Projects '47 Buick Super Sedanette project

Fuel system works. It starts & runs - but a little rough. Will have to check that out. Maybe have to check vacuum line routing as well. The throttle cable is finished. Had to make a bracket on the inner firewall to hold the cable. Even after changing to the 472 intake, the divorced choke stove didn't fit in the manifold. So, I got an electric one from Mike's Carburetors. Installed that, but not sure how good it's working yet as I can't leave it run until I get coolant in it. And, the remote oil filter is leaking badly. 2 steps forward & one step back...

 

Hell yea, keep at it.

 

More progress. New lenses & gaskets (not cheap). Was gonna wire just the round ones for running lights & the "arrows" for signals, but decided it might be safer to have both lit as much as possible. Trying to keep the distracted drivers looking in the right direction. Thanks to everyone who helped out on my other thread about the 1157 pigtails. Worked out great. Thanks @325w for the pigtails. I'll pay it forward.

 

How does this help anything? Other than a bump.

 

We know each other & Max is allergic to the like button.

 

Ticking more small things off the list while I'm waiting for parts. Needed a front license plate bracket. Easy & quick made from an old bed frame. Nobody's gonna see it anyway. And, one taillight socket was rotted, so I removed the center & soldered in a better one. Not pretty, but it works.

 

Today was productive. Got my oil leak fixed. The spin on adaptor (from a reputable Caddy performance place) for the oil filter relocator was bottoming out on the threads before it sealed to the block. Got a PermaCool adaptor off of eBay and it works great. No leaks (yet).
The car starts up with the key, so the fuel system is where it needs to be. Filled the radiator with coolant & don't see any leaks there.
Also, I don't have the little "Super" chrome disc that covers the rear tag light that's built in the overrider. It has to have something to block the white light - not legal. So, I measured the diameter @ 2 3/8", searched the bay for a red plastic lens that size, and bought a dirt cheap one. Drilled 2 holes in it, and now I have a small taillight in the center instead of the chrome cover. Not beautiful, but it cost me under $5. Moving on to the next thing on the list.

 

I've kinda got a thing for those late '40s fast-back Buicks. Had one myself. Stock straight 8 Dynaflow. Wasn't as nice as yours is. Love the Cadillac motivation. She'll go pretty good even for a big car. Good luck. Have fun.

I've noticed Max doesn't talk a lot. Always the same thing.
But I know it's a compliment.

 

@Rickybop I originally bought this because I knew I'd never own a '49-'51 Merc. Well, I have one of those too. Plan was to get this roadworthy, put some miles on it & put it up for sale. But, my wife is starting to really dig this land yacht. Might have to keep it, unless I get a BIG offer on it. She's pushing me to sew up some interior for it too. The straight 8 was long gone when I got it & the Cad motor was kinda in there. It's getting closer every day!

 

Your wife likes the Buick, huh?
That's great. Mine did too. Sandy said once that when we were out in the Buick she felt "like the classiest broad around". And then she let out a big laugh... cuz she didn't usually talk like that. I lost her a while back, but I have some good memories. Might be fitting if I share this one. I hope you enjoy it.

It was a beautiful sunny day. Just perfect. Driving with the windows down kind of day in the Buick. We live pretty far out in the country. We were heading down a two-lane paved road with almost no traffic. Just for fun, Sandy was driving. We had both door windows all the way down. Now I have to say, my dear Sandy wasn't one bit ugly. Kinda Bo Derek not one bit ugly. And she had some very long very golden brown hair. Well, with the windows down and all that air rushing around, her hair seem to be floating. Just lightly floating around her head and catching the sunlight. And she had her blue eyes open wide and the biggest smile on her face cuz she didn't often drive my big old cars. I was on the passenger side of course, but kind of scrunched down low with my back against the door with just as big of a smile taking in all this beautifulness. It was awesome. And we were both enjoying the shit out of it. All of a sudden two fairly young men in another car had caught up to us and began to pass. It wasn't an aggressive pass. They weren't going much faster than we were. They had their windows down also. Kinda mellow. I believe they were taking their time, looking at the car as they passed us. But as they came alongside, they too caught sight of Sandy and all her hair. They cut their speed and lingered for a moment or two. They weren't being mean. They were respectful. But I could tell from the looks on their faces and the sounds that were coming out of their mouths that they were as taken with this vision as I was. They were like, "WOW!" Sandy gave them a quick look and a big smile. We all laughed and waved and they went on their way.
Need I tell you how proud I felt right at that moment?

 

I hope that you and your wife also have such happy and beautiful moments in your big old Buick.

 

@Rickybop Thanks for that awesome story. I am lucky enough to have a wife who encourages me to work in the shop. She puts up with me being gone several weekends while I'm performing for drunks with my guitar. And although she'd rather ride her Harley, she will come to some car shows with me. I'm a lucky man.

 

It runs, so now it's time to make it stop. Bunch-O-Stuff came from RockAuto today. Rotors, calipers, hoses, front wheel seals. Got one spindle that looks a like somebody did some grinding on it. Gonna put it together with the old wheel bearings & will put new ones on when I get around to replacing the spindle. The more I dig into it, the more I find that needs to be done.

 

No pics for today, but got the stoplights working, at least they did when I touched the wires together. Hopefully they still do when I am able to build brake pressure. Put a PCV valve on it & got all the vacuum hoses run. Touch the key & it starts. Got the new brake parts on but am missing a couple E brake parts inside one drum. Why does everybody take those out? Will look for those. Getting closer.

 

Question for the Buick experts. How can you tell the difference between a "Super" and a "Roadmaster" on the '46-'48 models? Pretty sure this one's a "Super" but not sure. Specials have a shorter wheelbase I believe. Looking for differences in the trim/body/interior. The original engine/trans is long gone.

 

Roadmaster had bigger [ wider ] brakes. Also longer from cowl forward.

Ben

 

"Batwing" striped by my friend - Johnny B Good

 

Picking out the 4 best wheels to use.

 

OK. Who's the trunk handle expert on these? I'm having 2 problems. It looks to me like there is a broken off part in the latch. Where the handle shank goes through, I'm thinking it should be longer & have a notch in it to be turned by the handle. Looks like maybe somebody forced it & it broke? Also, on the handle shank, there is a square piece that moves back & forth. Probably the part that turns the broken part. When I took the handle out, it was poking out the other side. I put a screwdriver in the key slot & turned the lock. Now, I'm thinking it's in the lock position & I can't get it to turn or back into the latch. Am I screwed?

 

The round hole with the flats is what you should need to turn to open the trunk. The locking part is built into the handle usually.

 

There are no flats. That's an optical illusion. It's completely round. The part that looks "flat" seems to be broken to me, but what do I know?

 

I’m inclined to agree with you. There should be flats if I remember right. It’s been 40 years since I last had one apart.

 

On the trunk handle, isn't it the last part, just before the threaded end that has the flats that turns the latch to open and close the trunk latch? If that is correct, then the latch has to have flats on it to engage the handle to open and close. So the flats must have rounded or broken off of the latch.

 

The hole in the latch that the handle goes into, looks like it has a flat in the pic, but it doesn't. That looks to me like there was a notch there, but the part that sticks out of the latch is broken off. The bigger problem now, is that the handle won't go back into the latch after I turned the lock cylinder. I pulled the snap ring off thinking the cylinder would fall out, but it won't. Can I get a key from the number stamped on the handle shaft? Looks like 8194.

 

Still haven't figured out the trunk latch. Made some seat brackets to put a '64 Wildcat seat on the '47 tracks. It bolted up first try, which surprised me, but it sits too high & too far forward. Back to the drawing board. On the positive side, I drove it out of the shop, so there's progress - I guess.
@Max Gearhead recognize that front seat?

 

Roadmasters have 4 potholes, Super has 3

 

This might get you pointed in the right direction. Once again, @squirrel to the rescue! And he didn't even have to show up.


https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/gm-door-lock-code.1016650/#post-11490784

 

here's the link to the page with all the info I have on old locks for GM cars

http://selectric.org/manuals/locks/index.html

if you're really patient, and you have a few spare locks and key blanks, you should be able to make a key for the lock with this info. I've made a few.