My 76/77 Buick regals going to the darkside!

Discussion in 'V-8 Buick Powered Regals' started by Norman Martin, Aug 14, 2020.

  1. sean Buick 76

    sean Buick 76 Buick Nut

    Omg my 4 post is a huge help!! Keep up the great work
     
  2. Norman Martin

    Norman Martin Well-Known Member

    Where do you live? I am coming over asap. Funny thing is, I saw a car going the opposite way from me not too long ago that looked just like your car.

    What 4 post do you have? I am gonna go with advantage lift ext.
     
  3. Norman Martin

    Norman Martin Well-Known Member

    Now I remember. You have the same garage layout that I drew up for my remodel.
     
    sean Buick 76 likes this.
  4. Norman Martin

    Norman Martin Well-Known Member

    I got the rear end off my wheel cribs and did a little visualization to see how she will fit. It is looking pretty good.

    I took some measurements that I will need in order to make new control arms too.

    Hopefully i can get this thing sorted this weekend. I will have to correct a backed up sewer line that I found just at the right time today. Yuck! So foul. I an glad I went to the basement to look for at tool. Only made about a 4 foot circle of backup. Could have been so much worse.

    20210519_200348.jpg 20210519_200351.jpg 20210519_201246.jpg
     
  5. sean Buick 76

    sean Buick 76 Buick Nut

    That’s going to look awesome!
     
  6. Norman Martin

    Norman Martin Well-Known Member

    Yeah, I gotta get this thing in. I am getting restless about it.

    The poopy problem is fixed now so I can get back to the car. I plan to tack weld a bracket to the frame with a V in it to position the axle in the same fore and aft orientation. Then I will rotate the axle for the correct pinion angle. Then weld the control arm mounts.

    Once the rear is in and working correctly, I will fab the adjustable arms for future ride height adjustments. All this should get me more torque, better handling and the ability to put the power down to the street. Once I get enough traction that dry burn outs become difficult.....I will increase the power, rinse and repeat!
     
    sean Buick 76 likes this.
  7. Norman Martin

    Norman Martin Well-Known Member

    I took a break to convert my harbor freight pressure blast pot to either be a pressure blaster or regular siphon feed blaster. I built a metering valve that can be turned off when using it as a pressure pot.

    Then......

    I built a vac blaster kit for it. If you have ever sand blasted, it is a freaking mess! I want to blast the interior but it would get sand everywhere. Well not any more. I built the vac blaster with about $20 worth of parts. Technically, it was $60 but that is because I bought a $40 Rigid car detailing kit just for the flexible hose. If you already have the hose or the smaller vac hose, it will cost $20 or less.

    So now I can get started blasting the floors in the car in preparation for epoxy primer! I am so happy to get this thing done.

    20210522_131810.jpg 20210522_131818.jpg
     
  8. Max Damage

    Max Damage I'm working on it!

    Cool! I love this idea. Let us know how it works...
     
  9. Norman Martin

    Norman Martin Well-Known Member

    It works very very well! So well that a youtube video is coming very soon. Until then, here is less than 3 min of blasting.

    SmartSelect_20210522-190324_GoPro Quik.jpg

    Screenshot_20210522-183328_GoPro Quik.jpg
     
    Last edited: May 22, 2021
    Max Damage likes this.
  10. sean Buick 76

    sean Buick 76 Buick Nut

    I love it!!!
     
  11. Norman Martin

    Norman Martin Well-Known Member

    Thanks!
     
  12. Norman Martin

    Norman Martin Well-Known Member

    Here you go. Video is up.

     
    Cutlass likes this.
  13. Cutlass

    Cutlass Platinum Level Contributor

    Very impressive, excellent idea and execution! Like it
     
  14. sean Buick 76

    sean Buick 76 Buick Nut

  15. Norman Martin

    Norman Martin Well-Known Member

    Fabbed 4 identical lower control arm brackets.
    I gave it 5 adjustment holes for good measure. Next I gotta figure out the shock mounts.

    20210523_132920.jpg 20210523_133900.jpg
     
  16. Norman Martin

    Norman Martin Well-Known Member

    Made some axle positioning brackets. You put the vehicle in the air with wheels removed and jack stands under the old axle. Bolt, screw or tack weld the bracket vertically on the outside of the frame rail ensuring that it is bottomed out on the top of the axle(I am using self tappers). Once both sides are done, you can remove the old axle. Then you raise the new axle until it bottoms out on the upside down V. If it is bottomed out. Then it is positioned correctly. Be sure that it is centered between the frame rails.

    You then rotate the axle to set the pinion angle. Now tack weld your brackets without messing up the perfect position.

    Once you have all the brackets tacked. Lower the axle. Weld the brackets completely and paint the axle before reinstalling.

    20210523_195347.jpg 20210523_195357.jpg
     
  17. Norman Martin

    Norman Martin Well-Known Member

    Found a sleeve of sorts in my basement that fits the vac tube. I hot glued it into my pvc vac attachment and now I dont need to tape the vac hose anymore
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  18. Norman Martin

    Norman Martin Well-Known Member

    I did alot today to prepare for the new axle install.
    1. Updated the vac blaster to be a pressure pot blaster which makes it twice as fast/efficient at stripping rust or coatings. I did 3 trigger pull tests. 1, 2 and 3 seconds and wow is it fast. 20210529_135008.jpg
    2. Modified my axle brackets because I realized that they are angled at the axle which would not have worked with the tight fitting tolerances. Now I can rotate them up to 15 degrees. 20210529_231428.jpg
    3. Installed my axle positioning brackets which should make installing and positioning the new axle a breeze. 20210529_184701.jpg 20210529_184715.jpg 20210529_184720.jpg
    4. Made a plasma cutter circle jig so I can make the spring platforms. I broke my bit so I had to stop at 13 inch capacity. I have all the holes center punched to 44 inch capacity though. I will drill the rest later as I need them. 20210529_230109.jpg 20210529_230102.jpg 20210529_230052.jpg 20210529_230043.jpg 20210529_230020.jpg
     
  19. Taulbee2277

    Taulbee2277 Silver Level contributor

    Keep it up bud, some great work going on. Your vac-blaster gave me a bit of inspiration, I may have to do the same.
     
  20. Norman Martin

    Norman Martin Well-Known Member

    If you need help, just ask. It works so well that I may just put more space between the tip and the surface. I would hopefully have a spray pattern the size of a quarter. 20210530_005208.jpg 20210530_004943.jpg 20210530_004958.jpg 20210530_005011.jpg
     

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