4 years ago I burned up the transmission in my car. It had some other issues I couldn't trace down like the constant pinging at WOT, erratic movement on the vacuum gauge which led me to believe there was a problem with the heads so I tore the engine and transmission out. When the engine came out and I tore the oil pan off the oil pickup had tons of sludge on it. As soon as I saw that I decided it wasn't going to be a transmission rebuild and head rebuild. When I tore the engine and transmission out my dad had just passed away. I should of known better then to start the project then, but I did. Over the last 4 years nothing has happened with the car except purchasing another 430 and transmission from a friend. In these last 4 years we purchased my dads property from the estate, completely gutted and remodeled the whole house, added on a huge addition to the house, my oldest daughter started 4H with the horses, I changed jobs, been involved in lawsuits with work stuff, been traveling for work and the list goes on. I've been busy to say the least. I uncovered the car 2 days ago and the mice have had fun with it and the interior has started to mold. Last year during the summer when I uncovered it the mice and mold were not present. It is parked in my shop where it's dry, but the shop is not sealed from mice and is not heated at all. Big mistake and really took my motivation away. I was thinking I'd throw the spare engine in it just to drive it some before it starts raining again. Now I think I'm going to have to tear out the interior to clean it thoroughly. That was not what I had in mind. I've had some local quotes on transmission rebuilds and engine rebuilds, but I really think I'm just going to send this off to Jim at Tri-Shield this winter and while those parts are gone I can strip the interior. If any of you have good advice and techniques for tackling the interior I am all ears. I don't even know where to start. Should I tear it all out, should I just clean it and blow the vents out? While I'm at it is there carpet kits available for the trunk because it has needed that for a long time. Thanks for reading while I vented. I am frustrated to say the least and I want this car back on the road. This picture is what I found when pulling the oil pan This picture was taken quite some time ago before the engine was pulled out
Jt, your story is eerily similar to mine! The trans went out on my skylark and I parked it until I could find another good trans. I found a good th350 a short time later and thought I was on my way. Well, life chose otherwise and it sat for over 2 years. When I finally got around to tearing the trans out, it turned into tearing the whole car down and doing a BBB swap and frame off. Now, 5 years later I'm just now ramping up to start body work and reassembly (which means I've probably got another 1.5 to 2 years to go!) So don't feel bad, I'd bet this type of story is more common than you think. Better late than never! And by the way, nice looking rivi! Bring her back to life, you'll be glad you did.
It's winter time and I need to start cleaning the interior. Any advice to clean and kill mold effectively? Like in my original post I'm trying to get motivated to get going on this.
One can always find excuses why a project could not move forward jt, and believe me, we all have them !! I lost 4 or more years of driving my Riviera because of procrastination, and the desire to make it absolutely purrrrrrrrrfect, so your not alone. I was just overwhelmed by the overall project, and kept putting it off, as it was too easy to find all the reasons why it could not be done. So I broke it down into a list of what needed to be done, and once each individual item was accomplished, it was motivation enough to move on to the next step. The car in the picture should be motivation enough to move this project forward !! :TU: If the answers don't come from here, use the internet to research the answers - let your fingers do the walking. There are tons of information available, but you have to spend the time to get the answers, in addition to the hours required to complete the project. Good luck on your '67 project, it's one great looking car, and well worth the effort it will take to make it road worthy and 'share the pride'. o No:
Spot on Rivman. I recently made a list of things I want to finish on my 72 and its so much easier to hit one point at a time. I think of all the time I spend sitting on my ass after work "relaxing".... when I could be moving forward with SOMETHING to benefit the Buick hobby... fer chrissake. Time to get this thing kickstarted Just bought a used B4B and looking for some shorty headers to complete my original idea of an engine build. looking for ways to fund aluminum heads... need to install the higher stall converter and rebuild the TH400. Lets GO!
Great advice for sure. Right now it's on blocks with the rear control arms off. I need to clean and powdercoat the replacements, install the new coils and new shocks and get it down on all 4's. Once that's done I'll move it outside and do some interior cleaning. Being parked in the shop has been hard on that. With this early on set of spring and lack of weather here in the NW there's no time like the present to get started. While that's all happening I need to decide if I want to chance the spare engine I have or rebuild the one I took out. I have to 430's in my shop. One is assembled and I know that it ran when it came out of the old car, but it's been sitting for years. I thought I'd put it on the stand and pull the valve covers, oil pan, and plugs and see what it looks like and go from there. If it looks good I'll take my chances, if it's not then the engine that came out of my car will be sent off to the shop for a rebuild. The transmission also needs rebuilt and I'm sure I can find a good shop locally to do that. There are many other things I can do to it, but my goal right now is to have it drivable by the end of May at the latest. This car was restored about 20 years ago by my best friend and his Dad. I need to get it back to the condition it was in then. I owe it to the car. I've thought about selling it many times and some day I might, but it will only go to my Friend who has lots of memories of that car.
.. Lets start a support group - neither in my sig pics are currently driveable Mold/Mildew on interior - start with simple green and if that doesn't work, try some of the stuff for bathroom walls/tile but dilute it a bit and only work small area's. Like wax, if you work too big of an area and let it sit too long you'll be in a bit of trouble
Sorry about your Dad. That's never easy. My Dad was the reason for getting my car. He was a big Buick man. The best way to start your project is to pick an easy an cheap area. Once you get some results, you'll want to keep going.
Slow but sure this is going to be a driver for the summer. I finished installing the rear springs and shocks last weekend with the help of my 8 year old. It now sits on all 4's again for the first time in 4 years. The used engine that I acquired is on the engine stand with the oil pan, valve covers and intake off of it. It's not a real pretty looking thing but I picked it up for $200 and it ran when it was pulled years ago. So that the car can be driven this year (cross my fingers here) I am putting this in it. The transmission is in the back of my truck now and will go to the transmission shop this week for a rebuild. I am out of town next week, but when I return the engine will go together and bolted to the transmission and get dropped in to its resting place in the car. I hope this engine runs well enough for a summer or two. If not, I'll bolt up a nitrous kit to it and have fun at the strip for a night. :3gears:
I am only about a year behind schedule. I pulled the car out of the shop where it has sat neglected for the last 5 years and pulled it up to the house and sat it outside the garage. I put some mouse traps in it and caught a few. At that time I decided it required more time then I had to give it so I contacted a few detailers and found a guy who has done a lot of old cars with rodent problems. He showed up this afternoon and started tearing in to the car. The seats are out and the carpet will be out in the morning. I am confident he will get this done right. When he is done the car will come in to my garage where I can detail the exterior and get it ready for the engine to go back in. I'm hoping to get the engine crated this week, or next weekend at the latest and get it on a freight truck headed to Jim Weise for a little love. With any luck and nothing else working against me this car will be driving this summer. I am mad at myself for letting it get to this point but there's not much I can do at this point but turn it around and start going forward with it. Wish me luck.
On cleaning the mold ..... Are they vynl seats? Im in the marine industry and we deal with a lot of mold issues on seats. I own a few boats myself as well so I have a great deal of experience dealing with removing mold from seats and interiors. Heres my advice..... Cleaners like bleach, tilex (bathroom mold cleaners) etc are very hard on the seat seams and stitching. They will break down the stitches over time. So be extreamly careful using them. Personally I wouldn't use them at full strength. My first advice is try a mixture of mild marine soap and water to clean your seats. (starbright and 3M both have great products for this) Sometimes I'm surprised at how effective this is. Once you have done that and you still find that you have mold stains you will have to get into mold cleaners. Their are a great deal of mildew and mold cleaners for boats on the market. Most of them are safe for your seats. Go to your local west marine and see what they have. Look at the active ingredients on the bottle. Most mold cleaners are chlorine, bleach, chlorine free, sodium hypochlorite (bleach), hydrogen peroxide, or ammonium chloride based. Some of the mold cleaners are ok for vynl but not cloth or leather seats. So be sure to read the warning on the back of the bottle. Also no matter what cleaner I use I try NOT to spray it or get it on the seams. The less you get cleaners on your seat seam threads the longer your seats will last from and avoid splitting at the seat seams. That includes seat polishing materials as well. Sodium hypochlorite (bleach based) products work best at killing mold. Their also the hardest on your seat seams. I use a sodium hypochlorite based product called Klean-Strip mildew stain remover. We've found this works the best but I avoid using it on moldy seat seams. I use a chlorine or bleach free product for cleaning moldy seams if I can... These cleaners are usually ammonium chloride based cleaners. Their much less effective and won't kill the mold but their easy on the seat seams. My point use the less abrasive cleaners first. Avoid chlorine, (bleach) sodium chlorite to start. A lot of people use household bleach to clean seats and damage their seats. Bleach should be used only as a last resort and should be 90% water mixed with 10% bleach or in a premixed over the counter cleaner form. Like the Klean-Strip product I mentioned. Simpke key green and a magic eraser can do wonders. I do know a lot of people who swear by them. I do believe simple green is a bleach based cleaner. Check the label. There's a reason I recommend using a marine style mold cleaner. Most all of them have an ultraviolet protector in them. When bleach and sun get together they will deteriorate stitches quickly. The ultraviolet ingredients help slow this process. Heres how we clean our seats. Step one we clean our seats with soap and water. We still have mold.... Step two is we use klean-strip. Let it sit a short while so it can work .... We work slowly and avoid the seams as best we can. Step three use a soft brush or magic eraser and scrub softly and slowly. Go easy.... I use a toothbrush. Avoiding stitching if I can. Step four - ricnce with clean water. Most people don't do this. It's a must for long term health of your seats. Step five - dry and buff with a clean towel. Take extrat effort to get all water off and get the seats as dry as possible. Keep in moisture is the molds friend. So get the dry and aired out. Hope this helps.
Wow, that's a ton of great info. I talked to quite a few detailers and this guy that is working on it sounds like he has done a lot of cars with similar issues to mine. I'll look closer tomorrow at what he's using. More so then the mold/mildew, I've had mice in the car. He has his job cut out for him. My vinyl is in good condition and I hope to keep it that way for many years to come.
For mold you need a spray that does not damage your interior or your shop. This works great: http://biocidelabs.com/ I have used it myself. It is not cheap, but it really works long term.
