Customs 1951 Buick Special

I went through I think 3 or 4 filters on my 50 Buick that had been sitting a while before they came out clean. Your car makes me miss mine.

 

Driving em makes the slosh in the tank help clean things. There is something about the big luxury brands like Buick, Packard and Cadillac of this time. So robust, floaty ride, ornate and weird extras. You may miss it but you have a Killer ford right now!

I found an inspection paper from 2013 on the last title transfer, its only had 240 miles on it since then, I have put 40 of them.

 

Holy smokes. That filter is ridiculous. Looks like its packed full of cayenne pepper. What is it?

 

That tank must be a mess inside. Sooner or later you know what you gotta do...

I have been putting more miles on my "new" 1966 Belair. I have to splice in a metal gas filter, but so far the tank seems to be clean.

I keep increasing my travel distances gradually, I'm up to 40 mile round trips.

 

Yeah but probably would burn in a different way.

Yeah I know what needs to happen, soon for sure. Yeah its the fun of meshing and building trust etc.

 

I put an additional filter near the tank on my 50 to protect the rebuilt fuel pump.

FWIW, the manual cars (in 50 at least) had 4.10 gears. I've spooled mine up to 76 or so, but wouldn't want to maintain that on the freeway.

 

When I was junking cars for a living, one yard let us have leftover gas from tanks we pulled. We strained it through a rag, but still had crap in it.

We had a few gas filters in the glove box when one got clogged up. I finally ran one just after the tank as well as one by the carb.

 

Happy monday everyone.

Well, I have been slowly getting over the cracked ribs. Finally can bend without wanting to punch a baby.
So I refilled the rear shocks when I was doing the rear wheel cylinder rebuilds. That made a HUGE difference, the car has alot more brakes, and the ride is so nice now. I put a bobblehead tiki on the dash, figured why not have a little fun.



A picture from hitting the local meet, Niftiee 50ees here in Spring Tx.


Few pics from a friend of mine who is a great photographer.




So I decided I needed some tunes, and the factory kick panels were trashed. So I made some kick panels with some speakers in there just for the interim till I figured things out better. But these sound good. Its all bluetooth junk so no Radio hanging down etc. There is a receiver in the glovebox, and a tiny baby amp bolted to the bottom of the factory radio. Its very Hidden.



Got my new Plaque for the car, made some mounts and installed it in the back dash that I recently recovered with some Serape to cover the stained faded junk that was there.



Dinner pic from my Saturday night spending some one on one time with the ole gal.

 

Few updates also, decided to cut and try to get a little shine out of this shitty clear and paint. It shines some, needs about 3 more compound rounds to get it right I think. But having to be careful to not burn through. Wetsanded with 400 all the way to 1500, still has some deeper scratches that are a maybe I can get out, its better though. Before the paint was all overspray clear over the whole car. The green was my main focus, the white on the sides is cleared over the rust drips from the trim, but the white is stupid thin with green under it. Having to think about the approach on that stuff.












URGENT Search!
So I am going to try to drive this thing to Roundup this next year! So I am Looking for a 3rd member to get some more freeway out of her. Figured it out I think. 3.9 in it currently with a 27" tire. So trying to find a 3.2 or 3.4 so keep me in mind if you have a 3rd member laying around. Thanks.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/buick-3rd-member-wanted.1326144/

 

Happy Weekly update.

I decided to tackle something I knew was needed sooner than later. Heater hose replacement. 3 runs of the hose were orig. hose. Loosened clamps and they broke as soon as the hose deflected any bit in trying to remove it. Some came out in multiple pieces. All of them are replaced now, and the heater valve under the dash is hooked back up and works. I am still flushing the cooling system, did a refill and 2 more drains today, still getting pretty rusty water out of it. So will do some dishwasher detergent treatment soon and go from there. But she is back together. 25' of 5/8" heater hose will cover it for those wanting to do this project.

I also Tested the motor inside the vent tube for the defroster, it does work but the wires very damaged so it will need wiring and voltage resistor to be up to going back in service.

I will need to address the under-floor heater motor soon.

I did replace the Inst lights to 12v bulbs finally. Had a few 6v bulbs and was wanting to see how long they would last. Surprised me they ran for alot longer than I thought they would.

 

Been a few weeks, got her out today for a nice little drive and parts running.

Been cutting and polishing her a bit more in some areas. But Was nice to get her out, drive to a few stores, eat lunch and be home with no issues. I did hook up the vents from the grill area finally. Those things bring a nice flow of air in. Ive had to rework 1 of the cables and lube the hell out of them but the levels pull fine now.



Hope everyone had a great thanksgiving.

I had looked at a 51 Cadillac the other day, I was contemplating replacing this with that, but after weighing my options, I think I'm going to stick with this for now. This gal has a bit of rust, but a few rockers and some patch panels here and there, she is good, surprisingly the more she drivers the better she has been running. I've now done 70 on the speedo, and with these shorter tires that's 64mph roughly, so I know she can do it. I now know it has the 3.6 gear in it, so I'm no longer searching for a 3.4 because that would be no real gain but alot of pain.

Few photos of the car with the green buffed out etc. Now to figure out how I want to handle this white issue!

 

Hope everyone had a great New Years.

Just been driving her. She is for sale kinda but not really pushing it. Really wanting a early 50s Caddy. The one thing that really was a kick to the nuts was Fatman Fab being shut down, now I cannot get dropped uprights, and that was part of the puzzle I was really needing. So that has kinda derailed the build, then that made me think about parts supply chains on things, its getting more difficult it seems for the cars that are not mainstream cars. I have a buddy who has a 29 A sedan for sale, I have been torn on just building that since I can get parts easily. Just a tough decision.

Things she would need to be what I want. Honestly the gear needs swapped bad, the 3.9 axle is just too much to drive freeways here. 2800 at 60 mph kinda sucks. But she is riding and driving great. The wife and I have been using it as Date night car these days since the weather has been milder.

 

To update your radio, you may want to check out my thread on how I installed a Retro Sound unit and kept my stock Buick face plate with working push buttons.
https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/retrosound-in-my-49-buick-radio.1313541/#post-15190777

 

Hello,

Back in May 2018, I was driving around looking for this surfboard mfg. shop in the “surf ghetto” of South Orange County in So Cal. I came across this cool looking lowered, custom, 1951 Buick Sedan sitting by the side of the road. I took some photos and put it in a HAMB thread. (see below.)

The first thing I noticed were the Lakes Pipes. Those were the big hit of the 50s and early 60s in So Cal. This application looked a little different. The front portion of the exterior Lakes Pipes went into a custom tube. I did not see the rest of the installation, as the traffic was flowing and I could only take quick photos, dodging the cars between shots.

There were two camps back then during the 50s and early 60s.

1. Mount the pipes along the bottom of the door sill. Make sure the front curved inlet pipe went back into the motor area, not hooked up, but to make it look like it was hooked up. “Fakies”

2. Get an inlet pipe running from the actual header down pipe or exit pipe in a “Y” formation for best exhaust flow back and out. Weld it to the Lakes Pipes under the door sill using the bolt on end caps when necessary. (At the local dragstrips, etc.)


Since I did not hear it run or look deeper into the wheel opening, I do not know which camp this set up falls. We have seen both styles in semi or custom cars.

Jnaki

The purple Buick looked as if it is still in a building stage. But, the roots are pretty solid for a current custom car/daily driver.

1951 Buick custom So Cal


https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/what-you-see-today.1059262/page-24#post-12574287

Straight out of the 50s-60s. Those capped, lakes side pipes tied the whole look together. This sedan could have cruised around in Long Beach during the 50s and 60s with just about everything you could buy, install and have fun within a day’s work. The pipes, the chromed reversed rims, smoothies plus chrome, caps, whitewalls, all made the cool, low look.

When I stopped to take a photo, an older, senior citizen, very elegant lady hops out of her giant SUV, points to the lowered Buick and says, “Looks cool doesn’t it?” Wow, a cruiser from way back in time. She probably works in the same small custom metal working design shop just up the street. Or, she was at one time, cruising around somewhere in So Cal as a teenager, in a nice custom Buick sedan.

Our dad was/is a Buick fanatic. From his 41 Buick fastback to his endless line of Buick sedans until 1984, he was proud that "his" cars were from the Buick factory in design and functions. But, my brother and i would have been happy to cruise around in this lowered 51 Buick if it were a parr of our dad's line up of purchases.

Those Buick sedans look much better as customs and cruisers. My wife and I saw this light purple custom Buick sedan later on and we were happy that some guy/girl drove such a cool car on the streets. it is not every day, that anyone sees custom cars cruising around.

Then one day recently the same Buick sedan showed up at a local car show. With new color paint combination that made it unusual and cool. Very nicely done! YRMV

My wife and I have not seen it since and perhaps, it is back in their garage getting more detailing and features. YRMV

 

Well, I've been driving the ole gal alot more in my local 10 mile runs, as freeway flying is still not the best. I do still enjoy stretching out in her and driving, its nice to have a plush car sometimes.

I still find myself at odds some days, I can pull the driveline and upgrade it for freeway flying or do the band aid fix of swapping rear axle, I found one a few hours away for 500 bucks, but still on the fence most days. The car is still for sale, and it's had a ton of messages, a few people come and look, most everyone said I was fair in my pricing.

I am still searching for a 32-34 coupe body or a 32 Tudor body for a future project as I have been accumulating parts for the next build. I could just sell it all off, focus on making this car better with a 700r4 trans and updated 10 bolt rear, or go for the gusto and put a nice SBC or Nailhead in there with the updated driveline. It's just hard to do all that suspension work on my back in the garage. I just have such a hard time taking a car running and driving well and ripping her apart.

Secondly, I want her lower and Fatman fab being out of business puts me at odds for dropped uprights now, so that's out of the equation up front. Thought about clearance the crossmember to get more travel from the LCA and move up the Upper to correct geometry. But this is the snowball I am trying to keep from rolling down the hill.

Cue Sinatra's "Thats Life".

I know that's part of hotrodding, but damn it's hard to take originality out of something so nice.

1 from the driveway and a another from last weekend's outing from other folks. Thanks for listening to me rant for a few..... Gota love the ups and downs.

 

LOL! We have a local group that has also started hanging out at Sonic but on Friday night in my town.

 

Nice, I got to say that its better than sitting around a normal show any day.