South Deerfield restoration project!

[WkillGS]

'UGH!'  describes my 66 GS vert project too! It's a metal working challenge but it's coming along piece by piece.
I did the inner fender repair too. Made templates from cereal boxes, made the metal parts, and TIG welded in place. The tig is nice as it leaves a fine bead that is easy to finish off.

I went with the one piece trunk for this job. Cost more but it's a very nice piece.

I bought a 66-7 Chevelle trunk drop off to try, but it's way off. Olds and Pontiac are also much different. I have a pair of decent used ones, or may try to duplicate them.... a $100 bead roller is a handy tool for fabbing parts, as is the shrinker/stretcher set.

[elagache]

Dear Jim, Loren, Walt, and mid-60s Buick restorers,

Wow is right!    Best of luck Jim, you sure have a mountain of metal fabrication to do.

Cheers, Edouard

[cwmcobra]

Wow Jim!  If not already, you will be highly skilled at metal fab and welding by the time this restoration is through.  Best of luck and enjoy!

 

Chuck

[35chevcoupe]

I would second Walts advice , instead of wasting money on drop downs that aren't going to work spend the money on a shrinker / stretcher and a bead roller .  A sheet metal brake will come in handy also .
I did exactly what your doing , repaired the lower wheel wells and also rebuilt my original drop downs . page 16 of my restoration page shows some of the work  i did .
The only thing i did different was the order of events .  Before i cut anything out I simply placed a couple rows of 2 inch wide masking tape over the areas that were rusty and trimmed the tape to match the oem contours and then transferred the tape to a new piece of sheet metal .
With a shrinker/stretcher it actually went pretty smooth .
Good Luck . hope that helps .

[JimL65]

Wheel houses are done!!! Next step for the GS is trying to figures out the Trunk drop offs
Also ISO drivers side door lower door hinge.

[cwmcobra]

Nice work Jim!!

[GS66]

Looking good! Nice job!

[Loren At 65GS]

Wheel houses are done!!! Next step for the GS is trying to figures out the Trunk drop offs
Also ISO drivers side door lower door hinge.

  Jim,

  I may have a pair of those.  I'll take a look if you are interested.

  Loren

[elagache]

Nice to see the progress!! 

Cheers, Edouard 

[JimL65]

All set for a door hinge. I had purchased one years ago for my Skylark from someone on this forum or V8 Buick which was never installed. Just forgot what side it was for and where I had put it ;-(
Loren, yes take a look let me know what you find.

[Loren At 65GS]

 Jim,
 Door hinges are reproduced now. I have some used hinges here.  I will get picture of the extension pieces.

  Loren

[elagache]

Dear Jim,

All set for a door hinge.  . . . .

Door hinges are reproduced now.  . . . .

FYI, . . .   Back in 2010, I purchased the OPGI reproduction of the upper driver's side door hinge for my trusty wagon.  The stops had broken on that hinge decades earlier and I worried about the door slamming on someone and hurting them.  I can't comment on how close their are, but they work just fine.  I certainly appreciate that now the driver's side door stays open!

Cheers, Edouard 

P.S. I also don't know who actually manufactures the hinge, so there might be better prices available out there than OPGI.

[Loren At 65GS]

Jim,

 I posted pictures of the extensions I have over on v8Buick, under your wanted ad.
   
  Loren

[JimL65]

The one piece trunk test fit went very well! Pleased with the fit.

[Loren At 65GS]

Nice work Jim!

  Loren