Well, my hot rod project has been at a stand still for a couple months. Vacation, dirt bike season, an just life in general put things on hold for awhile. The last couple weeks though have yielded some progress. Early progress, but progress none the less!
THE CLEAN UP:
The '51 Buick was stripped of everything inside. Seats pulled, all the upholstery, headliner, door panels, dash, instruments, EVERYTHING!! I was concerned I was going to get hanta virus after this little part of the project. She had been living in a field for years and then next to the tracks under a tree. That sucker was a vermin motel!! Nothing alive of course, buy they built condos! The trunk was full of hazelnut shells, and old parts, including a second complete hood ornament and the missing right side hood pull! Score.
We spent a lot of time tagging, labeling, boxing and categorized all the parts so it's easier to put all back together later.
Once we got all the seats out we could assess the pans. Holy hell! And I mean HOLEY! There are three major rotted out sections in the floor pan, rear right foot well and seat area, right front foot well, and left side midsection. The Trunk is in need of some patching as well. Once we blast it and get ride of the bad metal, she may look like a cheese grater! But, we've decided to patch in new floor pans where needed and do a fiberglass coat to the whole bottom to strengthen it.
We also discovered that my little car had been in a couple fender benders. One we knew about as the right rear is still pushed in. The second was also on the right rear hand side but involved the door as we found some evidence of bondo work. No big, the car needs so much metal work, what's a little bondo clean up right?
THE MOVE:
So, we get her all cleaned up and need to move her to our storage unit for awhile to do the next big project, strip down the donor car. We decided to tow bar the '51 the mile or two to your unit. Well, what we didn't account for is there is something wildly wrong with the steering on our car. We pulled out on to the street, the front wheels do about 4 quick side to sides and then dive into the frame and lock up. When this happens the suspension unloads in the rear and jacks one side of the body way up in the air! I'm following this in our truck and the first thing I think of is not, "OMG we're going to kill someone," but "Oh crap I hope the rest of the good glass is still good after that kind of torque to the body!!" I have my priorities straight. I promise.
So, long story short, this baby is not going to flat tow. So, we drop her off on the street in front of some old ladies house, go procure a flatbed trailer and load her up. The problem is she's so huge, she barely fits, in either direction! With mm to spare we get her loaded and to the storage unit. After lots of pushing and discomfort, she was settled.
Man we put on a good show. I take pride in making my neighbors jaws drop.
THE DONOR CAR:
We figured out that by the time we bought all the parts for the "modernizations" we want to do (including engine, tranny, disc brake, suspension, axles, airbags, ect) it would be cheaper to just buy a whole car and scrap what we don't use. So for some months I have been the not so proud owner of a 1991 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon. Why this car you ask? Well, how cool is it that the donor for my '51 Buick Roadmaster is a '91 Buick Roadmaster? Cool I say. And, it's almost the only car big enough to the match up to my '51. Eighteen feet is a long ways!
So, the "Wagonmaster" as it was dubbed has been strategically hidden amongst a row of s*hit cars outside of a crappy college apartment complex. Perfect cover. It sits in the same place for 4 months and doesn't get tagged for ticket or towing. Considering it's sitting next to a giant camo painted high rise 70's truck it actually isn't that much of an eyesore.
Once we got the '51 in storage, we brought the '91 to the house and started sawing. We removed the entire wiring harness, cut off any recyclable metal, and lifted the frame off the body for recycling as well. We kept the engine and tranny in place on the rolling chassis as well as the engine compartment wiring harness. We fished the remaining parts of the wiring harness we wanted through the fire wall and ta-da...we have a rolling chassis minus the god awful looking car that used to be on top of it! Score.
We borrowed my hubbies bosses fork lift and popped the body off the frame and loaded it up. Today the body and all the salvaged metal are going to the recycler and we estimate about $200 is scrap value will be had. Not bad I say!
Now, the new frame has to be chopped, and modified to fit my old body. This will most likely have to wait for a couple more months as the project has to be put on hold again as we are remodeling out kitchen this summer. So, come fall I will have a lot of work to and more updates!
I heart my '51 Buick.
THE CLEAN UP:
The '51 Buick was stripped of everything inside. Seats pulled, all the upholstery, headliner, door panels, dash, instruments, EVERYTHING!! I was concerned I was going to get hanta virus after this little part of the project. She had been living in a field for years and then next to the tracks under a tree. That sucker was a vermin motel!! Nothing alive of course, buy they built condos! The trunk was full of hazelnut shells, and old parts, including a second complete hood ornament and the missing right side hood pull! Score.
We spent a lot of time tagging, labeling, boxing and categorized all the parts so it's easier to put all back together later.
Once we got all the seats out we could assess the pans. Holy hell! And I mean HOLEY! There are three major rotted out sections in the floor pan, rear right foot well and seat area, right front foot well, and left side midsection. The Trunk is in need of some patching as well. Once we blast it and get ride of the bad metal, she may look like a cheese grater! But, we've decided to patch in new floor pans where needed and do a fiberglass coat to the whole bottom to strengthen it.
We also discovered that my little car had been in a couple fender benders. One we knew about as the right rear is still pushed in. The second was also on the right rear hand side but involved the door as we found some evidence of bondo work. No big, the car needs so much metal work, what's a little bondo clean up right?
THE MOVE:
So, we get her all cleaned up and need to move her to our storage unit for awhile to do the next big project, strip down the donor car. We decided to tow bar the '51 the mile or two to your unit. Well, what we didn't account for is there is something wildly wrong with the steering on our car. We pulled out on to the street, the front wheels do about 4 quick side to sides and then dive into the frame and lock up. When this happens the suspension unloads in the rear and jacks one side of the body way up in the air! I'm following this in our truck and the first thing I think of is not, "OMG we're going to kill someone," but "Oh crap I hope the rest of the good glass is still good after that kind of torque to the body!!" I have my priorities straight. I promise.
So, long story short, this baby is not going to flat tow. So, we drop her off on the street in front of some old ladies house, go procure a flatbed trailer and load her up. The problem is she's so huge, she barely fits, in either direction! With mm to spare we get her loaded and to the storage unit. After lots of pushing and discomfort, she was settled.
Man we put on a good show. I take pride in making my neighbors jaws drop.
THE DONOR CAR:
We figured out that by the time we bought all the parts for the "modernizations" we want to do (including engine, tranny, disc brake, suspension, axles, airbags, ect) it would be cheaper to just buy a whole car and scrap what we don't use. So for some months I have been the not so proud owner of a 1991 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon. Why this car you ask? Well, how cool is it that the donor for my '51 Buick Roadmaster is a '91 Buick Roadmaster? Cool I say. And, it's almost the only car big enough to the match up to my '51. Eighteen feet is a long ways!
So, the "Wagonmaster" as it was dubbed has been strategically hidden amongst a row of s*hit cars outside of a crappy college apartment complex. Perfect cover. It sits in the same place for 4 months and doesn't get tagged for ticket or towing. Considering it's sitting next to a giant camo painted high rise 70's truck it actually isn't that much of an eyesore.
Once we got the '51 in storage, we brought the '91 to the house and started sawing. We removed the entire wiring harness, cut off any recyclable metal, and lifted the frame off the body for recycling as well. We kept the engine and tranny in place on the rolling chassis as well as the engine compartment wiring harness. We fished the remaining parts of the wiring harness we wanted through the fire wall and ta-da...we have a rolling chassis minus the god awful looking car that used to be on top of it! Score.
We borrowed my hubbies bosses fork lift and popped the body off the frame and loaded it up. Today the body and all the salvaged metal are going to the recycler and we estimate about $200 is scrap value will be had. Not bad I say!
Now, the new frame has to be chopped, and modified to fit my old body. This will most likely have to wait for a couple more months as the project has to be put on hold again as we are remodeling out kitchen this summer. So, come fall I will have a lot of work to and more updates!
I heart my '51 Buick.
