in engine stand. First stand I’ve owned with the rotisserie crank. Very handy. Added some angle iron to make the mount work. The kiddie pool is to catch the gunk as I clean 5
Slawnski Posted January 28 Author Posted January 28 First round of de-gunking. I use greased lightening, a variety of scrapers and wire brushes as well brake cleaner to get the worst of the muck off. All caught in the kiddie pool 8
Slawnski Posted January 28 Author Posted January 28 More cleaning today. Ran out of greased lightening. But the first photos are greased lightening. Tried mean green and simple green. Not as good cutting through the tough stuff - though simple green smells better. Really need to wear safety glasses while doing this- I also need to break myself of the “ look over the top of my glasses” habit I have. The block is far from paint ready but I can work on it now without getting too filthy. I’ll pull the pan next and inspect. Then onto degreasing the transmission and the rest of the parts I’ve pulled. -working on a plan to get the body off the chassis as well. 11
Slawnski Posted January 30 Author Posted January 30 Not much time in the shop tonight- put a few pieces in the pool and gave them a good spritz with mean green to soak. Hope to get out there tomorrow and continue cleaning parts. 6
Slawnski Posted February 2 Author Posted February 2 Not alot of time to spend in the shed tonight but I received my greased lightening and started tackling the parts in the kiddie pool. 3
Slawnski Posted February 2 Author Posted February 2 When most of the grime is off I can use the parts washer- much better! Not exactly paint ready but I can handle parts without transferring grease everywhere. Now it’s just rinse and repeat until all the parts that came off are clean 7
Jeff Perkins / Mn Posted February 2 Posted February 2 Great project, one which I will definitely follow. Nice idea of using a kiddie pool …..I bought a $35 dog kennel tray. Duh, I could have used the grandkids pool! 1 2
dibarlaw Posted February 2 Posted February 2 Kiddie pools are great! I used mine to do electrolysis for de-rusting my 1925 Buick spare tire carrier. 5
Lahti35 Posted February 2 Posted February 2 I'll have to try out that Greased Lightening stuff, I like the fact it comes out of a squirt bottle instead of a spray can like my go to oven cleaner... Great work, keep it up! 1
Slawnski Posted February 3 Author Posted February 3 10 hours ago, dibarlaw said: Kiddie pools are great! I used mine to do electrolysis for de-rusting my 1925 Buick spare tire carrier. How long did you run your electrolysis? Do you have a before / after comparison? I’d like to try this, as well as trying to plate some of my own parts eventually. 1
dibarlaw Posted February 3 Posted February 3 I ran the process for about 6 hours. The carrier looked like something found on the deck of the Titanic. Also pretty bent up. 1
dibarlaw Posted February 3 Posted February 3 (edited) After a lot of work straightening, body work and filling. Edited February 3 by dibarlaw (see edit history) 5
Slawnski Posted February 3 Author Posted February 3 worked on removing the body today. The kids came by to help 5
Slawnski Posted February 3 Author Posted February 3 Once the chassis is disassembled, cleaned, pained, and reassembled I’ll drop the body back on and start the process of removing the metal and replacing the rotten areas. I think it will be better to do this with the body back on the frame and bolted back in place. I’m not exactly looking forward to that - but I’ve got plenty to do before I get to that point. 6
Slawnski Posted February 4 Author Posted February 4 Final degrease before paint prep for these parts. 8
Slawnski Posted February 4 Author Posted February 4 (edited) Can anybody clear up what needs to be painted green and what is painted black on the engine and transmission? I’m assuming pedals are black and all the other bits are green - as I prep for paint in the coming days/ weeks I’d like to get it right- thanks! I’ve got Hirsch paint for early Buick ( green) and just ordered black. sample of the hirsch green paint color Edited February 4 by Slawnski (see edit history)
Slawnski Posted February 5 Author Posted February 5 Had to work today but managed to get the flywheel degreased and round 1 of degrease of the transmission completed. Pretty good hunk of silicone came loose- one reason for all the layers of grease and dust and dust grease crust. Is there a source for transmission seals/gaskets? Everything needs resealed. 3
dibarlaw Posted February 5 Posted February 5 (edited) You show the heat riser being painted. Make sure the inner steel tubing sleeve has no pin holes. Or you will have runability issues. These sleeves were a common replaceable service item by the late 1920s. Edited February 6 by dibarlaw spelling (see edit history) 1
Slawnski Posted February 5 Author Posted February 5 Yes- the heat riser was painted back when I thought I’d only be rebuilding the carb, setting valves and getting the fuel system in order before driving- There were pinholes in the inner steel tube and a mummified mouse in one of the pipes- I don’t recall exactly where ( see photo) I cleaned the tube and used J-B weld in the holes- that was a short term solution when I did not think I’d be in too deep on the project. I’m planning on replacing that inner tube before reassembly- thank you for the heads up. 3
Slawnski Posted February 6 Author Posted February 6 (edited) Just a bit of disassembly and cleaning the transmission parts tonight. A couple of notes- Somebody grabbed the output shaft with a pipe wrench at some point in this cars life. Won’t effect anything just a bummer to see that. The felt packing seal in the ball housing was present but was coated with silicone- I have a new seal ordered Clutch shaft lever is a bit sloppy - probably needs a bushing- shaft is visibly worn new bearing ordered as well. More disassembly and more cleaning next. Edited February 6 by Slawnski (see edit history) 5
Slawnski Posted February 7 Author Posted February 7 More transmission disassembly tonight- the grease and dirt are pretty tenacious - cleaning is taking longer than expected. - 4
Slawnski Posted February 9 Author Posted February 9 (edited) Finished degreasing the case today using oven cleaner and pressure washer- once home I hit the interior with a couple different wheels on a drill. I wanted to lay a coat of enamel inside the bel housing so I can spray the outer case, and other gloss black parts this weekend with a spray gun. The inside of bell housing was brushed. Tomorrow will be more cleaning and gasket making so I can re-assemble enough of the transmission to spray. I’d like to spray all the transmission bits that need to be painted in one shot Edited February 9 by Slawnski Duplicate post (see edit history) 10
Slawnski Posted February 10 Author Posted February 10 Not much done tonight- the enamel was still a bit tacky- my shop was about 68 degrees overnight. I put some halogens on the parts to add some warmth and turned up the heat a bit. This made a big difference by the end of the night. I cleaned a few more parts tonight to prep for paint. I plan on making gaskets tomorrow and painting the remaining parts for the transmission. Not too sure if I should assemble the transmission and paint it all or paint parts individually and assemble after paint. I’ll sandblast the pedals tomorrow and hopefully get the black sprayed on what I have cleaned that gets painted black whether it’s an assembled transmission or parts. I will most likely take the shifter assembly to my locksmith to get a key made for the lock. 5
Mike "Hubbie" Stearns Posted February 10 Posted February 10 I would assemble first then paint. You don’t have to worry about scratching the new paint and you don’t have to touch up any bolts and nuts. Mike 2 1
Slawnski Posted February 11 Author Posted February 11 Transmission reassembled internally and a coat of paint on tonight. I’ll put the rear unjoint and ball housing on tomorrow and see hot far I can get on the remaining parts to paint- spent a little bit of time assembling, disassembling, and reassembling the shafts and pins ran through the shift pattern a few times to be sure everything was moving smoothly before removing shift assembly to paint transmission housing 8
Slawnski Posted February 11 Author Posted February 11 Added the rear u joint and ball housing - along with a new ball seal. Last coat of black on the transmission. All the other parts that were ready for paint had a trip to the blast cabinet before degreaser and then enamel paint. Either early Buick green or black. Back to the engine this week while the paint cures. 7
Slawnski Posted February 13 Author Posted February 13 Not a bunch of time to work on the Buick tonight. I did get to pull the oil pan and I’ve got to say it’s not as sludgy as I thought it would have been. Cam surfaces look good- at first blush. I cleaned up the oil pan and I’ll get that ready for painting. I did check end play as well. I’ll pull main caps tomorrow and look at replacing main seals. 5
Slawnski Posted February 14 Author Posted February 14 No Buick work tonight. Found a raccoon in my machine shop yesterday when I went to grab that indicator to measure endplay. I have to find out how it got in- those furry rascals can wreak havoc on a shop! 3
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now