Awesome. I could have put a tarp over it and it wouldn't leak. There was some jackoff on this website that was a "professional" who was trolling for work who didn't do much better so search my posts and tell me that I just pick on kids who don't know any better. I really didn't give a damn about his car because it is a post car and when I saw the thread he made I bit my tongue. When he started pointing out his work as a way of others to learn what to do, that was enough. The pictures should be erased from this website to be honest. Not to mention the fact that he could have killed himself by welding within 5 feet of the gas tank on an old rusty car. There are WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYY too many hacks in my trade and I am starting to think I know how they started out. If it were up to me, you wouldn't be allowed to be on your own as a bodyman without going to a real school. Learning from a guy with 40 years of experience often passes on 40 years of bad habits. You guys do what you want, but learning the theory behind this stuff has paid off for me, trial and error will only get you so far. Yesterday I made 22 hours after lunch repairing a quarter panel and rear body on a car that the teardown guy said needed replaced. This will be an invisible repair, if you tear the car down you might find some slightly different seam sealer than the factory used, but I can only work with what I have. The car in question will have factory seams, no splices for rust to start, no missing spot welds in the trunk jamb or strange seam sealer. No filler over an 1/8th of an inch thick. Hell, the visible part of the skin might have been primer ready without a skim coat. If you pull the trunk trim back you will see the factory sound deadener inside the skin and not a scratch on the interior finish. I pulled it, and I am the one who knew how to pull it so that it came out the way it should. I went to school for that and I don't feel bad about how fast I did it. 99 percent of the shops in this country would have replaced the quarter and it would have been a shame. But, I guess that is good for me too. Most of the time my boss shows me something that is hit just right that nobody wants to fix and I get the job. Works for me because that is where the money is, it sure as hell isn't changing tires for 3 tenths of an hour. So, after typing this I have changed my mind. THE KID DID GREAT, ALL THOSE INTERESTED IN BODYWORK SHOULD DO JOBS THE SAME WAY. By the way, I went straight from school to working for a real shop. I worked on my own and made 50 hours a week without being a helper. I took a pay cut to work closer to home as a helper for a guy who did all of the big hits in the shop. Trial and error isn't going to help you do that.
Well RACEBUICKS and bodyman, telling you to go F*ck yourself isn't as gratifying over the internet so I won't. I have a car that doesn't leak now, it looks fair, and I can redo it when I do all of the bodywork when I paint the car if I really need to. I also didn't have to go broke fixing it and I learned something. I can't find one negative thing in what I just typed. Just because it's not the way you would've done it doesn't make it wrong. Didn't your mother ever teach you, "if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."? And don't try to tell me your posts were constructive criticism because that would be a flat out lie. All you've done is criticize me and haven't mentioned things I could do to make it better.
unsubscribed now ...........I have better things to do than take **** from a clueless 16 yo kid night all
Hi Turk, Quarter panel replacement may be in order depending on the condition of your existing panels and the other sheet metal tied into them. By "condition" this can mean other corroded spots, dents, previously repaired rust and dents, so forth. As you've probably gathered by now, turning this sort of thing into a do-it-yourself project without the experience can be a bad move. You've also probably realized that the printed words won't do a good enough job of explaining even basic repairs. Detailed text and high quality photography from a book is a step in the right direction, but even with video on top of that none of it cannot compare with being exposed to this sort of thing in person. While shortcuts can provide instant results that may seem to be satisfactory early on, the true durability and quality of a repair depends on so much attention to details and multiple steps, some of which have to be modified to fit a particular repair based on experience. If you want durable, proper repair, seek a shop nearby with a good reputation, one that will let you really look at other work they've done. Ask friends who may be able to recommend a place to go if you've not found one yourself. I got my intro to this part of body & paint by getting an entry level body shop job when I was in high school. Learning to MIG weld beforehand in high school was a step in the right direction. That was over 25 years ago. My last employment at a body shop was in '94 and now I can barely hold my own with the modern techniques. Devon
Thanks, Devon!:TU: Snowman, you did a great job for a beginner. That took alot of initiative and your end result was a success! When you get to be my age, though, you learn not to give advice till your own talent is absolutely perfect.
I too wish I could've done a time machine rewind before Snowman's first post on his work to have given some constructive input before it began. The list of things gone wrong is big. Having worked on my first car, a four door '76 LeMans, I endured the "what were you thinking?" phase thanks to those who knew what they were doing and thus my having to undo bodywork I'd already done (and frankly), felt proud of at the time. The difference was that the guy chastising me also put his arm over my shoulder and told me "let's do it together". His name was Nick Palmeri, a body man from Italy. We all get here in some way or another. Enthusiam and initiative is to be embraced and praised; hard headedness and a less than open mind, especially when it comes to criticism, will only slow one down. Enough for now, I sound like Mr. Miyagi. It's enough that my neighbors gave me that nickname a few years ago, though really I don't mind. Devon
Since I don't trust anyone else to work on my own cars, looks like I'll be taking lessons from a 16 year old kid, to restore the '70 Stage 1, just so I can DRIVE the car, and ENJOY it, and let my kids enjoy it, as soon as I can trust them with it! Snowman, it may not be perfect, but you've earned more respect from me, than what most guys who are just too lazy/unskilled/etc. to pay someone else to do it for them, and then take the credit for "building" a car that they can't even give you correct information about, even though they OWN it!:beer
'Thanking God' that Racebuicks is gone isnt a good thing....I dont think I even need to mention how wonderful an assist he is to our community. I can see in the future you'll be PMing him for input and advice. p.s. When will a BUICK motor go into that Skylark???
Well he may help "the community" but he certainly hasn't helped me in any way besides criticizing me and my work. With his attitude, I'd rather PM a monkey. I don't plan on putting a buick motor in it. It came with a chevy so that's what I'm going to keep in it. My plans are to turbo it. People have turbo'd them moderately to 350-450hp on their bigger cousin, the 292, raced em to over 700hp+. I know of like 2 or 3 separate examples of turbo 292s running 10s or high 9s (in the 1/4). There's a turbo 250 nova on youtube with 390rwhp/410ftlbs. I've already ordered the 4 barrel intake and carb. Next up is probably to weld up a turbo assembly, then HEI, turbo cam and valvetrain, headwork, Then I can crank up the boost with new pistons and rods. EDIT: P.S. - It's a special deluxe not a skylark
WHY? Now that's an uphill battle.... Put a 455 in there for WAY less and more power. You're gonna be losing so much money just to still go slow. What you listed could be done to a 455 AND you can still run the car at BUICK events in actual classes!
I used to have a 72 Nova, 250 I-6 that I took the time to put a 3:70 rear end, a kitted TH350 and a Vega torque into. It was a solid beater, but I've always had the speed bug. It had Clifford Performance headers and intake, and a small 4bbl carb and dual exhaust. An army buddy of mine at the time had a LeMans Sport with a Pontiac 400 and he used to laugh because he said the Nova sounded like an airplane. The car ran really well. As for putting in a 455, there's considerations to be had that everyone seems to dismiss when you're swapping a Chevy motor for a Buick. It's straightforward enough a swap, but there's inherent costs that over all may exceed buying an intake, carb, headers, exhaust, torque converter and shift kit to get really good power from the stock engine. Besides, it'd be pretty rad, IMO.
Well first, it's not original and I'd be taking the most unique part out of my car. Second, anyone can put a big engine in their car. Third, I don't feel like spinning bearings. Fourth, I don't have the money to buy, machine, and/or rebuild a 455. Fifth, how is 400hp slow? Sixth, I can run it at my local strip for fun. I don't intend on making this a drag car. And why couldn't I run it at buick events with a buick car and it's original motor? Lastly, I like getting 10mpg to be a choice. Remember, this is my daily driver.
But you have money for everything else (plus some more) that you'll need to get your dream to be turbo 250 to run good?? (and i dont mean high 13's...if that) Also the novas weigh a lot less then your car. I'll tell you now, you're taking two steps backwards to make a little step forward with your engine desire. You'll find out very soon that it's a waste of time and money....But it's your car. Do what you want with it, even if it's a mistake. You could run it at the events, my mistake. I forgot they made a buick with a 250.
Give the KID a break, T-Type! If you are so knowledgeable, why don't you replace your V6 with a 455? Your car isn't worth anymore, but it'll be faster, though! You're telling Snowman to make his car unoriginal, why don't you take your own advice, and leave the kid alone?!:af:
Well my car is about 3440lbs with me in it, not 3770lbs (weight with driver) of a big block car with an auto.. So with a 455 will add like 100-200lbs on top of 3440. How can you say I'm taking 2 steps backward? This engine is popular in brazil and they've turbo'd them to well over 1000hp+. You cannot call it a mistake if you've never seen one. If I had a 455, the money I would save building the engine would soon burn out the tailpipe with the awful gas mileage I'd be getting. EDIT: and thank you GSX4me
Yeah, right?!:beers2: It's a good thing that some people are Professionals, so they can afford to pay other Professionals to fix the things they can't fix, themselves!:error: Those aren't the people you take advice from, and walk away feeling confident from listening to them.
BWAHAHAHA!!!! I did the same peanut butter thing in 4th grade!!! Awesome. Anyway, thanks for all the reply's. I just need to get in there and see what the deal is.
