4 Speed Convertible Restoration

[dsags]

Time for an update on the project. The scheduled April date for delivery to the body shop actually turned out to be May 28th. The Charger from Hell is in front of me and nothing is going well on it.
In the meantime the engine was sent out to the builder and parts were ordered from Carmen Faso and others. It got a new cam, lifters, pushrods valve springs and rockers assemblies. The heads were rebuilt with hardened seats and new valves. The pistons are the stock 10.25 to 1 which, with the steel head gaskets, will probably actually turn out to be about 9.8 to 1. All the other usual things were done with bearings, etc. Carmen still has the 3922 AFB and distributor.

[dsags]

Another Update: The bumpers were sent out for replating and they must not be busy. I was told to expect a 3 ? 4 month wait and they were back in less than 2. Then while they were out I used a friends blasting cabinets and did bumper braces and anything else metal that would need a coat of paint. I had two good blinker housings so I tried the Eastwood gold cadmium kit on them. Turned out OK but I would plate them if I had to do it over.

[dsags]

Yet another update: the car is at the body shop and is being used as 'filler' work to save money. Wouldn't you know that as soon as my car gets in the shop gets busy. LOL. In the meantime the transmission and shifter have been rebuilt, the wheels painted with a gray for the inserts (thanks Brian for the color suggestion), the consolette redone and a shorty console located and restored. The dash board was redone earlier during the cold months.
Now the body shop is making some progress. The hood, trunk and front fenders have been soda blasted. The radiator support and inner fenders were media blasted. Man do the parts come out nice. California car's really have benefits. The fenders look like NOS parts.

[Mark Ascher]

Dan,

Looking good. You're flying right along.

Mark

[dsags]

Got a surprise today when I went to visit the convertible - color.
Turns out that this shop always puts a single color coat on the parts when they have completed the prep work.
Seems the color is just a bit lighter than what is on the car. What do you think ?

[Loren At 65GS]

 :headbang:I for one really like it.
My first '65 GS was an automatic convertible. Same body color with a black top and interior. I've liked that color ever since.

Keep the updates coming, Dan.

Loren

[BuickGSrules]

Looks good. Can?t wait to see it finished.

[dsags]

It has been two months since the last update. Lots of little things getting done in that time - windows and wiring out, firewall cleaned off, soda blasting small parts, etc. Now the big items start. It was rolled over to the hoist and after bracing the doors the 14 body mount bolts were removed. They came out fairly easily. Then it was up in the air. The gas tank was removed - man was that stuff in the tank rancid. Wanted to see what the body looked like above the tank. Looks like body color to me but I can't tell if its was over spray or painted that way.

[nut465gs]

Dan,

You're making great progress. Isn't it a pleasure to work on a rust free desert car! Now that you have the body off the frame, check for the two places where the VIN is stamped on the frame. You might want to photo and post the location of the VIN on the  frame to help others locate their frame VIN.

Do you plan to powder coat or paint the frame? This is going to one nice GS when complete. Keep the updates coming.

John

[WkillGS]

Looking great Dan! Love the color. Buicks look great in those light metallics.
My 66's had black underbodies, with quite a bit of color overspray. My Fremont cars have undercoating in the rear wheelwells and behind the rear wheels. My Baltimore cars had undercoating on the floors as well.
Looking forward to future updates, so keep 'em coming!

[dsags]

Thanks for the comments. The frame is going to be painted not powder coated. The shop uses a very hard black primer. Its called CRE by them - corrosion resistant enamel. Plan is to paint the under body the same satin black. Not sure about any undercoating. Will probably do as Walt mentioned and undercoat the rear wheel wells.
I'll check the frame next time I'm at the shop for the VIN and part numbers.

Dan

[Mark Ascher]

Dan,

You're into the meat of the project now. Looking good. As Walt said, the Fremont cars had undercoat in the rear wheel houses and behind the rear wheels on the trunk floor. Let us know if your going to do that, and what you'll be using.

Mark

[BuickGSrules]

I know I don?t have to say this, but take your time and do it right. I will look forward to try it out next summer

[dsags]

The car is coming along. Body is off the frame as last posted but the frame has been media blasted and painted with GM Restoration Chassis Black. Supposed to have the same flatness as the original factory paint. You can be the judge of that. The frame is very nice. Is as smooth as can be.

[dsags]

The body has also been soda blasted. The nice thing about soda blasting is that until the residue is rinsed off the metal will not rust. Does a great job too. Like a dunce I did not take a picture from way back so the whole body does not show.
Did get a surprise when it was found that the passenger quarter panel had been hit and repaired poorly. The body guy said I should get a quarter panel. Yeah, as if really nice 65 Skylark quarter panels are just laying around. I am leaning towards fixing the current panel and keeping it all original metal. Thought I would post several pictures for reference. That California metal is nice.