Hey fellas, Planning on doing a big ol drive in a 47 Buick Super (NSW to Melbourne) so a days driving at 110 (or 70) I'm familiar with the drive since my band does it every so often.. However being a 47 im thinking you'd wanna sit on 80? 50 miles. Excuse my k's to miles talk! Hahah Basically it's a long road and not much on it, the engines been gone over and no leaks, I wanna say rebuilt but I'm not sure, just alotnof work done on it so I'd say it's definitely cruiser spec at the very least. I know you can roll with traffic speeds in a 50s cadillac I was reading earlier on a different thread but couldn't find much info on a 40s car, what the reccomend speed would be to cruise at for long periods of time. My plan is to just let the car tell me what speed it wants to Cruise at but some veteran advice would be greatly appreciated! Cheers Sent from my H3133 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
We've never driven your car, so we haven't heard from it, how fast it likes to go. I think you have a pretty good idea of what you're getting into. It would probably be happy at 50-55, but will work ok at 60-70. I seem to find that most of the older original type cars I get are OK at 60-65. But you will know when you spend some time on the road with it. (sorry for not converting to km/h for you)
Aah all good, that's what Google's for! I know 60 is 100 so I generally equate from there. Well yeah that's good to know, just wanted to check that there was no 'don't cruise at 60 the whole time in a 40s car it'll shit the bed' Since yeah the road is about 10 hours of nothing, two lanes and the outback, few truck stops is about as exciting as it gets, wouldn't wanna overdo it out there! Sent from my H3133 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I have found...when I experience a 'scrotal tightening'.....that tells me I need to slow down some. The tightening happens at different rates in different vehicles...and whether I'm driving or not. So my advice is......'listen-to-your......inner self...' 6sally6
When your car was new it would handle 70 MPH or more with no problem. But today? How is the oil pressure? What is the compression like? Does it burn oil? In other words what kind of shape is it in? Do you drive it 70 now? If it has never gone over 45 MPH in the last 50 years I would be leery of starting out on such a long journey without testing it out on say a 50 or 100 mile trip. Best suggestion is to change the oil, tune up the motor, check trans rear axle and wheel bearings, lubricate the chassis, make sure the tires are good and the cooling system full and try it. I would go 50 for the first half hour or hour, if all was well, pick up the pace to 55 or 60 and if there are no signs of stress maybe a little faster. Another question is, if you suffer a breakdown how far are you from help, do you belong to the Auto Club and is there good cell phone reception all the way?
130psi on all cylinders! That sounds the goods to me. Breakdown assist is all good and the phone reception is average out there. I'm thinking at this point from whats been said is to take it slow at first and get the feel and make sure everything is well in order before the drive. Good info to have and peace of mind, cheers!! Sent from my Coffin using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
If in good shape it should be fine. My grandmother had a 48 Roadmaster and drove it 65-70+ on a regular basis. My folks had a new 49 Roadmaster convert and drove it the same.
I'm guessing it has a temperature, oil pressure, and amp gages. Do they work ? I'd stop every half hour or so to check the fluids under the hood, and peek underneath for trans and diff and brake and coolant leaks. A good engine will not survive long without coolant or oil. Converting to an overflow tank type radiator would allow checking coolant level without risking scalding accidents.
How long of a trip have you taken in this car previously? I think that I would want a bit of a feel for the car before heading out into 10 hours of nothingness.
I have an OT 442 that will go however fast I tell her but the cash in my pocket tells me 60-65 MPH. Any speed above that causes the gas gauge to drop at an incredibly faster rate. So I will go along with the "listen to your car" crowd and do what she says.
Sounds like a great adventure. Take a few pics and post it up. I would enjoy going on the trip with you even if it’s only virtual. Have fun!
Rear end ratio might tell you where your sweet spot will be rpm wise. I wouldn’t be pushing it at 3 grand for a long period of time without being sure about the engines makeup.
Best answer so far! I tried my usual reference manual to find the rear axle ratio, but it was not shown. However, I have owned several Buicks from ‘38, ‘40, ‘41 and a ‘49. All but the ‘49 were Special Series with the 248 cube engine.....and that engine also was used in the Super Series. All those had 4.40 - 1 rear axle ratio! The 320 engined cars, Century and Roadmaster had 3.90 axles. I can tell you those wonderful old straight eights are wound up pretty good at 50 to 55 mph, by the sound of them. I did not have a tach in any of them, but simple math says a 28” tire and a 4.40 axle will be about 3172 rpm at 6o mph (almost 100 kph). For a long stroke engine (4 1/8”), that is getting the piston speed (feet per minute) kinda ‘up there’. Personally, I think 50 mph (80 ish kph) would be my upper limit for sustained cruising speed. Ray
Gas mileage is a good point, I forgot about that. Best mileage will usually be at the engine's peak torque speed, that is when it is most efficient. On a car that old raising the cruising speed from 50 to 70 can cut your mileage in half.
Every vehicle I have ever owned had that road speed it liked to run at. I think that Rusty O'Tool hit it though in that the road speed that pretty well gives the best gas mileage before it starts to drop off is where they like to run. I did a 6K road trip to Kansas, Texas, Vegas and back in my old OT ride a few years ago. One of those rigs that had the digital gas mileage readout on the instrument panel. On the 80 mph speedlimit roads in Wyoming and some other states I cruised at 74/76 because over 76 the mileage took a nose dive and getting to the next gas stop a few minutes earler wasn't worth six miles to the gallon. That black thing I have out in the driveway now, seems to have it's happy spot at those 80 mph limits. You have to put that bugger on cruise control just to save getting tickets. Just drive it at the speed it feels right an sounds right and sounds happy and call it good.
Thanks guys, all sounds the goods so far, lotta good points! I'll be sure to document the drive when I do it, cheers! Sent from my Coffin using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
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