At the rate you two are going you could be a reality show! Just need some drummed up drama about old parts not fitting and a few shots of a forklift unloading boxes from a sponsor! Maybe a chick to tell the viewers what you’re doing, too! Patrick
OK who wants to supply the chick, or the sponsor? Adam, those parts look AWESOME, of course now we have to make everything else look that good. I really appreciate this, and thank you again. Let me know what I owe you. Duane
Here are a couple of new pics from Nick. He had the hard edges of the fenders and trunk lid blasted, and they are ready for primer. All the trim holes in the fenders have been filled and ground down. He also painted the floor inside the car. I believe that little piece of something was part of a mouse nest that was inside the trunk lid. Enjoy.
I'll add here, as I don't recall it being mentioned explicitly, that it is really awesome to have Duane back on here regularly! It was sure nice to see you and the cars last Jan. (time flies!) but it's great to see you on here.
Absolutely, a valuable asset for the site that was missed. I'm glad to see you back working on a car, too.
Here's what I was doing most of the weekend. I stripped an old 430 for parts and helped Jimmy continue to clean up his back yard. Then I started finding/cleaning/blasting and then painting a bunch of the bolts/clips needed to install the brake and fuel lines. It's a PITA job doing all these small parts, but their done now. Just finding all the pieces takes time. I even found the clip that goes into the frame for the automatic transmission lines. Even though it is a 4-speed car and didn't use it, the Buicks still had them in the frame. Enjoy. Duane
Looks great, Duane! Incidentally, that clip you mentioned that mounts to the frame is still intact on my car - just buried in 48 plus years of grime. I wonder if the grime has acted as a barrier and if some elbow grease would reveal the original yellow....
Yeah I have only seen them as bright yellow. One thing, if you ever want to take one out of the frame you need to push down on the center to relieve some pressure and then push the two mounting tabs together from inside the frame, before removing it. Otherwise they just snap off. Don't ask me how I know this. Duane
I also painted mine bright yellow but ended up finding 5 NOS ones after mine were installed. These are still sealed in the GM wrappers with the correct Buick part number and are a yellow/slightly greenish color but more of a satin finish than the bright yellow. I will have to post pics once I get moved.
Duane- if you need any 69 specific hardware (bolts/screws/etc), LMK.. I will PM you my number. I will be at the garage today with all of the hardware.
A couple of more pics from Nick. He is working on the shell. The interior floor is painted, and he is working on sanding the quarters. He is also finishing up the cowl area, and is aligning the vinyl top trim to install the molding clip studs. Duane
Nick has a Stud gun that installs them. A lot of body shops use them to pull out dents, etc. They can weld a stud, which looks like a long wire with a flat "nail head" on it. Then they attach a puller handle on them and pull out the dents. Once the dents are taken care of, they then grind off the small nail heads and finish the body work. In the old days you would screw a body puller into the panel and pull the dents out. Then you would have to fill in the holes, or leave the "machine gun sweeps" in the panel and let the body putty ooze out. (How many of us have seen that?) The stud guns also have adaptor heads that weld in the small studs for trim clips. Maybe Nick can post some pics showing what I mean. Duane PS, Looks like Walt beat me to it.
I am stunned about the speed of this restoration, and the fact that the work done from both of you is with 120% focus on detail and doing it right. Hats off guys!!
Adam, You might not need an adapter, you may only need to buy the studs. I never used one of those guns but have seen the guys using them. Maybe someone can chime in on this. Duane
I have a stud gun, too. Used it for when I did the body on my 442. I only used it for pulling, but I knew it could install studs also. I don't know about the adapter(s).
