1958 Buick Caballero

isn't that the way it ALWAYS goes?

I have to say though, the work of recreating the emblem is amazing, just like everything else on this car. Fantastic work you guys. Thanks for sharing.

 

Back at the end of December, I had to get the car back to Masterworks for some paint work. Before taking it back there, I wanted to get the rear seat heater connected and finish up a few under-car tasks.

Time to get the car up on my ramps...


It was not an easy move; the car ran very poorly and the wet tires made it difficult to get up the incline.

Got it on the ramps and went to work...



I had to do a little bit of housekeeping, but in general, everything was looking quite tidy under here.












The rear seat heater requires 2 connections; one on each side of the vehicle. The coolant lines run from the water pump output to the driver's side of the heater, then the return line goes from the heater's passenger side outlet to the temperature control valve, on the passenger side of the cowl, under the right fender.










Of course, BOTH connections leaked with the OEM style clamps, so some additional work was needed to stop the drooling.

I'm back to the rear compartment trim. The rear liftgate and tailgate opening takes a windlace seal along the vertical sides of the body opening and the liftgate opening. There's a short section of rubber seal on each side of the tailgate, between the vertical body to liftgate joint and the lower outboard corners of the liftgate.

The short, vertical pieces are sewn to a pressboard substrate, folded at both ends and retained to the car by the painted steel quarter trim panels.












Similarly, the upper windlace is sewn to a pressboard substrate and then retained by the garnish moldings.






This is the original rubber seal that was installed along the upper edge of the tailgate opening, between the tailgate and the outboared corner of hte liftgate:



It was stapled to a tack strip that was screwed to the inner quarter panel. I bonded multiple layers of 1/8" panel board together to make up the tack strip.



The tack strip was then screwed to the quarter panel, using the 2 small holes nearest the top of the panel.



Cut the weatherstrip to length and glued & stapled it to the tack strip, then installed the steel trim panel.

 

All of the attention to detail on this build is amazing. Inspiring really. Keep up the good work.

 

Time to install that massive rear bumper...

All the edges were taped to protect the painted surfaces and I double-checked the clearance between the mounting brackets to ensure they would fit snugly between the frame rails.


Two friends held the bumper while my wife guided us and I installed the frame attaching bolts.

Didn't take us very long to get to this point:




The bumper is centered, but it needs to be rotated up at the rear to align better with the end of the quarter panels.


Final adjustment will be done at Masterworks when the final paint touch-ups are being done.

 

That bumper IS massive!

 

You are probly do a better job than these guys...

http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/media/58-buicks-being-built.4878/

 

You also have to give those guys plenty of credit, since it doesen't look as easy to build as a comtemporary Chevy or Pontiac. And they had to hurry doing it, even

 

You are very right PI.

 

There are SO many parts on this car that are "58 only" or "57 & 58 only".

These clips are the "D" pillar exterior reveal molding retainers. On the left is the OEM part; on the right, the piece I am making to replace the broken retainer.


I started with a piece of spring steel and layed out the centers of the bends, then formaed the part to shape using the OEM piece as my pattern.

Finished part - best of all, it works!




January 5: Down off the ramps and back to the paint shop for touch-ups and rear bumper final alignment!


Unfortunately, the car was very difficult to start and it ran very poorly. More work to do...



Notice that the right rear window is open. When I tried to roll the window up, the glass was moving on an arc into the car, inboard of the roof rail weatherstrip. Another task to add to the list...

Looking quite spiffy!



With the car in for some touch-ups, I shifted my focus to the rear compartment carpeting. It took some experimentation, but I was finally able to make acceptable, consistent stitches with the vintage Singer over-edger/serger machine.


I had created full-size paper patterns and used them to cut the carpeting to size.

Then ran the carpet pieces through the serging machine to finish the edges.


I think they turned out great.


A little bit of video...


Finished all the ends by tying off the stitches and tucking the "tails" into the adjacent stitches.


I used a hook needle to draw the threads under the adjacent stiches.


And I added a small piece of tape to hold every thread end down until the carpet is adhered onto the steel panel.

 

Everything is looking amazing! Well done.

 

Before these last few weeks, the last time you had it running (which, IIRC, was before you began the front end/grille/bumper install), was it running better at that time? Because I don't remember you saying you had any trouble then, and so what popped into my head, was the possibility the key had been left on for a fair amount of time, which may have burned the points. I would do a quick visual on them, and go from there.

 

Good guess, Andrew!
These updates are lagging "real time" by a few weeks.
The points did look suspect and they were replaced, but the problem persisted. Spark plug wire insulator boots were the problem. All good now.
I'll share more details in a future update.
Joe

 

What I want to know is how did they install that interior as it was coming down the assembly line? Loos to be really complicated with a lot of steps. Also how did they install the old cloth headliners on the assembly line and get them so tight and wrinkle free in a such a short time?

 

Yes, it is complicated. LOTS of parts and nothing snaps together.

It would be a lot simpler with everything coming to the assembler as a completed component with pre-punched holes.
Most of the major interior parts (seats, door panels, etc) were assembled on feeder lines in the plant or by suppliers; the assembler would have a minimal amount of time to locate the part and drive screws.
When they were doing 40 to 50 cars per hour, they had a very short list of operations to perform that they got very good at.

On the other hand, I have to pre-fit the parts and determine where the attaching holes need to be because I want to attach the parts using the original screw locations. I don't want to add any holes.

This headliner is perforated pressed hardboard, not cloth. I had to steam the flat panels to install them. I think the assembly plant probably got pre-formed panels.

I've never watched a cloth headliner installation in an assembly plant. By the time I was working in that industry, all the headliners were molded and they came to the assembly plant pre-formed.

 

The cloth and material headliners were pre cut. They would use like a paint roller to put the adhesives along the roof and mold the headliner material to it.