With the summer class and making up work for missing time to go on vacation, I haven't worked much on the Buick. I did, however, get a piece of steel for the floor replacement. It is way too big right now, and will probably have to be cut with a torch. It looks like steel plate like is used on roadways when utility work is being done. I also should get my trunk weatherstripping any day now...
Monday, July 16, 2001
Yes, I have worked on the car since July 8, I just haven't updated this page. I have since experimented with color to find that the combination I like is a medium blue with a candy coat blue flake on top of it. The car will eventually have a black interior and a black vinyl top.
I sanded and painted a good portion of the dash yesterday. I'll have to smooth it over good in the next few days, as there are some lumps of excess paint. I also painted the ends of the shifter and blinker arms black. They were faded, so there's one less thing to do.
I patched a small hole in the rear fender over the driver's side wheel. It's a rough patch right now, and I will smooth it over and make it look nice later. I put a little filler on the roof to smooth over the parts that were not- there were a few small holes (not all the way through) that the rust had eaten away.
Sunday, July 8, 2001
I finished sanding the roof. I have sanded and primed the whole roof now. What I'll do next is sand over the whole surface with 400 grit or less sandpaper to make sure it's nice and smooth, then I'll experiment with paint.
I bought four colors: flat black (for the dash, floor and other interior parts), medium blue (the color I intend to paint the car) and, just for experimental sake, translucent blue flake and translucent black flake candy coats. I will experiment on the roof, since it will not be seen anyway (it will have a black vinyl top someday). Maybe I'll take pics and post a poll on here.
Friday, July 6, 2001
Today I got all the lights to light up. I can't figure out how to turn on the brights yet, but I'm sure they work. There is no dome light, but there is two lights in the rear, several under the dash, and one in the glovebox. At night, this car really lights up!
The bad news is the battery I bought to conduct this test is way to small to crank crank the engine. It tries, but when I turn the screwdriver to "start", all the lights go out followed by half a crank on the engine.
I pulled the air filter out as it was really dirty. I also figure by carrying this around, I'll have a reference when I go shopping... I also, for lack of time, sanded and painted the oil filler cap with GM blue engine paint. I did not have time for a major project, as it was getting close to dark, so that was my choice. It looks good... but does look funny in contrast to the rest of the engine...
Wednesday, July 4, 2001
Today, I am a true, red-blooded American. I'm outside working on a genuine GM muscle car on July 4. I feel very patriotic. I went for a drive later in the day (in the nova) and saw many people out in their classics. Good day for it.
The rear window on the passenger's side does not roll down, so I proceeded to take that panel apart to see if I can figure out what is wrong with it. I laid a screwdriver down on the floor while I worked with it. I went to pick it back up... and the carpet is wet. The carpet is wet because most of the weatherstripping is gone. More importantly, the carpet is wet, which means there is probably rust underneath. I took a step in the wrong place and about fell through to the ground. The window is gonna have to wait- I pulled the front seat out and then all of the carpet. The front seat was held on by six bolts- two in the back and one in the front, (three per side). The seatbelts could not slide out through the plastic insert on the front seat, so they had to be unbolted from the body. The good news is at least that part of the floor is pretty solid. I patched a tiny hole (VERY tiny- just to keep it from futher rusting) and I'm not sure what to do about the big rust hole- it's about four inches in diameter and only in the rear of the passenger's side. I have sanded and primered most of the floor, to protect it at least a little bit from rust while i get weather stripping.
I also continued my sanding and priming campaign on the roof. I pulled the deck carpet down out of the back window, and cut out carpet for that and the door panels. That will come later, like after I fix the rest of the door, and the rest of the interior. I also banged the rear dent in a bit with a rubber mallet, sanded it, and put some body filler in. I figure if I can push the body in at a negative and smooth it out with filler, only a magnet will be able to tell that it was ever bumped by a snowplow...
Tuesday, July 3, 2001
More experimentation. Got some vinyl paint to try to paint some of the interior trim. So far, I'm not impressed with it, as I figured I wouldn't be. I also got some 400 grit sandpaper and went over where I have already primed. Now it's all nice and smooth and you can't tell where the rust hole was. On my other list of goodies I got today (today was a big shopping day): more primer, Mothers Chrome Polish (this stuff is great- too bad I've got a lot to do before I go polishing chrome), and some low grade carpet (for the back deck). I also got the ignition switch; sort of. It's really an iginition switch for a '68 Buick Skylark with a 250 V-6, though it almost fits. I just can't seem to turn the key on the lock. Not sure why that is, but I'm hoping I'll figure that out soon.
Monday, July 2, 2001
Here are the door and trunk keys. There is also a key for the glove box, but due to the fact that the glovebox lock cylinder is broken, and I have pulled that cylinder out, the key isn't much use to me. Right now, the glovebox just kinda flops open, but I have retrieved what was in it, and I will replace that lock as soon as I find the part.
Here is the ignition key- a flat blade screwdriver! woohoo! I will replace that lock cylinder soon. Oh- and for those of you who are thinking you'll steal it- I don't think so. I'll become very annoyed if I see anybody touchin my Buick!
Today, we played with fake Bondo. There was a very small hole (less than the size of a nickel) on the passenger's side rear upper quarter panel (where the roof connects to the trunk and passenger's side fender). Lessons for all you kiddies:
Don't use the lid of the body filler to mix the components. This will stick the lid to the can very tightly, as duely noted today.
The slowest drying component of the filler is the hardener. Go figure.
If there is a hole, it is an endless pit until you get at it from both sides. And who knows where all that body filler is going when you aren't paying attention. The other option, though very difficult: patch out a little piece hanging over the hole. Let it dry, then patch another little bit over the hole using the first patch as your base. This is time consuming, but it works so far.
Plastic or rubber scrapers are great. I got a package of three from walmart. When they become encrusted with dry body filler, twist the scaper around a bit. The dried filler breaks and falls off and the scraper looks brand new. After a few bends though... the scrapers aren't straight anymore. So far, this has been the best \\$1.19 investment I've made on this car.
Rust dust hurts in eyes, nose, mouth, and open wounds. As does filler dust and sanded primer dust. And every airborne particle finds its way into one of these places.
Sunday, July 1, 2001
Today is the day! I bought the Buick for \\$450 plus $50 towing! The Buick has around 188,000 miles on the engine. It stock, it comes with a 300 V-8 with a 2 Bbl carb. It is a two door hardtop (no post). It has some work to be done, as you will see soon.
Kim and I went for a joyride yesterday. We rode like the wind! Well, it sounded kinda like a hurricane and we traveled at less than a gentle breeze's pace. I flooded the engine several times trying to back it up, and we backfired a few times. It was great! I have a cracked exaust manifold that I will deal with sometime soon. Also- when there is a battery in place, ALL the warning lights are on. Not sure why, but it might have to do with the status of the key lock ignition switch and the fact that I don't have one.
My 1967 Buick Skylark 
