Building a Wagon Queen Family Truckster.

Discussion in 'General Station Wagon Discussions' started by 60Buick, Jun 20, 2017.

  1. 60Buick

    60Buick Active Member

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    I have wanted to build a Truckster for at least 15 years. I have held off until I found the right car to build off of. You know, a 79 or 80 County Squire with untinted glass, tan interior, base optional equipment, local, cheap and in good condition. Well in 15 years that has never happed. Even if I am willing to travel and pay obscene money for one, they just don't exist. I'm convinced they were used hard, put away wet, scrapped, rusted or derbied.
    So when a friend of mine said he had a very nice 86 Country Squire he was selling because his wife says it's ghetto, I was all ears.

    The good- It's in great condition, very fair price, untinted glass, always garaged, zero rust, cold R12 A/C, no mechanical issues, low mileage and original paint.

    The bad- wrong year, that means trying to find some very rare parts. Red interior has to be swapped out. Fully loaded and needs to be taken to base trim. 5-6 hour drive each way to pickup.
     

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  2. 81X11

    81X11 Well-Known Member

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    That's actually a pretty car in nice colors. Not to kill your dream, but I'd detail it to the hilt, do a light tint on the windows, and find some factory Ford/Mercury/Lincoln turbine wheels for it, and enjoy it! You can wake that 5.0 up a bit with true dual exhaust, and just tinker and enjoy it. The FI 5.0 is a LOT better motor than what would have been in the earlier wagons too.
     
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  3. 60Buick

    60Buick Active Member

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    After I got the car it was honestly the best dang thing I have ever driven. I have multiple antique cars from the 50's through the 70's and a new Challenger R/T as my daily driver. This 31 year old Wagon is such a good road car I opted to put the Challenger in the wagons bay and drive the wagon!
    I honestly think new cars are bad when compared to what we made a few decades ago and this car proves it to me. I have the room to stretch out, a seat that is not carved granite wrapped in leather, steering that doesn't feel like a poor video game, no rediculous high belt lines that kill visability, no giant rims wrapped in one inch of rubber and the car doesn't feel plastic. It does lack power but it rides "so good" and has excellent road feel. So, I'm driving the wagon everyday and left wondering how cars today have gotten to where they are without people noticing what's missing.
    As of now, I have put 3000 miles on the wagon without a single issue, I will have to buy another one once this one is a Truckster.
     
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  4. Grizz

    Grizz Are we there yet???

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    I love that you parked the dodge. I love it even more knowing theres probably people out there on the road smirking at your wagon and probably passing judgement not know you have that bad @$$ r/t stashed at home. I think your friend should have gotten rid of the wife and not the car!!! My wagon has been called a lot of things, but "ghetto" has never been one. Wonder if there has ever been a wagon used in a drive by?
     
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  5. 60Buick

    60Buick Active Member

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    I kind of kills me to modify it. I'm a purist when it comes to cars. On this one however the damage was done before I got it that pushes it over the "keep original point". The original owner, an 80 year old woman got bumped on the right rear door. The body shop repaired the dent and informed her, they could not match the wood grain. She said not to touch it, and then proceeded to fix it herself. She bought brown house paint from Home Depot and a brush and painted over all the woodgrain vynal and trim. It's a shame the wood grain material was in great shape. The other issue is she was a smoker, I am not. Even though the interior is excellent and she hasn't driven the car in 10 years the smell remains in the cloth. I can't clean it out. All that interior has to come out and be replaced. The final nail in the coffin was done by the guy I bought the car from. He took a grinder down the passenger side over the woodgrain material, bringing it down to the metal. Its pretty gouged up. He was going to have the inserts Rhino-lined. I don't know why.

    What I'm left with is a rust free, excellent car that needs to be completely painted, body gone over and new upholstery installed. That's good Truckster material. If I find another one that needs nothing I will preserve it. Hopefully it will be blue and I can strap a big crate to the roof.
     

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  6. 60Buick

    60Buick Active Member

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    On the first day of junkyarding I picked up a second header panel off an 85 LTD, all the wood grain trim from a 91 Country Squire, extra set of Tail lights and 2ND luggage rack.

    Parts are really a bear to locate I have been on the hunt for a month solid. I got lucky and found another LTD in another yard with tan interior and roll up windows. I now have all the manual regulators (I am going to miss the power windows and locks). I have the correct door panels and a few other interior items. I also snagged the manual antenna to replace my powered unit.

    Now for the really hard stuff.
    A friend of mine gave me the correct radio. Everything else is going to require calling places far away. A junkyard at the opposite end of the country has a doner car and they don't mind pulling and mailing me parts. They have been a life saver.

    The Speedometer was changed in 82 to blue. I located one in a 79 with the correct yellow km/h numerals and orange needle.

    The electronic trip minder was not available on the 80 used in the movie. They had the mechanical clock, in the drive thru scene you can just see the knob for the clock for a split second. They are sending me one from a 79.

    They also changed the face on the A/C control panel in 85 and the correct one is on it's way.

    I have the very hard to locate drivers side sail mirror. The glass is shattered but that can be fixed.

    And finally I have a front bumper off a 79. I needed one from an 80 but I believe the center can be modified accordingly to match an 80.

    I still need a front seat, the one in the movie car is a solid bench with no headrest and it is covered in what looks like brown burlap. I don't know what is the correct seat or seat material I will need. I'm still doing my homework on that.
     

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  7. 60Buick

    60Buick Active Member

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    The header panel....
    If you look at the movie car "post jump" you will see three things. One is that the head light buckets were cut separate from the header panel. Two is that they bolted to the fender at the top (that was the only way to get the tilted light on the drivers side). And three is the nose was made of fiberglass glued to the top edge of the grill.
     

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  8. Poison_Ivy

    Poison_Ivy Dogzilla Fan

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    If you've went that far, why not spend the 5 hours one way and get that red interior you initially wanted? You might be sorry you never fetched it, later on.
    He might be willing to do just that. How much will he take for it?
     
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  9. 60Buick

    60Buick Active Member

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    First cuts. I separated all the headlight buckets from the header panels. I removed the front bumper and mounts. cut about 2 inches away from the front frame rail to clear the second set of lights. After that it kind of falls into place. I have not removed the header from the car yet I need to to finish the body work to the header but it was basically built on the car. I tried to do it as they would have done for the studio. It would be nice if one car had survived.
     

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  10. n2fordmuscle

    n2fordmuscle Well-Known Member

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    Sweet! Coming along nicely!
     
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  11. 60Buick

    60Buick Active Member

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    The grill..... The thing about movie cars is they are predictable in construction. What I mean is they are built to look good on camera, be cheaply constructed and fast to build. You can pretty much sum up round numbers are going to be used for measurements, simple materials will be used and they are slapped together without a precise method. I kind of followed that formula for the grill.

    After the head lights were in, I secured everything with professional auto body glue and fiberglass. The stuff I use is made by 3M and is a 2 part epoxy for bonding body panels. At $40 a tube it is pricey but it works very well. I also used that to glue the upper edge of grill onto the header panel. Then I used fiberglass sheeting to build the sides of the grill. I came out 2 inches from the headlight at the bottom and the top was flush with the old grill. It looks right and round numbers for measurements are what I think would be used so it is easily repeatable on multiple cars. I used aluminum to brace it and build the bottom edge. I came out 3.5 inches for the center and glued on the fiberglass sheets and cut them to size on the car. It should be about even with the bumper when installed. After everything was glued in I added more fiberglass for reinforcement and cut openings. I used a little body filler to blend it in and get an idea of its look. It's still pretty rough. The next step is to pull the whole header and start bodywork on it. It has survived a 1000 miles of interstate with no cracks or breakage so I should be set to finish it up over the next coupe weeks.
     

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  12. 60Buick

    60Buick Active Member

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    The tail..... If you look at the movie car you will see the extra back up lights are a different tint than the originals. They are also non functioning tail lights. I played with a few things and came to the conclusion that they mounted them to a reflective backing and screwed them on the gate.
    So that's how I did it. I cut a sheet aluminum piece in the same shape as the taillight housing and attached the outer trim to it. After that the lenses stuck out to far so I thined the lenses to fit flush. I drilled the holes and screwed them onto the tail gate. The screws hold the whole assymbly in place.

    I still need to omit the 5th brake light and rethink the extra handle. I screwed the complete door handle onto the gate and it sticks out a half inch to far. I will figure it out and weld up the 2 little holes I made. So that's where I'm at at today's date. I have a long way to go.
     

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  13. Silvertwinkiehobo

    Silvertwinkiehobo "Everything that breaks starts with 'F.'"

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    That center handle looks to be a door handle, plain and simple. I have a bunch of interior and mechanical parts from two '83 wagons (one CS and one CP) and I need to do an inventory, as I only have an incomplete list posted (http://www.stationwagonforums.com/f...country-squire-colony-park-parts.30862/page-5 list is at the bottom of the page), so if you PM me a list of interior items you seek, I can see what I have and get back to you.
     
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  14. Silvertwinkiehobo

    Silvertwinkiehobo "Everything that breaks starts with 'F.'"

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    Also, If you want more power underhood, I have a 351W oil pan and dipstick with tube, from the '79 Grand Marquis that donated its engine and trans to my '79 Ranchero. The EFI can be adapted to the 351W using a truck EFI lower intake and adapter plate that goes between the intake and upper plenum. Just something to think about.
     
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  15. 60Buick

    60Buick Active Member

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    That's definitely something to keep in mind. She needs more power but runs perfectly. I'm not going to change a thing unless something goes boom.
     

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