1936 Buick Special 2 door engine is knocking

[Virkscollection]

I have a 1936 Buick Special 2 door, it did run and drive last summer however the engine began to knock. I didn't drive it more than 50 miles after that began to happen in September of 23'... Anyways, I had a friend come over and look at it a couple weeks ago, he restores old farm equipment..fired right up, he tested the 8 cylinders by touching the outside of the engine to the spark plug while accelerating and the 6th cylinder seems to continue the knocking noise the most, I mean it was very obvious compared to the others. He advised me to join BCA and ask around whether I should have the babbitt bearing re-poured, potentially all the babbitt bearings re-poured, or search for a completely new, used engine.. 

I am located in Altamont, NY 

 

Thank you so much! 

[DFeeney]

I would think that you will at least need to remove the oil pan and head.  You can pastic/gauge each rod one at a time and get how much wear will be in each rod bearing.  If #6 is out of spec. you can remove the rod and mike the crank.  Perhaps rebabbiting one rod will allow you to continue summer driving.  Your Buick page forum members should help you work through this.   If all the rod bearings are loose this would point to a major rebuild. 

[Larry Schramm]

How mechanically inclined are you.  That makes a lot of difference in your plan of attack.  I just finished up re-shimming all of the rods on my 1913 Buick. Not that hard, but can be time consuming. 

[Virkscollection]

Larry and DFeeney, 

 

I know I am not as mechanically as inclined as y'all. I'm more so looking for someone who might be able to do the repairs, but I would like to learn while the job gets done. 

 

[DFeeney]

Most times if you join a local car club( local chapter of the Buick club) there are members who you can hire to guide you through the repairs.