a few photos of my 65 GS I got from Oregon on E-bay

[markrieb]

Who did the tail lights and how much was it?  Ogden Chrome quoted me a disturbingly high price

Hi markrieb ,   first of all welcome to the forum . I see this is your first post and yes rechroming these tail lights is very expensive .
Just the bare housings cost me 1600.00 plus I still have to fill some pitting on the areas that get painted black and silver .
Then on top of that the 4 center bars were another 80.00 a piece . So after everything said and done its very easy to have 2000.00 in them and that's considering your cores aren't to badly pitted .

That is in line with Ogden Chrome.  He estimated over the phone $1,200/light without seeing the condition of the lights.  I just polished up what I have as good as it can get and will live with it or now.  Trying to build a driver not a 100 point restoration or show car.  Might try some plasti-dip and see what they look like blacked out.

[yachtsmanbill]

Chrome plated pot metal sucks. Period.  If they are severely pitted consider grinding them clean, and then finish with a skim coat of fiberglass body filler. Sand smooth and paint with MOLOTOW chrome paint. Its not just silver; its more like chrome. Even, "ahem", better than driver quality. You can get different sized pens, or its sprayable with a rattle can, gun or an airbrush.

These poor old cars can get to be $$$ for even a modest restoration. Ive even used them to touch up rust spots (through the chrome!) on some Cragar SS steel rims. Cant see the repair. Also did the rims of the dash bezel on my '72 with excellent results.   Bill

https://www.google.com/search?source=hp&ei=ytPdXNC3BsTSsAXr_KuICw&q=MOLOTOW+chrome+paint&oq=MOLOTOW+chrome+paint&gs_l=psy-ab.12..0l2j0i22i30l4.3192.9816..10352...1.0..0.393.3017.3j16j1j1......0....1..gws-wiz.....6..35i39j0i131.awxAdzouiJI

[35chevcoupe]

back working on the car a little again . Picked up my exhaust manifolds from the machine shop after they put a nice fresh surface on the ports .
Time for a some high temp gray .

[elagache]

Dear John and mid-60s Buick restorers,

Picked up my exhaust manifolds from the machine shop after they put a nice fresh surface on the ports .
Time for a some high temp gray .

Definitely another piece of the puzzle!  Time to get our your painting equipment!

Cheers, Edouard 

[35chevcoupe]

Guess its time for an update . Well Ive been tinkering a bit on the car , progress has been slow but Im FINALLY wrapping up this dearborn 3 speed . WOW !  what a battle this was , but after countless hours of research I ( think ) I have figured out most of the details . Its not quite finished yet as Im waiting for a drive gear for the speedometer
so i can install the tail shaft housing .  Its not perfect but pretty much the best this 3rd grade drop out can do .

[Aussie Skylark]

Hi John,
I've just been looking at your build, very inspirational.
Keep up the good work.
Marcus

[cwmcobra]

Very nice John!  Were all those markings on the transmission when you got it?  Impressive!

 

Chuck

[35chevcoupe]

Very nice John!  Were all those markings on the transmission when you got it?  Impressive!

 

Chuck

Yes they were Chuck , But some were impossible to read . Its quite the lengthy story and if anyone is interested I can share the process . I,ll try and post some before and after photos .

[GS66]

Nice work John!

[red65gs]

Hi John, I'd like to see more photos and info about the Dearborn 3 speed. I'm restoring one of those 603 myself and info would be most helpful.

Great work!

Don

[elagache]

Nice work John!

x2!!

Cheers, Edouard 

[35chevcoupe]

I,ll try and condense this as much as possible . Hopefully the photos will load . first 3 photos are the trans case in the parts washer .

[35chevcoupe]

next 4 photos are case soaking in Evaporust over night and exposing the markings the next day .
I was AMAZED that the rust came off and didn't remove the oem paint markings .

[35chevcoupe]

So after all the hours I spent Guess it was worth it . You'll notice its not completely finished yet , still waiting on speedo drive gear so i can put the tail shaft housing on it . I'm working on the back-up light switch assembly and the metal tag riveted to the side of the case was VERY badly rusted so in the process of reproducing another one .
 So this is what I've learned from everything I could scrounge up . if I'm wrong or someone has something to add please feel free .
The KF on the right side of case was sprayed on using a stencil and should be on all Buick dearborn transmissions for 1965
The 16 not sure 100% but was a rubber stamp as the paint was really thick in spots and probably from the person who assembled it .
All dearborn ( top loaders ) had a metal tag riveted to the right side , the top row will read ( HEG AD  ) second row of numbers was merely a serial number that ford attached to there cases . Which leads to the very uncommon  ( GAD ) on the left side of the case , this was also a rubber stamp . The G was the last letter of the HEG stamp on the tag and the AD at the end . The stamping on the tags sometimes was very faint so I,m guessing the GAD in yellow was for a quick and easy way for the assembler to know which trans was suppose to go in that particular car .
The yellow 4 in yellow brush mark was probably for 4th shift . ( ? )
The blue daub on the bottom , your guess is as good as mine  . possible that it was filled with fluid .
The last two are the orange grease pen marks . I have No clue as to what those represent .

[cwmcobra]

Thanks for posting those details John.  I'm shocked that the markings survived the evaporust bath and came out looking vibrant.  You've obviously put a lot of time into deciphering the markings, but I know you feel really good about the results.

Looking forward to getting the Verde brothers together soon!

 

Chuck