Hello again, Pete here with a few more questions and updates.
After doing the heads (twice), I still had low compression. I'm pretty young still and gaining experience. What I learned is to do proper tests before fixing what ain't broke. All I had to do was shoot some air into the cylinders and take off the pushrod covers. Sure nuff' the rings are shot. In fact, a ring was busted and there were a couple of holes in piston #1. A little history about the car -- I am the second registered owner. A little lady who hailed from a Sunday's drive away was working at a Buick dealership (circa 1952), and flew out to Detroit to drive it home. I have a postcard from the Detroit Auto Lounge, pictures from along the way, registrations, a first birthday card (from the dealership!) and photographs up until the 1990's. When she (Patty) passed away, she left the car to her son, who sold it to Rick (a schoolmate), who was the owner of Rich's O.K. Used Cars. Rich was moving to Arizona so he had to get rid of his cool stuff, including this 1952 Buick Super Rivera (which sat -outside- his barn for fifteen or so years). When I bought the car, I was severely under-slept (working a graveyard shift), and extremely excited (thanks, Jay Leno). Rick even tried talking me into a square-body truck in the same price range, but to be transparent, I always wanted a fifty three since I was a kid, so eh, screw it, close enough.
Mind you, I didn't get a car until after I was supposed to have graduated from college (I went back, yes, I have the degree, thanks mom), and it was a minivan my parents were going to trade in for $500 to buy my sister a new Subaru. I'm proud enough to say that they never bought me a car, although despite my ultimate efforts to conceal the purchase of the Buick -somehow, the last four numbers of my card and my dad's matched and I was confused why I wasn't being charged and he was confused why he was being charged. The whole thing would have been a shit-storm if my grandmother hadn't called me up and told me my dad learned to drive on a '51 Special. Sentiment can be powerful. You should have seen the look on his face when it fired right up!
I swear that 263 was running on willpower alone. At Rich's O.K. Used Cars, I couldn't even work it up to a misfire because it had no brakes! For what it is worth, he was totally honest with me. He tried to tell me it was a stupid idea. Joke's on him, I am stupid! I am also in line to learn an actual trade, but for now I am broke as a joke. (Turns out an English degree isn't all it's hyped up to be, and my parents might have been right about Engineering). I am currently underway in what should be a budget rebuild, but I've mucked it up. I tapped on the first connecting rod to loosen it up --vigorously. I assumed all of the proceeding rods needed firm taps, and bent the connecting rod bolts. As obtuse as I am, I dragged at least two of those connecting rod bolts down the cylinders and royally screwed (severely gouged) at least two cylinders. Cylinder seven is past just catching a fingernail.
Sometimes I meet old mechanics and 95% of what they say is stuff my never-lets-me-sleep brain already knows, so I listen for an hour to learn a minute's worth of information. I have read the 52' manual like the bible. I am aware that the cylinder I scratched will likely need to be bored, and to consult with a machine shop.
Mishaps are taken care of. Questions are:
Do I need to rebuild the harmonic balancer? Does it have any rubber?
I am planning on replacing crank main bearings, conn rod bearings, so on. Are we talking minor imperfections or major issues before the crankshaft needs to see a lathe?
Pre-emptive answer: I just want to drive it. Rustoration is the goal, with good mechanical operations.
After doing the heads (twice), I still had low compression. I'm pretty young still and gaining experience. What I learned is to do proper tests before fixing what ain't broke. All I had to do was shoot some air into the cylinders and take off the pushrod covers. Sure nuff' the rings are shot. In fact, a ring was busted and there were a couple of holes in piston #1. A little history about the car -- I am the second registered owner. A little lady who hailed from a Sunday's drive away was working at a Buick dealership (circa 1952), and flew out to Detroit to drive it home. I have a postcard from the Detroit Auto Lounge, pictures from along the way, registrations, a first birthday card (from the dealership!) and photographs up until the 1990's. When she (Patty) passed away, she left the car to her son, who sold it to Rick (a schoolmate), who was the owner of Rich's O.K. Used Cars. Rich was moving to Arizona so he had to get rid of his cool stuff, including this 1952 Buick Super Rivera (which sat -outside- his barn for fifteen or so years). When I bought the car, I was severely under-slept (working a graveyard shift), and extremely excited (thanks, Jay Leno). Rick even tried talking me into a square-body truck in the same price range, but to be transparent, I always wanted a fifty three since I was a kid, so eh, screw it, close enough.
Mind you, I didn't get a car until after I was supposed to have graduated from college (I went back, yes, I have the degree, thanks mom), and it was a minivan my parents were going to trade in for $500 to buy my sister a new Subaru. I'm proud enough to say that they never bought me a car, although despite my ultimate efforts to conceal the purchase of the Buick -somehow, the last four numbers of my card and my dad's matched and I was confused why I wasn't being charged and he was confused why he was being charged. The whole thing would have been a shit-storm if my grandmother hadn't called me up and told me my dad learned to drive on a '51 Special. Sentiment can be powerful. You should have seen the look on his face when it fired right up!
I swear that 263 was running on willpower alone. At Rich's O.K. Used Cars, I couldn't even work it up to a misfire because it had no brakes! For what it is worth, he was totally honest with me. He tried to tell me it was a stupid idea. Joke's on him, I am stupid! I am also in line to learn an actual trade, but for now I am broke as a joke. (Turns out an English degree isn't all it's hyped up to be, and my parents might have been right about Engineering). I am currently underway in what should be a budget rebuild, but I've mucked it up. I tapped on the first connecting rod to loosen it up --vigorously. I assumed all of the proceeding rods needed firm taps, and bent the connecting rod bolts. As obtuse as I am, I dragged at least two of those connecting rod bolts down the cylinders and royally screwed (severely gouged) at least two cylinders. Cylinder seven is past just catching a fingernail.
Sometimes I meet old mechanics and 95% of what they say is stuff my never-lets-me-sleep brain already knows, so I listen for an hour to learn a minute's worth of information. I have read the 52' manual like the bible. I am aware that the cylinder I scratched will likely need to be bored, and to consult with a machine shop.
Mishaps are taken care of. Questions are:
Do I need to rebuild the harmonic balancer? Does it have any rubber?
I am planning on replacing crank main bearings, conn rod bearings, so on. Are we talking minor imperfections or major issues before the crankshaft needs to see a lathe?
Pre-emptive answer: I just want to drive it. Rustoration is the goal, with good mechanical operations.
