QuestionI recently inherited a 1949 Buick Roadmaster sedan (mostly original w/under 65k mi.) that has been in dry but unheated storage since 1988. What must I do to make this car drivable again? Any help will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
AnswerFirst of all, my congratulations! This is every car hobbiest's fondest dream - and the '49 Roadmaster is a beautiful and timeless design, and a car that can be driven in modern traffic without any problem.
It is important that you proceed carefully with this car - there are some very common mistakes that can cause serious problems in the future if you don't avoid them.
We'll start with the DON'Ts!
Do NOT try to start the engine. Do not even try to turn it with a wrench on the front pulley or a pry bar on the flywheel. You'll very likely break something, and even if it does crank over, you'll circulate the gritty mud in the bottom of the oil pan all through the engine, ruining the bearings in short order.
Do NOT install a battery even for purposes of seeing "what works". These cars have cloth covered wiring, and that is a favorite food of mice and other rodents - leaving you with bare copper wire in contact with metal surfaces and other wires - a likely cause of fires.
Now the DOOOOS:
Jack it up and take off the wheels and what remains of the tires. Get the wheels sandblasted and/or painted as required, and mount a decent set of tires on them. You'll have to choose between the correct looking and driving original style bias ply tires, and modern radials. Radials are probably safer for high speed driving, but they don't look right, no matter what others say. The profile (cross section) of the tire is wrong for a '40s car. There are various antique car tire dealers to deal with, Coker is one that many of us use, and they will know what tire is right for your car.
When you get it up and rolling on its own wheels, have it transported (Flatbedded, please!)to wherever the mechanical work is to be done.
Jack up the front end and put it on sturdy safety stands, then drop the engine oil pan. Clean it out (you'll be astonished at the grit!). Even though you checked the dip stick and thought you hade spanking new oil in it, what has happened is that the dirt all fell to the bottom of the pan. Clean everything you can see from there, including the oil pickup screen and the oil pump. While you have the oil pump apart, check the pressure relief valve and free it up if it is stuck.
Reach through the front of the crankcase into the timing gear area and see if there is excessive slop in the timing parts. If you can wiggle the chain more than 3/8 inch in and out, you are going to have to service this area soon, but this is not an emergency.
Remove each bearing cap (don't mix them up) and visually inspect each bearing for scratches or bare copper showing. If all looks well, check the clearances with Plasti-Gauge. If the clearances are 0.0025 inches or less, it is safe to proceed.
If the clearances are larger than that, you are going to have to rebuild the engine anyway, so you might as well stop here and prepare to remove the engine. With 65K on the car, this should not be needed, unless the car has been run with dirty oil (or it turns out to be 165K). If the bearings check out, coat everything with engine oil and reassemble the bearings and torque them to spec. You do have a factory Shop manual, right? If not, get one before you do anything on the mechanical parts. These are available from one of the literature dealers like Ed Faxon of Riverside CA. They are expensive but you are going to need it for sure!
Don't reinstall the oil pan yet. Shoot oil all over everything you can see from under there, and really soak the area of the camshaft bearings and lobes, plus the timing gears. Shoot oil up into the pistons and cylinder walls too.
Now, let the car down and remove the valve cover. Oil everything you can see from there also. Remove the spark plugs and fill each cylinder with oil. I'd use just plain SAE30W oil at this point - buy good stuff at NAPA or other parts place. Do NOT reinstall the spark plugs yet.
NOW, get back under the car with a long large screw driver, or a tire iron, or some other beefy lever, and try to move the flywheel a little bit by prying between a flywheel tooth and the block surface. If you can rotate the crankshaft this way, you're in very good luck. If you cannot, again, the engine will have to come out to be disassembled, so you might as well quit here and get ready to pull the engine.
If you can rotate the crank this way, turn it in the clockwise direction (as viewed from the front), slowly, a little bit at a time, feeling for any abrupt increase in resistance. If it seems to stick at any point, STOP! You can easily bend a part if you put a lot of force on it. If it seems to turn all the way around, go through at least 2 complete rotations. If you 've gotten this far, its time to see if the car will run.
Put the oil pan back up, clean out and replace the oil filter, and fill the crankcase to spec, plus 1 QT for the filter. Still leave the spark plugs out for now.
Now we have to backtrack to the electrical system. By now, you need to have carefully inspected all the wiring you can see, including up under the dashboard. If you see any evidence of frayed or bare wires, you are probably going to have to install a new wiring harness. Also, pay special attention to the headliner of the car. If there are any bulges that don't belong, investigate. These are a favorite place for critters to build nests, and if they've built nests up there, they've probably chewed through the wires too. You'll have to remove the headliner and clean out the mess and dead critters (wear a mask!) and check that wiring too.
Once you are comfortable with the wiring, install a new battery and try the starter to see if it will crank the engine. Just crank it for a second or two to see. If it will, install a temporarly mechanical oil pressure gauge where the dash oil pressure gauge sender is normally installed on the engine block. Now, have a helper crank the engine to see if oil pressure builds. If you see 30 PSI while cranking with no spark plugs installed, you are in great shape! Leave the valve cover off, we still need to verify that there is oil circulation upstairs - these engines can develope a blockage in the oil feed to the rocker area that you need to check for.
Now you can reinstall the spark plugs, and move on to the next item - the Fuel System.
The order doesn't matter, but after that many years, you are going to have to remove the gas tank and send it out for complete cleaning and perhaps sealing. There are commercial places that specialize in this - do a Google seach on "Gas Tank Renewal" and you'll find them. Also, replace all the rubber parts in the fuel system with modern rubber parts - this includes all the hoses and the fuel pump. Inspect the steel fuel lines for rust, and blow them clear with compressed air or replace them as needed. Rebuild the carburetor, or send it to a reputable carburetor shop - don't let the teenager down the block do it!
Attend to the ignition system also, do a complete ignition system tune-up: Points, condenser, rotor, cap, wires, and set everything to spec.
Now, you can try to start the engine. Yes, I know we haven't looked at the cooling system or brakes yet, but lets hear that wonderful straight 8 run for a few minutes anyway. You don't need to do anything to the transmission at this point (assuming it is the Dynaflow) other than verify that it has fluid in it. Take a quick look at the rocker shaft area to verify that oil is getting pumped up there.
If the engine will start, now is the time to get after the cooling system and the brakes. Pull the radiator and get it cleaned out (rodded). Replace all the belts and hoses, and rebuild the water pump. Try filling the radiator to see what the leak situation is. If it doesn't leak, it is OK to start 'er up and let it run for a while. It will smoke like crazy for a while, but it should settle down after a half hour or so. Keep checking the temperature and oil pressure. If the dash temp gauge isn't working, get a candy thermometer from your local housewares department and stick it down into the radiator top. Watch the water to see that it is circulating OK. If not, you may have a stuck thermostat. Feel the upper radiator hose to see if it is getting warm after a few minutes, if it is this is a good sign. If not, pull the thermostat out and run the engine without it for a few hours. If it will do that and not overheat, you've passed another milestone. If it does overheat, you are going to have to pop out all the core plugs ("Freeze out plugs") and clean out the water jackets.
The braking system is going to need to be completely rebuilt before you can drive the car, but leave that until all the other items are in good shape - then have the car flatbedded to a brake and muffler shop and get all that taken care of. While this is going on is the time to lubricate the chassis and the differential, and all the body lubrication points (check that shop manual!).
Now, finally, you have a driveable car - and you're ready to tackle the cosmetics.
I'll stop here, my fingers are getting sore!
These are great cars, and well worth your bother to do them right - I envy you!
Be sure to let me know how this all works out, please!
Dick Benjamin (drooling over your luck!)
