1936 Buick Special 41 Series: A Closer look

1936 Buick Special 41

What arrived at our shop in pieces is whole once again! When we took on this project for our customer the car was disassembled and none of the parts had any labels on them. There were buckets of bolts, most of which were broken off, and random parts from other cars to add to the puzzle. Adding to the challenge was poor print quality of original handbooks and complete lack of photos or comparable vehicles as this is a one year only, exceedingly rare model and year. The entire vehicle was restored to original with a couple minor modifications including a rumble seat and custom color burl wood on the dash and interior window surrounds. 

Completed restoration of 1936 Buick Special 40

Completed restoration photo shoot underway in fall of 2020

With the interior fully wrapped in upholstery, you can hardly tell that the frame of the body and doors are wood

 

The interior trim parts, cables for throttle and choke, as well as the gauge cluster and clock were all restored to original condition...

36 Buick Dash

New running board covers and sill plates are 2 examples of rare parts we were able to source

A full interior was supplied by LeBarron Bonney, and unfortunately is no longer available to purchase in the event that anyone finds another one of these beauties. It's outfitted with original material, correct style and design for this model and has rubber mat in the front with carpet in the rear area. The window surrounds gauge face housing and glove box are replica burl wood pattern.

Headliner installation complete with 2 sunvisors

Original heater fan and interior finishes top off the classic feel of the car

The entire vehicle was restored to original with a couple minor modifications including adding a rumble seat. This required modifying the package tray and creating a space for passengers feet to go when in the rumble seat. The hinges and latch assembly were fitted and modified, with reinforcements at the floor for the bottom seat mounts.

 

Rumble seat, custom made to fit the specifications of what used to be the trunk

Rumble seat added where the car used to have a trunk

Spare tire well and covers hold bias ply spare tires within them, It was a tight fit and quite challenging to assemble without damaging the paint.

All chrome and trim was re-done which makes it difficult to fit them due to the build up of chrome during the process. A lot of test fitting during body work helped ensure we didn't run into last minute fit issues with door handles, emblems and hood side vents.

Original straight 8, rebuilt and running smooth. Dual carburetor set up, though not original to the car, was added requiring a custom made linkage system. The electrical system was left as 6 volt with cloth wrapped wiring and replica battery.

Additional photos can be seen in the build album on our Driven Restorations website