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1958 Limited Four Door Riviera


Smartin

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Good question. I need somewhere to put the fenders while I work on the good and trunk lid. I figured I would hang them on the car. I'm not installing all of the fasteners until everything is on...including the hood. Then I will make the adjustments accordingly. Ass backwards it seems, but there is no instruction book with this car.

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Pay attention, lads. What SMARTIN is telling us is that, to eventually remove or service that heater hose or fuel line, one must remove the freakin' fender. Buick didn't invent hard-to-fix but they sure advanced the practice.

I replaced the ones on my '58 with the fender on. I learned that you need that double jointed wrist Smartin is always talking about.

I was lucky that the hose clamp on mine was mounted the direction it was or I would have never got them changed.

I guess they didn't worry about a once every 50 year job...

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Lots of progress today...

Heater hoses installed

Fuel line run to the tank

Passenger side fender hung in place

Splash pan installed

Other misc front end sheet metal tacked on

AC condenser installed & lines connected

I almost forgot about the engine wire harness. I'm hoping I can make the old one look good...because I really don't feel like paying thousands of $$ for a new complete harness for this car. I think the engine harness is in decent shape, but the dash harness is another story.

I am ready to start stripping the trunk lid. I don't particularly enjoy this part of the game. Once I can get the hood and trunk primed, I can paint the jambs and install them....then it's time for more blocking!!! Then paint :)

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Hey Adam;

I ran across this ad for pieces of a 58 Grille and thought of this thread right away:

1958 BUICK grille pcs 4 RAT ROD CAR ART

From the pics, they don't look too bad. If you think they would defray some of the chroming costs, let me know and I can help out as they aren't too far from me.

Edited by dmfconsult (see edit history)
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Thanks Doug, but aside from some artsy project, that grille is wasted. They come in two pieces, and are made of pot metal. They break pretty easily. Mine is broken, but I have the piece...so I think I am going to try to "glue" it back on. I think the chrome is presentable, so I'll let it go for now...until I can afford to chrome more pieces. I think at this point, I am only going to chrome the really bad stuff like bumpers, hood bar and front fender extensions...maybe a few other bits that need attention.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest Kejsaren

hey Adam sorry if I rape your thread a little .

I live in Sweden and I have a -58 Limited and my six-way-seat was totaly stuck so I started to restore the seat chassie last week.

Now I wonder if you or somebody else knows if I can get hold of the small sliding bushings that sits on the brackets that are bolted to the floor and the front seat going back and forth on.

they are white and about 2inch long and have a u-form 12 pieces are needed for the car.

please let me know if you know something about it, maybe it´s the same on other models too

BTW: good luck with your car, it´s gonna be just great

Thanks

Janne

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Guest Rob McDonald

JANNE, I hope to be removing the 6-way seat from my '57 Roadmaster this weekend. It's probably mounted the same as in your '58. I'll look out for these bushings or shims and post photos if I can. It might help you find what you're looking for.

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Adam,

I have a pet pieve about guys skimping on wiring when doing nut bolt restorations like yours)or any restoration!). The wiring in that car is FIFTY FIVE years old. JUNK! Major fire hazard, not to mention what may or may not work!!! Why go through all of that work all these years, ans Skimp on wiring!! Spend the extra cash and buy NEW harness's for the entire car. You will be SO glad you did when you are done.

I used Y N Z's in Calif. Quality product, and fantastic tech support from Gene and Brian.

Great restoration. I have been following since the very beginning!!!

Kind regards

steve apter

54 Skylark

Body no. 793

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Hi Steve,

I pulled out the harness this morning, and am untangling the engine harness as I type this. This part of the harness might be too far gone for me to make it work. I harvested the dash harness from the Super parts car I bought 2 years ago, and it is in really nice shape. YnZ's wants $1300 for a main harness:p

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Adam,

The wires are still 50 years old. $1300.00 is cheap compared to a fire that burns you car to the ground. BEST money I spent! Why skimp now, after all of this time and work?? Why take the risk???? Done preachin' Ask the others!!!

kind regards

steve apter

FYI...I know NOTHING about electrics. I used YnZ's harness's in my car and amazingly so everything actually works, right down to glove box and trunk lights. They made it easy, and saved me a whole lot of time, not to mention how nice they look!

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The engine harness is really rough...looking at it now. Now I know why I called YnZ's after I took it apart 4 years ago.

The car is insured, though :) Yeah yeah yeah, that's no reason to take a chance. Sometimes us guys who are trying to pinch a penny take risks like that, though.

I'm going to see if I can find a good used one first.

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I TOTALLY understand. That's why it took me 16 years to do my Skylark. Whenever I got bored, frustrated, lost interest, busy, or BROKE, I just walked away. The end result was WELL worth all of the pain though. My car is just Gorgeous, wins wherever it goes, and most of all, I know that I did the absolute best that I could. Your car, your decision. Keep us posted.

steve

Oh, a used harness is STILL 50 years old!

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Steve has a good point, but after 1954 all of the wires used plastic insulation (vs crumbly cloth type) and if sheltered from the sun and weather most is still serviceable. I have original wiring in all of my '55s (not say it is the best choice, just that I am cheap...)

Willie

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Guest John Chapman

Smartin, I've not chimed in from San Diego for a while, although I do keep tabs on your magnificent project from time to time.

For what it's worth... free advice... If you have the opportunity to replace the wiring with new, I'd strongly encourage you to consider that option.

Here's why: Plastic wiring is water proof... but it is porous and over the decades, becomes hard and brittle, and more porous. Herein lies the problem, because moisture does get to the copper conductor and it corrodes it over time. Ever notice that really old wire is tarnished when you do strip it? Braided or twisted wire is ever worse. So what? Well, the physics of electricity is that the current flows on the outside of the metal conductor and the corrosion raises the resistance in path of the electricity. That's one reason old cars have dim lights in spite of solid clean connections at the terminals. It's also a prime reason that high amperage leads like battery cables and starter cables are frequent problems. Resistance cuts current flow and raises temperature, degrading the insulation, allowing more corrosion... repeat cycle to failure.

I know personally the best $165 spent on my old Skylark was the new rear body harness. I've also spent a lot of time in really old Navy airplanes with really old wiring (sniff... sniff... "Hey, you smell something burning?"). With a Buick, you could hitch home, but it'd be a sad day.

Best regards,

John Chapman

San Diego

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Adam, I bought my engine harness from Rhode Island Wiring - whole harness from the firewall connector to the engine and all parts. Also bought a starter harness was well. The whole system set me back around $350, but man, it is worth it to have new wires. They were extremely helpful and the instructions were superb as to what connectors you have to use from your old harness (just the plastic protectors - no wires). www.riwire.com. Family run business, and they will build you a harness, if you send the the old one as well. Don't know the costs on that, but if your 58 Limited has a peculiar harness, they will build it, with the right gage and factory color wiring. Just sayin.....

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  • 1 month later...
  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 months later...

I thought I would be really upset about doing this, but the decision was glaringly obvious to me once I laid out all of the options.

Since buying the 58 Roadmaster, the thought of selling the Limited had been running through my head. At first, I was going to turn around a make a quick buck on the Roadie, but some issues with it started coming up and snowballed a bit...so I bailed on the sale for the time being. I knew that keeping both cars was not an option, so I thought about the prospect of selling the Limited. The cost of finishing the Limited far outweighed the cost of repairing the issues on the Roamaster. PLUS, I have an instant car to drive again. Decision made.

How the heck would I ever sell the car in the state that it's in? Well, I wouldn't. The car would have to be reasonably completely assembled, and I would then list it on ebay. So, assembly began.

All of the trim was installed. Hood, trunk lid were installed. Bumpers, taillights, headlights, grille, windshield (front and back) were laid in and secured. Seats, dashboard, etc.... Holy crap, it looks like a car again!

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I found a few parts that I no longer needed or had duplicates of, so I listed them on ebay. Two of the Limited-specific parts were sold to someone in Sweden. After the auction was over, he asked me if I had any other Limited parts. I said, "Yes, I have a whole car!" I told him what I needed to get out of it, and a deal was made. Two weeks later, the transport company was sitting in front of my house. I was sure to shoot several videos of the car just before it was loaded, in case it was damaged in transport.

Off he goes!

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Before you all ask, this has nothing to do with my recent engagement. In fact, she insisted that I keep the Limited. She does love the Roadmaster, though. It made too much sense NOT to sell the Limited. So, I'm sorry to say, this project has come to an end. Maybe someday when I have a bigger garage and a bigger money tree, I can have a Limited. For now, the Roadmaster will do a great job of filling my need :)

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hi adam, i would bet the guy who bought your limited project is a guy named tron, i've seen more of his 58 buick limited, and 53 buick roadmaster collection in storage out in fresno, ca. charles coker, 1953 pontiac tech advisor.

Wasn't him. His name is Morgan. Younger guy, looks like he has at least one other Limited coupe.

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Sorry you sold the Limited Adam. I remember when you got it you said you could cross off an item on your bucket list. Looks like you'll need an eraser for that scratch mark. But your decision is understandable. After all, how many can you drive at once anyway.

I thank you for the countless hours of toil and documentation that have provided many more countless hours of reading and inspiration. Between you and Bob Beck we have all seen the impossible come to life right on this PC screen. My hat is off to you and him and hopefully we can thank you in person at Southbend this summer!

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Adam, thanks for your enjoyable thread on the restoration process. I have learned a great deal, especially in the detail where the devil lives, following your posts on this thread. I understand completely your decision on this. It is not an easy one, but one that made the most sense, especially with the Roadie, and the life changes that are going to follow soon. Better to have one to enjoy that is running and needs a little here and there, than one that will chew up all of your time and $$$. You have chosen wisely!!

Looking forward to posts on your Roadmaster thread, with more pictures of course. Will you be in South Bend with it this summer? Would like to meet you!

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