New owner of all original 1951 Special

[Julien Abrahams]

Dear all, 
As I am new to this forum, let me quickly introduce myself. My name is Julien Abrahams, 40 years old, living in the Netherlands. I own a couple of classic cars ( a '54 Cadillac series 62, a '67 Cadillac DeVille and an '69 Austin Healey Sprite. 
Quite recently I purchased a 1951 Buick Special from my great uncle who was the second owner and had the car for 35 years. The Buick has its original paint and the interior is in excellent original condition.  The car has about 38000 original miles, so it has not been driven alot (especially the last couple of years it has been sitting most of the time). 

Last year, the previous owner rebuilt the carb and I just had to tune it (slightly richer and increas the idle from about 300 to 450 (factory spec). I also have the shop manual. 
Today I wanted to take the car for a drive, but after taking it out of the garage, I noticed the smell of fuel. Turned it of, and found the fuel pump to be leaking in an unusual place (for me at least). The fuel seems to be coming out of the square opening, that has two small holes on either side, just above the fuel part of the pump. 

 

I made a short video to illustrate what I am talking about. 

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1AV3cLStENsYGxS6KOwLWhHj96stQLdQr/view?usp=sharing

I have a couple of questions. 

Does this appear to be the original pump? 

Am I looking at a rebuild of the pump? 
What are the best places to order a rebuild kit? 

I have checked a couple of online sources and found rebuild kits for about $90 and complete rebuilt pumps for about $230. 

What is wise? To buy a rebuilt pump or do the rebuild myself? I am fairly confident that I will be able to rebuild it myself, it does not look incredibly complicated. In the past I have rebuilt a couple of carburettors (Rochester Quadrajet, Carter AFB and SU) and that was not overly complicated. 

Any help is greatly appreaciated. 

Julien Abrahams, 
Maastricht, The Netherlands. 

[Aaron65]

Hey Julien,

I have a '53 Special with a similar but not identical pump. I've always had better luck buying a rebuild from one of the Buick vendors. The pumps are not complicated but I've always found the oil seals to be a little finicky, especially considering I only have one apart once in a while and forget the little tricks. Lots of people have rebuilt them with success, however, so there is no wrong answer here (aside from not doing anything, because that pump is shot). Good luck! Let us know how it goes.

 

Aaron 

[Pete Phillips]

Seconding Aaron's comments. You definitely need to rebuild it and replace the diaphragm. It will probably be quicker to rebuild it yourself than to send it off and wait and wait. But don't attempt it unless you are really mechanically inclined. The springs and little arms and hooks can be tricky to get right. Be careful taking it apart so the internal parts don't go flying off!

I also have a 1951 Buick Special, 4-dr. sedan with 48,000 miles, mostly original and I love it.

Pete Phillips, BCA #7338

Leonard, Texas

[Julien Abrahams]

Thanks for the replies.

I do have the shop manual, and it does not look very complicated. The only thing that I need to figure out is how to get the arms that hold the diaphragms out. The manual says to grind off the outer edge and removal of the pin that holds the little rod to which the arms hook onto. I will do some research on that. If anyone has tips, please let me know. 
Anyone have tips on where to best buy the rebuild kit? 

Thanks in advance. 

[Aaron65]

I wouldn't remove that unless you can detect play in the arms themselves. If you don't get the rod installed and peened down correctly, it can leak oil. 

Edited September 25 by Aaron65 (see edit history)

[JohnD1956]

Isn't there just one arm? And Isn't everything replaceable located under the two end caps? I'd leave the arm in place. And I would look at the manual to see if there is a picture of the arm against the lobe of the camshaft. I am not certain but that lobe is usually attached to the front of the camshaft and will be in the "lift" position once for each camshaft rotation. I say this with reference to the various V8s I've worked on and assume that is the same for the straight eight.  But if at all possible I would want to rotate the engine so that lobe is not in the lift position, as that will make installation easier. 

Also, I vaguely remember a critical measurement associated with the installation of one side of the pump. Can't recall if it's the vacuum or the fuel side. This was from the one time I did this back in the late 80s. I am not certain if that is a valid concern or just someone's advice in trying to sell me a rebuilt unit. 

Good luck

[Century Eight]

I have used Terrill Machine of DeLeon TX to rebuild my pumps and have been very pleased with their service.  I also learned along the way that some of the parts houses that offer rebuilding services just forward what you send them to Terrill Machine to have the work done.  The last time I needed one done, it seemed like about two weeks and then the pump came back.  

 

I will use them again soon on another car’s pump. They advertise in Hemmings etc. but if you need the number, I can find iit.

[Lee H]

I just used them for rebuilding my ‘62’s vacuum advance. Good people.

Terrill Machine
DeLeon Tx.
254 893-2610

Edited September 25 by Lee H (see edit history)

[Julien Abrahams]

Yes, I have used Terrill Machine in the past to rebuild a vacuum advance for my '54 Cadillac. The only downside is that I would have to ship the pump to the US and back and then the Dutch government wants taxes to be paid on the value of the pump because they state that you export and import it.... Sigh.. 

[drhach]

My vote is to rebuild it yourself. I did mine and lived to tell the tale. There are two or three really useful videos on youtube that discuss how to preload the diaphragms. That is the biggest issue as I understand it. I referred to them a few times. The first video is probably the best (it was for me). 

 

Regards,

Dan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[SkiDooFritz]

Welcome, Julien. Coincidentally, I also recently bought a ‘51 Special (The day before you started this thread, in fact). One of the first things I did was rebuild the fuel pump. 
I figure you’ve made a decision by now, but I agree that rebuilding it yourself is the way to go. The hardest part is preloading the diaphragm because the arm on our fuel pump is MUCH shorter than the one in the first video Dan sent (which I also found very helpful). 
I just rebuilt my pump and haven’t reinstalled it yet so I can’t say that I’ve had no problems, but I wouldn’t call it a complicated of job.

[Julien Abrahams]

Alright, work and another project kept me busy, but finally got round to rebuilding the fuel pump of the '51. I replaced the valves, filters (boy was that old filter dirty...), fuel and vacuum diaphragms and gave it a clean. 

After installing I thought I did not get any fuel to the carb. Car would not start. Took the pump off again and before completely dismantling it again, put it in the vice, attached a piece of fuel line with a hose in a container of fuel and manually worked the arm with an adjustable spanner. The fuel was sucked up quickly and spewed out the outlet side with force, so the fuel pump was working just fine.  Put extra fuel in the tank, just to make sure that there was plenty of fuel in there. 
Installed it back in the car and primed the carb by removing the fuel line to the inlet of the carb and filling the fuel bowl with fuel using a small bottle. 
Now she started right up but dieing when the fuel in the bowl ran out. After restarting and revving somewhat it settled in and ran well. 

 

I think that the first try, I did not take into account that it is a 6 volt systen and the cranking speed is quite low. Also the fuel bowl in the carb, fuel line to the carb (which is I think about 2 feet of fuel line) and the fuel bowl in the pump were all bone dry. It takes some time to pull the fuel from the tank to the pump and fill the carb bowl.

Happy that it is running again. Only bummer: winter is coming, so it will probably be in the garage most of the time until next spring. But I plan on taking it out when there is no salt on the road and the weather permits it, also during winter.