1958 Buick Caballero

Lucky retrieval on that bolt plate, unlike the parts you dropled into the plenum. Can you tell me what brand of adhesive you used? I want to check it out in case I need some for my Ranchero.

 

This is a beautiful project!
Read through all 16 pages and hope it hits the road this spring.
Thumbs up all the way.

 

Just Awesome , love your work jmt455 and like always we are time poor . Cheers from Downunder

 

Thanks for the updates!

 

Andrew, I used JB Weld "steel epoxy", but it didn't hold.
I spent 2 hours yesterday cleaning the epoxy off the parts and TIG welding the replacement studs onto the clips.

 

Oh, yeah, JB just isn't the right adhesive. But, your TIG weld--did it burn the paint?

 

I ground off the plating before welding the new studs to the clips, then re-coated after welding.

 

At this rate you'll be ready to drive this thing by the time the snow melts!
Which, in your case sounds about mid July....

 

The moldings that surround the ribbed aluminum trim panels on the rear doors and quarters require unique attachment clips. The moldings have a triangular cross-section and they straddle the edge of the aluminum panel. The clips have a stepped design to retain the moldings. There are 5 different clips used in various locations; 2 styles of end clips, straight run clips and a special coupling clip for the angled front joint.

Somehow, a couple of the unique end clips disappeared in the plating process. I don't know if they just disintegrated or simply got lost in the plating tank, but they are nowhere to be found.

The end clip has a tension "finger" to retain the molding orientation as the screw is tightend into the base of the clip. The clip in the picture is correct for one side on the molding, but I needed one that was for the opposite section.

Here's some creative material selection for you.
A spring steel binder clip matched the gage of the original clip. I simply cut it to size, punched a hole with a small center punch and extruded the hole to the proper size to accept an 8-32 thread. Tap the hole and it's done.
20180326_155918 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr

20180326_165822 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr


I broke several clips when removing the moldings from my car, so I needed about 8 more clips to finish the installation. I'ver been looking for clips and have not been able to find any of the original style parts.

I took the best of the original clips that had been cut out of parts car.
20180312_142104 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr

You can see where I'm going here...
I ground off the swedged tabs that held the stud to the clip base and knocked the stud out of the clip.
Then I installed a new 10-24 x 3/4" long stud into the body of each clip.

Initially, I used JB Weld "steel" epoxy to retain the stud to the clip head, but that didn't work. I ended up tig welding the studs to the clip bodies.

20180328_083704 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr

20180328_114502 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr

Problem solved.

Next stop: the liftgate!
Here are the 9 stainless steel moldings that mount to the top of the liftgate.
There are 4 pairs of different lengths (shortest parts are furthest outboard) and one longer piece for the center position.

I made a template to help position the end of each molding equidistant from the edge of the window opening.

20180329_102544 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr

Finicky job, but it turned out great:
20180329_120734 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr

Have a great week!

 

No one will ever see those clips, but you know they are done right and help with getting this beauty back on America's highways and byways. Your attention to detail and craftsmanship are superb. It's looking great!

 

That is some handy craftwork par excellance! Can't wait for your country wide tour in it!

 

Dayum! Excellent work!

 

It feels good to be making progress!

I had to fabricate several more clips of various designs, but I FINALLY got all the stainless steel trim installed - below the belt line - on the body.

Here's another example of the end clips that I made. It retains one end of the side spear molding to the front door. I didn't get a photo of the completed clip, but I used that "finger" in the middle of the clip to retain a spring wire to retain the clip in the molding.



Finally, here is the driver's side trim on the car.



Adding thermal insulation and deadener to the floors and toe panel.


My enthusiastic helpers are rolling the adhesive-backed deadener on the floor pans.



Wiper transmissions installed and tensioned





I had the dash parts painted with matte clear and I didn't like it. I disassembled all the dash parts and manually polished everything to a higher gloss level.


When I removed the heater controls to polish the painted panel, the epoxy that was holding the lens and bezel assemblies together decided to let go. Better now than on the road somewhere....

I removed the epoxy residue and used a small punch to crimp the edges of the die cast bezels over the metal lens retainers. That's how they were originally assembled, but I used an adhesive instead of crimping when I assembled these parts. I was concerned that crimping the parts would damage the bezels.

Luckily, all the crimps worked and the assembly is complete and tight.

I also wanted to tighten up and improve the fit of these parts into the dash panel. Previously, when I moved the control levers, the bezels would slide in the openings and the bezels felt loose on the panel.

I cut narrow strips of adhesive-backed felt to cushion the edges of the bezels and also cut a short piece of PVC tubing to insert over the rib of the dash panel that engages the lens's spring clip.



Here you can see the felt strip installed along one edge of the bezel:

This shows the pvc tubing installed on the dash panel:


Those two additions made a HUGE difference. The lenses are tight and they don't budge when I move the control levers. Glad I decided to re-do these parts; this is much tighter than the initial assembly and it should eliminate any potential rattles.

 

Thanks for sharing the high level detail work on this desert coach!

 

This past week I've been working on a number of items.

Now that I've got the gloss levels I want on the painted parts, it's time to re-assemble the instrument panel.

The chrome trim panel turned out great!


Rear view of instrument panel early in the assembly process. The glove box and a few components have been installed.


Front of dash with glove box door, heater/ventilation and lighting controls installed.


I think this is so cool looking...


Glove box, clock and passenger air outlet:


Instrument cluster installed, along with the dash wiring harness. Harness came from YNZ Yesterdays Parts; it has been a joy to work with.
The temperature and oil gages are not in the instrument panel; they are already plumbed into the car and awaiting installation into the dash.




Front view with instrument cluster installed:


I installed the vent and heater plenum and the flexible hoses for the dash outlets before installing the IP into the car. I'd rather do this on the bench than laying on my back under the IP!


Here you can see the passenger side hose connected to the air outlet, as well as the glove box lamp wiring and the heat/vent control cables. The cables are temporarily banded together to simplify the installation of the instrument panel. Once this is in the car, I will route the individual cables to the plenum, vent and heater controls.


To prepare for loading the IP into the car, I removed the steering wheel and dropped the column as far as it would go. You can see the two black struts that attach the column mounting bracket to the firewall, just below the windshield. 57BuickJim is going to help me load the IP. He's got a lot of experience at this, having done 2 or 3 of his own cars. I'm following his advice on what to build up before installation and what to leave for "upside down in the car" work. All the firewall deadeners and insulation are in place, the e-brake pedal assembly is installed and connected to the cable and the windshield wipers are complete.


Hanging at the base of the windshield and covered with painter's tape are the Temperature and Oil Pressure gages. The temperature gage line is already installed in the driver's side cylinder head. The oil line will be in place before the IP is loaded. Then I will route the lines and install the gages into the back of the intrument panel.


Making good progress this week; more soon.