Starter info 1937

[cwcorrea]

Hello, I am new here. I am a 55 year old farmer and state worker. My parents are up in their age and my father has dementia. I took over their farming 10 years ago to help give them supplemental income to their SS. I was stuck with old equipment, etc., which I have been starting and selling. Part of it is my father's collection of cars. One is my grandparents (gone over 30 years) 1937 Buick. My father did a rebuild on the engine and did a semi-restoration. The body and paint are original. I don't remember the mileage but i think it is 30K. Anyway, it has a brand new interior and after sitting at the upholstery shop for payment, it is home. I covered it in a cocoon car cover. Now it is time to work on it.

I am a shade tree mechanic at best. I do not do electrical. I know how to get tractors running, and I have rebuilt some suspensions, etc.

What I have is an incomplete restoration. Trunk latch is apart and unsure of parts. Wiper system dismantled, not sure of parts but all chromed. Engine did run before and was fine, ran afterwards before upholstery. But exhaust rotted out at down pipe and rest was pulled out. Start is out and wiring is not done. That is the bulk of items.

I want to get it started. Maybe tackle the rest after starting.

First thing is the starter. I wanted to ask if anyone has info, forum links to pictures for wiring? I will try to provide pictures of what I have when I start. This will be a slow process as I do this on weekends when my RA does not flair up. (My fault, I dead lift around 450). I want to get a head start of figuring out how it works and then look for what I have.

I know these sites have wonderful folks, so I appreciate any help.
Yes, I will be selling this for my parents.

Chris

 

[bittmann]

Nice ride!

Still 6 volts?
From what I'm seeing online, the starter on that thing is virtually identical to my 52's.

I found this supposedly-1937 diagram while clicking around some of the other Buick forums:



I guess first things first - do you know if the starter ("accelerator") switch is still on the carburetor? Can you test and see if it conducts when you open the throttle all the way? Do you still have the old wiring harness? (If so, be careful, the insulation has to be pretty poor!).

Getting the starter to fire off of the carburetor ignition switch might be reasonable *if it's still there and operative*. If not, it shouldn't be all that hard to set up a push-button switch. (Purists may scoff! )

You can see from that diagram, the starter solenoid grounds through the voltage regulator. So when the generator isn't turning, the starter sees ground, and the starter solenoid will fire and crank the car. Once the car is running, the generator brings that line up to 6.whatever volts, and the starter will no longer crank.

And (again, assuming I understand this correctly!), on my 52 there is also a little ball in the carburetor switch, when there's no vacuum the ball falls to the bottom and will allow the carburetor switch to close/crank. When the car is running, the ball gets sucked up and the carburetor switch will no longer close. So, on my car, that's 2 ways to keep the starter from engaging with the engine running. No idea if your 37 has this 2nd "safety."

If you need to, for testing sake, you can hot-wire the coil and crank this car with a jumper. That's not magic. Switching the ignition and cranking from inside the car? That's where things can get interesting!

 

[bittmann]

Well, from this image, looks like the 37 has a dedicated vacuum-controlled switch for the starter. You have anything that looks like this on your car? (that blob in the right-center of the picture threaded into the intake manifold).

 

[cwcorrea]

Probably going way beyond my understanding until I get going. Let me get to this, this weekend and get some good pictures and post them here. Then I can read through better and might answer a few things or let the knowledgeable group comment. I do appreciate all the input. I will be back Monday with pictures. Maybe sooner, but weekends is the only time I have. Thank you.

 

[cwcorrea]

I forgot I had these pictures.
That is it for now. I am not sure what is missing for getting this started. I have the filter canister. Have the starter (pic), muffler was broken or rotted out, but the down pipe still in. This car is original, not a frame off. The engine was pulled to go through it and clean it/paint. But it only has 30K and no, not more. It ran and drove before. I am not sure about brakes or suspension until I get under it. Thank you.

 

[bittmann]

Looks like the starter switch on the manifold has been bypassed or disabled. The throttle return spring is hooked where the starter switch - rod?...would be.

Makes me wonder if someone installed a push-button. Otherwise , what....open the hood and work the starter switch by hand? That would be inconvenient!