Discussion Forum - Northstar Chevelle Club

Tim H · Mega Poster

RE: 2012-2013 A Body Winter Project

Lost in the 60s · President

Tim H wrote:
Kevin

What are your plans for the frame

That's it, Tim, get him going on a frame off.....

dashboard · 2K+ Club

Scrap and paint for now, I need to draw the line somewhere for both time and money. Might give me something to do next year unless we move and I have a shop with space, then I’d like to do an early 442 or GTO.

dashboard · 2K+ Club

Lost in the 60s wrote:
Thanks, I was hoping he'd be more "northerly".
I should call Leroy and see what he would want.

-- Edited by Lost in the 60s on Saturday 9th of March 2013 08:52:08 AM

I think Leroy said he had a guy just north of his place that was cheep.

Lost in the 60s · President

dashboard wrote:
Scrape and paint for now, I need to draw the line somewhere for both time and money. Might give me something to do next year unless we move and I have a shop with space, then I’d like to do an early 442 or GTO.

With all due respect, Sir, now is the time to do the frame. With the entire front clip off and the engine/trans out, it's only a matter of 6-8 more bolts and 1/2 hr time to remove the shell. To go thru ALL that at a later date will only risk scratching the new paint and use a LOT of time and funding, you already have invested at this point, again.

If you move and have more room, I have a HECK-of-a-DEAL for you on a '67 GTO project.... all the hard work will be done. Paint, interior and drivetrain to your liking.

SShink · 3K+ Club

Lost in the 60s wrote:
dashboard wrote:
Scrape and paint for now, I need to draw the line somewhere for both time and money.
To go thru ALL that at a later date will only risk scratching the new paint and use a LOT of time and funding, you already have invested at this point, again.

Ain't that the truth!!!

Lost in the 60s · President

I knew you would relate, Stan. You didn't plan on a frame off either but it's the only sensible thing to do when you're in that far.

dashboard · 2K+ Club

Your correct, then why not just go ahead and stick the body on a rotisserie and while the body’s off just go ahead and replace the brake, fuel lines and cables, while doing that it would be a good time to upgrade the suspension and brakes and then I might as go to a posi rear end, and then and then I might be able to drive the car by August; there is next year. If we put the house on the market this spring I need this car to be mobile.

I need to stop somewhere and this is where I’ve chosen to stop, for now, I still need to replace the top and add AC.

Tim H · Mega Poster

Kevin any new pictures I need a fix man..

dashboard · 2K+ Club

Not much to report Tim, certainly nothing as exciting as Stan’s project; the body work is getting closer, with some luck it should be in primer and block sanding this week.

When we removed the windshield trim we were glad to see there is no rust in the area at all. I’m working on several little detail parts and pieces, from striping and painting to cleaning up and trying to restore the stainless trim.

I’ve been trying to teach myself the art of stainless trim repair, I can see why it’s so expensive to do, it’s very time consuming. I’ve been practicing with some old Elky pieces, denting them with a hammer, putting deep scratch in them and then trying to bring it back. I’ve manufactured several jigs (there’s the wood part) to hold pieces while sanding and pounding out dents and made several tools out of hardwoods and brass. The side stainless trim on the car was so bad that I was close to just leaving it off but I think we may be able to reinstall it now.

Our Classis Air kit has arrived, still waiting on the bumpers and a hand full of other parts, should be ordering the transmission next week.

There might be an interesting photo-op in the next couple of weeks, there could be three club members’ cars in the Maaco shop in different stages of work at the same time, just might be a 2014 calendar picture in the making.

Tim H · Mega Poster

Kevin

That trim work is cool. I know a guy who does it and he uses lead and sand bags it's a real art. He kind of gave it up because of the aftermarket parts and the cost of refurbishing parts.

I like your way of making the molds and taking a swing at it.

gearlube · Active Member

Kevin looks really good. I take it your going yellow? With all the work we have given them shouldn't we be given a freeby?

Lost in the 60s · President

gearlube wrote:
Kevin looks really good. I take it your going yellow? With all the work we have given them shouldn't we be given a freeby?

So yours is the third car ?? Have you finished it and kept it a secret ????

SteveS · Super Poster

Nice Work. Are those the same beat up F-body manifolds I gave you?

jim larson · 2K+ Club

dashboard wrote:
Tim H wrote:
Kevin

That trim work is cool. I know a guy who does it and he uses lead and sand bags it's a real art.

Thanks Tim you’re right about the art, while trying to teach myself how to do this I’m not sure if I’m a poor student or bad teacher. I need to get the sand bag but for now I’m going to try clay as a backing on some of the small dents.
When the previous owner preped the car for paint he really beat up the stainless trim with what I would guess was a d8 sander. Plus the trim that runs from the trailing edge of the door to the back of the car is over seven feet long; it’s picked up a lot of door dings over 48 years and suffered at least one run in with a garage door. The finial results won’t be show quality but it will be a big improvement.
,

You might try the trim repair guy in Buffalo, mn. Gerald Wodke (SP). Only does Stainless repair. He was at the Buick show in May last year, goes to Jefferson, was also St, Peter last year. He used the sand backs and lots of buffers. He got to be 72, so maybe he will teach you his tricks, if he is still around.

-- Edited by jim larson on Monday 1st of April 2013 04:51:42 PM

dashboard · 2K+ Club

SteveS wrote:
Nice Work. Are those the same beat up F-body manifolds I gave you?

Yep, same ones just tapped and plugged the pollution ports and reworked the heat shield. You need to stop by and we’ll run some gas through them.

dashboard · 2K+ Club

Tim H wrote:
Kevin

That trim work is cool. I know a guy who does it and he uses lead and sand bags it's a real art. He kind of gave it up because of the aftermarket parts and the cost of refurbishing parts.

I like your way of making the molds and taking a swing at it.

Thanks Tim you’re right about the art, while trying to teach myself how to do this I’m not sure if I’m a poor student or bad teacher. I need to get the sand bag but for now I’m going to try clay as a backing on some of the small dents.

When the previous owner preped the car for paint he really beat up the stainless trim with what I would guess was a d8 sander. Plus the trim that runs from the trailing edge of the door to the back of the car is over seven feet long; it’s picked up a lot of door dings over 48 years and suffered at least one run in with a garage door. The finial results won’t be show quality but it will be a big improvement.

,

Lost in the 60s · President

Kevin, get a couple tubes of sand from Menards to use. You don't need the expensive leather bags. Put a heavy towel under the trim and tap away.

jim larson · 2K+ Club

Lost in the 60s wrote:
Kevin, get a couple tubes of sand from Menards to use. You don't need the expensive leather bags. Put a heavy towel under the trim and tap away.

And then Kevin can teach the rest of the people interested.

John D · 2K+ Club

I cleaned up, de-scratched, de-dinged and buffed a LOT of the trim on Blackie... and like you had to learn the "art". Lots of custom carved wood dowels & shapes, a light little tack hammer, and a stack of DVD's for the player.

One - it's MESSY! Once you get to the buffing/polishing stage you'll have greazy black compound and greazy black wheel-hairs floating around everywhere.
Two - that stuff gets HOT! Wear some leather gloves.

Three - Get over the fear that if you lose concentration, your irreplaceable part will fling itself across the room at sub-sonic speed.
Four through 287 - just a learning curve.

I found a reasonable buffing kit at Home Depot. Packaged by Ryobi, it has several sticks of compound, and they offer wheels with a drill chuck. Check a local hobby shop for a pack of sanding sheets. You're looking for the one that contains several sheets of the micro-fine grades of sandpaper that'll get your (relatively) crude & rough work (800g) down to a easily buffable state.

Chris R · 2K+ Club

The only catch is they still need to be sent out to be re-anodized. Well, the ones that were originally anodized that is. Unless you dont want to have that done. There are some metal polishes that keep the finish looking pretty nice but you cant really polish the back side where water and dirt get trapped and the anodizing is there to protect the part as well as keep it looking good. I checked into all sorts of info on this years ago for the trim parts for my 66. Which is a story all itself that wasnt a happy one.

John D · 2K+ Club

You think you got problems Mr. Dashboard....

Lost in the 60s · President

Little treat from the GSTA show

John D · 2K+ Club

Hey Spot!! Someday!!

Lost in the 60s · President

John D wrote:
Hey Spot!! Someday!!

Curious why my post was marked as potential spam ...

dashboard · 2K+ Club

John it’s not just any one big thing it’s the compilation of several small things that will make the hole, lots of small things

.

Not much to report as the body has been just a dusty body shop gray for some time; pictures really don’t show the progress taking place. The second block sanding is complete, yesterday it was in the paint booth for primer so we might even see yellow this week.

Bumpers arrived Tuesday, I have to say it was more than worth the 16 week wait, they look great both front and back. The Keystone folks were great to work with and I recommend their service.
AC kit arrived from Classic Air last week; lots of other parts have as well my parts return ratio has dropped to two to one.
I’ll post pix updates later; today and tomorrow will be devoted to removing some of the 80 foot Maple tree that came down during the last storm. If anyone wants some free firewood it’s here for the taking. All you need to do is put on some hip waders go 60 feet out into the pond cut it up with a chain saw drag it to the shoreline cut it up some more then drag it 100 feet up a very steep slippery hill and carry it to the street. Send me a pm if you’re interested.

-- Edited by dashboard on Thursday 25th of April 2013 05:51:19 PM

dashboard · 2K+ Club

Darn, no takers on the firewood. We drew straws and my neighbor became the deep water guy.

tree down.jpg

Lost in the 60s · President

I think I'd have left it for the ducks and turtles to hang out on.

dashboard · 2K+ Club

In the paint line, could be yellow tomorrow.

dashboard · 2K+ Club

We have a Y code, Bamboo Cream Buick Special. Maaco has done the same thing with the Buick as they did with the Elky last year. Paint it Friday afternoon in its disassembled state then let it sit in the booth over the weekend and start assembly Monday morning.

Everyone that has worked on this car has taken ownership in it. From body work, paint perp, masking to painting they all treated it like it was theirs.

When we arrived late this afternoon people who had worked on the car were standing outside the booth as the painter applied the last coat of clear waiting to see how it came out. The painter taped notes to both ends of the booth warning people to stay out of the booth, I think in jest but I didn’t open the door to find out.

Assembly starts Monday, I’ll get some close up pictures without needing to shoot through paint booth glass.

Stan’s car is next, then one more club member is in line behind him.

-- Edited by dashboard on Saturday 27th of April 2013 06:50:20 AM

John D · 2K+ Club

It sounds like they've got a great crew over there. I'd guess that as much of a PITA the "old stuff" is to work on, it is a welcome break to work on something cool instead of ding & dent jellybeans all day!

Tim H · Mega Poster

Looks real nice. The painter must be a cool cat to let people watch and take pictures while he is working. I just don't like working having people stand over my shoulder.

dashboard · 2K+ Club

Tim, no bashfulness on the painter’s part he was truly very proud of his work. When our eyes first made contact Friday afternoon he flashed me a huge grin and a thumbs up.

gearlube · Active Member

Such a great color with the red.ine tires. Will be one of the nicest Buicks around...

Lost in the 60s · President

Just like a proud PaPa taking pics thru the maternity ward window... Gonna be the hit of all the local shows.

OK, I've asked before and never got an answer... WHO is the "other" member with a car there ???? The only other project car MIA for months is..............gearlube....

Tim H · Mega Poster

Cool. It will sure be nice to see it assembled.

Tim H · Mega Poster

Lost in the 60s wrote:

I sure like the looks of the sign as well as the car. Where do people get those signs made?

dashboard · 2K+ Club

Here are a couple car show sign fabricators from the Goggle. I have seen sign makers displays at some local shows.

http://www.carshowsigns.net/index.php

http://www.carshowdepot.com/

http://www.corparts.com/readboards.html

dashboard · 2K+ Club

Out of the paint locker, now its cut, buff and assemble time, paint looks great we are very happy. The grin and thumbs up from the painter last Friday said it all.

Tim to answer your question about the process, after the body work and primer the car was block sanded then sprayed with a heavy build primer and then blocked sanded again followed with a primer/sealer prior to base coat clear coat.

Jacob was just starting the wet sanding this morning; he starts with 1500 and will finish with 5000 grit then follows up with the buff and polish.

I dropped off all the new weather-stripping, seals and some chrome parts; I need to go back to remove the heater box and install the AC blank off plates.

Could be home before the weekend.

John D · 2K+ Club

WOW! That looks great!

There are certain colors that just "work" on a particular car, and that is one of them!

Chris R · 2K+ Club

Most sign shops make show boards like that. There is also a local guy here in the cities that also makes a really nice show board using photos of your car as part of the presentation on the board itself. His price was actually quite reasonable too but I cant find his contact info now. He even set up at one of our meetings a few years back to show off his goods and services. Terry Didion had a him make up a nice board for his 70.

dashboard · 2K+ Club

It’s finally coming together, hard to see in the pixs but the body seam’s doors, hood and trunk gaps are very consistent. The finish is covered with sanding dust and powder but its very smooth even the inside of the trunk and jams are as smooth as a ………

Still needs buff and polish, trunk paint some more hardware and final detailing but it’s getting close; even the owner was impressed.

It’s in good company; the GTO was in for some touch up paint before heading off to Indianapolis for the Mecum auction. A very nice goat, it’s dark blue with a pearl white bucket interior and a four speed.

If you look closely you can see another club member’s car in the background.

Chris R · 2K+ Club

Looks like they are doing an old pickup back there with the red paint as well. Street Rod maybe?

Tim H · Mega Poster

2012-2013 A Body Winter............and into Spring Project

Tim H · Mega Poster

RE: 2012-2013 A Body Winter Project

Lost in the 60s · President

Tim H wrote:
2012-2013 A Body Winter Project

Hurry up and get this thing on the road so winter will go away!!

.. kinda thinkin' this won't be ready for the Buick show tomorrow .......

dashboard · 2K+ Club

RE: 2012-2013 A Body Winter............and into Spring Project

dashboard · 2K+ Club

No, other than adding trunk splatter painting we are still on track with the original plan.
It’s the drive train and parts stinking parts.

Lost in the 60s · President

Lookin' like I'm gonna skip the Buick show. I have parts waiting in Pine Island with TC Rod & Custom and he was going to come up and bring them, but I talked to him a couple hours ago and now he's not planning to make the trip.

Not in the mood to fight another cold, possibly rainy, Buick show. We've all froze our tushes off there in past years...

Tim H · Mega Poster

Kevin

It looks like the radiator is in. Did you guys discuss installing the engine before the body assembley?