Thanks

 

Forgot my camera but at the body shop we fitted the doors to the body and they fit perfect. Not that they shouldn't have but just excited to see body parts fitting together. He is going to fit the front fenders to it and massage all the body lines a little and then pull it back apart to edge everything.

 

Took the dash and dash harness apart. Found that the plastic tabs on the back that hold the A/C controls are broken. I knew the control was loose and now I know why. Not sure if I am going to try to fix it or replace it. I have a 72 blue one I could replace it with but will have to have it painted to the 70 blue. I have to repaint this one anyway so maybe I should just replace it.

 

I am a little screwed! We duct taped over the cowl tag before sending it to the blaster early summer. We just pulled the tape off to find that the blaster got to rough with the tag even with it taped off. You almost can't even make out what the tag says. The picture looks a little worse than it is but not much! Can't see the paint code at all!

Before and after. The paint is not helping either.

**See post 420. My painter was screwing with me and it was full of paint.**

 

http://www.trimtags.com/

 

Not on this car! I would not allow them to remove the tag because I did not want anyone to suspect the tag had been tampered with. We are going to strip the paint back off and leave it aluminum color to help bring all the number out that we can.

 

another shot of the under side. This is the final coat for the bottom. He said he will be done with it in 3 weeks. I have no idea where I am going to store the body parts for the winter.

 

Eric with this car I would use a new one and keep the old tag on file and notate that in the paperwork. Your not transferring tags to another body. In my mind no harm no foul.

 

Hi Eric, Nice job on the resto!!! Just my 2 cents but I agree with "Hairy Olds" on replacing the tag. I think down the road,maybe after we're long gone, that mangled cowl tag might raise more eyebrows than just having a duplicate made. Since it's wiped out right in the area of the trim & paint codes someone might think something was being hidden. You have great pics of the original,I'd make a page in your resto book with the tag pic & the ruined one with an explanation of what happened. Your car is going to be too nice to have that damaged cowl tag on it!! I went on the trimtags site,It's a little scary!! While there is a need for replacements(like yours) they said they can make them anyway you want!! Change color codes,interior codes,add codes?? etc.!! Wow what a can of worms that opens!!! Right now on ebay there's a sad '68 H/O that got fried in a garage fire. The guy has a pic of whats left of the cowl tag,luckily it's only melted at the bottom. The build date,int code & the Z-Z paint codes are still ok. If someone restores it,(they better have an unlimited budget!)it would definitely be the perfect candidate for a replacement tag

 

Damn.

I would be screaming bloody murder, but know it won't help. You would think they'd know not to hit the place you have purposely taped off.

I agree with the others - document what happened along with keeping and displaying the original one and go with the repo tag. Just leaving you old one on along with a story wont do anything for the conspiracy theorists.

 

Mine was also non readable after it was painted. You have to be careful and tape off around the tag, gently sand with something flat backing up the sandpaper, the numbers should show up, I the just cleared over it after I could read the numbers - it may not be OE correct that the numbers are not painted over but you can read it and it is original.

 

I feel your pain. Have been there before. Good thing you have done an excellent job of documenting the car via this thread and the pics you took.

I'd rather have the imperfect original on my car than a perfect reproduction, but that's just me.

 

That is my plan. My body guy called and said he took the paint off and that it is more visible with the paint taken off. He read me the body number so at least that is good enough to read.

 

Doing a mid build check. I planed almost the entire build before I started and for the most part things went well so far. Doing some figures and I went over budget on the engine build by $690. My budget had everything included. Carburetor restoration, engine paint including paint for brackets and such, dyno time, water pump rebuild, balancer rebuild, and even oil and sealers. With all I had included I feel I didn't miss it to bad. The transmission went under budget by $300. Blasting and powder coat went under by $150. Not sure where the body and paint will be at but i know it will go over. I added some things that were not planned in the beginning. I would bet that it will be over by $2000 to $3000. I have not started to buy interior but looks like I may have figured a little high on the interior. I hope so... Now I am thinking about adding a heater in the garage so I can work on it over the winter. Should have the body back and setting on the chassis soon.

 

Sorry to hear about the trim tag woes but thecar andthe work is looking amazing, excellent job.

 

My body guy is a little upset. He has the trunk lid ready for paint. I looked at it and he had not filled the Cutlass emblem holes and drilled the 442 holes. It also have the center rocket emblem holes and dealer tag holes that need filled. We had talked about it last spring be he had forgot about it. Now he has to weld them and refinish it. Sucks because I am sure I will be paying for the rework.

He has much of the edging done. I have not seen what the original should look like but it has just a little more metallic in it than I thought it would. Not sure if it is correct or not but I will have to live with it because I have nothing to go by. I will be happy with it even if it is not 100% correct. He is telling me to plan to pick it up in 2 weeks.

 

That blue really pops, it looks exactly like the lucerne blue I painted my 72 buick many years ago, I like it..

 

Not so happy with the air cleaner. During our flooded basement, somehow we put a ding in the snorkel. I also want to change out the vacuum motor. I used the gold cad paint on this one and it is not good enough. And the other thing I don't like is the vacuum hose. The original was cut to short and this repop has a stripe that is to wide. If I can't find a nice original hose I will likely just put an all black one on it. The base is not original to this car but the date was clear enough that I did not want to loose it. I taped over the center and painted everything else.

I have 2 more setups so I may just take another one and start over.

 

Got my A/C parts back from Classic Auto Air. Mostly happy but.... They did not tell me that they tape off the decal and painted around it. I did not have the original compressor to the car so I picked the one with the worst decal. I assumed that it would be replaced. Before you send your parts in you have to fill out a form. It ask what level of restoration you are looking for. I checked off that I wanted the TOP level of restoration, appearance and performance. If I had known they do not replace the decal I would have sent the other one. Not at all happy about not knowing this but everything else looks great. The hoses are not a reproduction, More of an aftermarket replacement that will still look good.

Added picturer of the compressor I could have sent had I known this. GRRR

 

Make the call and let them hear about it.

 

I did and all I got was a "sorry about that" and "here is a number to a guy that makes them reproduction".

 

I put a LOT of hours into saving and detailing my original compressor once I found it was the one that came on the car. Saving the decal, trying to get the right shades of black for the different surfaces. Tons of masking and remasking. It sure looks good - hope it works!

 

My body guy said he has it painted and cleared. Still have another week to go but not picking it up for a couple weeks. He ask if my garage is heated. He did not like it when I told him it wasn't. Not sure what it matters but i can not heat my garage other than when I am working out there. If this is something that has to be done short term because of the paint he is going to have to keep it till it is ready for the cold. Maybe I just don't understand something. He was in a hurry so I couldn't ask questions. I will see what the deal is when I talk to him next.

 

I am almost sure the one I have with the good decal is good but I am not going to risk it. I wonder if i could sell this rebuilt one for a close enough price to have the other one done. I thought about rebuilding it myself but again, Not sure I want to risk it. When this car is done I don't want any rework. Especially when I only have 30 lbs of R12 left.

 

I have looked into how to paint my body bushings off and on since before I even started this project. I simply don't know what I am doing with painting and even worse painting rubber. I am going to have to live with black rubber bushings. I hate this but I am not going to pay someone to paint them for me. If someone has a simple way to do it and where to get the paint and the color let me know. Someone needs to sell them already green.

 

Eric, krylon, plastikote and others sell rubber based spray paint, couldnt that be used? After changing my bushings I know there must be some kind of mould release on the rubber, but if you wipe them down , wash them etc I do not see why it wouldnt work? Therevare a few greens available but I dont know the exact shade you need, hope it helps, you can always take a bushing and try it,

 

Eric, I started a thread on this very topic. It's in the tech section, and It has info on a paint I found that matched very well to the original color, and has a rubbery sheen to it - hope it helps!

 

The body guy has me nervous now. I still have not seen the body after paint but I am to pick it up Sunday. He said the paint is so slick that I will have to be careful what I wash it with. I HATE washing cars and detailing them. He said I will have to use correct towels and cleaners and I know NOTHING about that stuff. I think I am building a car that is way out of my league. When I wash a car it is a bucket of dish soap and a dish rag. When I told him that he just cringed.

 

After you have the car together never wash the car with a bucket of soapy water and a hose. Just damp rag wipe the car. I haven't washed my 67 in 20 or more years.
It takes time to detail a finished restoration to keep it looking good. My 1988 indy pace car I owned used to take 30 to 40 hours up on jack stands in the garage over the winter to detail the suspension. I did drive this car about 600 miles a year.

 

For the most part that is what I did with my 91 442 W-41. I had not washed it for years at a time but never let it get dirty. I did that car like you are saying. I will just have to do the same with this. It is going to be MUCH harder now because I live on dirt roads. I will never drive it down the dirt road but even in the garage it will be hard to keep clean. I have to use an enclosed trailer to get it to and from my house. I have no clue where I am going to store this car after it is done. I can't keep it at home because of the roads. I will likely get tired of the entire thing and sell it, lol.

 

Never wash any car with dish soap.

I have never washed my 65. Not once. I wipe it with a damp microfiber.

 

Where is the f-in like button?

 

don,t let a little dust make u think of selling your car. u have but to much work , effort, worrier, travel, time , money, love into your car to think of selling it. I have restored things in the pass and regret selling them. I took my old woodworking shop, insulated it, raised the floor 3 1/2 " installed a garage door. installed and a/c unit (110 v) & flood heater. i'am storing all my parts in it till my car is ready for assembly. climate controlled storage is key to maintaining your efforts u put into your car. all the upgrades to the building ran me about $5,000 but well worth it. I use the building to work on my car on cold and rainy day. it is not a big room only 12 x 24 but all I need to store my car when it is finished.


ray

 

It is a little more than that. We have had a big offer on the car. I don't want to sell it but we could almost pay off our house with the offer we have. I can not afford a car like this from my income. It is paid for by the other cars and parts I sold from the barn full of cars and parts I got from the big barn find. We are going to try to keep it but in the end I don't think we can with a life changing event like paying off our house. My wife don't want me to sell it because she don't want to hear about it forever. I told her that if the house was paid for I would not mortgage it for 30 years to go buy it so how could I justify keeping it. We plan to enjoy it for a year but after that we have to think about what we are going to do.

 

I can understand the temptation of selling and getting big payday but, I think you need to keep it. Just my opinion.

Sean

 

Painted the body bushings. The paint I used on the bottom cracked all over when I flexed them so I flexed them alot to where it was cracked all over. I wiped them just a little to let the loose paint fall off. Most of it was still on the bushings but lots of cracks. I then misted a very light mist of paint over them again to where you could still see the black rubber through the mist. Now that they are dry again I can flex them alot and it don't flake off or crack. I am sure the paint will still come off when flexed on the car but i think it is going to hold up pretty good.

Everything is ready to pick up the body Sunday. Looking forward to seeing it.

 

Looking GREAT on the undercarriage and engine assembly. Be a shame to cover it up with a body and fenders.

 

what paint did u use to paint your body bushing, and were can I get it, the paint looks to be a very good match
thanks ray

 

Here is the thread on it that costpenn started on it. I posted what paint I used there.
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...-question.html

 

I picked up a used electric furnace for $50 and got it wired up Wednesday. At least i can work on it now in the winter. I can not heat the garage full time but I will on the weekends to around 52 degrees. Today I cleaned for 7 hours to make room and get all the dirt and dust out. Still have about 3 more hours to clean. Going to the body shop at 8:00 AM. Setting the body on and bringing it home.