Congrats on getting her road worthy and being able to show it off. How's that Dyna-slow treating you??? Is it marking its territory. lol
Haha thanks, the dynaslow is treating me pretty well.. It's having some trouble staying in park but other than that it's doing what it's supposed to do. I've fixed all of the trans leaks and a few oil leaks from the engine but the rear main seal is leaking now... That's gonna be a fun one to stop up. I just want to cruise it for awhile. I don't mind it marking its territory enough to mess with the rear main seal right now.
Temporarily, you could duct tape a folded up piece of oil soaky pad to the bottom of the bell housing to catch the territory markers. Better yet, make a little tin tray that goes under a couple bell housing bolts so you can just slip out the wet one and slide a dry one in it's place. Usually easy enough to find a curb ramp to park on that will give you several inches more clearance under the middle of the car. A rolled up piece of carpet runner will give you a clean place to slide under on. Don't forget to take along a block to chock the wheels if your park pawl is slipping. Way cool car. A clean smooth chop would really make it sexy.
Man what a sweet ride! I can't get enough of the front end and the grille on this beast. Bad ass ride my brother.
The probable reason it won't stay in park is the rear transmission mount. On the early Buick they come apart on a regular basis. you can purchase another from Bob's Automobilia or just adapt it to another type of mount. I use one for a Turbo 400.
@CHUCK50DODGE & @knucklepower Gracias! @Crazyolman I replaced the rear mount when I did the torque ball retainer and seals. I've read that the linkage can sometimes be adjusted to correct the issue. I'm not quite sure how to adjust it for this Sometimes it will stay in park but most of the time it slips. I just use the parking brake and lay it out when I park.
Man this thread has got me to wanting a 50 again. Almost traded a 54 for one once (almost....). Could be the parking pawl, broke or worn. Have you tried unhooking the linkage to see if it will go into gears. If so then maybe the linkage does need adjusting which is just hit and miss until you hit the sweet spot. Also are you sure when you replaced the rear mount that the tranny was lined up well?
Just finally got around to building the air ride system last weekend. This is all on stock components including uprights and with 6volt system using manual valves and nitrogen. Some of the guys in my Buick Straight Eight FB group have encouraged me to post up the build here so I will work on that soon. Love your build man, keep digging!
Well I have some sad news.. Looks like the dynaslow may have cashed in its chips on the way home last night. She was losing power and momentum around 45mph and then I heard an awful grinding and almost complete power loss. Luckily this happened 60yards from my driveway so I was able to coast home. I backed it into the shop without any incident. First thing I did was check the fluid and it was way past the fill mark even though it was properly filled months ago and checked regularly. The fluid smelled like gear oil which I assume is not good. I'm going to get it up on the lift and drain the fluids and see what I find. I wanted to keep this car original as possible but it's become more of a limitation on drivability. I think I will do a 700r4 and open drive line conversion. I think it will make the car more reliable and a lot more fun to drive.
I have really enjoyed this thread.Keeps me inspired to work harder at keeping focused on all it has taken to sell off stuff etc and work toward getting my 47 Olds back on the road.I like the journeys and stories that come with building something.Makes the end result that much more satisfying for sure!!
hope you find one local. I have one in my 50 parts car. guy says its junk. might be some good parts in it. you can have it. yours might be in better shape. Andy
Thank you, I hope your project goes smoothly. I'm sure it'll be worth all the effort. Thanks Andy, I appreciate it. I'm sure I'll find one locally. Shouldn't be too hard of a swap. The most expensive part is the damn adapter kit. I'm gonna finish up my other project car before I dive into this. I'll post progress so if anyone considers doin this to their Buick they can have somethin to look at. I drained all of the fluids and the tans was way overfilled. The rear end had about 3/4 quart left. The torque tube had about 1/2 a quart in it. somehow gear oil has made it past both the pinion and spline seals and mixed with the trans fluid. while driving this mix made its way back and forth from the trans to the dif and when laid out it all ended up in the trans. I didn't overfill anything so that's all I can think of. Anyway, I refilled everything and drove it up and down the street without any issues. I really want to be able to cruise the car and this stock drivetrain is just to unreliable. That said, I'm going forward with the swap just to be able to enjoy driving the car without all the maintenance. Happy 4th!! Also, I've been throwing around the idea for a new project when the budget is existent. A slammed c10 service truck. Something like this.....
The Jalopy Journal
