Inland Northwest Buick chapter Kaleidoscope 2019_02 February

February 5, 2019

Volume 03 Number 02

Kaleidoscope

Inland Northwest Buick chapter Buick Club of America

images by jeff schindler

(why is there a Christmas bow on that grille, was santa good to me?)

Rendezvous

Special news

Date/Time: Third Thursday of each month at 6pm, (note: we usually eat dinner-self pay) Location: Conley’s Place Restaurant (12622 E. Sprague Ave, Spokane Valley, WA 99216) Upcoming meeting dates: Feb 21st Mar 21st Apr 18th May 16th

www.inlandnorthwestbuick.org

February 16/17 Early Bird Swap Meet / Puyallup WA February 23rd (Saturday) 2019 Inland Northwest Car Club Council Banquet “Show No Shine” banquet for all area car club members enthusiast to meet, be social to recognize individuals, couples and businesses within our community which make the clubs possible. Page 38 of the calendar events.

March 16/17 Almost Spring Swap Meet / Puyallup WA June 1st Regional Rendezvous Ft Borst/ Centralia WA June 15th 26th Buick Open / Puyallup WA June 12-15 NATIONAL MEET / Midwest City OK

e: inlandnorthwestbuick@gmail.com

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February 5, 2019

Volume 03 Number 02

A 53 Buick Roadmaster grille quest My quest for the correct grille for this 1953 Buick Roadmaster has only just begun, because I always loved the front end of this vehicle as it is. A few years ago I discovered that my 53 Buick has a 1954 Buick grille in it along with the upper grille bar “mustache”. So in order to put this vehicle together is a more correct resemblance of a 1953 Roadmaster it begins with its front grille.

In the following image montage I have included an illustration of the 1953 and the 1954 Buick front ends. Below that is an AD I came across at the end of this past November for a “1953 Buick front bumper” and I was very curious as there is more than just a

bumper in this picture. So I contacted the person, requested several more images of this “bumper” which they did provide to me. All along I am wondering how I am going to identify this “bumper” as a part which will fit to my model series, see, there are differences of parts that are interchangeable amongst model series (the 40=Special, the 50=Super, and the 70=Roadmaster) While each part does have an identifying number, come to find out not all parts are stamped with these numbers as I have discovered since purchasing this grille. Easily the grille teeth assembly [D in the illustration] by itself is worth $400.00. January 2nd I disassembled these parts searching for identifying part numbers and the only place I discovered with any identification were the brackets [A = brackets] one was stamped with a 40L while the other was stamped 40R. The 50 and 70 series grilles are the same size, yay..

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e: inlandnorthwestbuick@gmail.com

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February 5, 2019

Volume 03 Number 02

Wildcat wanderings CALLING ALL INWBCA BUICK ENTHUSIAST, urgent need for you to share your Buick automotive story with the group here in your newsletter. Tell us about your current Buick, how it found you, how you have tenderly cared for it, your quest to locate missing pieces and get the Buick whole. Maybe your Buick has an unusual story or history within itself. Maybe this is your 12th classic Buick and we just have not heard the story yet, well this is your platform to share that story. Share your relationship with the Buick automobile. Maybe your Buick is in pieces (as is mine) share the story. I can share stories and pictures of late 40’s and 50’s Buicks all day long because that is what I seek out and that is what finds me in unusual places, would love to read about early Buicks thru the late 40’s, anyone?

You can mail in your hand written stories along with a few accompanying photos to help illustrate the path the Buick has traveled. Type letters will work well in this situation, or email. What ever works for you we just need content ( words and images) so I am not rehashing my limited Buick history every other issue.

Found this 1952 Buick Special spring of 2018 in a local Spokane valley salvage yard. It was packed in there very tight with no sense of any organization as is everything in this yard.

The body panels look pretty straight, both front fenders, there are some good parts remaining if you are so inclined to go picking. Note the third image top right which shows that one year only tail fin, both front and rear bumpers and bumper guards look decent. The unique hood hinge mechanism, which allow the hood to be opened from side to side or completely removed easily. So it sits, I would love to hear its life story

www.inlandnorthwestbuick.org

e: inlandnorthwestbuick@gmail.com

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February 5, 2019

Volume 03 Number 02

Nailhead Notes

by Todd Smith

Greetings everyone! This is a new section I hope to bring every month to the newsletter focusing on maintenance or some similar aspect of restoration/upkeep on our vehicles.

This month I’d like to start

out with a note on ethanol fuels and their potential to wreak havoc on the pre-2001 fuel systems that weren’t designed for them. I’m not going to go into too much detail on this, but I will leave links to several articles on the subject for those who want to do further reading.

Ethanol in this region is currently mixed with gasoline at a rate of 10% or E10 so the resulting mixture is 90% gasoline and 10%. While this is better for emissions and cars designed to handle this mixture most of our older fuel systems can suffer horribly from it. The other negative is that ethanol fuel creates 34% less energy per gallon. In other words cut your fuel mileage by 1/3! That is significant since most of our older beauties aren’t exactly getting great mileage to start!

www.inlandnorthwestbuick.org

e: inlandnorthwestbuick@gmail.com

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February 5, 2019

Volume 03 Number 02

Here are some of the other concerns of ethanol fuels: •Gasoline mixed with ethanol has a

shorter shelf life and goes stale quickly.

•Ethanol is hygroscopic, which means

it absorbs water more easily than gasoline. That leads to water condensation inside fuel tanks, carburetor fuel bowls and fuel lines where air spaces are present. Water content in fuel will also swell up the paper filter media inside fuel filters not specifically designed for flex fuels and can thus restrict fuel flow at the filter.

•Ethanol also erodes fiberglass

tanks, rubber hoses and plastic fuel lines. It contributes to rust in fuel systems by creating condensation in the unfilled portion of gas tanks. It will also dissolve varnish and rust in steel fuel components. These dissolved ingredients sit in the bottom of gas tanks until they are removed or they will enter the fuel system if the fuel level in the tank gets too low.

Below are several recommendations of things you can do to help avoid some of the pitfalls of ethanol fuels: •

Replace any plastic or rubber fuel lines with ethanolresistant hose or nylon tubing.

•

Install a water separator filter in the fuel line leading to the carburetor. Water collects in the filter and can be removed periodically.

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e: inlandnorthwestbuick@gmail.com

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February 5, 2019

Volume 03 Number 02

• Replace any fiberglass

tanks with steel or aluminum.

• Ensure that any O-

rings in the fuel system are also ethanol-compatible.

• Keep your tank as full

as possible to prevent air space where condensation can form.

•

Use specific ethanol-compatible fuel storage additives. These are normally blue in color. Regular fuel stabilizers will not work unless they are labeled ethanol fuel-compatible.

•

Vent your fuel system during storage for extended periods; the moisture your fuel system might absorb from the outside will be less than the moisture created in the air space inside.

•

Use of isopropyl alcohol-based dry gas will help to absorb system moisture. Regular dry gas is ethanol-based and will only make the problem worse. Isopropyl-based additives actually combine with the water molecules and removing moisture through the combustion chamber.

•

Use of a flex fuel-compatible fuel filter where possible will prevent degradation of the paper media in your filter by water in the fuel system.

www.inlandnorthwestbuick.org

e: inlandnorthwestbuick@gmail.com

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February 5, 2019

Volume 03 Number 02

Replacing parts in the fuel system with ethanol tolerant products will only get you so far on a classic vehicle since many parts simply aren’t being made. An alternative to all of this is to run ethanol free gasoline. This won’t magically repair any potential damage to date, but it will make all of the above moot.

Fortunately we have options here in the inland northwest. One way to find fueling stations that sell ethanol free gas is to go to www.pure-gas.org where you can search by state and city to find a good list of stations. In the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene area there is a chain of stations called Maverik that typically have ethanol free at every location. In most cases all stations will denote ethanol free with a blue handle.

Source links: https://www.hotrod.com/articles/mixing-new-fuel-for-old-cars/ http://www.motorweek.org/features/goss_garage/ethanol_classic_cars https://www.hemmings.com/blog/2012/11/14/tech-101-ethanol-ingasoline-and-its-effects-on-collector-cars/ Next Month: Spring Tune Up!

-When better automobiles are built BUICK will build them-

www.inlandnorthwestbuick.org

e: inlandnorthwestbuick@gmail.com

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