Projects 1949 Buick Sedanette Mild Custom Build

Took it down off the stands and,moved it,outside to see how it sits. I'm liking it!

 

Man that looks great!! Lippy

 

That is one great looking Buick you’re doing. Very nice work and attention to detail, good job. They really do make excellent customs. I had a 47 convertible years ago. I do have an original power window switch if you should need I t.


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That looks great, nice stance!

 

I think Gene Winfield would approve.


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If youve ever looked at those Buick side opening hoods and thought, "Boy those look cool, I would love to have a car with that one day.", youve, obviously, never tried to adjust one and get it right. I've spent most of 2 days screwing with mine and have adjusted every panel from the doors,forward,trying to get the hood to fit, latch in and look decent. When you move one thing, it affects the other. I havent figured out yet how I am going to do it once its painted.

 

I must have gotten lucky with mine, it fits and shuts and latches fine.

 

And doesn't rub the paint off the edges? What is the gap between your hood and fender?

 

I have the hood off now replacing the head gaskets on my Cad engine. Hope to finish it this week end but I will be working alone and will not be able to put the hood back on to measure it. The car is at my farm in Wisconsin, and I live in St Paul MN. I will take pictures when I get the hood back on. Have you looked at the factory shop manual on how to adjust the hood hinges? I just followed that and it worked.

 

Mine kinda fits but it's original and the latches are tweaked. In fact I think two of them on opposite sides aren't even't working. I don't take it over a hundred.

 

Yes, I looked at the manual. My car had been butchered on the front end. It had no core support and things had been "modified". I had to reconstruct it, so there is some variability there, as well. When you move a fender in OR out, you have to move the thing a corresponding amount, plus you have to get it at the right height, angle, etc before the pins will slide in smoothly and the mechanism can latch. I have it about as good as I'm going to get it unless I rebuild the hinges or modify them.

 

I was thinking about putting a safety catch in the center front of my hood incase one of the side hood latches lets loose when I meet a semi or a gust of wind at speed.

 

I believe I would!

 

I was also thinking of putting some kind of safety catch on the front of the hood, maybe cable operated from inside. Lippy

 

Dang! Trying to get the hood gaps close and NOT RUBBING is proving difficult....but I'm not done yet. I did take a diversionary trip and closed the hood gap above the grill. I could get my fingers,in there before. Now, I have a nice 3/16" gap.

 

Glad I'm not the only one with that disease, lol. Love what you've done with this car. Even the non-Hamb-friendly mods. Just the right mix!

 

This is going to be a long distance cruiser. It's over 1000 miles to Salina from here but I plan to go to KKOA again...one day.

 

Love to do a '50 Sedanette in a similar style one day. I bet your car will make a great long distance driver.

 

I can't give you any magic on the hood. Like BJR I followed the manual and lucked out. It took some time but I think I got the gaps pretty even. I had to contend with a new clip on the front end but it didn't seem to throw everything out of proportion. I did have help from a 40 year body man who knew a lot about the old school stuff but it was mostly trial and error. Stay with it and walk away for awhile when the frustration begins to set in.

 

After 4 days of adjusting, bending, shimming and finally, using a porta power, I got the gaps to 1/4". However, it still gets really close in spots when you lift the hood 6-8". I'm just worried that it might chip or rub the paint off.

My paint and body guy is stopping by this week to look at it. If we can't get that to work, I may go look for a BMW mechanism that slides forward and tilts forward. I'm not anxious to do that but I am beginning to hate these hinges.

 

This damned rear seat was something I just had to digest a little at a time. If I got cut or stuck by a hog ring once.....you know the rest. I placed sew foam in between the coils laterally and then ties them down with some webbing I had. LOTS of hog rings and lots of cursing. I'm never going to complain about what upholstery costs again.

 

Remind me why we do this to ourselves again....

 

"Hog riding"??? No wonder you got scratched up!

 

Went to the Pull A Part today and found a '95 BMW with forward tilt hood mechanism. I had to go buy a battery powered Sawzall before I could get everything I need. It's supposed to rain tomorrow but I plan to go back on Sunday and get the parts. The idea of a forward tilt hood appeals to me for a lot of reasons over the side hinged hood. Wish me luck in getting those parts integrated!

 

Geesch you sure seem to like a challenge! I have no doubt however that you will make it work given your past history.

 

My buddy, Richard, has helped motivate me to do this build right. He's going to help me with the hood mechanism. After all, it was his idea.

And I'm in no hurry. I DO enjoy a good challenge.

 

Oh please take lots of pics of that process. I’m fighting with my latches right now. That’s definitely something I would be interested in doing to my 51! Really great work so far man, rock on!!

 

My front bumper fits well and I'm about ready to just stick with it as is. The rear bumper, however looks "flop eared". The outsides stick,out further than they should and the gap is not good. So, I conducted a little surgery today and I'm very happy I did it. This is how they should be.

 

Your flip flops remind me of the last time I wore them in my shop.....I ran in to get something, hit the air hose (with one of my feet) which was attached to the die grinder with a pointed carbide cutter on my bench. It went sailing in the air and drove the pointed carbide into my foot. On dam bloody mess FWIW

 

I do like to wear sandals in the summer. Welding and grinding is not a recommended activity with them, however. I do sometimes try to slide by.