I finally got up the courage to brave the cooler temps outside today and fiddled with the old Buick a little more. I had picked up a cheap pair of channel lock pliers at Tractor Supply yesterday while I was in Madison, so it was time to see if the brittle plastic top of the brake master cylinder could be removed. I managed to get the job done without destroying the top and saw that although no fluid was showing, the inside of the reservoir didn't appear dry.
Kevin came over and so I decided to drain the radiator and refill with fresh antifreeze so the old girl's block wouldn't freeze up and bust over the winter. With new pliers, I was able to open the pet cock on the radiator and completely drained the unit this time. Once that was done, I retightened the pet cock and poured a gallon of new antifreeze in.
At the same time, I had put the battery charger on it again so that we would have some good fresh juice to get her started again. With temps in the mid-20's the last couple of nights and no choke, I knew it would require a little extra cranking to get it going. Surprisingly it was running pretty good in no time at all.
Prior to starting I had also poured about a quart of transmission fluid in the transmission, so once the motor was warmed up I decided to move the car to a different spot in the yard. One a bit more level as well as closer to the back door. Put the car in drive and she took right off with very little effort. In no time I was where I wanted to be and by this time the engine was willing to idle.
About 3/4 of a gallon more antifreeze was added and I saw that the coolant was circulating in the radiator, which meant the thermostat had opened. While the car was sitting there idling, we filled the transmission to the proper level and once the car ran a good long time to be sure the coolant had circulated, I shut it down.
Kevin suggested that I fill the master cylinder up with brake fluid and he would lay under the back of the car to see if there were any leaks. So after filling the reservoir I replaced the top and went inside to pump the brakes to see if we had any leaks. The brake pedal went down, but would not come back up on it's own, so I used my hand to slowly pump the pedal up and down several times until it was coming back up on it's own.
Kevin said he didn't see anything leaking out underneath, but the brake pedal never did feel normal, so I assume the master cylinder will need to be rebuilt before we can examine the brake system any further. No telling how long the rubber pieces inside the brake cylinder have been sitting dry which is not good at all for such parts.
Before we covered it back up I got Kevin to read the writing on the back of the carburetor to see if we could determine what type it was. He read the word, Stromberg, which is all I really needed to know. There were basically two types of two barrel carburetors used on the 1961 Buick, one being the Stromberg and the other a Rochester. I should now be able to secure a rebuild kit for this unit.
I am extremely pleased with the progress we are making in getting this vehicle roadworthy and I am very grateful for all of the help I have been getting from Kevin, Jim and everyone on the V8 Buick forum as well. I have a 4 day weekend coming up starting Thursday, so I plan to put the four tires which Jim brought up, along with 3 of the wheels which are on the Buick, plus the spare rim I bought on Ebay into my Monte Carlo and heading down to Lexington, KY early Friday morning. Jim has a tire changer and agreed to help me get those all changed over, as well as possibly sand blasting the rims to get them ready to be painted. More fun for sure!
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