CFD's Build Thread

[CFD]

Playing with the Buick a little today. It's good to know I can walk out, turn key and drive it. I'd like to get the glass in before the surgery but I'm not sure I'll have time. I have some welding to do on my son's '69 XR7 so he can clean up the engine bay while I'm recovering.

It's tough to take video's when working on it by myself but I got a quick clip of the exhaust note and a quick clip of it going up and down the driveway captured by my surveillance camera.

https://youtu.be/zsu2-GgLD88


https://youtu.be/djXuOW-kv3U

[Dragonman]

Good to see that car running and rolling. Your skills and persistence are amazing.

Best wishes for a positive outcome on the surgery.

[SSEssence]

Looking and sounding good!

[CFD]

This will most likely be the last update on the Buick for a while, surgery is scheduled for tomorrow morning.

I had a chance to do the window channels. I couldn't come up with the same rivets used originally so I used pop rivets. I knocked out the pins after installing them. Then I made a male/female punch set to countersink them and roll the backs over so they won't touch the glass. I installed the old fly windows just to line everything up. When I'm up and about I will install the new glass. I also made up a couple of exhaust tips so I don't burn up my tires. lol. I mounted one fender for measurements, It's still too loud but I'll deal with it later. I pulled it out for a while today and took a few more pictures. It seems to be starting and running great, can't wait to drive it out on the road, should be fun.

[mlee]

This came together nicely and I embedded the videos. The tips look great!

Hope all goes as planned tomorrow and you're back at it very soon.

[hammdo]

Hope for a speedy recovery!

-Don

[h018871]

Smooth surgery and swift recovery!

[CFD]

Hi everyone

Not much of an update because I can't really do much and it's driving me nuts !!!! Here in MA we have been experiencing some unusually warm weather, if I could turn my friggin' steering wheel I would be road testing the Buick for sure. I did get the rear window gaskets, last two window channels and sash mounting tape in. I'm hoping that on my son's day off I can get them installed, it's a two man job, I'm hoping 1 1/2 men can do it just to keep things moving.

[CFD]

Made some progress with the Buick. I'm still in the early stage of recovery so I'm limited to what I can do so decided to send some time on little things needed to get an inspection sticker, I'm planning on driving it in the near future. I was going to put LED lights in the rear bumper for directionals/stop/tail lights but where as all the body lines and exterior sheet metal has not been altered I decided to go with the stock lights and convert them to 12v dual filament sockets. Rather than buy a complete set and then rework them I decided to piece them together so I found a good set of bases with the socket holders and also found a pair of the lens housings. I stripped all the old wiring and socket components then glass beaded all the parts, I installed new pigtails and parts so they now will use standard 1157 bulbs and replaced the hardware with SS pieces. The lens housings are typically painted the same as the body color and only the inside border is chrome, I decided not to paint them so they will break up all the matte black paint so rather than glass beading them I stripped hem with paint remover, they are in very good shape and still have their patina as do all the handles and trim. The oem glass lenses are quite expensive but will be worth it to keep the oem style.

[CFD]

The last thing needed to get an inspection sticker, other than the loud exhaust, lol ,is an emergency brake. I had been toying with a pinion mounted driveshaft brake so I went ahead and programmed a test rotor out of chipboard. It looks like it will work perfectly so I ordered a rotor blank to machine. It's difficult for me to get under the car but I'm goin to see if I can get some measurements for the caliper mount.

[h018871]

That'll work out well!

[CFD]

Hoping to have the ebrake rotor blank in the next day or two so I've been working on glass. Got the door windows removed from the sashes, glass beaded and painted them then fitted them to the new windows, according to the news paper they were wrapped in this is the first time they've seen daylight since 2004. Fitted the new channels in the doors and got the windows in. They work very smoothly and are nice and tight. I also got the gaskets on the rear windows and have them ready to install but I won't be able to do them without help. The front windshields had fitment issues so I'll have to deal with that soon. I also have new glass for the fly windows but I'll deal with them later, they are weather tight as is.

[tstodii]

Windows look great!

[CFD]

Originally Posted by tstodii

Windows look great!

Thanks, they look and work great.

Got the rotor blank in and had time to machine and drill it. Tomorrow I will deburr and chamfer all the edges and holes. If I have enough time I will get it installed.