Secret experimental 1964 GX 455

[yachtsmanbill]

I agree Walt. My brother who sold me the 1970 455/4 speed car he ordered, that he sold me in '72, bought a new turbo coupe in '76 I think? It has the blister bubble for the turbo. If the hood clearance issue persists later this week, Ill hafta go with the cowl hood. THEN, Ill fabricate a GX 455 air cleaner to mate up to the hood... I love making the judges scratch their, ah, heads!

Happy Bird Day everyone!  Bill in TR

[yachtsmanbill]

Im a slave to the grind(er)! Pat took off this morning with the wrecking crew for Champaign, Il. for bird day. That gives me 5 days to get some stuff done.

Finished with some cleaning and got a nice juicy coat of Galvanized Primer soaked into all the nooks and crannys', then slapped a nice heavy coat of Rustoleo flat back on all the stuff that wont show. I spared the paint where the spot welds will go for a good "stickem'".

 I brush the stuff on/in, then recoat with a light cover of semi gloss. The flat was at a garage sale for 50 cents for a brand new quart, and the semi gloss spray was on sale PLUS 11% rebate at retards. Im not cheap; Im frugal.

Took the new center section and started hackin' away with the cutoff grinder. It took me only 4 trim cuts to get it to lays this close. Clamped in, its SPOT ON. Im right where I wanna be with this part. One or both side panels will be tomorrow. Ill probably clamp the center back and shoot a few tech screws to hold the position, then weld them closed as we near that stage. The floor around the wheel wells was really good, so I trimmed that for a shelf to lay the panel(s) on. Ill have to trim the panels accordinly and mark the flanges to drill holes for more spot welds.

This car had the whole trunk painted body color (a 1964 thing?). I may go that route or a speckle job. Exspurts? (the speckles will help camouflage the repair too!)  Bill

[schlepcar]

Looks good Bill,that car was in very good condition to be able to reuse the original supports. When I did mine I just drilled 1/8 inch holes spaced as the original spot welds in the new panels. I cranked up the heat and speed a little on the mig and burned the small holes a little bigger around to melt the weld into the supports. When I was welding panel to panel I just used a 1/4 inch drill with lighter heat to burn them together. After the grinder hits the welds you are 82 percent done with that rusty stuff. The panels fit and look like new. After I finished it I can honestly say that the one piece floor is WAY too much work and likely not necessary on a decent car. You will be very happy with the floor the way you did it and it was better to not mess with the supports or tank straps.

[WkillGS]

..... After I finished it I can honestly say that the one piece floor is WAY too much work and likely not necessary on a decent car.....

I went that  route on my 66 vert. It would NOT have been considered a decent car, as it also needed and got a full floor. Trunk wasn't horrible, but the supports were shot and decided to replace the whole she-bang. Biggest downside to the one piece trunk is getting it in place past the lower quarters and trunk drop offs. Those are getting replaced anyway so in this case it was fairly easy to fit it. And the one piece requires much less welding and makes for a very nice finished install.

Here's the trial fit, the sandblasted, primed trunk area with inner fender repairs tig-welded in, and the 1-piece installed. It needed some trimming to mate up with the tail panel but was otherwise a perfect fit for my 66.

[yachtsmanbill]

Excellent guys! Schlep... were the 1/8" holes enough? I was thinking 3/16 or 1/4. Everything on the frames is shiny clean. Yesterday (and today) I had the center pan in and scribed the bottom side against the rails on all 4 sides. Thats gonna come back out and get drilled with "witness" marks at all 4 corners so it goes back in exactly from whence it came LOL. Probably will hold it down with 4 small tech screws instead of clamps for more room on the L & R pcs.

Walt... everyone said youll need to have the body off for a one piece unit. I see how you got around that, plus the fenderwell lip extensions. WOWZER! I guess Ill count my blessings (today especially!) that all that stuff on mine was solid. Just a leaky window that got the floor mat wet, and put away like that in 1980. Rust never sleeps, so they say.  Thanks for the pics!

Still looking for a nice/cheap used drain plug. New ones are about 5.00 so its not a biggy, but Ive had problems seating the chinaplugs before and the OEM plugs were a breeze!   Bill

[Brian]

Bill,
   65 was first year for splatter paint in the Buick trunks.  64 trunks were all painted body color inside.

[yachtsmanbill]

Thanks man! Whats an extra quart of paint between friends??? Happy Bird Day!!!  Bill

[schlepcar]

Nice pics of the one piece Walt. I have never used one but they look like a quality piece. I have used the 3 piece a few times and thought it fit together very well but sometimes just isn't enough metal to cure the problem(especially on convertibles that leaked). Bill,the reason I used small holes on the support welds is because I welded them very hot.When I did that it tends to burn the panel out a bit so you end up with about a 7/16 puddle weld that requires very little grinding. Your initial burn is dead center in the small hole and hold it there for a couple seconds(or whatever you can see is burning into the support)and then just lightly trigger in the bigger hole to puddle it even. You get a very strong weld that isn't going anywhere. You can't get away with that process on the panel to panel welds because the heat will burn holes through both panels. At any rate air is your worst enemy.Try to get the panels and supports as tight to one another as possible even if you have to screw it tight and weld in the holes,Dan

[yachtsmanbill]

GOTCHA! As a yoot (LOL) I worked for 30 years in a power plant (coal) and we did all our boiler repairs with 7018 and "finally" went to a TIG root pass. By then the eyeballs were gone so I dropped my certs. Originally in the late 70's (our fleet was about 80% nuclear) all our processes company wide had to conform to NRC criteria.

Even if theres a little gap, Ill pull it together with either a clamp, if I can squeeze it or a tech screw, weld it, and remove and fill the screw. Have grinder will travel! Its gonna be a Jack in the Box job, but hey, thats what makes it fun...  Bill

[yachtsmanbill]

So the center panel was screwed down and the right side panel trimmed to fit. There was a discrepancy between the chinaman and me, and he won. I had to trim the fenderwell lip right on the edge, and it was about 1" too much. Ill hafta make a filler for that side. If the Left side will flatten out without too much distortion, it'll fit much better. Thats for tomorrow LOL.

The shops a total dusty mess and I clean up every day sans the black boogers haha. After the 3 panels are in, Ill scribe them all for frames and remove to drill for spot welds. Theyll go back in on the screws for position, then weld 'em up. Im right where I wanna be....   Bill

[yachtsmanbill]

So the proof of the pudding is in the eaating!...   Bill

[yachtsmanbill]

Everyone must still be sleeping off dinner! I got the 3 panels fitted and a few tech screws in to hold position and just finished up some filler strips for around the fender wells due to dull chinaman dies. In truth, these are worn out GM dies from 50 years ago. Still couldnt have made better unless its in aluminum, then screw it all down.

Im heading in UNDER the car to mark all the braces and pull them back out for drilling accurate MIG spot welding holes. Now take a deep breath...   Bill

[elagache]

Dear Bill and mid-60s Buick caregivers,

Everyone must still be sleeping off dinner!

Well, not exactly on this coast.  We went from a critical wildfire danger on Monday to a serious thread of flooding today!  In between cooking the Thanksgiving and other meals, I've been running around like crazy to cope with the radically changing weather.

I got the 3 panels fitted and a few tech screws in to hold position and just finished up some filler strips for around the fender wells due to dull chinaman dies. In truth, these are worn out GM dies from 50 years ago. Still couldnt have made better unless its in aluminum, then screw it all down.

Im heading in UNDER the car to mark all the braces and pull them back out for drilling accurate MIG spot welding holes. Now take a deep breath...   Bill

Yes it was quite a struggle!  I"m glad that you managed to cope with the curve balls thrown at you and this repair is just about in "da' bag!"

Do keep us updated!! 

Cheers, Edouard 

[yachtsmanbill]

Feast or famine right Ed? Pat was outa town with the wrecking crew AND the demolition squad for the weekend. Gave me a chance to get busy.  Right!

Fitted some wheel well spacers then marked the underside of the floor. Removed that and can now accurately drill my spot weld holes. Easy-Peazy, chinaeasy!
The chinaman messed up for a change. The stupid UPC stickers came off in one piece! A little solvent soluble glue to clean up a little residue. Usually thos things make a friggin' mess and take time and effort to remove, plus any underlying damage to the base parts. I hate them things!

Laid out where I am gonna cut the valance for a bench repair. To do it in place will look lousy and be a back breaker to boot. While I was waiting for the marker to dry (!) I did a little planishing on that rear quarter panel. Still hafta cut the rot out to good metal for welding; cumsi,cumsa.  Bill

[yachtsmanbill]

A few shots from the forbidden zone LOL.  I also need a trunk seal gasket. Wheres the best (read cheapest) place to get one. Had good and bad luck with all the brands. The OEM gasket has a fiber (cotton or nylon?) cord as a spine. Its still gonna blow removing it with all the glue in the channel etc.

The repairs will be all steel with a smidge of filler as needed..  Bill