So many questions! Lol

F

Fightingirish85

Member
First of all, hi there I'm new here. Have them some looking around on some of these posts and it sounds like there is a wealth of knowledge in this forum. I look forward to learning in contributing. Have always been a GM guy but never owned a Buick until now. I just purchased a 53 Buick special and it's in Fairly good condition All Things Considered. I'm sure if I looked through all of the pages I can find the answers to these questions and as soon as I post this thread I will start looking I just thought I would get it out there and maybe somebody could set me straight right out of the box. The 3-speed in this car has a loud whine. Is that normal for these cars? To that end , where is the filler for gear oil on this trans? When the clutch is let out I have somewhat of a grinding noise. Throwout bearing? Is there something specific that these Transmissions are called? So I know what to look for when looking for parts? Radio does not work, does anybody know the exact location of the fuse? I looked under the dash and I see where they are but it's kind of hard to see what fuse is what. I guess I could always start pulling them one by one. I have a ton of other questions, but I don't know if I've already overstayed my welcome. LOL if these are very rudimentary questions please don't jump all over me. This is an awesome car and I'm just getting started in restoring it. Thanks ahead of time.
 
'53 Buick

Welcome

You can not ask too many questions, so don't be shy.

The transmission does have a whine in first gear. Some maybe in second. None in third.

Radio is probably more than the fuse. Get your wallet out.

Which style is the car? Any pictures?

Ben
 
53 special

Yikes about the radio.... hopefully nothing too crazy. Yeah my transmission has whine in all three gears. I suspect maybe the gear oil is low. That's why I was trying to find out where the filler and drain is. I'll attach a picture. Thanks for the reply!rsz_20170918_084005.jpg
 
53 special

I posted a reply but I don't see it on here, maybe it will show up later and I will have to delete one. Anyways here's what I said.....

Yikes about the radio.... hopefully nothing too crazy. Yeah my transmission has whine in all three gears. I suspect maybe the gear oil is low. That's why I was trying to find out where the filler and drain is. I'll attach a picture. Thanks for the reply!rsz_20170918_084005.jpg
 
'53 Special

The fill hole is on the passenger side just below the center. Probable a square head. Use 90 wt GL4 gear oil. 85/140 works as well. Nice car

Ben
 
53 special

Hey, I got under there today and found them. Thanks they're exactly where you were saying. I put a little Lucas Oil stabilizer in there as well and I must say the whine quieted down alot. Also when I drained it much didn't come out and what did come out was black.
 
The radio gets its power from the unfused ammeter feed on the back of the headlight switch. There is an inline fuse holder in the power lead going into the radio. Fuse is a 15A.

If the fuse blows after replacing, likely the vibrator inside the radio is bad. This is a metal can resembling a large vacuum tube and unplugs for replacement. The buffer capacitor if original should be replaced also to prevent damage to a new vibrator. Owners had to be cautioned not to start the car with the radio turned on. Otherwise the voltage drop during starting could result in stuck vibrator contacts.

Buick used two manual transmissions in that era--a light-duty unit having a 5-bolt top cover and a heavy-duty unit with a 6-bolt cover for more powerful engines. The Special that year used the light duty unit. These were not interchangeable with other makes due to the torque tube output arrangement used in the Buick. The internals were used in some Pontiac and Olds transmissions of that time.
 
TODD said:
The radio gets its power from the unfused ammeter feed on the back of the headlight switch. There is an inline fuse holder in the power lead going into the radio. Fuse is a 15A.

If the fuse blows after replacing, likely the vibrator inside the radio is bad. This is a metal can resembling a large vacuum tube and unplugs for replacement. The buffer capacitor if original should be replaced also to prevent damage to a new vibrator. Owners had to be cautioned not to start the car with the radio turned on. Otherwise the voltage drop during starting could result in stuck vibrator contacts.

Buick used two manual transmissions in that era--a light-duty unit having a 5-bolt top cover and a heavy-duty unit with a 6-bolt cover for more powerful engines. The Special that year used the light duty unit. These were not interchangeable with other makes due to the torque tube output arrangement used in the Buick. The internals were used in some Pontiac and Olds transmissions of that time.
Click to expand...

Okay, I got under there this afternoon. I see the lead you're talking about coming off of the light switch. It's going to a bare wire. I believe that is supposed to be going to one side of the inline fuse. on the other side of the radio I see what seems to be a fixture for the inline fuse. Also there is a black connector right next to that that's not connected to anything. Any idea what that might be? Should I run an inline 15 amp from the one side of the bare wire coming from the light switch to the other side? I will attach some pictures.
rsz_120170921_164605.jpg
rsz_20170921_164642.jpg
 
Buick Special radio 981320

This one's not as easy as it looked at first.

The top picture 164605 appears to be looking up along the right side of the radio. The larger silver shell is a light socket for an indicator light or dash backlighting. Looks to have a broken-off brass bulb base still inside. The radio uses one of these for the pilot light, but it's way up inside the radio. Maybe it is the light socket for the clock?

The black plastic piece looks like it is broken. Can you tell where the wire comes from? Or is it a stub wrapped around the light socket wire?

The radio antenna lead plugs in the right side face of the radio high up and to the rear. Is the antenna plugged in?

The bottom picture 164642 appears to be taken looking up along the left side of the radio. The stripped-back wire coming off the headlight switch is in the foreground. The power feed enters the radio at the upper left corner of the back face. A black plastic fitting is barely visible on the back of the radio in the picture. It is just near the ventilator cable crossing through the picture.

The broken black plastic piece in the top picture may plug into the hole at the top left of the back face. What I don't know is if the fuse plugs in up at the back top left entry or if it had a more standard inline fuseholder with 2 #14 wires attached.

Attached are are a couple of pictures of the radio from some aftermarket service data. The antenna socket is visible at the top rear corner of the right side in the front view. The back view with the cover off shows the power lead entry connector along the arrow pointing to C11. The parts list shows a replacement fuse holder to be a Bussman HRJ catalog number which is still available. List shows the original Buick fuseholder part number as 1321178. There is one of those for sale now on eBay. The picture looks like a unique Buick part that isn't present in the pictures under your dash.

The fuse and tubes are supposed to be replaceable without pulling the radio from the dash. It might have to come out to figure out what is missing or broken off in that power entry fitting. Maybe you can tell more with another inspection.
 

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Once again very informative, the black piece next to the light socket doesn't look to be broken. the inside of it looks like two copper plates that are pressurized so something slides in there and makes an electrical connection. I'll take a look under there again and get back to you. Thanks!
 
As mentioned there is a 5 bolt & 6 bolt trans. top covers. The 5 bolt needs to be treated gingerly as the gears seem to be made of glass. If you can find a 6 bolt trans. just make sure the tailshaft length is close to the same with 1 to 1 1/2 " either way. You can use the same shift rods. They need to be heated & bent properly.
These are known as selector shift tranny's. Internal parts from Olds & Pontiac are basically the same for the 6 bolt. Olds & Pontiac didn't use a 5 bolt as far as I know.


Tom T.
 
LONG said:
holder looks like this. powers from the HL switch

View attachment 7282
Click to expand...

Ok, thanks.... I have that lead coming off of the headlight switch but it goes to a bare wire, so I know what is supposed to be on the end of that bare wire now. Where does the other side of that fuse go? Inside of the radio? Still trying to figure out how to get the radio out. I found the literature but it's kind of hard to decipher. Thanks again!
 
Went back and re-read the shop manuals. The '52 is a little clearer than the '53. Under installation of receiver, it says to plug the fuse into the receptacle in the receiver. Then connect lead to socket in receiver toward left side of car.
 
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