Hot Rods Check out my new 1929 Buick Coupe

Hello all,

I am new to this forum and this is my first post. I've been looking at the forum for a while and have found it very helpful.

I've been looking for a Model A recently and then stumbled on this 1929 Buick Coupe. The guy had a Vette sitting out front for Sale and after talking about cars for awhile and mentioning looking for an A he said he's got "something better than a model A." (His words lol)

Well after looking it over a lot and a lot of research I bought it. Probably paid a bit much but it's just looks great to me.
It's a model 29-48 series 121, @4500 were made, @$1500 original price. Has the Buick Master Six motor. Solid body no rust. All the wood is in good shape too. Runs and drives with all original tooling. I took it about 5 miles last night. Gets up to 50-55.

Ive talked to some Early Buick guys about it and they said keep it original as possible. Which I can respect but think it would be great with some modern axels and tall skinny Steel wheels. And redo the interior and leave the exterior just like it is. Would like to keep the original motor, wouldn't mind changing the transmission to something friendlier. But pretty sure no one makes any conversion kits or aftermarket parts.

So I'll have more specific questions in the future. But for now check out the pictures let me know what you think! Thanks everyone.

And hopefully I posted everything correctly.

 

That is cool, first one I've seen for sure. Engine is really interesting. Welcome, I'm sure someone else will chime in.

 

Beautiful , keep it stock....too nice to just change a few things...or do a full build.....sell off the rest to the resto crowd...

 

I like it,but this is a hot rod site,drop it,and put a Nailhead in it! HRP

 

Yes this is a hot rod site, but that car IMO is a very nice complete example of a relatively rare car. I think it would make a great candidate for restoration. If you are looking for a hotrod project I would keep looking for a model A. There is tons of them and lots and lots of aftermarket parts available. Not so much for old Buicks. I am sure there aren't too many examples of buicks as nice as that one. Perhaps sell it to someone who will restore it and use the money to fund a different project. Ultimately it is your car and you can choose to do with it as you wish. Have fun and welcome to the HAMB! Do you have the hood by the way?

 

Yesseree, that really is too nice to cut up.
Pretty rare but they make a cool rod, if you are careful and save everything you can live in both worlds.
I've only ever seen one like it, IIRC it was around 1980, was visiting relatives in Padukah Kentucky and saw a rodded version at the River City rod run. I think the guy said it was a 1932 five passenger coupe, a really tastefully done car.

 

Would be nice restored.
Joe

 

I would change a thing on the body,this one is a little later but the same body style and they make beautiful rods. HRP

 

Yes I do. The piano hinge is busted. Have pretty much all the parts. Interior, spare tire, back bumper, etc

 

Welcome, very cool car, not seen very often. Whatever you do, keep us posted


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I like it. 292 chevy/700R4, exterior stock.

 

Nice find.

 

It does look a bit nice to mess with, Master Buicks not all that common either, you could get it running , tidy everything up and sell it, as has been mentioned there is no aftermarket rod parts for buicks. It could sell well with new paint and everything is working and drivable. There could be some profit in this.....

 

Cool car.

 

Nice find. I would struggle modifying that car. I would throw it on the Buick site and see if there is any interest. If you decide to build it, I would build a new frame and start fresh. I wouldn't mess with the body, it's too cool.

 

Very nice automobile.

VR&C.

 

A coupe & a half! That thing is really a sharp design.

 

It already runs and drives, the OP has taken it up to 55mph as is. That's says something, right there. This would be a good one to drive around as is for now, instead of cutting it up right away. Decide later what to do with it. Very cool just as it sits, maybe some different wheels, put those cool wheels in storage, and bomb around in that beauty. This could draw an interesting trade in the future, who knows?

 

Thanks everyone! I do plan to drive it for a while as is. Clean up some things that would need done either way. Get a better feel for driving it and it's quirks. If I would decide to modify it I would probably post it for sale first and see if anyone was interested in it for what it is. I do appreciate the originality, and wouldn't want that ruined if a hardcore Buick guy would love this Coupe.

 

if you don't know much about poured babbit bearings now is the time to learn, I wouldn't take it much over 2100 RPM.

 

I would say that you need to decide what kind of rod you're wanting to build. Do you want a true, H.A.M.B. friendly traditional hot rod? Do you want more of a street/resto rod (definitely NOT H.A.M.B. friendly)? If it were more of a shell of a car it would be a better candidate for a hot rod. It's too damn complete and relatively rare to chop up. Should be able to get enough for it as is to get a pretty straight Model A to start on. Ultimately it's yours to do what you want.

Is this your first project? If so you may want to find a more mainstream (re: Ford) vehicle. Using a 20's/early 30's GM or Mopar is a pretty big bite for a first project. The first question is: How's the wood?


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430 Buick V/8, 350 turbo, chrome wires, dropped axle, reversed eye springs etc etc...and lots of shiny paint, leather interior......yeah!

 

That sounds good. HRP

 

So I have started to tear out the interior. It was in bad shape and not worth saving. Although I know its not Original I plan to use some of the Brown leather cowhides that I have to recover everything. Think it will look great. Will be coating the inside of the metal body and using kwik poly on the wood.

I'm considering changing the axles. Would it be simpler to use the stock front axle and find a spindle kit that would fit it. It has a 1" King pin. or buy an aftermarket tube front axle and weld on the leaf spring mounting plate, then buy the spindle kit that matches that axle.

And then possibly a 9" in the back.

Now another issue I don't know the answer to is how I would convert to an open drive shaft using the original motor and tranny. Is there something I could swap out that would work?

Or I like the idea of a chevy 292 inline.

Thoughts? help on the front axle issue?

I will post a thread I saved on another computer later where a guy did what i'm talking about with the axles. Can't find it now.

Thanks

 

BALLER

 

Man, pretty cool!!

 

Nice indeed. Im a Buick guy and I would do what needs to be done but try to preserve as much as possible.

 

Cool car. Boss man has a '25 Opera Coupe. Same story, picked it up for a hot rod build until he realized how original- and valuable- it is. Turned down an offer for around the $30k range, and the prospective buyer told him anything shy of a full resto would likely lower the value. So he pulled the fenders and rips it around town as is. YMMV.

20170526_130137 by nha posted May 26, 2017 at 1:25 PM

 

Find that guy with the 30k and bring him over lol

 

Screw everyone...do it the way you want it. I'd make a hot rod out of it and keep it all Buick... Nail, 425-455, or a turbo V6. That coupe and a half is really cool.