The first thead on this rebuild was getting big enough, so I'll finish up the project with this new thread and have some final pictures from time to time. So here's a few as of today, including a little shop dust too. Front clip parts in epoxy primer.. Underside of wheel wells, fan shroud and bottom splash pan in black.. Body color on topside of inner fenders, saddle, and pans.. Steering mast finished up and installed.. From the other side.. Thanks to Tom Telesco for providing the selector needle to replace the original which was broken. A little side trivia from this morning...This Buick owner called me from Luckenbach, Texas, at their Rod and Custom Car Show and ask me if I wanted to do a '42 Lincoln Continenal Convertible.....I can't say what I told him, but it meant NO....He got the message.
A few new pictures of progress... Currently, a new radiator core is being built for the upper and lower restored tanks and it and condenser should be picked up next week. Presently rewiring a new engine harness for some changes I'm making eliminating original regulator wire hookup and set up alternator changeover and a coil relay directly from battery terminal.
Thanks Bulldog.. I'll have a few more as I'm finishing up the car. Here's the latest before the bumper, radiator, condensor and hood go on. Got to finish up wiring the headlights in and the wiring will be all but complete. As I stated previously, I've added two relays to the system. The first one is from Powermaster and is needed to make the 'pedal push' start work properly with the starter switch on the carburator after removing the regulator , and after adding a Pertronix distributor kit and coil, I installed the second one which is a 'power relay' that brings power from the battery straight to the coil, eliminating going through the old ignition switch contact points on the dash. I mounted those over on the inner fender close where the external voltage regulator used to be. I filled in those screw holes so it wouldn't look wierd and if something was missing. I rewired the engine harness to eliminate the old regulator wires and add in a new 10 gauge continuous alternator wire. Getting close now.
Bulldog, it won't be long now. Running the various system checks at the present time. I'm ready to give it to the custom interior guys. They can take it from there.... February 2010 after being under a carport for 32 years. August 2011 after being in my shop for the past 18 months.
I have been following this thread. Good craftsmanship. Did you have all these fender bolts/washers and hood latch hardware/mechanism newly plated ie. silver cad or did you silver paint/clear coat them? Great job! David
Thanks and glad you like... Regarding the inter-fender/fender hardware, it was all bead blasted, painted and two coats of clear applied. The new radiator is now finished and installed with all engine and transmission hoses connected. Installing a coolant overflow tank on the drivers side just outside the horn. All the electrical systems are checked out OK with the exception of the starter circuit. That of course will be last. I don't expect any problems there. The new wheels and tires are mounted. Won't be putting the caps on until driven a few miles and retorqued. I'm letting the owner have the priviledge of removing the blue protective coating on the tires. He needs something to do.....We are re-using the orginal condensor. It was in very nice shape. It has been cleaned, pressure tested and painted. The orginal dryer was sent over to Dallas yesterday to be 'rebuilt'. So it will mount up just like it came off. The AC guys say to use R12 due to the size of the cores in that original unit. They will finish up the plumbing under the hood on the AC lines and fittings. Pre-oiled the engine today. Had good and constant oil pressure, so it's been a good day. The list is getting shorter...in fact, real short!
Thanks for your reply regarding the hardware. I see the last photo must be of an old used distributor without the cam gear so you can set it into the top of the oil pump shaft and use that bolt in the top to attach to what to spin the oil pump? Do you use a right angle drill with variable speed to spin the oil pump to pre-oil and psi up the internals? I have to do this soon on my project. I was going to use an old be screw driver but I too have an old distributor laying around so I will use it to do the job. So where is the best spot to mount an external oil psi gauge while spinning away so I can easily watch my oil pressure reading? Would that be in the back bank of either head? Thanks in advance. David
There is more than one way to to this, but I used the distributor as you see it in order to have a solid consistant base for spinning the oil pump shaft, in lieu of something else . Of course the engine is in the car and due to space constraints above the distributor, I used a 1/2 inch drive air ratchet with appropriate socket for the bolt. I slightly ground down the first 2 or 3 threads on a 7/16th short bolt and tapped it firmly down in the little 'recess' at the top of the distributor shaft. After determining it was straight, I spot welded the bolt on each side to the shaft and it worked very nicely. If your engine is in the car, have someone watch the oil pressure gauge in your car. If your engine is out of the car, use the original pressure outlet on the back of the block.
Good job. It also appears you took off the cam gear and had to grind down it's shaft boss as well. Regarding the large fender star washers is that something the owner wanted installed for a certain look, as I believe the stock OEM setup uses smaller thin square washers?
I didn't have to remove the gear to grind it down. It was actually pretty simple to do with a stationary wheel grinder. These cars were built at several different assembly plants. This one was built at the Arlington, Texas plant and was a late production car. Sometimes it was whatever was available at the time at a specific assembly line as to bolt and washer choice. However, and factually, changes were made during the production year as the learning curve indicated a better and more efficient way to make and produce a vehicle. As an example, I did a very, very early '55 Chevy convertible (assembled on approximately the 8th working day of the first month in October 1954 at the Van Nuys plant in California). We counted 13 features on it that dissapeared on the cars by the early months of 1955. One example is the horns were in a different location vertically on the radiator saddle and the saddle was different than in later production. I sold it at Barrett-Jackson in 2004 and it broke the existing sales record for that specific car at that time at BJ..in some ways due to the uniqueness of the car. If you want to check out a picture of that car at BJ, you can go here... http://cgi3.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewUserPage&userid=50schevys Good luck with your Buick..
The car is now in Ft. Worth at the interior shop and I'm finished with it. A few days ago, after setting the static timing with a test light on no. 1, it cranked right up and we ran it for 20 minutes to break in the cam. Added the final 5 quarts of transmission fluid during the run up and performed the usual visual checks. Didn't have to adjust the timing after checking with the timing light. Fixed one coolant leak and did a short road test. The AC drier is being rebuilt and it and the hoses will be finished up after the interior is in by one of my mutual street rodder friends that is just down the road from the interior guys. Anyway, here's a couple of pictures before leaving my shop. When the interior is finished, I'll have the owner send me a couple of pictures and I'll post them for those that are interested. He seems to be very happy with the car. I'm happy he's happy and to be able to now clean my shop up and out and renew my acquaintance with my high school days '50 Chevy 2 Dr. Fleetline GMC inliner...
