A few questions: What did you paint the MC with, and was it rusty before hand? I just put one on my car about 6 months ago and it already looks 25 years old, so I figured I'd try to clean it up some (even though its a parts store special, it still looks pretty close to correct). Looks good :TU: I'd like to paint up my engine bay like that, but I might try cleaning it first :shock:
Yeah, there is a "cast iron" grey hi temp stuff you can get from Eastwood. It is made primarily for exhaust manifolds, but looks good for any part that is supposed to be bare cast iron - like the MC and the steering box. Cody - thanks for the good words! When the red motor gets in there, it will really pop.
It seems like two cars is the way to go, work on one while you drive the other. Looks real good, and as you said, when the engine gets put back together with some paint, that's when the nice contrast in colors makes the big difference and things look real nice... Keep at it, and how's the fishing?
More work done today. The FedEx guy showed up with my new trans cooling lines, since I twisted the lines in half trying to get them out of the transmission fittings. The ones I ordered were the universal kit from www.inlinetube.com and I had to bend them myself. I had hte old ones as templates, but it is still difficult to get the slight subtle bends the old hoses made. I actually was stomping them into the ground at one time to get the lines to lay the right way :laugh: It worked, though. Here they are in all their shiny glory: Notice the engine is coming back together. I hope to have it painted tomorrow. After the motor is painted, I can start cobbling thingss back together. I still have quite a few things to clean and paint...like the air cleaner, power steering pump and brackets, all the AC lines, compressor, radiator, condensor, pulleys, etc. I was able to get a few goodies painted today, so I feel like I'm making some good progress. I went to a local dealer Buick display today, so it gave me some inspiration to get the car going as soon as possible, so I can show it off before Rochester. The engine compartment is not the only thing that has to be done on this car. I have all the door jambs that need to be cleaned and painted, as well as the trunk jamb. Front clip has to be reinstalled, as well as the "new" rear bumper. I suppose that's about all..... ou: Oh yeah, I still have to rebuild the carb. I'm waiting on a shipment from Classic Buicks so I can get some other things replaced and installed - like the oil sending unit, fuel pump, fan clutch, carb rebuild kit, rad hoses, heater control valve, all the decals I could think of, hose clamps (yeah the tower clamps)... I realized today that I forgot to order hood bumpers. Maybe I'll grab a set at CARS's booth in Rochester before the car is judged
Inspirational. Nice work. I wish I'd had the time to clean up and paint my engine compartment when I changed the engine. It was originally in the plans, but time, being time, made it necessary to get the boat back on the road. At least my engine looks sorta nice. That tube bending stuff is always more difficult than it seems like it should be, isn't it. Makes you really appreciate the skills of somebody who can make it look easy. I usually start out measuring just so and using the bender to make just the right angles at just the right spots, but end up with one or several "precision hand bends" to get the stinkin tube to fit. :af: I've never bothered painting master cylinders because I always figured any fluid that overflowed (I'm good at that) would ruin any paint I put on them, anyway. Isn't that the case, or am I overly paranoid? Nice car. Every old LeSabre should have it so good. Nick
I just now saw this thread - looking very good, Adam! :TU: Did you pull the master cylinder off the booster, or did you refinish them in place?
James, I just unbolted the MC from the booster and let the MC "hang" there while I cleaned and painted both.I know painting a booster and MC aren't the BEST ideas, because of brake fluid...but there I go with my "budget build.." It looks almost as good as a plate job, anyway :grin: I had been ITCHING to do this to the LeSabre since I bought it, but having Hank's cars in the garage wasn't lending itself too well to my situation. I was patient and now I get to do what I want with MY car. I'm still really bummed about losing Hank He was pushing really hard for me to get into this business in the next couple years. His excitement level about bringing his freshened up '60 that I finished this Spring was crazy... The car turned out amazing, and would've been a good way for me to get my "name" out into the club for those who might be looking to have some work done in the future. Ho hum....maybe I can do the same with this car.:beer
Adam- That looks great! It's amazing what some paint and scrubbing and TLC can do. Yardley gave me a great start with my 'Cat, now I will continue that work. Thanks for the inspiration! I really like the way you did the Cad parts. Very creative.
Adam,I'm rebuilding my car's engine right now and was wondering what to do with the engine bay as far as detailing it.My mind was already set on painting the booster black until I saw this thread.I was wondering if you removed the parts and now I see that you just unbolted the two which is the way I was thinking to go about.I will attempt your "plating" job to the booster,any more tips? :beer Your car is going to look great,your work is good and it shows.
No black painted booster, the way Adam did it is the only way to go. I put a Repro Booster in my car (gold cad) and it REALLY made the engine compartment look a ton better than the faded silver/grey one that was there. Please, paint it the way that Adam did :TU:
Please keep in mind that any painted booster/MC combo will not look good for long, more than likely. Due to brake fluid seepage, you'll probably start to see drip marks down the front of the booster around where the MC bolts up to it. It looks good right now, though:bglasses:
Lots of "stuff" installed today. I've been waiting on installing any brackets until I got my exhaust menifolds on, so I could have some room to work. I was able to run some errands today and picked up a bunch of stuff from the Zone and O'Reilly...also got a load of grade 8 bolts for the manifolds. I still have to pick up the drivers side manifold from the machine shop on Monday, so it will get installed next week along with the rest of the power steering gunk. The passenger side manifold went on easily with no problems...and note that I used NO gaskets. Buick did not use gaskets on them. If you do this, make sure both faces of the head and exhaust manifold are straight. There seems to be quite a bit of dust that collects on everything, and it's tough to keep (particularly) the black parts clean and scratch free. The black is a semi-gloss, and it's as close as the factory as I've been able to find off the shelf. The only problem is keeping it looking good. I suppose this is why a flatter black is more prevalent when you see these restorations. CARS chassis black (which is supposed to be correct) is too flat for the core support/wheelhouses, so I'm not really interested in using it. I used it on the 60, and I still don't agree that it's correct even for that car.
Dot 5 Adam, Your work looks incredible! As for the MC and booster... what you've done looks so good I'd think you'd be inclined to switch brake fluids. As you know the old DOT 3 removes paint in a jiffy, but DOT 5 does NOT harm paint! The two types are not compatable which requires you to "flush" or essentially completely bleed the system to switch over to DOT 5. DOT 5 is silicon based, does not take on moisture, does not affect paint, and can handle higher operating temps ( which is not a concern in this app.). It cost a few bucks and time to do it, but you'll no longer have a yucky looking MC. DOT 5 is COMPLETELY compatable with the rest of your brake system, you just want to flush out the old fluid.
I'm going to try to start the car tonight if I can get all the fluids filled and changed. I got the carb rebuilt last night...only took me a couple hours. I've gotten pretty quick at those :grin: I just wish it looked new like the rest of the motor. I may have it sent out and redone at a later date.
