My 1952 Buick
- Thread starter JohnnyBgood
- Start date
Well now that I got all the leaks fixed I’m setting my sites on the rattles and squeaks. I have had a buzzing kind of rattle in the back of the car for a while...driving me nuts because I can open everything up so I can see into everything and no rattle ..close everything up and start the car and she rattles..stops when you drive and starts again when you stopped...well today I found out what it was and just by accident...I determined it was coming from the trunk..but I have nothing in there...I was checking my rubbers around the lid when I accidentally hit the 2 tension rods that are for the lid. If I hit them from the top..they would make a noise..if I hit them from the front..no noise..put a small piece of rubber between them and took the car for a drive..rattle was gone...I must have wiggled those rods around 10 times and never heard them rattle..now I have a noise that I think is the panhard bar. Think the bolt going through it is undersized..going to change that but it’s a bitch to get at....also have another buzz rattle that I think is in the exhaust pipe...goes away when it heats up so I’m guessing a loose clamp somewhere...Anyways one rattle down and 2 to go..life is good..
Glad to hear that you are finding the rattles, good situation to be in. Getting to drive listening for rattles.
Well took the Buick out for a good drive yesterday after adjusting a few things. Put on about 400 k without an issue. Very happy with the way that it drives except the steering. Still have to get some caster in it. Also found out that if I take all the air out of the bags and then fill them back up until the car is at a measured height it rides very good. If I use the bags pressure gauge it is a hit and miss on the ride quality. The system does have a small leak in it where it will leak down over about 2 months. I can not find the leak yet. Really enjoying just driving it every day. I will tackle the caster thing this winter.
So I have the Buick up on my 4 poster. When I lay under it and wiggle the car side to side it’s makes a rattle. I grab the pan hard bar and put some tension on it and wiggle the car and it’s quite...I tighten every damn bolt I can find that might have anything to do with the bar...Give it a wiggle and it rattles. So I take the bar off and give it a wiggle and it’s quite....gotta be the bar..nothing loose on the bar and everything it tight when it’s on....only thing I can figure out is the heim end is a hair too big for the stud...so I put a layer of metal tape on it and it helps...put somemore on and now it’s quite. Now the tape is aluminium duct tape...won’t last long on the road...I think the original studs have worn down a bit in the last 60 plus years...can’t get the studs out without cutting them out...can’t cut them out without dropping the gas tank...think I’m going to try and get some new ends with rubber bushings and new sleeves...damn car..one friggin thing after another....good thing there small things .....just one of those daze...eh...
I think this thread is a good outlet for my frustrations but has just turned into me complaining about one thing or another...time to move on....
5/8 stud...would have to go to a 3/4 .....then I could even weld on the bigger bushing so it don’t rattle....food for thought...thax.
Ha, its OK, we all have frustrations. Easier to vent here, no worries from me.
John I think everyone here, more times then once, has said why the hell did we get into cars/trucks, and why do we love them, hahaha.
I have to say that having two on the go is nice for when things get frustrating. You can take a breather from one and tinker on the other.
I have to say that having two on the go is nice for when things get frustrating. You can take a breather from one and tinker on the other.
Well I ordered a pair of adjuster ends with a rubber bushing and a crush sleeve. Apparently when you tighten these down they crush a bit to make it the difference in my worn studs...I just hope I can get these off after they are crushed if I ever need to...
Well I got my adjusters today. ..they don’t look any different than the adjusters on my 4 link bars. I put them on amd tightened them down and they still rattled. The bracket that holds the adjuster on would bottom out on a shoulder before it squeezed the rubber bushings and pinned the centre sleeve. Got a few washers and enlarged the centre hole so it would squish the rubber but not hit the sleeve. Still rattled. Each bracket at the ends that hold the adjusters are held on by 3 bolts. Turns out there is a sequence that these bolts have to be tightened. Found this out by digging out my 1952 Buick shop manual. Never thought I would really use this book since I was changing everything but it was $50 well spent. Tightened up the brackets as per book and gave it a shake...Shook the crap out of the car and all is quite. Now the real test will be next year when I get her back on the road but for now life is good....and quite.....yeehaaa.
got a gentle poke a few days ago so I went and got some stuff and did the trunk on the Buick.
Took the car out 3 times in the last 3 days.. Put on about 200 kilometres...not a rattle or vibration. Was great not worrying about what the rattle was.. The rod ends did the trick..but now I hear a whistle coming from the edge of the doors..gotta see what it is..
I glued on a marine grade upholstery foam onto some 1/4 ply. Then got marine grade vinyl and pulled over the front and glued and stapled to back of plywood.
