Owner Colin Rae tells us about the restoration of his roadster
It was in 1996 that I saw this Buick Roadster advertised for sale. The advert stated the car was 70 per cent complete, and this proved to be almost correct. There were, however, some pretty large components that still needed to be sourced – a back tub, rear guards, bonnet, valance panels, headlights and windscreen parts. As well, there was no hood gear, nor hood bows, boot-lid and several other sundry parts. Parts that I could not locate I would get made or fabricate myself.To make the planned restoration even more difficult, the car came with absolutely no woodwork that I could use for patterns – this would later become a large problem. During my replication of the Buick’s woodwork, I found that on more than one occasion I had to cut quite a few pieces of timber in order to get it right – however, I simply persevered and got there in the end.
Target practice
The major body pieces that I had made by professionals were the rear guards and the bonnet. A replacement rear tub was located at a farm in Central Otago – although complete, the tub was peppered with bullet holes, having been used as target practice for quite some time. The tub was only salvaged after a lot of work.
I managed to locate a couple of doors and, after welding 13mm of new steel around these, they fitted the bill quite nicely. The valance panels I made myself, along with a new boot-lid.
I also made up the windscreen myself, using parts obtained from other Vintage Car Club members and swap meets. I was able to locate hood gear and hood bows in the same manner. The hood bows were formed on a former that I made up, and I used 26 fillets of timber that were glued and clamped to the former. Two passes through a band-saw gave me three wooden hood bows.
As I wanted to handle as much of the Buick’s restoration as I could, I completed the rest of the bodywork myself – with my panel-beater son keeping a close eye on proceedings as I worked towards completion. It must have been frustrating for my son, having to watch me bumbling around when he could have carried out the required work in a fraction of the time it took me. Instrumentation was another area which posed a few problems, as the car came with no gauges or components. Once again, a trawl around the swap meet circuit and fellow club members finally supplied all the necessary parts.
The wheels that came with the car, plus some more picked up along the way, provided me with a very nice set of wheels. These rims are 26 inches in diameter and are not that easy to find nowadays – so I was very fortunate in this respect.
Other jobs that had to be farmed out were the finishing coats of paint, the hood covering and the upholstery. I elected to use leather for the car’s interior, as the labour content for the job is no different whether vinyl, cloth or leather is used – only the material price changes.
Well looked after
When it came to refurbishing the mechanicals I found that I was once again very fortunate, as the differential was in as new condition and had obviously received some attention in fairly recent times. All that was required was a top-up with fresh oil.
The gearbox was also in extremely good condition as far as the gears and bearings were concerned. After a good clean out and a new coat of paint, the gearbox was ready to go back into the chassis. I should point out that the Buick’s chassis was also as-new; a new coat of paint was all that was needed.
The motor had been completely stripped down prior to my purchasing the car, but all the parts were present and correct – supplied in a good collection of boxes. Close examination of the engine parts revealed everything was in good condition, and I gained the impression this car had not done a great mileage and, as well, must have been fairly well looked after by previous owners.
I had new gudgeons fitted by an engine reconditioner and also purchased a new set of piston rings. These were fitted with the help of a mechanic friend, Garry Genet. We also honed the bores and spent some time fitting shims for both the main and big-end bearings. Time has proven Garry got everything right, as the motor runs extremely well.
The Buick’s powerplant is a six-cylinder engine of about 3.0 litres capacity, with valves of the overhead type. An interesting feature of this engine is that it is fitted with a non-detachable head. The valves are held in a cylindrical cage, inserted into the block and held in place with a locking ring.
To carry out a valve grind, all you have to do is compress the valve spring, move the push-rod to the side, unlock the ring and remove the valve, valve spring and the cage. You are then able to grind the valve. This feature was introduced by Buick engineers in 1903.
I have also made myself a vice I can use to lock onto the car’s running board with a clamp that holds the valve and seat. This allows me to grind a valve on the roadside if the need ever arises.
Reliable runner
My wife, Glenys, and I have now driven the Buick about 4830km, and it has performed very well. We drove from Christchurch to Mt Cook over the last Labour Weekend in order to attend the VCC South Canterbury Branch 50th Anniversary Rally. We completed the same run again this year to celebrate a 100 years since the first motor car was driven to Mt Cook in 1906. I have to say that after driving from Mt Cook to home in a single day, I was very pleased to dismount and grab a welcome cup of tea.
Both Glenys and myself have taken the Buick on numerous club rallies and enjoyed them all, mostly due to the reliability of the dear old soul. We also entered the car for the VCC Canterbury Branch Restoration of the Year, and were thrilled to receive the award for first place. On hearing of this, fellow club member and NZCC’s Christchurch correspondent, Trevor Stanley, invited me to enter the 2005 NZCC/Meguiar’s Classic Car of the Year competition. Both myself and Glenys were over the moon when Trevor later informed us our Buick had been awarded third equal. Trevor presented us with a handsome trophy that now takes pride of place on my desk. Thanks for all your help, Trevor.
To finish off my story, I should say my Buick Roadster was originally imported into New Zealand in 1918, and was one of only 275 such models built for export worldwide. To date, I have only been able to locate three of these other models in New Zealand.
At the time of its importation, the Buicks were priced in the higher end of the market. As well, with the end of WWI there were not that many people in New Zealand with the money to spend on motor vehicles – and it would follow that not many higher-cost cars would have been imported into our small country, way down at the end of the world. So both I and Glenys are proud to own this Buick
Words: Colin Rae, Photos: Sean Craig
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