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Update, The Lowered, 1941 Buick Custom.

Writer's picture: James GriffinJames Griffin

Well it's been a while since I had the time to sit down and write a post so I thought I'd update you guys on the progress on my 1941 Buick Super Coupe, Custom.

What makes a Custom a Custom?

Ask ten guys and your likely as not to get ten different answers. Since your here, Ill give you mine. The Buick is my first shot at a legit Traditional Custom. A lot of guys might say wait what about the Galaxie. Well ok sure, on paper she certainly fits the bill. Subtle shaving of trim and locks and a few body mods went a long way to clean up her flow. Its funny how both frustrating and satisfying it is to me that very few people have a clue whats been done to her. When building the Galaxie I wanted to ride that line between Lowrider and Custom. I feel pretty comfortable that even with quite a ways to go with her, Ive accomplished just that.

That said. I'm a guy born and raised in Northern California. So to me, when I picture a Custom, the picture I see in my mind is of rides built in the late 40s to early 50s. Rides built by guys like Harry Westergard and Sam Barris. Nor Cal is about their Customs and I know I won't be satisfied by going halfway. I gotta represent. So when it came time to partner with a shop to handle the mods and help me thread the Traditional Custom needle I knew Blue Collar Custom was where The Buick was going to go. The first thing I needed to address what the stock ride height.

On taking the initial measurements I was surprised how shot the original springs were. every corner was a different height. Luckily for me the 1941 Buick is coil sprung at every corner. Followers of my Facebook page know that when it comes to The Lowered I like em on the ground. But there are exceptions to every rule. With my Buick I wanted her to be as Period correct as possible.That meant a static ride height at a very specific rake and that meant locating a company that not only can build a custom spring but do it right. After doing a lot of research I came to the conclusion Jamco was the Company to get me sorted. Being The HMFIC at The Lowered has its privileges and after Talking with the owner Tony I knew I'd made the right decision. Thanks to Tony and his guys at Jamco and a lot of help from Scott and Blue Collar we've got the Stance exactly where I had pictured it. Nose high and tail down for that West Coast taildragger stance. If you want to get your ride on the deck with a static drop or are looking to upgrade the suspension and breaks on your classic in general the guys at Jamco will treat you right!

Now for the hard part. The body mods. I still can't believe how clean the Buick is. I really couldn't have asked for a cleaner car to start my first Custom build with and thats going to save me a lot of time and money. Instead of having to focus on a bunch of repairs we can dive right in to the fun stuff. She's got virtually no rust and looks to be wearing mostly original paint . Even the interior is super clean. I feel extremely fortunate too have scored this car. A lot of guys would chop the shit out her and call it a day. Thats not my style. Hell, I am still not 100% sure I am going to chop her at all. but I have to admit Scotts got me leaning.

After Falling in love with the 41 Buick Coupes factory lines I started researching 41 Buick Customs and there are a few out there. What am I going to do that sets my Buick part from them and still stay true to my desire for period Correctness? Well in the pictures below you'll see my first steps toward that goal was going with a set of Ford skirts instead of the Stock Buick versions.While both versions look great and help visually bring the car down, the Buick skirt is much longer and more squared off toward the rear. To me the stock Buick skirts make the Buick Coupe look even longer than it already is. Thats not necessarily a bad thing but if I do end up chopping it I feel like the shorter rounder Ford skirt will help me keep the proportions a bit shorter. Next up is a scoop cut into the front of the rear fenders. I haven't seen another 41 Buick with this mod yet so I hope to be the first. The hard part with this mod so far has been figuring out the teeth situation. We could go full on custom Brass blocks whittled down to the right shape but that would be crazy expensive. So we are looking for alternative trim pieces currently to get the job done.

I don't want to let the cat totally out of the bag and list every mod I am thinking of but the hunt is on for 1941 Cadillac Bumpers and looking for the right bumper treatment too accommodate the license plate and rear tail lights. if anyone has aline on a good set of 1941 Cadillac bumpers hit me up! So that brings you up to date with where we are at on The Buick. If you have an idea or recommendation for trim that would make good teeth in the side scoops, or a have a picture of a Custom with a rear bumper treatment you think I should consider hit me up via the facebook page. I am open to suggestions.

James

The Lowered HMFIC






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