Ricknmels 67 ragtop GS clone in process....

[ricknmel67]

I thought it might be neat to post a few pictures along the way during my project. I need help staying "inspired" to keep working on it. When I look at it now... it seems that I have such a Looooong way to go. But if I go back through some of the older pictures, I feel like I have actually made some progress.
My hopes are to have it on the road this summer..... even if it's not totally done. But who's car is ever "totally" done anyways? :Do No: :laugh:

Anyways... Page 1:
I bought the car on ebay from Florida in Jan 2003. There were only 3 pictures, none of which were worth a crap. The description was VERY short, and basically said "it needed some work"... so I jumped on it.
here's the ebay pictures...
#1

[ricknmel67]

2nd and 3rd ebay pics..
I could see that the seats weren't right, and it had a nice dent in the drivers door... but that's about it.

[rex362]

looks like ya got one thats all there...front end looks good in first pic

:TU:


then again when i got my gs , it looked like show on the outside...but the internals :Dou:

[ricknmel67]

It took a month or so to get it shipped up here to Ohio, so I had time to get a space cleared out in my shop to work on it.
When it arrived, I was completely disgusted about how bad I was ripped off.
This thing was a pile of crap.
First thing I found was that I couldn't open any of the doors, or trunk. Every single lock and handle was broke. I had to get it through a window. :af:
When I finally got in it, I couldn't get it to start. It seemed like the engine was froze. Turned out that it was. FROZE... like ice, not rusted or blown...just frozen. It was full of water. Not a drop of antifreeze. 3 freeze plugs were popped and the water pump was frozen.
I yanked the engine to fix that, and got caught up in the "while I'm at its"...
You know.... while I'm at it, I might as well detail the engine bay, might as well drop a 455 in it, etc..etc..
Upon further inspection:
The front end needed redone
The wheels had a 5x5 pattern. Yes, a 5x5 pattern POUNDED over the 5x4 3/4 studs.
The rear end was bolted in with 3/8" dia bolts (yes, thats waaay too small)
The seats were drywall screwed to 2x4's which were lag-bolted to the floor
The back seat was out of a honda or something... not even close
The ONLY thing electrical that would work was one headlight
I could go on and on. Matter of fact, I just did. But I'll stop now. :laugh:

Anyways... here's a few pics from when I forst started tearing her apart in March of 2003...

[ricknmel67]

By April, I had the entire front end rebuilt. Every single part was brand new, includign ball joints, a-arm bushings, and all the brake hardware.
I replaced the studs while I was at it, and threw on an old set of rally wheels.... :Brow:

[Smartin]

Man, Rick...you started out with an interesting specimen! I had no idea it was that rough.

[rex362]

ooops...you already started on your project.....

[ricknmel67]

By Mid-April, I had a shiney new 455 about ready to go in her.
I got it from Jason Hise (BOP Connection) as a good running engine.
I disassembled it, checked the bottom end out (looked good), threw a small TA cam in it, and topped it off with some better heads I had, an old Edelbrock intake and Poston valve covers that I've had laying around for about 10 years.
I also picked up one of those goofy 67 air cleaners... :pp :Brow:

[ricknmel67]

Then I dropped her in for a test fit. Looked good. I was starting to get excited.
A 67 GS ragtop has always been my dream...
This is still April 2003 remember....

[ricknmel67]

Fastforward to Dec 2005... yes 2005 - 2 1/2 years later!
We bought a new house a few months after I dropped the engine in the car, and it's been sitting just like that last picture ever since.
Until Xmas/Newyears season...
I decided to sell it on ebay. I wasn't working on it, and I figured I might as well get rid of it.
I started the auction, and then in the next couple days I dug the car out of hibernation to get better pictures and clean all the dust off...
As I cleaned it up and dug out all the new parts that I had bought for it, I changed my mind.
I cancelled the auction that day and started working on it.
I mean jeeze... I have an entire new interior for it, good 67 bucket seats, engine, trans, I bought a posi rear for it, the front end is new, etc..etc...
It's practically done right? :laugh:
So I got serious in Jan 2006 about it, and have been working diligently on it almost every night.

Here it is Early January..

[ricknmel67]

First thing I did was enlist a "body guy". He's a friend of mine that is pretty good at it. He's no pro, but the price is right, and he'll do a 100 time better job than I could.
First thing he tells me is to strip the entire car to bare metal, before he'll even start.
If you've never stripped an entire car, you're in for a treat. NOT!
I bet it took me 80 hours of D/A sanding to strip the car. I also used a little stripper on the real curvy areas where the D/A wouldn't work very good.
The entire car was covered in at least 1/8", mostly 1/4"-3/8" of Bondo. I've never seen anything like it. I've attached a picture of part of the rear wheel well lip. (note how nice it is) Remember, this was hidden under alot of bondo for some reason...

[ricknmel67]

By mid Jan, I had most of the car down to bare metal, and my body guy said I could sell the aftermarket quarter panels that I had because he wouldn't need them..
So off to ebay they went.
They didn't make reserve, but I did get an offer from the high bidder and agreed to sell them to him...
But while I was waiting for his check to come, I got the passenger side ground down, and found that it was completely gone. By the time I got the 3/8" of bondo ground off, there was nothing but air left. :shock:
So now the body guy wants one quarter panel :Dou:

So I send the buyer about 4 emails over a week asking if I can back out of the deal. He never responds to my emails, and his check never showed up.
Deadbeat buyer.... thank god! :laugh:
So we used them!

This picture is last Thursday night (2/16/06)

[ricknmel67]

You guys snuck some replies in on me. :pp
Yes, this thing is definately a full fledged project. But I'm excited about it again, and really plan to be driving it this summer. This should progress pretty quickly from here on out!

We hung the quarters yesterday and I worked on the floors all day today. (I'd post pix but my camara is still out in the shop)
It really needs new floor pans, but I'm not going to put them in. I'm just patching whats there. This isn't going to be a show car, and I don't plan to sell it, so I don't really care that the floor is patched.
I had the doors down to bare metal, and he's starting putting a little mud on them in a few spots. First thing he had to do was weld shut the trim holes along the bottom since this will be a GS clone...
The doors are pretty solid though. Nice clean lip all around the bottom.

[RG67BEAST]

Looks like you've been busy. That's for sure. :TU:

Ray

[jeff bullock]

Thanks for the pictures Rick.Nice to see it coming along.Keep us posted and don't be shy with the pictures.Can't wait to see it finished. :TU:

[GS-XNR]

Rick
My 67 is a very similar story to yours. I bought it in March 2003 expecting to change the rusty frame and drive it for the summer. Wrong! The frame I got with the car was also rusty. I then found a California rust free GS frame and it was at that point that I decided not to do any "band-aid" fixes and went for a full frame off resto. It is finally coming out of the paint shop tomorrow, three years next month since I bought it. I've never driven it. Its been off the road since I bought it. But now the exciting phase of putting everything back together begins. I've got everything ready to go so I should be on the road by the middle of April.
Good luck with finishing yours. You've a ways to go, but by the looks of things you are doing it right! :TU: :beer
Harvey

[skyphix]

You've got more guts than I do... congrats !

[ricknmel67]

Thanks for the replies guys!
Harvey, at least I drove mine once. The semi that brought it up from FL wouldn't come to my house, they only came to the edge of town (5 min from my house). So my little story about the broke doors, frozen engine and everything when I first got it, actually took place in a big parking lot at the edge of town! :Dou: :laugh:

I have a couple more pics of the progress...
This one shows the "flange" we put on the new quarters so they would nest behind the original quarters. (with about a 1/4" overlap)
I bought a little air tool that puts that flange on. It's a pretty neat little tool. It can also punch little holes for if we wanted to plug weld the panels together....

[ricknmel67]

Here's the drivers side with new skin tacked in place. :bglasses:
We used "weld thru" primer inside the seam. Not sure how important that was, but it didn't cost too much, and I've read about some people using it.
My body guy had never used it and thought it was stupid, but did it anyways just to shut me up. :laugh:

[ricknmel67]

Just for kicks.... I snapped this pic tonight.
I've never been a "numbers matching" guy or a "crayon mark" guy... but I found this crayon mark when I took off the drivers fender on the side of the cowl. It says "208".
I'm not going to paint over it, even though I'm changing colors on the car. I'll leave that spot blue.
No-one will ever see it... but I'll know that the 40 year old mark still lives inside there. :laugh:

[GS-XNR]

Rick
That color looks very familiar. Is it Sapphire Blue? I just got mine back tonite! :grin: Here's a picture just so you know that three year projects do actually come to an end!!!
Harvey
(PS No that isn't a scratch on the fender. I guess it's a reflection of some kind. I actually went in the garage to double check as I was worried!)

[ricknmel67]

Looks great Harvey! (except for the scratch on your fender) :pp :laugh:
I don't know if mine was Shaphire Blue, but it sure looks close.

Your definately ahead of me..... but you're not out of the woods yet either.
But at least you're to the fun part.... bolting things back together! :TU:

With mine so far, it seems that everything I have done is a step backwards. :Dou:

[ricknmel67]

You've got more guts than I do... congrats !
<b>Or less brains!</b> :laugh:

The quarters now have the first coat of Duraglass over the seam. He chose to use Duraglass because it's stronger than Bondo. Once this is sanded, he thinks that he might be able to get away with one last thin film of bondo over the seam. Then the rear portion of the car will be ready for the first coat of primer!

Next up on my "to do" list from him is to patch a little rust through on the lower portion of the front fender. (right where they always rust out)
There's a decent size hole there, and I think the fender isn't quite shaped corrctly down there so I thought I better mount the door and fender and take a close look at the seam between them before I get started.
The pass fender is my project for today. If all goes well, I might do the same on the drivers side tonight.

Hey it's starting to look like a car again! But not for long, the fender is coming right back off as soon as i go back out to the shop this morning. :laugh:

[paul c]

it looks like you have a nice facility to work on it. is that your shop? i bought my 65 skylark convertible this summer out in ca. i knew someone that had a friend out there that i paid 100.00 to look over the car for me. the best $ i spent. this one was a clean car though. i did fly out to st. louis this past june to look at another 65 that was supposivly mint except for the paint. i went out there with a bunch of tools, extra parts and 2 money orders planning to buy it. i got to his house and it was dissapointing to say the least. i ended up staying at a hotel that night at the airport after a 1 hour commuter train ride and flew back home empty handed. good luck with yours, looks like it will be great when it is done.

[GS-XNR]

<b>Or less brains!</b> :laugh:


Hey it's starting to look like a car again! But not for long, the fender is coming right back off as soon as i go back out to the shop this morning. :laugh:

Rick
I know the feeling. The body is off the frame again on mine. I decided to assemble all the running gear in a clear frame then just roll in back under the body. (At least, that's the plan!)
Harvey

[ricknmel67]

Is that your shop?

Yup, we moved here almost 2 years ago. The shop was an empty steel shell. (cold dry storage) I've insulated it, wired it, built workbenches and shelves, and put a furnace in so it stays toasty in the winter.
I can just squeeze 4 cars plus my Yukon with the car trailer attached to it all in at once, but I prefer to keep no more than 3 or 4 cars in there at a time. :laugh:
I've attached a better pic. Don't mind the BBC on the run stand in the foreground. I know that's sacrilage around these parts. :pp

I should have paid someone to inspect my ragtop before I bought it. That's a good idea. I never would have bought it, at least not for what I paid for it. :af:
But now that I have it, and I'm this far into it, I'm kinda glad it was such a P.O.S. Now I know that everything will be done right, or at least right enough for me, and it will be exactly what I want when it's done. :TU:

Harvey, I'm envious! Having the body off the frame will make hooking up the drivetrain soooo much easier. Keep us posted! :TU:
PS... I responded to your PM last night. Thanks! :beer

Update on the car.... I want my body guy to take a look at what I need to do to the fenders, so I didn't touch those yesterday like I planned to. So I got the floors and trunk finished instead. All primed and painted satin black. I won't get anything done tonight besides re-arranging the shop. A friend of mine wants to work on his motorhome this week and I'm letting him do it in my shop. If we move things around right tonight, there should be plenty of room for both of us to work all week without running into each other too many times.

[ricknmel67]

another view....

[CTX-SLPR]

Congrats on the new shop Rick, looks much better than your old place. I think I finally bought a better running classic than that '67 Skylark you sold me, still miss that car. I got a 64 Riviera that I drove back from Colorado where it lived most of its life. I have friends up there in Tiffin and I'll have to drive it up sometime and check out your cars and your new shop sometime. You have far more guts than me for taking on this kind of a project, I'm debating between sanding the nasties out of the original paint and spot primering the car before blocking it over mostly original paint and stripping her down and starting from the ground up.

[ricknmel67]

Thanks Will. Stop by anytime!

Sweet looking Riv you got there! Dare I even ask what your plans are? Knowing you, somehow I'm picturing a GN drivetrain, twin turbos, OD tranny .. etc.... :laugh:
Regardless of your plans Will.... I'd have to vote for just giving it a paint job and enjoying it. I don't think I'll ever start a project like this ragtop again. It's a TON of work.

Well, my ragtop doesn't "look" like much has been done since my last update... but I've been pecking away at it....
The car is now jammed in primer, along with the dash area.
The entire interior is ready to get sprayed black, doors and all.
I replaced the trunk lid springs so it'll stay open now (that was fun!) :Dou:
After today, hopefully the fenders and hood will be jammed in primer so I can install them.
My body guy has the passenger quarter almost done. He should finish it today and get a good start on the drivers' quarter. With any luck, the car will be in full primer by the end of next weekend and we can start block sanding.

Biggest update for this week........
I found a back seat!!!! If you haven't ever looked for a 66-67 ragtop a-body rear seat before, you wouldn't understand my excitement! The seat came from a 67 Olds ragtop and is absolutely beautiful. It's a shame to take the cover off to replace it with Buick skin. Even the frame behind seat looks brand new. Bare metal, NO rust. It's amazing.

[ricknmel67]

I thought this was a neat picture from earlier this week.
I took it from the top of my buddies motorhome. He's had it here for a week or so fixing tons of little things getting it ready for this summer. Looks like he'll be here another week or so too.
Makes for tight quarters with that beast in my shop, but it's not tooooo bad.
I'll get to borrow it this summer.... maybe that's what I'll use to drag my ragtop to Salem BPG this year!
:Brow:

[CTX-SLPR]

Thanks Will. Stop by anytime!

Sweet looking Riv you got there! Dare I even ask what your plans are? Knowing you, somehow I'm picturing a GN drivetrain, twin turbos, OD tranny .. etc.... :laugh:
Regardless of your plans Will.... I'd have to vote for just giving it a paint job and enjoying it.
You know me too well Rick, you are close the Turbo6 is almost ready for the dyno, only about $2500 more parts to buy :Dou: I'm planning on taking the car on Powertour 2006 part way with the original 425 and ST400. Unfortunately I don't have time for paint before then so I'm going to probably just sand out the bad stuff and then hit it in white primer. Also need to install the 65 Riv rear bumper and taillights, weld in the patch panels for the 64 taillight holes, update the brakes, add a stereo, and delay wipers. I think thats more than enough to fill 2.5 months of evenings. Good luck with the project and I'll get up there sometime once I get her legal with the Ohio fuzz.

[ricknmel67]

Sounds like your Rivi is going to be sweet Will.
It looks like it's been lowered a little? I like it! :TU:

Todays Update...
I don't have any new pictures of the car itself because it doesn't really look any different since the last pictures. My budy guy has been busy messing with the quarters all week and plans to have the car ready for primer this weekend.

However.........
Since there wasn't much for me to do to help him with body work this week, I finally got the 455 fully assembled..... and fired it up on the run stand last night!
When I hit the key to start it, it didn't even turn over half a revolution before it fired up. We've been very lucky with the last few engines on this stand. They always start right up like they've been running for years.
(No oil or water leaks either!!) :laugh:

Anyways, I broke the cam in for about 25 minutes, varying from 2000-2500 RPM and shut it down to let her cool off. After it was cool I fired it up again and brought the idle down to about 900. It has a "friendly" little street lope to it and holds about 30PSI of oil pressure when idling hot. I'm pretty happy with that since the bottom end is "junkyard" (thanks again to Jason at BOP Connection!!)
There was still some CAM2 in the fuel cell from the last time I ran my BBC.....
It's not very often I get to smell the sweet smell of CAM2 in the winter! :laugh:

The only problem I need to address is that the timing is a little erratic. I pulled the distributor and there's alot of end play in the shaft. I'm ordering a shim kit for the gear tonight.
I'll change the oil, shim the distributor, and fire it up one more time. If everything goes good, I'll probably have the engine in the car before the end of next week. :Brow:

[ricknmel67]

Well.... this weekend went as planned.
As of Sunday morning the car was in it's first full coat of primer! .....actually, I should say, first 3 coats.

[ricknmel67]

After he left, I gave the primer about 4 hours to dry and then started working on the interior. I got all the black painted last night.
I used gloss black enamel with a "flattener" added to it. It was a tricky mixture with 4 parts to mix.... paint, reducer, catylist, and flattener. As it started drying last night, I felt that I probably should have used more flattener. It's a little glossier than I wanted.
But oh well... it's done!! :laugh:

I took a vacation day today so I could keep working on it.
Plans for today :
1- Remove the fenders and doors again so he can "jam" the car in color this coming week
2- Drop the 455/TH400 in the car
3- Start block sanding
If I get all 3 things done, I'll start installing the dash and dash wiring...

I'm getting excited now! :Brow:

[67fitz]

This has been really cool watching keep the pictures comming looks like your in for a fun summer. :TU:

[ricknmel67]

This has been really cool watching keep the pictures comming looks like your in for a fun summer. :TU:
Thanks! I'm glad you enjoy the picture show.
I use this thread for motivation. Anytime I feel like I'm not getting anywhere, all I have to do is look through this thread and see that I'm actually making progress whether it feels like it or not. :laugh:

Well... today didn't go quite as planned. I never made it to item #3 on my list.
But I did get the fenders off and the engine/tranny installed, as well as the headers.
What set me back was the headers....
I got them in a package deal of parts when I bought my 70 GS a few years ago. All this time, I never knew what they came out of, but I'm guessing they were out of a 70-72 A-body. I had to do a little "tweaking" to make them work. I figured I'd have to do something.... but I didn't think it would take ALL day. :Dou:
But I have to admit.... they fit better then the chrome Poston headers I put in my first 67/455 swap about 15 years ago. At least they cleared the steering column!

It's a good feeling seeing the run stand empty, and the 67 engine bay full tonight. Now the heavy work is done and the fun stuff can begin!
:beer

[paul c]

nice job! keep the pics coming. i am very jealous of your shop, all i have is a regular 2 car garage which is better than what i had 3 years ago (nothing). someday i will build a good size shop, someday.

[ricknmel67]

Thanks Paul, I'll certainly be keeping the pictures flowing. :TU:

Tonight we took a step backwards.... :Dou:
The plan was to "jam" the car in color tonight, but when the body guy showed up he was very displeased with the quarter panels after seeing them in primer. We didn't even bother wetsanding them. He ground all the primer off both quarters and redid the filler with an additional skim coat!
My "homework" when he left around 10:30 was to re-prime the quarters. It's now 12:30 and I'm ready for bed.... :sleep:
But I must say...... they do look 100% better this time after primer! I'm very glad that he decided to do that. It only cost us a day, and they are going to look much better. I guess we'll see what he thinks of them tomorrow.

:beer

[ricknmel67]

And on the 7th day... he said "let there be color"!
Well.... white IS a color isn't it? :laugh:
We got all the jambs painted tonight.
I went back and forth for weeks about what color to paint it, and finally decided on a white. It's actually kind of an off-white, but still "white". I'm very happy with the color now that I see it on parts of the car.

We did learn that my shop is waaayyyyy too dirty to paint a car in though. There's quite a bit of dust in the paint. Thankfully it's only jambs, and it's white so it won't show too bad. We're going to have to do something different when it comes time to paint the entire car.
But I'm not going to let that kill my "buzz" for tonight. It's got some color on it, and I'm gettin' excited!
:beer

[ricknmel67]

another pic showing the color a little better...

[ricknmel67]

For what it's worth.... here's the picture that finally sold me on "off-white".
I love the look of this car. Does it belong to a V8Buick member?
(I forget where I got the picture)

I'm trying to imagine it with a few changes....
- Make it a ragtop
- Lose the pin stripe
- Add Buick rally's with W/L tires
:Brow:

[abodybill]

Lookin good,you have inspired me to get off the couch in the evenings.

[paul c]

if it is going to be a cruiser put some 17's on it and a set of big swaybars. i put 17's on my 65 with a 1 1/4 front bar and what a difference. i can take off ramps with some speed now. it now feels like it is going to throw me out of the car at 50 mph on ramps, before it felt like it was going to roll over and play dead :grin: . i can give you the specs on my rims and tires that fit perfectly.

[ricknmel67]

Lookin good,you have inspired me to get off the couch in the evenings.
Thanks Bill. By the looks of your signature.... you have plenty of good reasons to get off that couch! :laugh: :TU:


if it is going to be a cruiser put some 17's on it and a set of big swaybars. i put 17's on my 65 with a 1 1/4 front bar and what a difference. i can take off ramps with some speed now. it now feels like it is going to throw me out of the car at 50 mph on ramps, before it felt like it was going to roll over and play dead :grin: . i can give you the specs on my rims and tires that fit perfectly.
I love the looks of the 16's and 17's on our cars (like Georges "Black Widow"), but I also feel pretty strongly that the classics need white lettered tires.
My budget/wallet/wife/kid/house payment helped me decide which way to go for now. :laugh:
I just bought new 245/60/14 BFG Radial T/A's for the car. Actually, they came in today, and I hope to get them mounted on my wheels tomorrow or Thursday.
My suspension is all new, although bone stock except for the rear sway bar which I added. It'll be good enough for the cruising I plan to do. I may add a larger front sway bar later on as well.
:beer

Update for tonight.....
Nothing that's picture worthy. Pretty much nothing happening (for what seems like forever) except for block sanding and touching up primer here and there.... and block sanding and touching up primer here and there.... and block sanding and touching up primer here and there.... and ... etc..etc... boring and tedious. :Dou:

I guess I did do something kind of exciting last night... I drilled the holes in my new quarters for the GS 400 emblems and the holes in my hood for the GS scoops. That was kinda fun. It was a nice break from wet sanding. :laugh:

Anyways, the plan is to paint this weekend!!! :Brow:

[BaCo]

For what it's worth.... here's the picture that finally sold me on "off-white".
I love the look of this car. Does it belong to a V8Buick member?
(I forget where I got the picture)



This is the picture of the car you looked at.
http://www.cars-on-line.com/24120.html
I'm also like that car, does anybody know more about this car for sale?

[ricknmel67]

Thanks for the link Bart.
That's definately the car, but I know I've never seen that ad. (or I would have stole the rear picture too!) :laugh:

Wonder where I did see it? Oh well. Sweet car!


Tonight we "final" wet sanded the whole car.
There's a few little spots where we burnt through the primer, so the last thing I did tonight was do some primer touch up. Jeeze 12:30 comes quick! :sleep: 6:30 AM comes even quicker! :Dou:

Tomorrow night I'll wet sand those spots, then wet sand the whole car again lightly, then clean the shop, clean the shop, clean the shop, and build the "low budget paint booth" inside my shop.
The plan is to squirt it Friday night!!

[ricknmel67]

All went as planned, and we sqirted the car last night.
It took about 3-4 hours to construct this "paint booth" inside my shop.
It was "pretty much" fully sealed, with a furnace filter in 2 windows for fresh air intake, and a squirrel cage blower and a box fan for exhaust.

You didn't really notice any "air flow" inside the booth, but there was virtually no overspray hanging in the air. It worked much better then we could have hoped. However..... dirt and dust still got in, and there's plenty in the paint to prove it. :laugh:

He was done spraying at about 9:30 last night, and the 4 of us went out for some food and adult beverages. I'm moving a little slow this morning.... :beer

[ricknmel67]

However...... as slow as I'm moving this morning ... I still mustered up the energy to go out and rip down the plastic so I could take a peek. :Brow:

It's definately a "20 footer" as expected. The paint flowed great. He really did a super job spraying it! However, it flowed so nicely and glossy that we can now see every single ding, dent, ripple, wave, etc... in the car. And there's plenty of them.
The hood is especially bad. I did the hood completely by myself, and you can tell that. :Dou: But I wanted to try it, and I still have it in my head that I want to put a glass hood on it someday, so I'm not too worried about it. Maybe the scoops will "break it up" a bit too.
Anyways... here she is.... getting closer every day! :3gears:

[ricknmel67]

A scary thing happened last night....
You can notice in the first paint booth picture, there's a 2x4 between the car and hood holding the ceiling up. Just after he finished painting and came out of the booth we were all standing there looking through the plastic at the car and noticed that the 2x4 was leaning towards the car quite a bit...
We wanted to go in and fix it, but were afraid to open the booth door again to go in because of all the dust that would probably get in.
So we decided to wait 30 minutes or so....
While we were all looking at it, it fell!! :eek2:
For some reason, it fell right between the car and hood and never hit anything but the floor. We still can't believe it. It was leaning right towards the trunk before it fell.
I felt pretty lucky, and the food and drinks were on me last night. :laugh:

[RG67BEAST]

Looks great Rick. :TU: How did the rear 1/4s turn out now that they're painted?
Ray

[ricknmel67]

Thanks Ray, they definately won't be the straightest quarters on the road. :laugh:
But I didn't expect them to be. My body guy told me right up front that he wouldn't be able to make them "great", but he would do the best he could. I feel that I got his best work, and they are definately better than I could have done.
There's plenty of waves, ding, dents, etc... all over the car. It's a perfect preverbial "20 footer" just like I asked for, and just like I paid for. :laugh:
I guess the true test will be the first time I get her out in the sunlight. But regardless of what it looks like, it's the best that I can afford right now, and it's DONE! If I'm truly not happy with it, I can always get it redone professionally in a couple years. But for now, it's as good as it's going to get, and I'm happy with it. :TU:

[ricknmel67]

Just a wire (or two... or 100) to run and this baby is ready to fire up.... :Dou:
:laugh:

[ricknmel67]

Starting to see some chrome in place to break up the black and white...
:Brow:

[67vert]

Tcould be worse.I paid 600.00 for this. Dam cant up load picts,file to big.

[ricknmel67]

Tcould be worse.I paid 600.00 for this. Dam cant up load picts,file to big.
There's a way to downsize the pics. I think it's explained in the "help" area V8Buick. Good luck. :beer

Update for today.......
I've been very busy working on the car every spare moment I have ever since it was painted..... However, it doesn't "look" like I've accomplished much at all. :Dou:

It also seems that for every hour of actual work I do, there is 15 minutes of searching for parts/nuts/bolts/tools... etc.. I really need to set one night aside, and just reorganize everything! :laugh:

But with all that said... I AM making progress. Slow but steady! I'm feeling pretty confident that I will have it wrapped up in time to take it to Norwalk's Buick Day.
:3gears:

[CTX-SLPR]

Is that a 1 or 2 stage paint there Rick? Man that thing looks good!!! I am hoping for that kind of results on mine when I get around to body work instead of engine and drivetrain work.

Great work man!!

[ricknmel67]

Thanks Will
The paint is just basic enamel. (4 coats? Maybe 5.... I forget)
We thought about going base/clear, but my wallet told me that enamel would be fine. :laugh:

:beer

[Tom Miller]

Lookin' great Rick! Should be a very fun top-down summer cruiser. :TU:

[ricknmel67]

Thanks Tom. Hopefully my "top-down-summer" can start in a few weeks! :laugh:

Update for tonight.... She Lives! Last night at about 12:30, I actually fired her up and drove about 5 feet in my shop. I know... not much of a drive.... but it was an exciting one none-the-less!

On the down side..... something is up with my timing (I think the dist is in one tooth off and I can't quite spin it far enough to run "perfect"), my tranny is leaking like a funnel, and I can't get the brakes to pump up very good.
:Dou:

Other than that, I've been busy since the last update doing all kinds of little things to it.
Some pics....

[ricknmel67]

My PS pump is also leaking a little. Need to figure out where from. I think it's the return line. Should be an easy fix. Yeah right. :rolleyes:

[ricknmel67]

I made a gauge pod that mounts in the factory radio spot. I used the smallest gauges I could find.
The volt meter will only be half visible. I'm not sure if I'm going to like it, but I'll at least see how it turns out.
I plan to mount it inside the dash, and then make a tinted lexan cover that will snap in to cover the radio hole.
If it works out like I plan..... It will look like a black plate when the car isn't on, but when I'm running it, the lights in the gauges will make them visible through the lexan.
We'll see.... :laugh:
The worst that could happen is that I end up putting them under the dash like every other muscle car I've ever had. :Do No:

[CTX-SLPR]

do you own a 67 that doesn't leak powersteering fluid Rick??? That one you sold me did remember. Looking very nice man. I am building a simular plate for my Riv except that it will replace the whole radio trim piece since its remove able and mount Oil Pressure, Coolant Temp, and Fuel Level, and either Volts or Fuel Pressure. I'll then replace the stock 5" Speedo and 5" gas guage and idiot light ring with a 5" Autometer Speedo and Tach. Let me know when ya'll have a cruise-in up there and I'll see if my budy and I are free to come up and hang out.

Keep up the outstanding work Rich,

[ricknmel67]

You can see the gauge pod in this pic. I'll retrofit some radio knobs to hide the bolts holding the gauge pod. I won't know if I like it or not until I get the lexan piece made.
But at this point... that's a "look thing". I'm trying to stay focused on "function things" so it's going to be a few weeks before I mess with those any more. :laugh:

You can also see the console with the B&M shifter fitted into it. I painted the adapter plate that I made black as you can see, but I've since taken it out and painted it silver. Silver looks stupid, so I'm going to take it back out and paint it black again. :Dou:
I'd actually love to have it chromed! :Brow:
Again... just a "look thing" ... so it'll stay silver for awhile. :laugh:

PS... why does a flash always make chrome look sooooo bad??! :rant:
I know my console and dash aren't anywhere near perfect.. but they look way better in person than they do in the pics. :Dou:

Edit... LOL .. you snuck a reply in while I was typing :laugh:
Sounds cool Will. Snap some pictures when you get the gauges fitted in!
Are you going to Norwalk's Buick Day? I think it's June 4th. My goal is to be "done" in plenty of time for that. :3gears:

[CTX-SLPR]

Can't make that.... going on Hot Rod Powertour 2006 in the Riv man! I might Buick HP in Indy though.

[ricknmel67]

Wow... 11 days since an update. Unfortunately, I've been working alot of OT at work (16-18 hr days, including last Sat and Sun :eek2: ) ever since my last update and I haven't got to do ANYTHING to the car except last night and today.

As of right now, I'm about ready for it's maiden voyage around the block. I pulled it outside to take a picture in sunlight around lunchtime today. The temporary mufflers I scabbed on it are about 1" off the ground. Kinda scary going over bumps. :laugh:
The trunk and both doors now close and latch, I fixed the tranny leak and PS leak, and started messing with the windows.
The grille and headlight bezels still need restored. I just threw them on to help get the bumper aligned.

I hope to get it to a couple shops this coming week to get the front end aligned and the exhaust put on.
I hope the DMV lets me use the 1967 plates I bought for it!
:3gears:

[ricknmel67]

One from the rear for good measure. :beer

[GS-XNR]

Hi Rick
Congratulations. There is nothing like driving them out of the garage for the first time!

Unfortunately I have yet to do that with mine. They say the devil is in the details. With a car the devil is in the little parts. Like yesterday, I go to bleed the brakes and nothing. So I check my manual and find that my proportioning valve is shot. So now I have to wait for a new one to arrive. Anyway, enough of my sad story.

Your car is looking great. Once you got started there was no stopping you!
Cheers
Harvey

[ricknmel67]

Thanks Harvey
You're definately right.. the little things will kill ya' on these things. :Dou:
My brakes are pretty "soft" too. But I think I have a leak where one of my rubber lines hook up. I need to check into that.
How do you know it's your prop valve? I don't think I've ever had one of those go bad. I didn't know they could even go bad. :Do No:

Tonight I put my new window fuzzies in and called it a night. I need a good nights sleep for once. :laugh:
I also loaded it up on the trailer tonight and plan to take it for the "out of state inspection" right after work tomorrow, and then hopefully drop it off for alignment and exhaust.
Looks like I'll get tomorrow night off too. :laugh:
I bought 3" collectors, 3" x-pipe, 3" summit turbo cheapie mufflers, and 2 1/2" mandrel bent tailpipes.
Hopefully I'll be able to pick it back up on Wednesday and get back to work on it.

[Tom Miller]

Don't forget to grab a spray can of satin black to do the rear panel before you
bolt the tail lamp bezel's into place.
I'm sure you probably already know this, but on the 67 GS car's when you
have the trunk lid open, the rear panel should be blacked out all the way
across up to where the trunk bumper's sit. Don't forget to black out the rear
quarter extension's around the tail lamp bezel's also.

Here is a little tip I was given by another 67 owner, Most tail lamp bezel's are
pitted on the underside, and if you have bumper's with nice chrome, the pit's
are really visable in the reflection of the bumper chrome. The trick is to spray
the underside of the bezel with black paint and it help's hide the pit's :TU:

Hope this help's, and the car look's great :3gears:

[buickdav]

Just looking great man. Keep taking little steps than pretty soon...........BOOM !!!! Let's ride. Who cares if it ain't straight ? If it's too nice to drive when you want too, I don't want it !!! And from the pix, I think it looks just fine. :TU: :TU:

[GS-XNR]

Rick
When I had a problem with bleeding, I checked the manual for the proper procedure. The manual says to do the same procedure as with drum brakes, except to hold in the plunger at the back of the prop valve. Well my plunger wouldn't move (I guess corroded open) and these units can't be rebuilt. So I've ordered a repop which should be here in a week or so. That's interesting about the flat black paint around the trunk opening.
Sounds like you'll be on the road in a day or two. Way to go!
Harvey

[ricknmel67]

Good thought Tom
I new that had to be black, and even thought about doing it a couple weeks ago..... but somehow forgot about it.
Now I need to take my tailights back off and do some painting.
I just put the new trunk seal in this weekend too. Now I'll have to tape up to it. :Dou:

Thanks Dave. I agree... if it was tooo nice I'd be afraid to drive it too. But this one could definately stand to have turned out nicer. I'll probably have the body redone as soon as I can afford it without comprimising my tubbed project.
Let me just say that it's a VERY photogenic car at this point.
But... it's paid for, and it's mine. :laugh:

Harvey... I've never heard of that. I wonder if you need to do that with drum/drum cars? I'm going to do some digging, because maybe mine is what's causing my soft brakes. It seems like we bled the things for about an hour and never got much of a pedal. :Do No:

Today I drug the car to town for the "out of state inspection" and got the title switched to my name! Suprising, everything went smooth. I was expecting some type of problem at the title office since the title was notarized 3 years ago in Florida.

Tomorrow I try to get the "vintage" 1967 plates registered....
:beer

[jeff bullock]

Man that's lookin real good Rick !!! I can't believe the progress you've made on this car in such a short time.It's gonna be a great summer for ya !! :bglasses:

[ricknmel67]

Thanks Jeff
Hopefully by this weekend I'll have liscence plates and an exhaust on it so I can take it for it's maiden voyage and "true up" those rear tires!

Tonight I painted the back area black as Tom mentioned earlier...
I didn't need to use your trick about the tail lights though.... my tail lights are in good shape on the bottom side and my rear bumper is crap. What do you do about that? :pp
Maybe by this winter I'll be able to afford getting my bumpers replaced or replated. But for now I'm well over budget.

Tonight I got the GS & 400 emblems painted and mounted on the quarter panels and the trunk trim. I mounted the mirrors and started on the wheelwell trim too. Talk about waking up a car! Those little things really make a difference. :TU:

I would have gotten more done, but a few friends stopped by and we've spent the last 4 hours consuming adult beverages and BS'ing. Time for some shuteye... 6AM is going to come quick. :Dou: :laugh: :beer

[73rx3]

Hi Rick,


your car looks great :beer
i wish i could get mine done.
always waiting for a part!

where did you get the exhaust? do you have headers?
i need to have mine done on my 67. i was gonna have a place do it. but,thought if i bought it,i would do it myself.
i have the stock manifolds.

Michael

[ricknmel67]

Hi Michael
Thanks! :TU:
One thing about our cars (since they are so tore apart).... even though your stuck waiting for a part... I'd bet there's some other area of the car you could be working on. The downside to that is that I get too many projects going at once and get a little scatter-brained. :laugh:

Regarding my exhaust.... Yes, I have headers, but my exhaust isn't a "kit". I just bought all the parts I thought I needed from SummitRacing.
There's going to be some cutting and welding required.
I planned to take all the parts to a muffler shop and have them do it, but I'm feeling kinda frisky and want to try it myself first. :Dou: :laugh:
I hope to be working on exactly that tomorrow night.

I believe that there ARE kits avaliable though. I think TA Performance, The Parts Place and Summit all have full kits avaliable for headers and/or manifolds. Check them out.
Good luck :TU:

Not much of an update for tonight. I didn't get to work on my car because I helped a friend drop a motor/tranny in his 69 Roadrunner 440 6pack car. He just got his back from the body shop 2 weeks ago and plans to be driving it by this weekend.

I did get my historic plates registered today though. Everything went smooth and I'm legal to drive it as soon as I get insurance and exhaust on it.
:beers

[ricknmel67]

She went for her maiden voyage today!
I took it to town and put $20 of gas in it. (3 or 4 gallons? :Dou: ) :laugh:

Everything went good until the way home.
No vibrations
Tranny shifts nice. (1-2 is great, 2-3 is a little soft)
Temp never went over 170°
Oil pressure never dropped below about 15 psi (idling hot in gear)
It even tracks pretty good. I must have the front end alignment somewhat close.
Suspension feels good. Not too stiff, and not too "floaty".

However... I was cruising at about 25-30 mph just about to leave the city limits to come home and it kinda sputtered like it was running out of gas....
I let off the throttle and it sputtered for about 3-4 more seconds before idling smooth again.
I coasted for about 30-40 more feet wondering what was going on and was just about to give it some gas when it sputtered again and then POW, a VERY loud backfire through the mufflers and it stalled. :eek2:
I coasted to a stop and popped the hood....
Nothing was amiss and everything seemed to be fine. The fuel pressure guage was still reading about 5psi while it was sitting there (not running)

So I fired it back up and it ran great the rest of the way home.
(I even got on it a little coming off a stop sign.... the posi works fine!) :3gears: :Brow:

Anyways... To me it seems like I was maybe loosing power to the HEI or something. Bad connection somewhere?
I fired it back up in my driveway after I got home and jiggled every wire I could get my hands on, in the engine bay and under the dash. (trying to get it to stutter again)
I couldn't get it to stutter or miss at all.
So I guess I have some kind of electrical gremlin that's only going to haunt me at the worst times. :Dou:

Another thing I noticed tonight.... The brake lights had quit working. After probing around I discovered it was my turn signal cam that was screwing up the brake lights. Something is goofy in my turn signal cam area. If I jiggle the turn signal lever to the "just right" spot, the brake lights work fine.
I wonder if there's a connection to my ignition problem? Doesn't seem likely, but I guess I'll start there tomorrow night.

Electrical problem or not.... I'm high on life tonight since I got to drive her in to town! :beer

[buickdav]

Electrical problem or not.... I'm high on life tonight since I got to drive her in to town! :beer


:grin: :grin: ................ :3gears:

Happy for you man. Have fun.

[ricknmel67]

Thanks Dave :)

Well.. the exhaust installation was a bust. I gave up after a few hours. :(
I think unless you have a "kit" that actually bolts right on, you're better off to take it somewhere where they have the right equipment (and all the little things like different styles of hangers, etc.. etc..)
I had the exhaust finished up and the front end aligned this week at our local "Monroe". It rides nice and sounds even nicer. :Brow:

It was about a 20 minute drive each way, and it never acted up again. I don't know what happened the last time I had it out, but hopefully it won't do it again. :Do No:

Several of my friends are also finishing up their cars so I want to get it "rainworthy" so we can do some cruising.
It's currently ready to cruise... as long as it's not raining and nobody wants to ride with me. :laugh:
I need to get the new top installed and the rest of the interior redone.
Hopefully I'll make some progress on that stuff this weekend.
:TU:

PS... I just posted a "want ad" in the "parts wanted" forum...
I'm just not going to be happy with this car unless I can use the Star Wars air cleaner.
The Edelbrock intake and Holley carb have to go. :(
I'm looking for a GOOD quadrajet (ready to bolt on) and cast iron intake (455) to buy outright, or possibly (preferably) trade for other 67 parts or my alum intake and holley carb.
Anyone got anything? :Brow:

[buickdav]

I'm looking for a GOOD quadrajet (ready to bolt on) and cast iron intake (455) to buy outright, or possibly (preferably) trade for other 67 parts or my alum intake and holley carb.
Anyone got anything? :Brow:


I got intakes man. I'll email ya. Freight will be interesting, but for you, and this car cause' it's finally done, you won't beat the purchase price. I guarantee it !!!!!!!!!!!

ps, I may have a 67' intake laying around somewhere :Brow: . I'll be in touch soon.

[ricknmel67]

Thanks Dave!
I have a few options brewing on intakes and carbs right now.... but I'm intriged by the thought of using a 67 intake....
Can that be done? I think my heads are 1972's. Anything I should be aware of if I were to put a 67 400 intake on it?

[ricknmel67]

And so it begins....
I've been assured by everyone that I've talked to, that this is one of the dumbest things I've ever tried...
(replacing the top by myself)

First step was to tear out the old top (loads of fun :Dou: ) and compare the new one to it.
They seem to be a pretty good match.....

[ricknmel67]

I spent most of the day yesterday adjusting things....
When I bought the car, the top wouldn't even go down by hand.
It looks like the top had been "crunched" at one time and many of the pivot points were screwed up.
I got everything lined back up pretty good yesterday and made some adjustments to the windows as well.
Today I thought I'd mess with the pump and see why it won't work while I have the top off...
I traced down all the electrical issues and finally have the pump making noise.
However..... either it's out of fluid, or it doesn't work because nothing moves.
I'll keep messing with that this afternoon.

I've also found that all the tack strips for the top need replaced. A quick search online tells me that I better get the credit card out. Tack strips are pricey! :Dou:

[ricknmel67]

Well..... Let me say that I will NEVER!!! try to install a convertible top again. Never.
Ever.
Period.

It's not going well at all. The way that the top is held on has to be one of the worst designs ever. MAJOR PIA
:rant:
:Dou:

I don't want to start ranting about that because it would take hours to type out all the things that suck about it..... so I'll add some good news.

I got my cast iron intake a QJ carb installed. Now I can close the hood with my Star Wars air cleaner in place! :Brow:
I think I need to recurve my distributor now though. I'm having a bit of trouble getting the car to start and idle nicely with the new intake and carb.
When the pedal is to the floor, she runs great and it has VERY good throttle response (it feels way better than the Holley) but it's kind of hard to start and I can't get it to idle below about 950-1000 RPM.
First step will be getting my vacuum gauge on it and to also play around with my advance curve.

But not until I get the top done. Now that I'm this far along with the top, I can't drive it until it's done. Hopefully tomorrow.
:3gears:

Buick Day at Norwalk is sneaking up on me fast... :eek2:

[D-Con]

Thanks Dave!
I have a few options brewing on intakes and carbs right now.... but I'm intriged by the thought of using a 67 intake....
Can that be done? I think my heads are 1972's. Anything I should be aware of if I were to put a 67 400 intake on it?

Rick, 67 intakes require a stainless steel sheet between the carb and intake because it has exhaust heat at the base of the carb. I have no idea where to get one. (That is, unless you have the crossover plugged at the head.) You could also squeeze some hi-temp silicone into the holes.. :puzzled: .

Also, if you have the 850 Q-jet, some of them will leak vacuum at the vacuum port on the right rear of the base if you have the wrong base gasket. I seem to remember that the intake might not even have a sealing surface there. Not sure, but something to check for.

[ricknmel67]

Hi Adam
I didn't end up with a 67 intake. I think it's a 70... maybe a 71?.
I did plug all the crossover and EGR ports in the heads.
However... I'll have to check to see what the carb is, and see if my carb gasket is doing it's job. I do think I have a small vacuum leak and I need to look into it. But for now it's running pretty good and I've been concentrating on that $%^&ing top for a couple days.

I actually got mad enough today that I had a little temper tantrum in the shop. Tools were thrown, walls were kicked. Good thing I was by myself. I'm usually a very calm easy going guy, but this top is REALLY ticking me off. What a terrible terrible TERRIBLE design. While it would still suck, it would be 100 times better if the well cover could be installed AFTER the top was done. That fricken thing is in the way the whole time your trying to work in there. It took every once of self control I have to not cut it out of there so I could work easier. :rant:

I've had the top on and off 5 times now and it still isn't worth a crap. The picture below shows the first 3 attempts. I quit taking pictures after that.
I know I said it already... but I'll say it again....
I'll NEVER even think about trying a top again. That is one job that is definately better off left to the pro's no matter what it costs.
Oh well... I'm quiting early tonight. (10:15) It's been a long stressful (and non-productive) day and I need to get to bed.

[ricknmel67]

Well... after MUCH cussing, lots of sweat, a little blood, and a few tears... the top is "almost" done. I think it's going to turn out "okay".
I drove the car to work the last 2 days so it could sit in the sun all day and "bake". It's not turning out "too" bad. I have a few minor adjustments to make before I try to rate my top replacement job on a 1-10 scale.
Right now it's a 6, but if the minor adjustments do what I think they will, it'll be a solid 8. :Dou: :laugh:

In the meantime, I recovered all the seats and put them in.
The back seat turned out great. :TU:
I started another thread asking questions about some troubles I had with the bucket seats.
http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?p=795893#post795893
Please reply in that thread if you have any seat recovering experience :Brow:

Thanks
:beer

[avc1966]

Rick I look forward to every post you do on this car. Nice to see it get done. Tony

[65specialconver]

rick,you have a pm re:base :bglasses:

[msc66]

Rick,

Thanks for convincing me NOT to do my own top when it comes time. I was always leaning toward having a shop do it but now I've tipped completely that way.

Can I ask how well your windows seal up with your top? I can't get mine anywhere close. I've installed new seals and spent more time than I like to think about adjusting the windows. I don't know if this is as good as its going to get (I hope not) because I have no point of reference.

If you or someone else here is happy with their fit and could post a few pics I would greatly appreciate it. I've attached a couple pics of mine. I hope you don't mind.

BTW, your car looks beautiful. You keep saying how everything turns out just "ok" but it puts mine to shame.

[ricknmel67]

Thanks Tony :TU:

Mike, I had problems with my quarter windows too. I forget what try it was.... but I was finally "happy" with my top when I decided to roll up my quarter windows and check the alignment....
They were too far forward (like yours only WAY worse). I could actually stick my fingers between the seal and the window. :rant:
The 1/4 window isn't very adjustable as you've probably found out. The top mechanism can come forward some, but that of course threw my whole top out of alignment.... again.
Had to start over once more. :Dou:

After much cussing and a few beers, I decided that something is enough out of wack that I just plain wasn't going to be able to "adjust" everything to where it needed to be. So I ended up grinding the slots in the body where the quarter windows bolt in a little bit longer to give me some more "rearward" adjustment.
Even after all that, mine don't line up much better than yours at the back edge of the 1/4 window. The windows just barely catch the seal.

Regarding your 2nd picture... it looks like the first knuckle is a little low, which is preventing the glass from slipping "into" the seal. That's an easy adjustment, but it's all the way in the back, down beside the seat.
Do you have any manuals that show where/how the adjustments work? If not, I can try to take some digital pictures of the relevent pages and email them to you. They are VERY heplful. Send me a PM with your email adress if you want me to do that.
:TU:

Update for tonight....
Well, it left me stranded yesterday in town. Turned out to be a fried ignition module. :Dou:
I spent the day today trying to mess with the advance curve and timing. I think I'm getting some detonation at part throttle. I wish I was better at the "fine tuning" stuff.
I have a couple friends at work that are pretty good at that stuff. I'm going to see if they can give me a hand this coming week and see if we can get it sorted out.

Other than that, I've just been adding all the little stuff. I'm suprised how much little stuff there is in a project like this. I can spend 6 hours in the shop, and it doesn't look like I've done anything! :Dou: :laugh:

The only pic I snapped today was of my gauges. I finally finished the installation. I installed a piece of tinted lexan over the gauges to kinda hide them a little, and I used 2 spare light switches as fasteners to bolt the gauge plate in place. (they look like radio knobs). The gauges are lighted when it's running so you can see them plain as day through the tinted lexan.
I think it turned out "not too bad". It's kinda the effect I was going for, but not quite. I'm not sure what I don't like about it, but there's definately something.
But for now, it'll stay. :laugh:

[msc66]

Rick,

Thanks for your reply. I'll pm you about the manual.

I lightened your pic and zoomed in a little to show the gauges. I hope you don't mind.

[ricknmel67]

Way back in Jan or Feb I said that it would take something catastrophic to keep me from making Norwalk this Sunday.....
And I worked my butt off for 5 months to make sure I made it....
Until today..... My tranny and/or torque converter are shot and I'm not going to make Norwalk this weekend.
The story is in this thread (http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=103849)
:rant:

I'll start yanking it back apart tomorrow, and try to get it to a tranny shop for a rebuild early next week. I'm also going to replace the torque converter and flexplate while I have it apart.

I was pretty much done with the car too. Easy come, easy go. :Dou: :laugh:

I have installed the armrests since this pic was taken....

[ricknmel67]

I have installed the back-up lights since this pic was taken.
This is the only car I've ever put a B&M shifter in, and actually hooked up the back-up lights and neutral safety switch.

I still need to trim my tailpipes back a bit. I'd like to shorten them about 2"-3", and maybe cut them on an angle.
:Do No:

[Tom Miller]

Nice job Rick :TU:

[ricknmel67]

Thanks Tom :TU:

I got the tranny out yesterday. Time to dig out the CC again. :(
Rebuilding the trans, and replacing the TC & Flexplate isn't going to be cheap. I might as well put in a tranny cooler while I'm at it too.

Anyone know if JW's "through the frame" tranny lines will work on a 67??
:Do No:

[GranSportSedan]

Rick
I read this entire thread yesterday and i gotta say "way to go" you made lemonade out of a lemon. i have bought a couple cars that were far less than advertised or expected but i never had the determination to do what you have done. now how about that tubbed car in your avitar? Bob :TU:

[GS-XNR]

Hi Rick
That's too bad about the transmission. And just when you thought you were done.

With the thought that misery loves company, I still have carb and brake issues to deal with. I replaced the new front springs with correct new front springs this morning. So my list is down from 3 to 2 but I expect it will climb again soon.

You've done a lot of work on your car in a very short time. Regardless of your set back with the trans, you are to be congratulated! :TU:
Cheers
Harvey

[ricknmel67]

Wow Bob... Thanks! But <b>YOU</b> are to be commended for making it all the way through this thread in one sitting. That's quite a feat in itself!! :pp
The tubbed car is next up on the list....... but I may have to do some more remodeling in our basement first, to ease things with the wife a little... especially because of how I was just talking about how I was "so done" spending $$ on the ragtop.....
..... just BEFORE the tranny episode. :Dou: :laugh:

Thanks Harvey. Front springs are no fun at all! But at least it's a little easier with the body still off the frame. (I assume you haven't put your body back on yet?)
What issues are you having with your carb?

I made a few phone calls today and can get my tranny rebuilt locally fairly cheap. I just don't know who I can trust to do it right. I may end up buying one from Summit, or having JW build me a Level 2.. or just get mine rebuilt.
I also need to find out what TA cam I put in it, so I can call them and get a TC recomendation. I hope their records are better than mine. :Dou:

:Beer

[GS-XNR]

Hi Rick
Unfortunately the car is back together. There is a picture of it with the new springs at the end of this thread: http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=78664&page=2

Regarding the carb, it idles very rich so it needs to be taken apart to check the settings. But I think I'll just get Osborne to build me a new one then I know it will be done properly. It looks like I've got about another month to go before its truly on the road.
Harvey

[ricknmel67]

Well.... still waiting for my tranny. Sounds like I should get it in time to install it by this weekend! Although I now have a new problem.....
I tried to install my $200 SFI <s>flexplate</s> <i>boatanchor?</i> tonight and I think it might be a bad part. :mad:

Details in this (http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?p=807125#post807125) thread.
I'll try to get ahold of TA Perf tomorrow and see whats up.
Assuming I'm not having a dumbass attack, and it's actually a bad part.... I hope they can get me a new one by this weekend.
I hate to lose another weekend now that the car is "done". :(

btw... Harvey, your car is looking great! I replied last week in the thread you linked to. :TU:

[ricknmel67]

Wow.. been awhile since I've updated here...

The SFI flexplate was warped from TA, and the replacement they sent me was machined incorrectly and wouldn't fit over my crank. I was sick of having the car SIT, so I threw it back together with the old stock flexplate.
The ticking sound is gone! I've been driving it to work to get some miles on it and get to know the car...

Anyways.... I took her to the track yesterday!
7 of us drove our classics to Norwalk (NRP) from Tiffin.....
It was a pretty cool convoy to be in. :Brow:
My 67 Ragtop
66 LeMans
69 Roadrunner
70 Chevelle
71 Ventura
65 GTO
67 Camaro

My car has been running like crap ever since I put the QJ on it. I just can't get it tuned. I borrowed another QJ from my friend with the 71 Ventura (Pontiac 455 QJ) and it ran alot better than the other QJ I have, but still nowhere near as good as my old Holley.

1st time trial went as follows.... :Dou:
I couldn't even get it to do a burnout in the waterbox. Every time I tried to open the secondaries it would just puke. SO I figued this would be an interesting "launch".
I staged up, the tree dropped, I hammered it... and puke, cough, belch, VROOM... terrible launch, but it finally got going after feathering the throttle a little.
I don't want to beat up the car too bad yet, so I figured I'd short shift it at 4500 RPM.
1-2 went good
Then...... IT happened.
I banged 3rd gear and hit neutral somehow (I figured I must have been flustered from the terrible experience in the waterbox)
Whamo! buried the tach for about a half second. :eek2:
Totally freaked out, I just coasted the rest of the way in neutral.
Ran a 14.51 @ 88 MPH
I was happy with that. I'm thinking that with some tuning, (and all 3 gears) :Dou: I should be able to see high 13's which has secretly been my goal. (I've been telling everyone 14's for weeks) :laugh:

Anyways, back in the pits my Roadrunner buddy makes a few tweaks on my QJ to get rid of the bog. Who knew a die-hard Mopar guy would know anything about a QJ?
A few romps in the back of the pits tells me that the bog is gone.... but it felt like I wasn't getting "all of it" at the big end.

Then the announcement.... "no more time trials". Gotta love Norwalk. It's about the only place I've ever been where you can spend 6-10 hours during time trials and only get one in. :boring:

They call our class for eliminations a few hours later so I had to choose a dial. I dialed 14.40 thinking that his QJ adjustments should pick me up a little.
Waterbox was no problem this time. It's running great, the air is cool...
I'm up against a little import dialing 17's
I stage up and launch..... screech.... spun just a little as I lauched.
I'm probably 3 feet from catching the import with maybe 600 feet to go when I go to hit 3rd gear...
VROOM!!... buried the tach in neutral again. :rant: WTF!!!!!!! I have a B&M "hammer shifter" in it, and have never had a problem ripping it up and down the country roads. :Do No:
Anyways...
My forward momentum brought our front bumpers just about even, and as I started to fall behind I decided to do something stupid in the final seconds I had left.... I crammed it back into 3rd and floored it again. I started to gain on the import again and made it back to about the front fender as we passed through the traps.
My first loss in the ragtop. :laugh:
It ran a 14.64 @ 83 MPH that time

So at this point... I really don't know what this car is going to do. Hopefully I can get her into the 13's.
Since I never made a full pass, I don't really know what to expect.
The QJ adjustments picked up .3 on my 60' which is significant, but my 1/8th mile ET's where about the same and my 1/8th mile MPH was 2 MPH slower after the adjustments.
The 1/4 mile MPH can't mean anything since I never used 3rd gear.
1st run was 88 MPH, 2nd was 83 MPH
Strange stuff.... but good times.
I was very worried about my engine after the neutral bombs but everything seems okay.
I ordered a new shifter today and a new carb.. a HOLLEY!
Parts should be here tomorrow, and hopefully I can get her straightened out this weekend.

WOW... longest post ever. Sorry for the long post... But if you've been following this thread at all... you know I tend to ramble. :laugh:

[Tom Miller]

Rick, I'm no transmission expert by any means, but if your "neutral bombs" are not caused by the shifter, you may have a broken sprag race?
I've seen TH-400's do what your describing, and I'm pretty sure the stock sprag was the culprit :Do No:
Hope it's just the shifter, especially since you just got it back together.

Later,
Tom

[ricknmel67]

I'm going to pretend you didn't just say that there could be something wrong with my tranny... that's brand new..... that I just put in..... that has less than 100 miles on it... :pp

But seriously... my shifter came today and I'll put it in tonight. Hopefully that'll do it.
But if it doesn't... I guess I'll know what to look at next. :Dou:

:laugh:

[Hector]

Rick,I really admire your determination on this project.You'll get it.What shifter are you going with now?

[ricknmel67]

Thanks Hector
I went with a B&M QuickSilver. I like the "simplistic" look of the handle. It's not too "race looking" :laugh:
I got it installed tonight, but still have to make a new "filler plate" to make it look somewhat decent sticking out of my console.

I haven't taken the car out yet to test it though. I also put on a new flex fan and a new Holley Street Avenger carb tonight. Been a busy night.... 1:35AM now, and I have to get up early tomorrow. What was I thinking!? :Dou:

:laugh:
:beer

[ricknmel67]

Well... good news and bad news.....
The shifter took care of my "neutral bomb" problem...
But my "tick tick tick" is coming back. I've heard it a couple times now. :mad:

This time, I'm going to drive it till something breaks. Then I'll assume that whatever broke must have been the tick tick sound. Hopefully it don't break at Salem! :Dou:

Oh well.. I'm not going to let the tick bug me. It's summer, the top goes down.... and it's time to enjoy this thing. :laugh:

I only have a few more things I want to do to it :
1 - Put an aluminum intake back on it. It ran so much cooler with a aluminum intake.
2 - Install a stereo and CD changer in it. I've have both laying around collecting dust.
3- "Detail" the trunk. I want to carpet it like Adam did with his. That looked nice.

[70lark]

Looks great Rick, you whipped it into shape in good time :beer

[ricknmel67]

Thanks Andy

I made back to the track last night with the Holley carb and my new shifter.

Best run was a 14.16 @ 96MPH.
I guess having 3rd gear is kind of important! :laugh:

It is still very sluggish off the line. I can actually feel it start pulling at around 3500RPM and I'm shifting at 5000 (1-2) and 4500 (2-3).
If I can get it to start pulling sooner, I should be able to see a 13.xx!
I plan to monkey with it until I get my 13.xx and then I'll consider it "done".

[Hector]

Rick,you have done a great job with that car,if you haven't recurved the distributor yet, now is the time.Nice job :beer .

[65specialconver]

glad to see you havent givin up yet.man,its time you got some stuff that works.now stop breaking stuff & get it into the 13xx's :TU: if you havent allredy,get a spare distributor & send the keeper to osborne to curve for you :TU:

[ricknmel67]

Good suggestion guys.
Timing is my next conquest. I've monkey'd with it on & off for the last month or so, but haven't really dug into it full force.

Last time I was under the hood, I noticed a couple of my plug wires are cracked too. I bet the wires are 5-10 years old. I got them with a batch of used parts from a barn in Kentucky about 3 years ago. They looked like crap then too.... but it's all I had laying around when it was time to fire this car up for the first time.
Sometimes I'm such a tight-wad. :Dou:
:laugh:

[Eric Schmelzer]

I noticed a couple of my plug wires are cracked too.:


If the wires are arcing to a ground source that might be your "tick". Put some wires on her and see what happens.

[geno]

i went threw the same thing some day we should trade pictures this is my finished car geno :beer

[MartinNr5]

Wow Rick, I just read through this entire thread (I *love* restoration threads!) and I really admire your enthusiasm and the way you just kept pushing forward even when things went sour.

It's been a great inspiration for when I tackle my own (much smaller) restoration of my car.

I hope you fix the tick problem w/o breaking any parts. :TU:

[skyphix]

Old thread, but, any new news, Rick?

[ricknmel67]

Old thread, but, any new news, Rick?

Hi Eric
No real "noteable" news.....
I took the ragtop to the BPG Nats in Salem last weekend for 2 days.
Before the event, I put an adjustable vacuum advance canister and a recurve spring/weight kit in the distributor.
I also messed with my new Holley's vacuum secondary spring, squirter, and power valve.
(All trying to get to the elusive 13.9x ET...)

My 1st 3 runs at Salem we approx : 14.50 - 14.70 - 14.90 (in that order)
Whoa... something is going terribly wrong....
I messed with the timng some more at the track and eventually got it down to a 14.2x by the last race. (letting off 3 MPH and still breaking out)

I definately don't have something right in the tune.
Besides being VERY inconsistant, I NEVER once heated up my tires or lost traction on the starting line in 2 days of racing. It has absolutely NO launch. It really kicks in around 3500 RPM. I'm starting to think the cam isn't in right or something. (Best 60' was 2.0x)
I've never had a car that could run in the low 14's, without heating up the tires. I actually drive around the water box and right to the starting line, and have no traction problems.
It's kinda good that I don't have to worry about traction... but pretty bad because I think it has something to do with the inconsistancy.

Since this thread is chock-full-o-pix.... I'll post a pic of my last race at Salem. I lost to this bueatiful 67 special running 12.0's :TU:
It was a double breakout, with me breaking out more.

[ricknmel67]

One more from the event for good measure.... This one shows off my twisted front bumper. :Dou: :laugh:

[skyphix]

The car looks awesome Rick :TU:

I am switching to this body style so I wanted to see more more!

Thanks for the update :grin:

[msc66]

Rick,

Also remember that Quaker is a "slower" track. It used to trip me out when I'd go back and forth between there and Kestone in Pgh. My times were always off at Quaker. Then I think I saw Renee Moore mention it here when discussing the first BPG nats. I think she said it was a tenth off.

You may be faster than you think. :TU:

[Smartin]

two tenths is what I remember...

I would've been well into the 14's 2 years ago if this is the case.

[ricknmel67]

Thanks guys
Yes, I've heard 2 tenths as well.... but I think alot of the 2 tenths is "traction related" which doesn't effect me at all.
We'll see next time I go to Nowralk!

Regarding my cam... I bought it 3 years ago, so I forget what it is. I do know that I spoke with TA over the phone when I bought it, and it was the largest cam that they would recommend with stock heads and valve springs. (which is a pretty small cam! )

I DO know that I didn't degree it in (I know.... shame on me!) and I'm really starting to think that Bob is right about the cam being retarded. However... I won't be yanking the engine anytime soon to find out. I'll play with the tune this summer and just deal with it.
If I don't get it figured out this summer, I may yank the engine out and degree the cam, and possibly get some head work done over the winter. But I'm enjoying the car WAY TOO MUCH this summer to tear it down to mess with it. I rather deal with an "off" powerband all summer, than have the car down again. :TU:

Regarding the stance.... Thanks!
It was sagging a little in the back when I put it together. I put a couple hundred miles on it hoping the front would "settle" a little to even it out.
It didn't settle any so I put those "helper coils" over my rear shocks to raise the rear about an inch. I really like the stance it has now, but I'm not crazy about those helper coils. I might get some new rear springs this winter.... or maybe I'll just leave it like it is, depending on what I end up doing to the 455 over winter. :Dou: :laugh:

Eric... you're going to get a 66/67? Awesome! Welcome to the dark side. :TU: :laugh:
Mind if I ask why you might switch?

[Blaze333]

Hi Rick
This is a great thread you have going here! I just spent the better part of an hour or so reading it. I had no idea what was all involved with the car when I met you at Salem. (Sat in the staging lanes.) Reading this thread gave me much more appreciation, and envy of your car.
I give you alot of credit for what you started out with. I would have given up.
Glad that you stuck with it...you certainly have a car you can be proud of. I know you will get the little things worked out. Its only a matter of time. Great job!

[skyphix]

Rick:
I've had my fun with 70-72's and my car is a perfect performance build candidate for someone... I just dont have the ability to do it right now. Its got all the right parts - a bit of tuning and port work, and a minimal amount of body work, and it'd be a great bruiser that would kill at the local cruise-in and car show circuit. That was my intention and its not gonna happen, at least this year. I can't bear to see it sit here and not get worked on for another winter, so hopefully someone who will take it to its potential will get it.

So, I am looking to try something new. I've had two 70's and I figured why not try something a bit older. When I got my first 70 it was between it and a 66 Gs, but the GS was way too far gone for me at 17. I am taking this opportunity to get a nicer car than I would've had when I was 17.

Im not just limited to 66's and 67's though, 64's and 65's are good too. 66 is my favorite year but I'm not going to be picky. I don't even care if its a stripped out Special v6 as long as its local car show ready for me to enjoy and not worry about.

I've gone so far as to PM another member asking if he was selling his car, which is way out of character for me... but I guess its worth a shot. I just hope I dont offend him :laugh:


Sorry, didn't mean to hijack your thread :rolleyes:

[ricknmel67]

Thanks Craig. I enjoyed BS'ing with you in the staging lanes! I read your thread the other night too. I knew most of the story from our conversation in the staging lanes, but the pictures tell the rest of it. Super job! :TU:

Eric... the 66/67's really are a totally different car than the 70-72's. I've had both and they both have their great points, but the 67's won the competition for me and we got rid of the 70 & 71 a couple years ago. The 67's look ALOT bigger from 20 feet away, but in reality there's only a few inches difference. And from the drivers seat, the 67's short nose looks like a compact car after driving the long nosed 70-72's around. :laugh:

Good luck in your search! ... and don't worry about hijacking my thread. :TU:

[skyphix]

Thanks Rick :grin:

I dont know of anyone locally that has one so I could see or spend some time around one. To be honest, I think I've only been in the presence of a 66/67 once in my life. :shock:

[ricknmel67]

Well I finally got my hands on a B4B. I gave up on finding a used one and picked one up from Summit. Before you say it....yes, I know TA has them for $1 cheaper. But I'm not real happy with them right now.

Anyways... the B4B made a TON of difference. I actually have throttle response! I still haven't really adjusted anything else because I haven't driven it alot since I swapped intakes (cold and rainy), but even without changing anything else, it feels ALOT better now.
I'm definately going to have a traction problem now. :Dou:
I just hope it'll get me the elusive 13.9x ET
I'll find out in a few weeks when we all go to our annual "weekend long" outing at the "Halloween Thing" at Dragway 42.
Hope to see some other Buicks there! (but usually I'm the only one)

[Hector]

Looking good!

[Blaze333]

I'm definately going to have a traction problem now. :Dou:
I just hope it'll get me the elusive 13.9x ET
I'll find out in a few weeks when we all go to our annual "weekend long" outing at the "Halloween Thing" at Dragway 42.
Hope to see some other Buicks there! (but usually I'm the only one)


Rick,
When you get ready to get some real tires and wheels, let me know what you get. I'm going thru traction problems right now after I correctly set up my ignition timing. Wow...what a power difference. I got into the 14's and that was spinning out of the hole so I know I can be faster. I need slicks and rims but just dont know what setup will work the best (and fit) my stock rearend... plus I'm on a budget, and i know It's not going to be a cheap deal. I probably wont do anything untill next spring anyways.

Good luck at dragway 42. I would love to come down so you arent the only Buick there, but 3 hrs one way is a bit of a stretch for me.

[ricknmel67]

Thanks Hector :TU:

Hi Craig, glad to hear you're getting the ol' girl sorted out! :TU:
Unfortunately, I wouldn't be able to give you any useful info regarding wheels/tires even if I did get a new set of wheels/slicks....
My rear end is a 1968 rear end which is a little different length than a 67 rear end. So what works for me probably wouldn't work for you and vise-versa.

For what it's worth... I used to run the Mickey Thompson "Indy Profile S/S" tires (G60-14) on several of my street cars with 14" rims and limited wheelwell area. Worst one was my 63 Impala... not much room for tires at all back there. Those little Mickey's really hook! (and they'll easily go on narrow rims) I was always bothered by the fact that they don't make a matching front tire though. :Do No:

I may end up with a pair of them for this car next summer...... depends on how far I get with my tubbed car this winter. :Brow:

[ricknmel67]

Just got back from our weekend at Dragway 42....
I was hoping to get into the 13's since the intake change....

The old girl didn't let me down! I drove it 90 minutes there, beat the snot out of it for 3 days, and drove it 90 minutes home without any issues. It ran pretty consistant 13.50-13.55... with a couple 13.48's thrown in!!
I took runner up on Saturday night (2nd place), and made it to the semi-finals (3rd/4th place?) tonight.
I can't get over tonights semi-final race though. I cut a .003 light and ran a 13.487 on a 13.49 dial .003 BREAKOUT! :Dou:


Time for a shower and bed... I'm whooped :sleep:

Just had to pass on the good news! :laugh:
:beer

[msc66]

Rick, congrats man. You've done a great job on that car. I kinda envy you.
BTW, 13.48? that's not that far away from the twelves. :Brow:

[ricknmel67]

Thanks Mike
I was floored when she ran deep into the 13's. I was seriously expecting 13.9x's.
Quite an improvement for a simple intake change! :eek2:
My 60' times are around 1.95 now. Before the intake swap they were 2.1x & 2.2x
Traction is quite an issue now though. I really gotta smoke those Radial TA's to get her to hook. My quarter panels and exhaust are completely rubberized now. :laugh:

12's you say? :Brow:
I had been kicking around the idea of doing some headwork this winter. I'm running stock 72 heads with stock valves and springs. I was thinking about converting to stage 1 valves and doing some mild porting.....

But I've been looking into the rules and it's sounding like ragtops quicker than 13.50 need a roll bar. I'm certainly not going to flub up my "grandma cruiser" with a roll bar... so mid 13's is PERFECT for me.
Looks like I'm done tuning.... which also means time to get to work on the tubbed 67! :TU:

Might as well give everyone a laugh at my expense about Saturday night's final round where I took 2nd while I'm yacking....
First a little background...
I've been racing on and off since the late 80's.
I've ALWAYS watched the yellow lights come down the tree to launch.
I was talking with a buddy at the track Friday night and he said he ONLY watches the last yellow light. He blocks out the first yellows and concentrates solely on the last one. He launches as soon as he sees it.
I tried it Saturday morning and started cutting some awesome lights!
We're talking lots of .00x's and .01x's!

So by Saturday night it was getting dark, and getting harder to ignore the first yellow lights. Final round, I was in the left lane and had a "bright idea" :Dou: I used my rearview mirror to block the upper yellow lights so all I could see was the last one. Sounds good in theory right? :laugh:
Well... I was about a second slower than the car I was racing.
I was staged and waiting.... and waiting... and waiting.... and waiting....
What the hell?
I look over to see if the other guy was even staged yet.
He was.
By the time I looked back at my yellow light (split second later?).... my GREEN was already on!!
I floored it... and had a .436 light. :Dou: :rant:
Worst light probabaly ever recorded in a final round in the history of drag racing!
I'm guessing my yellows had started coming down before I even looked over at his tree, but remember I was using my mirror to block them out of view.
I handed him the race.
Man.. I'm getting mad about it all over again just thinking about it.

Anyways... enough of my rambling... moral of the story....
Once you're staged, DON'T look away! :Smarty:
My friends are still giving me crap about it.
:beer

[msc66]

By mid Jan, I had most of the car down to bare metal, and my body guy said I could sell the aftermarket quarter panels that I had because he wouldn't need them..

Rick, where did you get aftermarket quarters in the first place?

[msc66]

One more thing Rick. Did you have to have a coolant catch can to race? If so where did you mount it since the battery is on the same side as the overflow?

[ricknmel67]

Hi Mike
I got the q-panels on ebay soon after getting the ragtop. The guy said he had them laying around for several years. I paid a fairly outrageous price for them. :Dou:
Now they are on ebay all the time. I think they are around $129 each?

Coolant overflow....
I ran a rubber hose over to the windshield wiper reservoir from the radiator.
Not my permanent solution... but it'll do for now. :laugh:
I now have an NOS windshield washer reservoir (thanks to Scott Miller!!) that I want to put in the car, so I'm planning to try to put the old windshield washer reservoir on the passenger side and use it for the coolant overflow over there.