Pre 1950 Owners Report in Please

hey folks
i am in brisbane australia and have a 1938 series 40.

i am a rookie in working on cars and am slowly teaching myself oxy welding and basic mechanics,so i hope you wont mind a few questions..

cheers

james
 
'36 Buick Special

I was very fortunate to purchase a '36 Buick Special Business Coupe (3-window) a couple of years ago. It is a series 46 I am told, 10,928 were built and the purchase price was $765 new.
The previous owner passed away and had paid for a lot of work in hopes of having a nice street rod. The body is near pristine, with no rust and no apparent damage. The '72 Nova front clip was installed, as was the 9-inch Ford rear w/4-bar. Adustable coil-overs at all corners, 4-wheel disc brakes. All of these items were installed when I purchased the car.
I have installed a 350 LT-1 and 460LE trans (from a Buick Roadmaster) and it is ready to go. I still have a lot of work to do before I can cruise, but it's so much fun building it I know I'll have too much time on my hands when it's done.
If anyone has any ideas or is/has undergone this particular type of project, or anyone who is interested, please reply. I also have lots of photos.
 
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Hi,

As the name says, I've got a Canadian built '38 model 90 limo. I rescued it from going to the boneyard 25 years ago. It had been set on fire by vandals and the whole of the driver's area was destroyed. The car was too big to fit into the garage I had at the time as it stands 6' 2" high and is about 18' long. The engine was half way out of the car when I got it. I don't know what the P.O. had in mind so I finished the job of removeing it and stripped it clean and assess it's condition. I found one ring broken, got the valves refaced and re-assembled it. I also got it sandblasted and coated in primer. And that's as far as I got with it until this year. The engine had been sitting on a trolley. I had bought a set of rings years ago and decided to get the engine apart again and fit them. Condensation had taken a toll with the valves and I had to get some replacements but other than that it was OK. I've got the clutch in bits just now and will have to get the withdrawal fingers built up with weld and re-profiled as they are all different shapes. There was a stunning model 90 on Ebay last week.

Art
 
'40 convert & '48 fastbck

Howdy, pre-50 folks. My current ride is a '48 Roadie 2dr' subframed from a '76 skylark and running a 401/T-400. Been driving it now for 10 yrs. My current project is a '40 Super convert. It has a '86 Transam rearend w/ 3.27 gears and a 700R4 trans. Here's the kicker- I'm running a straight 8. A 1951 263" with planed head and dual carbs/exhaust. Trying to stay true to the character of the car while being very driveable. Car is not road-ready yet but it is running.
 
Larry
You might want to rethink the gearing in your 40! I also have a 40 convert, and with the 3.42 axle from a 55 Century, and a 263 engine that is running a bigger carb and dual exhaust , I don't think I could pull much more gear. Mine cruises effortlessly at 70+ on the interstate, but you need to downshift whan going around a corner in town. With the taller rear gear, I question whether you will be able to use the OD much.
It may be that you will be in the power circuit of the carb and not get any mileage increase , and will not be able to pull the hills. :confused:
 
banjodon

Hi: I am new to the forum, this is my first post. I am a pre 1950 owner of a 40 super and a 47 roadmaster. I am still in the process of restoring the two cars. The 47 roadmaster is all finished except for the paint & upholstery. I have't even started on th 40 super yet. I am driving a 54 special and a 55 super. I love 39 & 40 buicks in particular. Wish I had a 39 century, but right now I have enough to keep me busy.
I love old buicks for driving, but with gas prices going crazy I will probably just be able to drive them on sunday. thanks, banjodon
 
I check the pre-50's column daily. I've got a 1940 Super club coupe (Buick called it the Sport Coupe). I bought it last summer from a guy who was thinking about street rodding it, but decided it was too good to cut up. I'm keeping it mostly stock, making changes only to improve reliability (so far I've only changed to a 6V alternator) and, where I can't afford to get something done as original (engine turning the dash panels costs about 800 bucks!). I started fooling with old cars before they were old (first car was a 49 Ford when it was only 6 years old!) so I'll help where I can.
Nile Limbaugh
 
Rebuilding Australia built1947 4 door 248cui with Ross special 9-1 comp pistons 3 ring pack, L34 holden torana valves,Crow comp cam and V/springs,Ross tuffbond balancer,crank &rods preped and balanced.Bendtens adaptor T700R-9'' F100 3.55 ratio will run straight LPG on a Falcon injection manifold,extractors just fitted yesterday hope to hear some noise in a couple of weeks Pat
 
I still have my 39 century 4dr, that I bought in 1977. I am the 3rd owner and it's mostly original with a few cosmetic and mechanical improvements. It still has the original upholstery, good enough to be presentable, and original spare tire sidemounts. I changed the brakes to full floating bendix operation, and installed 6v halogen headlight bulbs,also a 41 2 carb intake, which works great, just like a 4 barrell. I purchased it in Utah, but it was originally bought by a lady from the Buick dealer in Oxnard California. I drove it from my buddys house in Springville Ut., straight to Riverside Ca. It developed heating problems on the way and with some pieces of wood wedged at the back of the hood 'to relieve engine heat', man' there was lotta heat coming out. we made it ok tho. Later I made an air dam under the radiator to keep air pressure from building under the hood. The design on 39,s created a 'scoop' below the grille under the radiator, creating pressure behind the radiator thus slowing air flow [I guess?] 39,s dont have enough louvers, anyway it works. The main reason for the heating tho, was a blown headgasket, so I pulled the engine and installed one I had athome.Nowafter all these years I am reinstalling that original engine with a few mods.I had Chet Herbert grind me a cam, and I think its his last Buick strait 8 cam, 'he said it took a half day to reset his camgrinding machine!] he told me 'dont tell anybody where you got it! sorry Chet but its been 30yrs. It had been rebuilt when i first got it, with internal 1952 parts that came from a 39 Buick coupe that reportedly ran at Bonneville in the 50,s??So thats where its at so i better get off this pc and go to the garage and work on it!
 
1946 Buick Super Convertible

I've had my 1946 Buick Super Convertible for 2 years now. It is all original. I have a dual carb set up that I'm planning on putting on in the near future. I also need to rebuild the hydraulics to get my power accessories working. Does anybody out there have any extra convertible parts?? I'm looking for the stainless belt trim that wraps around behind the conv. top.

Duane
 
Pre50

40 Buick Super 56S ,All original ,including interior.Well kept by the Original family that bought it new in Chicago until I bought it.Technically the second owner.I drive it to car shows and cruises now.
 
1946 Special

Hello from downunder.
Have a 4 door Special that is in the process of having full freshen up in the motor dept.
I have not driven it yet as I bought from a guy at work, who bought it from a guy who holed 3 pistons. (typical story)
My kids race motorcycles, so the plan is to put a towbar on it and have something comfortable to do the miles in when we go away.
I have a 12 volt loom to go in and would like to put better brakes on it, paint it, aircon it, and finally drive it.
Hopefully get all this done before fuel hits $423.00 a litre
 
I currently own a 49 Roadmaster convertible. IT is stubbed with a with a 74 Z28 and sports the rear end out of the same Camaro. Slowly this car is working it's way back on the road. I also own a 49 RM sedan, she just need some paint and TLC. 49 super parts car it has given it's life for the RM. I just found a 49 RM coupe in a field. It is pretty rough. It will give me the needed seats and lots of trim for the convertible.
 
1948 Buick Roaodmaster Model 76S

Hi everyone, I own a 1948 Buick Roadmaster 2 Door Sedanette, I've owned this Buick for 33 years now. I didn't drive it much, but lately I drive it when I can. I recently replaced the 1950 320 Straight Eight engine, I put a completely rebuilt 1948 320 Straight Eight engine in it, along with a transmission. I'm finding out that the transmission has a problem at the torque ball. I'm just replacing it with my original transmission. The only other thing I'd like to do is to replace the bearings in the 3.43 gears I have. Man would that Buick cruise with those gears! 70mph + I read a statement Buick made about their cars 25 years ago, in 1940, or 1941. " Buick has never made any claims as to how fast their cars could go, but they could cruise all day long at 80 MPH, and still have plenty of power for passing!" I believe it! I was getting 18 MPH on the HWY, and about 15 around town. I'll do the rear some time this Summer. I guess I'll have to get motovated on that rear, finding the right bearings is another

Anthony
aka Straight80
 
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1949 Buick Super Model 56S

My brother and I co-own a '49 Buick Super sedanette. We've owned it around a year now. It was off-the-frame restored back to original condition in 2000, but the owner developed Alzheimer's and only drove the car around 500 miles after it was restored. It sat, pretty much abandoned for years, until we bought it. With a fresh battery and fresh gas in the tank, we drove it home, a distance of almost 50 miles. After a full tune-up, having the fuel tank cleaned, and rebuilding the starter and carb, she is running great now. We had some issues with electric fuel pumps, the restoration shop had bypassed the mechanical pump and installed the electric. After going through about 4 electric pumps, we got the mechanical pump working again and only use the electric now as a starting aid. We are the third owners of this Super, it was bought new in Albemarle, NC, then purchased as a Valentine's gift sometime in the 70's by the gentleman's wife that had it restored in 2000. It has just over 66,000 miles on it now.
 
Pre 50

Hello together,
best Regards from Germany. I'am going with my '49 Super Sedanet and I'am member of a Pre 50s American Car Club. There's also a '48 Super Sedanet and a '50 Super Convertible. In the Internet I found a guy with the same car like mine and both our cars had the same pre-owner.
Buicks are also very popular in Belgum and the Netherlands.
Best wishes for christmas and a happy new year !:thumbsup:
 
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49 roadmaster convertible

I inherited a 1949 Buick roadmaster Convertible. It is completely restored and absolutely beautiful. I just had the fireball engine rebuilt. Everything on this car is perfect!!The only problem is the cowl tag on the fire wall is missing and I plan to sell the car.. It seems this is going to cause a problem as far as getting the value the car is actually worth. I have a company that can duplicate the cowl tag. I wonder if anyone can tell me the original number of my car using the vin number, and how many of these cars were manufactured.
 
1948 Buick Sedanet - model 56S

Hi Guys,
I purchased my beautiful car during the summer through this site. I also just recently purchased a beautiful rebuilt 42 motor for the car through this site. That comes to me next Saturday. Through the H.A.M.B. a great guy removed the front mounts from his 42 parts car so that the 42 motor can be placed in the 48. There are very helpful people on these sites and I couldn't get done what I want to get done to the car without the help from these people. So thanks for helping to keep these great cars alive.
Regards, Eric
 

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We have a 1937 Buick Special 4 dr...... Just got it in the shop about a month ago for a total restoration. My hubby & I are doing all the work ourselves & loving it! By next weekend it will be ready to come off the frame. So far it's coming apart very easy!
 
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