41 i.d [Archive] - Team Buick

kev987

07-30-2003, 05:41 PM

John,

I am still a little new to the buicks myself, however, I will try to help as much as I can. The first digit of the engine number that you gave indicates that it is for a 40 series car. the remaining 7 numbers are the engine number. According to my book the 1941 engines start at 4074859 and the 1942 engines start at 4457941. So it looks to me like you have an engine from 1941 and it is the correct engine for the car. It is a 248 cubic inch straight 8. The engine produces just over 100hp if I remember right. The other engine that was used was a 320 cubic inch and was in the series 60,70,80, and 90 cars. The other info means this:
mod 41 - Special 4-door touring sedan
style no-414409 - This is the fisher body style no.
body no. was used for factory identification
trim 900 - tan and blue bedford cord
paint 560 - carlsbad black paint with silver stripe on wheels.

I can definitely give you some tips on what to do to get the car running. However, something that I do not know is how long the car sat up (or what your experience is) so I am going to list what I did to get my '40 model up and running after 3 years of sitting idle.

1. Very important. Drain all fluids (engine oil, transmission oil, coolant, and replace them before you ever try to crank the engine. Before you do that you may want to see if you can budge the engine by hand to make sure it is not locked up. You may want to remove the spark plugs and spray some penetrating oil or something in the cylinders. Dont load it up with too much though.

2. If the car is like my '40 model it has an external oil filter on the passenger side. There is a small oil line from the bottom of the block to the filter and from the filter to the side of the head. These were clogged up on my car. I removed the lines and filter canister from the car and cleaned them. I used carburetor cleaner to free up the sludge and then blew it all out with compressed air. There is a brass fitting on the head where the line attached. Remove this fitting very carefully with a 6 point socket or box end wrench. The brass was apparently very soft back then and these fittings are hard to find. Behind that fitting is a little cone shaped screen that is about 1" long. Use a paper clip or similar item bent to reach in and pull it out. Clean the screen and replace everything. Use a new oil filter and fill the canister with oil. I then removed the valve cover and the distributor. Important - mark the location of the rotor on the distributor so you can install it back in the exact same orientation later otherwise your timing will be off. I flattened the end of a piece of 1/4" i.d. steel tubing so that I could use a drill to drive the oil pump shaft that connects to the distributor. I think that counter clockwise is the direction you need to go. Get someone to watch the oil gauge if you do not get pressure, then try the other way. Once you get pressure, watch the rockers for oil to come out of the small holes in the top. Once you get oil here, you are good to go on the oil.

3. You may as well go ahead and replace the points and condenser because they are probably bad. You can get these at autozone.

4. The car was originally designed on a 6 Volt electrical system. Do not jump start it with 12 Volts unless it has been converted. Also, when you get the car running, use a volt meter to check the voltage at the battery. Some cars had the voltage regulator adjusted for an 8 volt battery to help them crank better. If you are showing much over 6 volts at the battery, then consult someone to find out what the correct charging voltage should be and change or recalibrate the voltage regulator. Trust me on this one. I literally EXPLODED a brand new battery on my car because it was overcharging for that exact reason. Luckily I was not standing over it when it happened.

5. Drain the gas tank, replace with fresh fuel, put an inline fuel filter before the carburetor if you can.

That is all that I can think of off of the top of my head to do before you try to crank it.

Brakes - I bought a complete rebuild kit with springs, cylinder kits, hoses, and shoes from www.oldbuickparts.com (http://www.oldbuickparts.com) You can bet on every wheel cylinder and the master needing a rebuild. I would for safety sake anyway. Your shoes may be ok but if they are covered in oil and grease then you need to replace them too. Fix the leak first or you will ruin the new ones too.

Sorry if I went into more detail than you needed, but I have no clue how much you have auto work you have done. I have some links on my page for some of the suppliers that I have found for these old cars. http://home.sport.rr.com/krodgers/

I hope this helped some.

Kevin

nubuickdude

08-01-2003, 10:48 PM

Kevin!!
You have helped me so very much you can't believe!!!

I would have never thought to do some of the things you suggest!!! totally awesome!!!

the battery that is in it is shot!! thank god for that..... who knows.... if it would have started and i burned something up due to lack of oil!
however the engine did turn over about a full turn ever so slowly........ need a battery.
this 41 sat for at least two years that i know of ....but not too sure might be longer.

The guy i got it from was actually the owners son in law........it is a very solid car and i mean VERY SOLID!!!

it has only a rust hole in the left front floor pan and a hole in the spare tire pit! other than that the body has a few minor parkinglot dents. I paid $500.00 (what a bargain)

Kevin , thanks for your time !!!
i was just sitting around lookin at it til the battery came in but now after listening to you it gives me something to do!!!!!

thanks!!!

my e- mail address is
smooth8698@wideopenwest.com

i am open to your other tips you sound like you know what your talkin about!!!!

thank you again

John