#12 - The Bucket Seat

Literally... The Bucket Seat.

The Bucket Seat

I asked why.

Always the thinker, hubby is measuring the distance from the seat/steering wheel to the inside dimension of the body style he is still deciding on.

For the record, this photo put us both into hysterics.

Vroom - Vroom!

#11 - Removing the Cowl

Hubby recently removed the Buick's cowl.

He hooked up the engine hoist and threaded rope through the holes where the cowl lights mounted. The hoist made it easy to clear the engine and steering column, and with the cowl weighing somewhere in the rage of 80-100 lbs., it was an easy (albeit cumbersome) one-man event.

Removal of the Cowl

Getting the piece off is critical while he decides which direction to take the vehicle.
Whichever he decides: a Boat-Tail Speedster or Mercer style, the cowl will need modification.

#10 - Uncovering the Fun Things

The neat little things hubby TD (hubby) finds on the Buick are pretty cool. Standard things like the shifter lock, shaft bells, and factory stamp in the wood frame are previously mentioned. Then there is the neat little oil can mounted on the inside of the firewall. It's standard issue, but still amazing to see present and accounted for after 91 years. One can just picture it being diligently used to oil things up back in the day. It's just a very cool piece (in my opinion). For a photo of a nicely restored engine compartment containing one of these, CLICK HERE

The condition of the wood wheels is another perk to this Buick. TD says they actually appear to be very solid...meaning you can't rock the car sideways. Closer inspection will happen down the road when the tires come off.

While the tire is shot, the wheels seem to be solid. 

Another interesting aspect is the starter. Here are TD's own words:

"The starter motor is also the generator. The windings are used for starting, but once the engine is running it is driven by the engine as a generator. Very much like today's hybrids that recover energy upon coasting or braking - store it, and then use it for motor power. Buick was 90 years ahead of its time! So can I say I have a 1925 hybrid? Maybe I can get a tax deduction for my purchase?!"

The drive system is this: There is a shaft driven by the engine itself, that in sequence drives the water pump, the distributor and the generator/starter. Hubby finds all of this VERY cool.

As tear down continues and the little things uncovered, our appreciation for this vehicle grows.

#9 - Getting the Manuals

When you get an old car you need to find as many manuals pertaining to your model as possible. Hubby finds his all over the place and starts the purchases immediately. Books like an assembly manual is considered the Holy Grail. Those were basically step-by-step (assembly) procedures from the factory and unfortunately those books only go back to about the 60's.

In the 1925 Buick's case, he wanted a maintenance/overhaul manual, a parts book, an electrical schematic, and perhaps one on the carburetor.

While recently working on the cowl disassembly, a hole located directly in front of the shift lever caught his eye. He remembered seeing a rusty locking mechanism in one of the parts boxes that came with the car and after checking his trusty parts manual saw that this hole was for a shifter lock.

A key would be used to set--or lock-- the shifter in gear or place so the car wouldn't be moved or driven off. You saw the condition of the vehicle in Post #1 so you already know he doesn't have a key, but he DOES have a good locksmith in town that can do anything.

Yale Lock

Note the set screw on the side to snug it tight. 

Amusing point: The set screw you see above holds the locking piece in. Unscrew that and the lock comes loose. If you had a screwdriver you could steal the car. 

Back to the point of this post: Make a list of the manuals and books you want for your vehicle and immediately start hunting them down so you have them on hand. Without the parts book to reference, figuring out that hole would be difficult.

#8 - The Debris Field

The debris field from the disassembly process is growing. Pieces of wood, metal, parts, springs and anything not related to a Speedster are accumulating on the garage floor. It is a fascinating pile of metal and wood.

So much interesting stuff.

Things like the bumpers, glass, rear body cab, radiator pan and fenders were advertised for sale. People who want to make a Buick Rat Rod could be interested.

Bumpers

Fenders

In the meantime, be prepared for your project garage space to expand until you can get the stuff you don't want out of your way.

#7 - Prepping to Remove the Cowl

The prep work for removing the cowl was a little tedious.

Hubby had to disconnect everything from the dash and instrument panel. It was all fished through the firewall and labeled. The reason for this is that when assembly begins and he is ready to completely rewire everything, he will know what goes where. 

This is called experience. If you've done an auto project and not labeled, you experienced unnecessary grief. 

Example: The Multi-Switch Terminal. This single item controls the ignition on/off, headlights, cowl light, dash light and dome light. Labeling is not only smart but somewhat necessary. If you can find schematics online for your vehicle, they will probably just show a picture of what the terminal looks like -- which isn't helpful. So in short: LABEL THINGS

The hardest part of this process was struggling with some of the rusty square nuts on the back of the dash. 

After this unbolting and removal of things is complete, it enables hubby to take the entire cowl off in one piece. Additional stripping and sorting can be done after the cowl is on the garage floor.

#6 - Stripped To the Wood

It took two people to lift the cumbersome engine cover off and two people to lift the cab off the frame. Other than that, hubby did it all the break-down over a couple days...and a few loads of laundry. (Oh this is a dirty car).

The wood frame is literally sawdust in locations and will all be rebuilt. When you disassemble, just know that the coveralls you wear will look like you rolled around in the dirt for about a week.

Cab off, and ready to find a new home with someone.

Stamped Fisher wood body number from the factory.

No running boards, fenders, engine cover, doors or cab. 

Wood Removed

The next step is trying to find a new owner for the parts not required for a Speedster. Joining a Buick club is one way to find a new home, another is to advertise in one of the publications previously mentioned.

Rebuilding the wood frame will take some work, but if you have woodworking skills it shouldn't prove too difficult. Luckily hubby is very skilled in this area. 

The much harder job will be finding someone to abrasive-blast the frame. There are a few methods out there and hubs is considering them all. The most obvious and known is sand, but there are choices of glass bead, aluminum oxide, silicon carbide and even dry ice. Do your research. 

If you can't do the job at your own location and driveway, then another flat-bed tow will be involved and you'll be taking your car offsite. All things to consider. 

#5 - Disassembly Begins

The fun part: Disassembly

Hubs couldn't wait to start pulling the loose pieces out of the cab area and taking inventory.
He had been given a clear indicator of what to expect in terms of a complete vehicle but I equate his excitement on this part of the process to a man's dream of Christmas: "You just don't know what to expect"

He laid everything out on a blanket and assessed what he had.

This was the inside of the cab. It was a myriad of metal pieces, glass, springs and unknown pointy objects that had been stacked in there for safe keeping for decades. 

Much more comprehensive. But look at the upper right corner of the cardboard. 

So what is in the upper right corner of the parts cardboard? Those are called shaft bells! They were found mounted to the under carriage of the vehicle. We have no clue why but I love them. More information can be found about shaft bells at the Classic Bells website: click here to read more

The article states that shaft bells were often mounted underneath a vehicle if the car was used in city neighborhoods to sell frozen treats (ice cream). The motion of the vehicle sounded the chimes. 

Excitement of shaft bells aside, the glass from the cab was found intact inside with only a minor crack on one piece. The Speedster won't be using any of this and we will farm it out to someone who is looking for replacement glass on their Buick. Impressive though that so much is salvageable. 

Glass was intact with the exception of one piece! 

#4 - The Garage Shop

No, hubby does not have a big pole barn or five car workshop. The Buick went into the the empty spot in our garage and that's where the work will be done that he can do here. Any metal fabrication, paint or upholstery will of course be done offsite.

The flat-bed tow truck slid the Buick in like a glove. If you go this route, be sure to get a guy who knows his stuff. Our local tow truck man is a gem.

Hubby used a jack to pull, while the tow truck pushed, to inch the Buick in. 

Note the car dollies under the wheels. 

2x4's used as a cushion to inch the Buick in by the flat bed so the garage door would close. 

And we are in!

Do yourself a favor and purchase car dollies. Hubby purchased his at Harbor Freight. 

They will make your life a lot easier.

#3 - The Delivery

So our purchase was done and arrangements made to get the 1925 Buick from Connecticut to Illinois. We found a fantastic car carrier company out east by the name of Boston Car Carriers, LLC. They worked with us on getting it transferred out.  BCC was friendly, very communicative, totally professional and reasonably priced. The bad news for anyone wanting to use them is they stick to the east coast and only go as far west as the Mississippi. If you live within those confines, use them! Heck, call them anyway if you live farther away and see if you can strike a deal.

BCC used a closed carrier and delivered on-time, with regular updates along their way alerting us of any delay.

All of that dirt you see under the car actually fell off during transport. 

The bucket you see contains pieces of wood and small misc. objects that jiggled loose. 

Understand when you buy a vintage car such as this, you will lose pieces that simply fall off during any transportation process. The under-body is a wood frame and you will definitely find pieces of wood, screws, bolts and sawdust in your car carrier when you open the door. Be prepared with a bucket and broom!

Hubby had thought this completely through, and made arrangements with our local tow service to be on stand by and arrive with a flat-bed truck in conjunction with BCC. The reasoning behind his brilliant mind is that BCC used a winch to pull the Buick into the carrier because the car isn't running, and tires are flat. Getting it off the truck by manpower and pushed into the garage would not be an easy feat.

By using the flat-bed tow truck service, BCC could slowly let the Buick down their ramp while the tow truck winched it on to theirs.

No, the quilt didn't stay and went back with BCC. 

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

Other than arousing the interest of our neighbors, all went smoothly. 

#2 - The Purchase

Finding the right body at the right price was somewhat difficult, but persevere and you'll find one out there on the Internet. Hubby watched the online ads on Hemmings, Craig's List, and Classic Cars.com and eventually found the one he wanted advertised with Hemmings.

I'd caution you to only look locally for Craig's List and not search an area you can't readily drive to because Craig's--while great--is no Hemmings in terms of authentic individuals who are selling vehicles. Hemmings offers the buyer a brief overview of the seller in their notes like "5-Year advertiser" (example) which shows you the seller history and that he isn't a fly-by-night person wanting to rip you off because...been there, done that!

For those of you who want to live dangerously, you can search all of Craig's List and not just your immediate area via the site "Search All Craigslist" - This will do exactly what it says and look for what you want everywhere.

Are there other places to find the right body? Sure. One method is to join a car club of the body type you will use for your Speedster. In our case, hubby joined the Buick club here.

Below are those website screenshots I captured with iPhone. It's easy to do your search on your phone anytime, anywhere!

When you decide on a seller, check them out. Let me rephrase that. CHECK. THEM. OUT.
Did they list an address? Google it, do satellite view, see if they have garages. Am I talking stalking? No. Yes. Sort of.

Look, it's your money and there are plenty of people out there trying to get it. Just try and research the seller as best you can.

Good luck.

#1 - It Began 60 Years Ago

60 years ago model car kits were a huge piece of my husband's childhood, except he didn't follow the directions and modified each kit to his liking. One could say he was ahead of his time for his age.

Here is one of his kit cars:

Speedster Model Kit circa 1956-ish

It's been carefully packed away and moved over a dozen times. The steering wheel is missing, but the fragile vehicle is still with us some 60 years later as a fond memory of his childhood and passion for vehicles.

Now fast-forward to April 2016, when hubby finds and purchases a 1925 Buick with intentions to make it a Speedster. 

Oh....My......

Let the fun begin.