My Limited Four Door Project

[dvonk]

wow, you can really fabricate some nice looking sheet metal... i wish i had the equipment/knowledge to do that! luckily, my special is in pretty decent shape, so i dont have much of it to do

[Smartin]

Switching gears a little bit...

I picked up the stainless trim from the door panels at the upholsterer's today so I could polish them before he reinstalls them on the panels. These things were a real mess. I'm probably going to have to find a better one for the drivers' side, since this one is dented and bent up pretty good. It's also missing a bunch of the nails on the back that hold it to the panel.

They're polishing up nicely, though!

Click this link to see the progress on the door panels and the rest of the interior (as it comes). Door panels are first.

http://www.undercoverupholsteryandpaint ... Buick.html

[58limited]

That stainless looks great! How about posting a "How To" article on stainless polishing in the Body, Trim, Interiors section? I know I could use a little guidance in this subject.

I might have the piece of trim that you need. Give me a few days to check. Do you need the front or rear door trim for the driver's side?

[Smartin]

I need the lower front drivers side long trim piece. As soon as you can, I'd appreciate it. My upholstery guy is waiting on me to get these done. Thanks!

I'll see what I can get going for a how-to on the stainless polish!

[Smartin]

Any luck on finding the stainless piece?

[58limited]

Sorry, I didn't get time to look this week. I'll look tomorrow.

[Smartin]

Thanks!

[Smartin]

Moving right along...

I started plugging the giant hole in the trunk this evening. I worked on the drivers side today, and will finish the passenger side tomorrow. Lots of bends and manipulating to be done to get the right contours of the trunk pan! It's much better than it looks in the photos.




I just have a couple pieces to make on the passenger side...hopefully it won't take me 5 hours like the drivers side did today.

[Smartin]

Trunk pan's done!!! Finally.

As you can see, I've been using the spare tire well as a trash can. It ACTUALLY isn't rusted through like the rest of the car. I thought that was odd.




As soon as I was done with the trunk, my plan was to "slide" the car over to the right side of the garage so I could work on the passenger side floors and rocker. About a month ago, I bought 2 pairs of AC Delco wheel dollies (2000 lb cap.). I pulled them out of hte box today and put them together, noting that one of the pairs had different wheels than the other. Nothing too drastic, just a cosmetic thing....so it seemed.

So I get the car on all 4 dollies and make an attempt to push the car to one side. I layed into the front side and BOOM!!! I look down, and see a couple wheels sitting next to my foot. One of the dollies had broken all 4 wheels off at once. At this point, I was pissed because I figured all 4 of them were like this. I continued to struggle with 3 dollies, and realized that one of the back ones was losing 2 of the wheels, and the other two were hanging by a thread.

Long story short, someone (in China) had packaged the wrong wheels with one of the sets of dollies. So I had one good set and one trashed set.




I took the dead pair back to O'Reilly's to get a new set. The (really cute) girl working the counter gave me a funny look when I set down a bag of wheels and two big blue plates on the counter and asked for another set. I got them switched out, but we checked the wheels in the new box and they were the right ones this time.

I managed to get the car over to the other side of the garage with just two dollies on the back wheels and a floor jack on the front. What a pain!!!

I had some cleanup to do this afternoon when I moved the car.




But the car is tucked in its new home for another few months. As soon as I get the rocker and floor done, I can lift it off the frame...woo hoo!!!!

[Smartin]

This door panel isn't totally finished, but this is really cool. All fabrics are original material...and very expensive!

Before:




After:

[dvonk]

nice, it looks like it was straight from the factory... at the rate you are going, you are going to have a really good looking vehicle!

[Smartin]

I know I already posted a photo of this....but I find myself going to the basement just to look at these

They really turned out awesome. Thanks to my friend who also happens to be in the upholstery business!

[Smartin]

Today, I took a stick of dynamite to the car. Some parts came off without a struggle, others...didn't.

Ya think the radiator had a leak? I hope my guy can at least use the tanks to recore it.




I talked to a glass guy a few days ago, and he gave me some pointers on how the front and rear windows come out. So...I took the plunge and went for it. The front windshield was already cracked, so I did it first to get an idea of how exactly they are installed. Of course, I made a mess of it. The garbage man now owns it. It's only $500, right?




I cut the rubber gasket out around the outside of the rear window, and it came out pretty easily. Thank God..




Question 1: Is this insulation in the balancer pulley supposed to be there??




Question 2: What is the AC box made of? It appears to be some sort of plastic/styrofoam/crap. I will need to figure out how to repair it, since it's nicked up pretty good.




Question 3: Are all heater boxes covered in this worthless fiberglass insulation shell??

[groundhog180]

Hello,
I have never personally seen insulation put on the balancer. It looks like the bolts were kept clean even though the insulation is rusty/filthy. Not necessary at all though.

I have never had an A/C car of this vintage so can't vouch for what the box material is made of.

Unless factory A/C cars came with the heater box insulation I do not have it on my four non-A/C cars. Once again it trapped moisture which is inevitable with the location and rusted your steel shell badly. Personally it wouldn't be there again....

Lee

[58limited]

Click the members link in the upper right of the main page. Scroll down to "Air Poise" and send him a personal message. He has restored the A/C box and can give you the low down on how to do so.