Jyrki's Buick Site - project status 6/2001

June 2001

This page was lost when my computer's hard drive crashed, and a friend at work was able to retrieve the contents years later
- thanks Hannu! Now the original page is published in June 2005, with some notes.

On the frame there was only one spot that had rusted through - just ahead of the rear spring tower, and on passenger side only. I welded up a patch panel and while at it, fabricated upper mounts for modern shocks (not visible). The red stuff is industrial epoxy applied by the sandblasting shop. I roughened up everything and sprayed on a coat of PPG DP-40 epoxy primer.

This is a 1946 Cadillac 62 -series Sedanet taillamp assy that I'm going to use. I had to fabricate the buckets from stainless sheet.
There were cracks in the original brass bezels, which were repaired by brazing with silver. It should have been done AFTER removing the old plating, as the plating removal bath ate all silver off, and removed much of the thickness of the brass. Since the brass material is now too thin to redo the plating, I have to use them as is.

The left one is a 12-tooth pinion from 1955. With a 41-tooth ring gear it makes a 1:3.42 rear gear. The right one is the original 10-tooth pinion (10-41= 1:4.10 rear gear). The challenge here is that 1955 uses different bearings than 1937-54, and are hard to find. The front bearing is otherwise the same but is sealed on pre-55. As you can see the rear bearing on 55 is wider. The OD's and ID's are the same all years.
However I could use the 37-54 rear bearing, by turning 0.1" out of the 1946 spacer. This will bring the distance, from front to rear bearing, equal to the 1955 setup. Now I'm waiting for new bearings from Buick Specialists to arrive.

Note June 2005: as we know by now, this larger pinion gear requires the use of a 1954-55 third member. So I discarded the whole idea of swapping gears

If I've learnt something, it is to do everything once and for all. So I took the clutch plate to a local shop to have it refaced. I also replaced the throwout bearing and pilot bearing, which were off-the-shelf items at the local parts counter.

The other part here is a NOS rear engine mount from Buick Farm (the old one came out in 3 pieces). The nice thing about it is that it was only 1/2 the price of revulcanizing, and I didn't have to send the old core overseas. Also, this 60-70 series mount features harder rubber than 40-50 series, while revulcanized are all same.

Note June 2005: as we know by now, I swapped the trans for a B-W Super T-10, which has different splines, and needed a different clucth plate. A Muncie would have had the same splines as the original Buick. Also, this rubber mount couldn't be used either - it was substituted with a pair of old Volvo motor mounts.

[Frontpage]

On the frame there was only one spot that had rusted through - just ahead of the rear spring tower, and on passenger side only. I welded up a patch panel and while at it, fabricated upper mounts for modern shocks (not visible). The red stuff is industrial epoxy applied by the sandblasting shop. I roughened up everything and sprayed on a coat of PPG DP-40 epoxy primer.
	This is a 1946 Cadillac 62 -series Sedanet taillamp assy that I'm going to use. I had to fabricate the buckets from stainless sheet. There were cracks in the original brass bezels, which were repaired by brazing with silver. It should have been done AFTER removing the old plating, as the plating removal bath ate all silver off, and removed much of the thickness of the brass. Since the brass material is now too thin to redo the plating, I have to use them as is.
The left one is a 12-tooth pinion from 1955. With a 41-tooth ring gear it makes a 1:3.42 rear gear. The right one is the original 10-tooth pinion (10-41= 1:4.10 rear gear). The challenge here is that 1955 uses different bearings than 1937-54, and are hard to find. The front bearing is otherwise the same but is sealed on pre-55. As you can see the rear bearing on 55 is wider. The OD's and ID's are the same all years. However I could use the 37-54 rear bearing, by turning 0.1" out of the 1946 spacer. This will bring the distance, from front to rear bearing, equal to the 1955 setup. Now I'm waiting for new bearings from Buick Specialists to arrive. Note June 2005: as we know by now, this larger pinion gear requires the use of a 1954-55 third member. So I discarded the whole idea of swapping gears
If I've learnt something, it is to do everything once and for all. So I took the clutch plate to a local shop to have it refaced. I also replaced the throwout bearing and pilot bearing, which were off-the-shelf items at the local parts counter. The other part here is a NOS rear engine mount from Buick Farm (the old one came out in 3 pieces). The nice thing about it is that it was only 1/2 the price of revulcanizing, and I didn't have to send the old core overseas. Also, this 60-70 series mount features harder rubber than 40-50 series, while revulcanized are all same. Note June 2005: as we know by now, I swapped the trans for a B-W Super T-10, which has different splines, and needed a different clucth plate. A Muncie would have had the same splines as the original Buick. Also, this rubber mount couldn't be used either - it was substituted with a pair of old Volvo motor mounts.