Parts and Services:
Online Forum about Pre-War Buicks!
Find parts, advice and expertise. Seek answers to all your questions, and help answer someone else's. Click HERE to have a look.
Credit Mark Shaw, Jack Gerstkemper, Dave Ebert and web mechanic Peter Gariepy for the Forum and their new BCA division specifically for us and our cars.
The organized and accessible Forum is in the Collectible Automobile series, hosted by AACA. Visit the new Forum now, and join the discussion.
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The Carburetor
Filled with holes and places to trap dirt, it works by magic, mostly. Yet everybody and his brother claims to know YOUR carburetor and what ails it.
Don't you believe it. Look into The Carburetor Shop, founded by Jon & Sue Hardgrove nearly 30 years ago. This family-operated business in Eldon, Missouri is your one-stop source for carburetors, carburetor parts, and carburetor restoration. Click on the Marvel there to go to their website.
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Check their site, then call:
573-392-7378 or email
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Such elegant stuff from Vintage and Classic Reproductions. They make door handles, trunk hinges, hubcaps and more, for Buick and many other makes of classic cars. Just look at these:
I've had great experience with the people at Kanter Obsolete Auto Parts. Dan Kanter says Do It Once and Do It Right! ®. If you read Hemmings Motor News you can't miss their ads. If you don't read Hemmings, you should pick up a copy.
 Bob's Automobilia -- What, you haven't heard of Bob's? These good people go to a lot of trouble to supply old-Buick owners with the correct parts, for Buicks from 1919 to 1956. Shop on Bob's website, and get your Valve-in-Head t-shirt here too!Meet Wiperman: Bob Ficken is your seek-no-further contact for wiper motors, arms and blades. Very reasonable prices, too.
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Story time: years ago, San Francisco's North Beach was home to an excellent butcher shop, Iacopi Meats. Their prices were high -- it cost you an arm and a leg to buy an arm and a leg there.
But their quality was such that it was worth it. That same dynamic seems to apply at J. B. Donaldson. Painfully expensive, but what a beautiful job! They'll recast your core as marvelously as this one here. Contact them at 602-278-4505.
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 Is mud and rust all that's holding your gas tank together? Nothing against the structural powers of mud and rust, but you ought to contact Moyer Fuel Tank Renu. These people know what they're doing. They can take your old tank (see picture) and make it good as new -- perhaps better.The Pro Antique Auto Parts full-line catalog lists thousands of new parts for General Motors products from 1929-1964. Call 1-860-623-8274 from 9 to 5 Monday thru Friday, Eastern time. or write to 50 King Spring Road, Windsor Locks, CT 06096.
At the Buick Farm, it's NOS parts only, sometimes in NOS boxes. And they have a great on-line catalog system. This is an interesting and unique company. But time is short so don't delay.
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Rubber parts are available for your Buick. One of the largest suppliers is Steele Rubber Products: windshield gaskets, vent window rubber, running-board matting, door weatherstripping, suspension rubber, motor mount rebuilding and more. The Buick with the Airstream is one of their customers' cars. Isn't it time you fixed those whistling window seals?
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The best man on planet Earth for late '30s Buick parts is Dave Tacheny. Believe it! Mail your want list to him at 11949 Oregon Ave. N., Champlin, MN 55316, or call 612-427-3460.
Boyer's Restorations in Pennsylvania sells interior plastic parts for Buicks 1937 and later. Don't get all excited; these are definitely "repro", but the prices are low. Write for catalog: 1348 Carlisle Pike, Hanover, PA 17331, or call 717-632-0670.
Don't use a standard incandescent shoplight while working on your car. I know, you've done it for years. So quit while you're ahead. If you break the bulb and there's gasoline around, you may regret it.
Better get a light like this one here. Several companies make them. This one's at a good price from a good company. You can click on the picture to go to the correct page on the Northern Tool website.
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For brass-era and other early cars, Restoration Supply Company can supply "the right stuff" -- all those fittings and bits you're missing. Where else can you get Rajah wiring terminals? 600W gear oil? Pyramid rubber floor matting?. Their wonderful new catalog is $3.00 and well worth it. Speaking of brass, don't miss the website of Classic Autopart Reproduction Service, BrassAuto.com; they do beautiful work.
Wire Wheel Rebuilding? Can't help you much, but the British magazine Classic & Sports Car had a "Specialist" feature on a father & son team, R Phillips and Son of Warley, West Midlands; tel/fax: 0121 558 5942, who do nothing but wire wheel work. Might be worth your while to contact them.
Ken Schmidt calls himself the Buick Guru. He has 200 Buicks, all made of parts he'll sell you. You might see his NOS stuff on Ebay. Click on Buick Bonery and tell him your needs.
Many 1930s and '40s Buicks benefit from radial tires from Diamond Back Classics. Ask anyone who runs radials -- they'd never go back to bias ply. Available in 16" diameter too. Radials mean better ride, better handling, and better mileage. No, they won't fit inside the sidemount cover -- put your best old-style tires in there.
Coker Tire can provide period-correct, top-quality rubber for Buicks and other classics. David Coker is a classic-Buick driver himself -- his 1937 Phaeton is pictured in this site.
 Before your old frayed WIRES cause FIRES, imagine how you'd feel if your beauty burned up. Then shop. Here's what I've found so far:Send for a catalog from Harnesses Unlimited, Box 435, Wayne, Pennsylvania 19087. You of the 1937-38 persuasion have seen their ads for years.
At Rhode Island Wire, Travis is waiting to fill your order. I like his attitude, and his website too.
California favorite YnZ's Yesterday's Parts was recommended to me by a shop in my area that specializes in rewiring classics. That's a YnZ harness in the picture there.
More Links below. For the pause that refreshes, consider these hood ornaments -- one of them is meant to grace a Buick. Either could grace my dreams. See more at Ken Thornton's amazing website (click on the pix).
Back to business -- more Links to people and businesses to help with your Buick:
Good chrome and nickel plating costs money, and is the only kind you want. I speak as a sadder but wiser man. Consider Advanced Plating in Tennessee, which was highly recommended to me. They'll get my next plating job.
 Bad badges? Weary emblems? Emblemagic does beautiful cloisonne work. Click and take a look. That's their blue Buick emblem over there.How fast are you going? Slow down and contact Chuck Kulbeth for speedometer and gauge restoration and repair. Custom and factory artwork for face dials. Clock conversions, cables, sensors, adapters, chroming, glass lenses. Phone 952-881-7095. www.gaugeguys.com. APT Instruments Int'l, 9632 Humboldt Ave S; Bloomington MN 55431.
Steering boxes require correct adjustment and lubrication. When that's no longer enough, contact Lares Corp. and see about remanufacturing your core.
Buick Restoration Services, P.O. Box 442, Perry, MI 48872, can supply beautiful and correct stainless-steel running board moldings for 1934 thru 1940 cars. They're near-perfect. Mail them a self-addressed stamped envelope, and you'll be glad you did. My advice: use stainless steel washers and nuts when you mount them on your running boards.
Antique Auto Fasteners carries all the little bits & pieces you're missing: curtain hardware, door springs, sleeve nuts, molding clips, peculiar screws -- you name it. Send $4 for catalog to Guy C. Close, 811 Oceanhill Dr., Huntington Beach, CA 92648; 714-969-9161.
No endorsement is implied by anything whatever on this website. Caveat emptor.
Information & Clubs:
 The 1937-1938 Buick Club is a treasure for owners of these year Buicks. Torque Tube, their award-winning bimonthly publication edited by Mark Jordan, presents a wealth of photos, information, history, tech tips, useful ads, and moral support -- an astonishing resource. Every owner of these Buicks should belong, and everyone interested is welcome. |
You probably already know about the Buick Club of America. It deals with all years & models. The club publication is The Bugle.
It seems like the BCA tries to be all things Buick to all Buick people; an impossible task. But they do try, and you should check them out. You can buy back issues of The Bugle that deal with your particular favorite era of car. And the ads are of interest to all of us.
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The Dual Carb Registry is dedicated to the location, documentation and preservation of 1941-1942 Buicks equipped with Compound Carburetion. Click the pic to learn more about these cars and meet other owners.
If you have a '41 or '42 Buick Special, Super, Century, Roadmaster or Limited, the Dual Carb Registry is your home for Buick news.
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The Buick - A Complete History
This 6th edition of Terry Dunham and Larry Gustin's massive compendium of Buick lore is now available.
Click the pic to go Automobile Quarterly's site and order yours.
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 Bruegger's Buick BooksThe complete story of these Buicks when they were brand new, told through the original advertising and supplemental material. Filled with detail on what makes these model years remarkable.
Prices shown per book include priority postage within the US. (Foreign orders please add $5 per book for extra postage.) To order, specify which books and send check or money order, payable to Walt Bruegger, for the required amount to:
Walt Bruegger
2432 Bridwell Way
Hayward, California
94545 U.S.A.
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 Marvelous Exploration of U.S. Highway 99, from Canada to Mexico
These three books by Jill Livingston, with photos by Kathryn Golden Maloof, will captivate anyone who loves the American road. Not just this highway but the 20th century itself is revealed through the author's evident love for history and for the territory this road has served.
Recommended! Click the pic to go to Living Gold Press.
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  My Eighty Years on Wheelsby R. S. McLaughlin
Here's a great thing: GM of Canada's website features a well-told autobiography of Sam McLaughlin. Worth reading; click on Sam to visit.
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By now you've figured out that a McLaughlin is a Buick built in Canada. Several McLaughlin cars are shown on this site. And if you've got one, you really belong in this club.
Click the logo over there and find out more.
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 1937 Buick Video -- Get Your Copy Now!From the only known copy of a 16mm black & white sound film made by Buick Motor Division in 1937. These high-quality VHS tapes are made from a digitally mastered original. Over half an hour long, with segments showing the construction of a 1937 Buick, and Buick's place in American society.
SATISFACTION GUARANTEED. $39.95 includes shipping. Mail it to Terry Dunham's Automotive Research Services, P.O. Box 4057, Apopka, FL 32704.
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Joris Bergsma's "Daily Magazine and Marketplace" for the pre-1940 car is ambitious, splendid and fun. Notice the word "marketplace" -- cars you can buy, and the parts you need.
Not even his site's visitors have more fun than Joris himself. Highly recommended site! Go there and have a look around.
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  FOUND THE MOVIE, FOUND THE BUICK!Hell Is A City takes you immediately into its time and place -- 1958 and Manchester, England. There's not as much of the 1938 Buick Special sidemounted sedan as I'd hoped for, but a few scenes anyway -- and it's the bad guys' car!
The best part of Hell Is A City is the city -- Manchester, in stark black & white, is beautiful and horrifying. Typical mood for the era -- everyone smokes, male chauvinism prevails, yet there's a fairly progressive jazz score. Stanley Baker does his best with desperately wooden dialogue. Two British Academy Award nominations, one for screenplay! Imagine. As stinkers go, it ain't bad. Buy it on Amazon.com.
Click on the 3 villains to see some images with the Buick:
Another movie with '38 Buicks is King
of the Underworld, with Humphrey Bogart.
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 Drive a Buick and Feel This GoodIn 1933 she leapt through the slipstream as nature intended, but for 1934 and '35 she somehow acquired a nightshirt. In '36 and beyond, the ornament came to resemble nothing at all.
Take a leap through John Forde's revised and expanded Mascot Mania -- so much to see. Click the pic to go there.
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TECHNICAL ADVICE RESOURCE
for owners of 1940 & '41 era Buicks
  Stumped by a problem? Need expert advice with your restoration? Ask Bill Anderson, who has kindly offered to field technical questions about Buicks of this period. Click HERE to email your inquiry. |
 Knowledge is powerso read what's written about your car.
Walter Miller's AutoLit is remarkable in the variety of materials offered. It's the largest source of auto literature in the world.
Also check out FactoryAutoManuals; Dan Bower has been serving the old car hobby since 1973.
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Where to get information about your own Buick? Right here!
More information and detail about your specific Buick year, model and serial number than from any other source. SATISFACTION GUARANTEED.
Contact Terry Dunham,
Automotive Research Services, P.O. Box 4057, Apopka, Florida 32704-4057.
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If you're a Buick person
you should probably own
The Standard Catalog of Buick
edited by Ron Kowalke.
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"Brass Buicks" -- say that, and right away they'll know what era you're talking about.
Steve Hammatt has a website by that very name; click on that Model 10 engine to visit.
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Got a pre-1916 Buick? Investigate the Horseless Carriage Club. These people know their cars and drive them! Good website too.
Got a 1916 or 1917 Buick (or a few years either way)? The 1916-17 Buick/McLaughlin Owners Group is for you. Email Dean Tryon to learn more. Quarterly newsletter is $10 for two years.
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Click to visit their website, mastered by Walter Leeman in three languages, with sets of pictures from their numerous club Events.
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Buick Car Club
of Australia
Victoria
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Buick Car Club
of Australia
N.S.W.
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From Melbourne -- click the image to visit their website, which opens with an intro you won't want to skip, and is filled with images and features on Buicks down under. Your host Rex Stubbs.
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From Sydney -- click the patch to visit their site, particularly "Buick Stories" -- articles on veteran and vintage years, all with pics, and unlikely you've seen a one of them before. Your host John Gerdtz.
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Andrei Bogomolov's Oldtimer Picture Gallery comes to us from Moscow, Russia. Andrei has hundreds of links and images, including many that you haven't seen elsewhere.
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Dennis Goethe collects professional cars, among them a 1937 Sayers and Scovill Byzantine Funeral Coach. Click on the pic to go have a look.
S&S went to quite some trouble to disguise the Buick origins of their vehicles.
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 Impossible to list all the Buick clubs around the world, but let's not leave out the United Kingdom Buick Club, ably managed by self-described Buick Nut Alf Gascoine. Click on that tomato-red coupe there to go to their website. That'll also get you inside the Association of American Car Clubs UK, which is worth poking around in, despite the name of their magazine, "Motorvatin". No lie! I know Chuck Berry said it in "Maybelline" but I don't care. |
 Want to practice your German?I don't speak a word, but here's a link to Automobile-Riekmann, a sizeable site with all sorts of USA-automobilia enthusiasm, and entirely in German.
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Marquette Owners Registry for Enthusiasts.
The Marquette was a 6-cylinder Buick model built for about a year, in 1929 and 1930. To learn more, click and visit their site. Don Holton will be glad to hear from Marquette owners worldwide.
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