1937 Buick Model 48: RESTORATION HAS BEGUN! (Photo)

[dibarlaw]

Gary:

 Just to let you know we have made nearly 900 miles on our trip to the Buick nationals with the BD-1 Marvel Carb and Delco Choke set up.

 

Other than a bout of vapor lock coming over the central PA mountains on last Monday all is running fine.  I have averaged around 15 mpg..

Best Regards:

Larry

[LAS VEGAS DAVE]

NICE GOING, CAR LOOKS GREAT.

 

[Gary W]

Wednesday July 19, 2017: Woodgrain and the rest of the Chrome is finished!

 

Hello out there!

It's been over a week since I've posted, but I assure you the work continues, maybe not at such a frenzied pace (this summer heat slows me down!), but still plodding along!  

 

John and I are finishing up painting the heater, emergency brake handle and steering column.  The painter is still moving on the body (he had a couple other jobs squeezed into his schedule, so work on the Buick has stalled until the shop clears out).  I'm still doing other things like cleaning and painting fasteners, and today I'd like to mark (label) the original headliner bows so I can clean them up and re-install them into the new headliner in the same position they came from.

 

Yesterday FedEx dropped off four huge boxes with the rest of my chrome order from Paul's Chrome Plating and all my woodgrained parts came in.  They were all done by Mr. Bob Kennedy in Whittier California.  Beautiful craftsmanship, excellent finish and he got the grain so realistic you really cannot tell it's not wood!  I'm so very impressed with his work and he is truly a gentlemen.

 

Some photos:

 

The final coat of the brown paint on the column and the heater assembly.

 

I am going to detail the process later on, but it's coming along nicely.

 

This is the result after the first coat.  I actually baked the parts in the oven, then we sprayed the second coat.

 

Here's a close up of the dash, defroster, garnish molding... just before disassembly and removal from the car.

 

The parts were pretty worn.  All these were sent first to the blaster to get all the paint off, then shipped to Mr. Bob Kennedy in Whittier California to be wood grained.  I shipped everything in two bicycle boxes.  I sent him a color sample that I was looking for and he really nailed it.  I'm so happy with his work.  

Check it out!

 

 

 

I chose a mahogany wood grain, but I wanted it more in the deep brown, not the red that can become dominant in mahogany.

 

It's hard to photograph as the flash reflects but the grain is really, really realistic.

 

Here you see those defroster parts, ashtrays, window separators....  (and the chromed hubcap above!)

 

 

Here's the chrome parts getting ready to ship out to Paul's.  I've covered the parts as they are coming in previously, but the hubcaps came out great!

 

Here's the hubcap.  All the dings and dents are gone, the finish is superb!

 

The front grilles, the hood vents and those "special" inserts all done.  At this point, all the chrome is ready for re-installation!!

 

 

 

Here's the delivery from yesterday!  All Good!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited July 20, 2017 by Gary W (see edit history)

[rlcokc]

Curious what Paul's charged for the hubcaps. I recently sent mine for the 1936 Special to Canada and as I recall Paul's quote was $275-300 per hubcap. Is that the range the charged you? They look great and of interest to me is how you intend to paint the indent "buick"  on the cap. Given that any thought? Glad to see your most recent post as I was going thru withdrawl--I find this most interesting and many parallels with my 36. 

Rod 

[GARY F]

All great looking parts. Beautiful work. I see you made good use of your kitchen also. You cant wait to put them on and I cant wait to see it done.

[Paul White]

Hi Gary, like Rod Cook, I too started to suffer from withdrawals over the last week. Arriving at work each morning, turn on the computer with my first task to check for your next post only to find there were NO POSTS from you!!! Good to see you have returned and with some fabulous images. Mr Kennedy's work is amazing...could you email me is contact details please, I think the glove box and instrument panel surround in my '36 could benefit from his masterful attention. Good to see you back Gary, Cheers Paul  

Edited July 22, 2017 by Paul White (see edit history)

[Gary W]

Saturday July 22, 2017:  Update progress on the body work:

 

I stopped by the painter's shop this morning to check on the body progress.  There is another car in the shop that is taking Bob's time right now, but here is the progress as of today:

 

 

In the last episode, our patch panel was just getting spot welded in to position.

 

The weld was carried across the entire seam of the patch panel.

 

Fiberglass body filler mixed and applied to a couple of areas.  Namely under the door sill where there were a bunch of small pin holes and to the seam of the patch panel.

 

The fiber glass is stringy when applied.  I don't know the cure time until you can sand it.

 

Days later, Bob is sanding the fiberglass smooth under the door sill.

 

Glass applied to the seam as well, and smoothed out.

 

Next comes the body filler triumvirate.  The small tube in front is some sort of hardener/catalyst/accelerator....  

 

Pumping the metal glaze into the Evercoat base.

 

Then adding a drop of the accelerator.  Literally... a drop!  Being it was over 96 degrees today, this stuff set fast!

 

Begin mixing, being careful not to incorporate too much air.

 

 

 

Begin application

 

Continuing down the door sill

 

The application process is complete, and this stuff is already curing!

 

Being it was cured and hard enough to sand in about 10 minutes, Bob sanded off the high spots, then progressively sanded it down to a 320.

 

The door sill looks very nice at this point and...

 

.....is very, very smooth to the touch!

 

Demonstrating the straightness of the blend.

 

Then on to sand the inner wheel wells in preparation for the yellow self-etching prime coat.  He hopes to have the whole car in yellow Monday, then two coats of build-up grey primer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting photos: 

 

While making the repair on the other car that was in the shop this week, Bob had a little build-up prime left in the gun, so he shot a couple of areas of the body.

Here you see the primer on the firewall, and when I came in the shop, he wanted to show me what the build-up primer can do.

This area looked really nice to me.  I was happy to see the metal so smooth.  But then Bob showed me something I thought was really cool:

 

He sanded the area with a 320, lightly going over the primed area.  It revealed that there are actually slight undulations to the paint that are not detectable to the eye!

 

Here you can see what the build-up primer does!  By filling in all the low spots, your final product comes out so much better.  

It now gets a second coat of the build-up primer applied, then a final sanding before color.

(I thought that was pretty neat)

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now a question:  Can someone tell me what these "bump-outs" are for that are pressed into the body?

 Bob and I thought they were to make room for the window drain, but the drain runs much more forward.

 

Driver's side.  Just ahead of the rear seat.

 

Passenger's side.  (You can see the inside of the patch panel in this photograph)

 

Have a great day!

Gary

 

Edited July 22, 2017 by Gary W (see edit history)

[Gary W]

Sunday July 23, 2017:  Radio Grille:

 

Small stuff but very cool seeing the first parts going back onto the newly wood grained dash panel.

 

 

Here's the "screen" that fits behind the chrome speaker grille.  It was so crudded up and rusty.  

Actually, if you scroll back up to my previous post on Wednesday July 19 when the wood grained parts arrived, there is a "before" close-up shot of the dash as it was removed from the car.  

You can see the rust and the junk on this screen right through the grille.  My car did not have a radio, but I am installing one.

I am also missing four of those grille retaining clips.

 

First a soaking in thinner, and a scrubbing with a stiff wire brush, both sides in every direction to loosen and remove all that rust.

 

Here you can see the thinner turning a rusty brown. I let it soak a few more hours, and gave it another scrub, then an acetone bath/scrub to remove any residual oils.....

 

I used this paint.  I didn't want to see a high gloss back there and this stuff has a beautiful "semi-flat" finish.  

(You can see how brown the thinner got after it soaked!)

 

I set up a first-class fancy spray booth, and gave it a few light coats from both sides and from all directions to try not to miss an angle.

 If you look close, the metal retaining clips are hanging there also, but the car only had two.  I need four more of them.

 

After a couple hours, here is the result.

 

Back together again and....

 

Taking its original place as the centerpiece of the dashboard!

 

I just had to get that together to start getting an idea of how she's going to look!

 I'm planning on doing as much dash "pre-assemblies" as I can without hindering the installation.  It's so much easier to install on the kitchen table!

 

 

 

[Spinneyhill]

I think those little "bump-outs " are for strength. They make it harder to bend the panel out- or inwards along that bottom fold. They may also be a construction aid, to provide a little lateral stiffness before the firewall is attached.

[Gary W]

I was thinking maybe in the Fisher Body assembly plant that a jig fit into that recess to align the panels prior to welding?  So I'm kinda on the same page as you, but I figured I should pose the question here... someone will know!  

Thanks!

[Terry Wiegand]

Gary, when I first looked at the photos with the 'bump-outs' noted, my first thought was maybe this was clearance for the bolts that mount the body to the frame.  I'm purely guessing here because your car is 15 years newer than our newest 'old' Buick.  And you have very little, if any, wood in this body like ours has.  I sure do like the chrome work you had done.

 

Terry Wiegand

South Hutchinson, Kansas

[Spinneyhill]

On 7/24/2017 at 8:34 AM, Gary W said:

I was thinking maybe in the Fisher Body assembly plant that a jig fit into that recess to align the panels prior to welding? 

 

That might be it. If there is a fitting bend in the panel under and behind, it could be a simple alignment method for assembly. Line up the kinks, clamp, weld. Done!

[avgwarhawk]

Happened upon this thread.  Great info on restoring parts and materials used.   Following to the finish!    

[FLYER15015]

Gary,

Re your radio screen, those flat little retainers are called "Tinnerman Nuts" and they come in the threaded and push on versions.

A dime a dozen at any decent hardware store.

 

Mike in Colorado

[FLYER15015]

Gary,

New question.

On your radio grille there are 2 vertical bars in the center that divide the grille into 3 segments.

These 2 bars consist of 3 raised ribs, which means there are 2 grooves between them.

Are the grooves supposed to be painted black ?  ala windshield wiper towers.

Would it look neat / correct if they were painted gloss black ?

Just a thought.

 

Mike in Colorado

Chief picker of nit.

Edited July 26, 2017 by FLYER15015 (see edit history)

[Gary W]

I don't know the answer to that BUT ..... if someone out there knows the correct finish, I can easily make that correction.  

Thanks Mike!  I honestly didn't give it a thought only because the grille came out "clean"....  i.e:  No remnants of any paint in the grooves  (like the other parts did).

 

Keep "nit picking"!  I love the details!   It's what makes the final product authentic.

 

Have a great day!

Gary

[Gary W]

July 26, 2017:  Update on the Body / Paint:

 

A quick visit to the shop this morning to check on the progress.  The outside shell is now in self-etching "yellow" primer.  The entire inside and underside will also be primed with this, but only after all the surfaces are sanded.  

The passenger's door sill area is all patched and primed, so that finishes the major bodywork.

 

 

The repair patch panel is complete, sanded smooth and ready for primer.

 

Here is a view of the underside.  All those little pinholes under the door sill are fiberglassed in.  The area where the fender bolts up is repaired. Everything is sanded.

 

Now I have a very nice foundation for the new paint.  I love how nice that bare metal looks when it's sanded out!  

 

After Bob is finished mixing the brew, he stirs and stirs and stirs until all the particulates are in solution.  Once satisfied, fill the gun through this filter.

 

Steady as she goes!  Applying the self-etching primer to all the exposed areas.

 

Finishing up in the front section.

 

So here's the passenger door sill now.  Looking very nice!

 

And the right quarter panel with one coat of the primer applied.

[avgwarhawk]

The key to an fantastic finish is all in the prep work!!!   

[kgreen]

What!!  I'm at the end of the post?  Just did a front to back read and wasn't ready for it to end.  Great work Gary.

[JayG]

Your bodyman really should be wearing a respirator.

[Gary W]

Thursday July 27, 2017:  My First Attempt at making the small knobs in the car.

 

I tried to make a couple small parts today.  All my knobs, ashtray pulls, window crank knobs..  are discolored.

I am looking into the SEM products to paint these parts an ivory color, but I figured let me give this a try first:

 

The part I am attempting to make is the small ashtray door buttons for the back seat ashtrays.

 

*** (I did not have my Nikon, so please forgive  the photo quality.  These are from my cell phone) ***

 

 

Here's what I used:

 The stick from a wooden "Q-Tip" cut into smaller pieces to act as sprue / vent.

Some pink wax to attach the sprue to the two raised "alignment bumps" under the ashtray pull knob.

The purple material is a polyether hydrophillic medium-bodied impression material, set in a small plastic box to create the mold.

So, the first step is to inject the impression material into the grooves and details of the part, then submerge it into the small plastic box filled with impression material.

 

 

After 4 minutes the mold is set.  I removed it from the plastic tray

 

A sharp disposable scalpel makes the cut easily.

 

Spread the mold along the scalpel line and the original part pops out nice and clean. (Sorry for the poor photo quality!)

 

 

 

In this view you can actually see the screw threads hanging inside the mold.

 

 

Here's another view of the inside of the mold when you stretch the mold open along the scalpel cut.  Also note the raised "rib" details.

 

 

Here you see me beginning to inject the acrylic.  This is a methacrylate plastic that is injected through a mixing tip that mixes the base and catalyst. 

I injected it all around the screw threads while the mold is open.

 

 

 

Finish filling the mold, being careful to get the acrylic into all the details.

 

 

 

Squeeze the mold back together while the material is still pliable, being sure to line up your scalpel cut.

 

 

 

Push it back into the plastic tray, until it's fully seated and the pressure from the four walls will drive out the excess acrylic through the sprue holes.

Here you can see the detent I made in the original impression so I was sure it went back into the same spot.

 

Top view pushing the mold back into the plastic box.  This will ensure accuracy as the walls cannot distort and the scalpel cut will line up perfectly.

Make sure you seat it fully to the bottom of the plastic box.  (or whatever container you use)

 

 

After 5 minutes, remove the purple impression from the tray, pull it apart along the scalpel line and pop out the newly-minted ash tray knob.

 

In this view you can make out the threads that are now cast into the bottom of the new knob.

 

Test fit the screw into the bottom.  It didn't even need an adjustment, the screw fit right in.

 

So here is the finished product.  I know there are a couple of blemishes, but not so bad for my first attempt!

 

Here's the look back on the ash receiver.

 

I'm happy with the results.  

 

The business end!  The new part fits right into position and the screw secures it into position.  

 

 

I don't know if this plastic will hold up for the long haul.  

If anyone knows where I can find an injectable, UV stable, urethane based resin, that is already colored that beautiful Buick Ivory color...... (That's a tall order!)

 

After the parts cure completely, I'll buff them and install these on the ash tray covers.  I'll save my originals in case these dry out and crack in a month!  

Who knows how long they'll last but I thought I'd share what I did today.

 

I wil be making another set tomorrow using a slightly deeper shade.  Almost imperceptible to the eye, but I think it'll look nice.  If it works, I'd like to attempt the window crank handle knobs.

 

Have a great night out there!

Gary

Edited July 28, 2017 by Gary W
Swapped out some photos for hi-res photos (see edit history)

[kgreen]

Is the product that you are using called Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA)?  You have me curious about this process now.

[Luv2Wrench]

I somehow missed this thread, thanks for posting a link in the Restoration forum.  Absolutely amazing.  Just incredible work.  Thank you so much for sharing!!

 

[GARY F]

They look great to me.

[DonMicheletti]

Fantastic job. If you keep the car inside most of the time, the knobs will probably only last forever.

[Gary W]

July 28,2017:  Attempt to cast window crank knob and escutcheon:

 

I followed the same idea as above and attempted some larger parts.  I tried to make the window riser knobs and the escutcheons:  I need six knobs and eight escutcheons for the car.  So, for these trials, I used an old acrylic that I don't need anymore.  So the color is a little to the "brown" not the "ivory", but I did this just to see if I could make these parts.  If I actually end up making new plastic parts for the car, I'll go slower and make sure I mold everything carefully and capture every detail.

 

Escutcheons:

 

Using one of those salad dressing clear plastic things as a form, I poured some impression material in the well.  Then, using the syringe, I covered the smooth areas to be sure no air was trapped.

 

Seating the escutcheon into the soft impression material.  Here you can see the purple material that was injected over the smooth outside.

 

Seat the escutcheon into the impression and allow 5 minutes to set.

 

Remove the original escutcheon from the impression, leaving a cavity for the acrylic to be injected into.

 

 

 

Window handle knobs:

 

 

First, I applied a very thin coat of vaseline to the inside of the knob and the inside of the two blue square parts that will form the mold.

 

Both mold halves now filled.

A Dunkin' Donuts large straw fits the opening in the knob perfectly.  I used it as a handle so I can inject the material into the grooves of the knob.

 

Injecting the impression material into the grooves in the knob.

 

Sink the knob into one half of the mold.

 

Now inject the material into the opening.  Start way down low and slowly fill your way up to eliminate air bubbles.

 

Press the mold halves together until fully seated.

 

Release both halves so you have a purple "cube" with the original inside.

 

A horizontal cut with a scalpel will expose the top of the original part.  I used a hemostat to wiggle it free from the mold.  Fill the mold with acrylic, seat the two halves fully.

 

After 5 minutes , the new parts can be popped out of the molds.  I need to clean up the flash, but I'm feeling like I can do this.

 

Have a great night!

Gary

 

 

[smithbrother]

I noticed Evercoat 100416 fine filler being used, isn't that a product that protective clothing/gloves and quality respirator is to be worn when using such?

 

Maybe pictures were NOT taken when used, just wondering how bad this product is to a persons health if protection isn't used?

 

I'm not picking on anyone, just wondering.

 

Dale in Indy

 

 

[pont35cpe]

Gary, I just gotta say everything looks great..  I like the painted recesses in the wiper towers, and maybe you just haven`t done it yet, but how about the recessed vertical grooves of the speaker grille? Would make the little ribs stand-out..  Tom

[GARY F]

Great job. I dont need the details but that stuff you use to make those parts , can a person buy that over the counter somewhere?

[Pomeroy41144]

Great job. 

 

I have had good results casting parts using RTV (room temp vulcanizing) for the  molds back in the 90s.

 

That purple stuff looks like it is a little more versatile. 

 

Really great work on this project. 

[Gary W]

Wednesday August 2, 2017:  Radio Days

 

.....Benny Goodman never sounded so good!

 

A while back, Neil Morse was discussing "Bill the Radio Guy".  I looked him up, and decided to send my radio out to Washington to have it restored.  It was a very good decision!  Tonight I got the radio back together and gave it a test run.  My car did not have a radio originally.  I got the car with a "blanking plate" over the holes where the radio mounts.  I did find a radio, but it was inoperable.  Bill did the conversion, and now I simply "bluetooth" the unit to my iPhone playlist and bingo......Music!  Really nice work and a super nice gentleman.  Check it out:

 

 

So here is the unit delivered.  I sent it out like this so I could have the face re-chromed and I wanted to protect the glass so I kept it safe at home.

 

I refer back to my notes.  I wrote these on February 15 when I dismantled the front to send the face plate out to be re-chromed.  I called the thin spacers "vellum".  I don't know the technical name.

 

So I first laid everything out according to my diagram.  Then, the glass had to be cleaned.

 

So, being VERY careful, I gently cleaned off 80 years of fingerprints, grime and adhesive.  I was so, so careful not to ruin the lettering.  (There were a few little "chips" in the paint, but it's still presentable.)

 

Again, following my notes, I placed the glass plate in the chrome face first.  Next I dropped in those thin "vellum" pieces.  

They go in a certain way so the tabs on the next plate line up with grooves in the vellum.

 

Next, I placed self-adhesive felt in the corners after trimming them a little so you can't see them when installed.  These apparently stop the glass from vibrating.

I used 3/8"  Self-Adhesive Medium Duty Felt pads from Home Depot.

 

Install the back plate, and insert the two chrome face mounting screws to complete the installation.

I slid the knobs on so I could test the functioning.

 

Close-up shot of the finished radio face.  As you can see, some of the lettering is a little beat up, but you really can't see it as good as the camera picks it up here.

 

 

So....The big test!  I hooked it up to a spare battery.....

 

 

 

****    CLICK ON THE BLUE LINK TO SEE A SHORT 20 SEC. VIDEO CLIP ------------->                  IMG_2016.TRIM.MOV             <------------------    ****

 

 

Benny Goodman never sounded so good!

 

Have a great night!

Gary

 

 

 

Thanks to "Bill the Radio Guy"  1.360.427.0513

 

 

[neil morse]

Wow -- I'm glad to hear that you had such a good experience with Bill!  Benny Goodman is sounding great in my '41, too.

[Gary W]

Tuesday August 8, 2017:  Hubcaps

 

Today's post is a quickie but I wanted to show you all how nice the hubcaps came out.  In previous posts, I showed the caps as they arrived from the chrome shop and they did a great job.  Next came the painting of the "BUICK" logo.  First, I asked Bob if he had any small detail brushes, because I was going to simply paint it like I did the door handles.....  

He immediately came up with a better idea:

 

A friend of his has a machine that actually photographs the "BUICK"  (or whatever you're doing), and sends that information along to a laser cutter that cuts out the self-adhesive inserts that perfectly fit the recess.  You can get the laser cuts in any color, I chose a semi-flat black. 

 

 

 

Here is the finished product.  Being the computer cut the inserts, there is no areas where it is "short" or "overlapped"  A perfect fit.

 

Close-up detail.

 

And now the wheels finally look finished! 

 

 

I'm just doing small stuff, getting things ready for the body shell to come out of paint.  Once the body comes back from paint,  It'll open up about a month of work.

Just have to be patient......

 

Have a great day out there!

 

Gary
 

 

 

[dibarlaw]

Yes Gary the wheels now look semi finished. What about the striping? Or are you saving it until you change your mind and paint the car Hampton Gray? I don't give up easily....

Larry

     HAMPTON GRAY......  HAMPTON GRAY........ HAMPTON GRAY.....

[avgwarhawk]

Definitely need the stripes on the wheels! 

[kgreen]

Two stripes?  Might need a lesson in stripe history.  The 40 and 41 had three stripes.

[Buicknutty]

 Those hubcaps really look great!

Keith

[MCHinson]

12 hours ago, kgreen said:

Two stripes?  Might need a lesson in stripe history.  The 40 and 41 had three stripes.

 

So did 1937. The three stripes are not the same width either. Attached is an old Torque Tube article that explains the spacing and size of the original stripes.

1937 Buick - Wheel Strip colors (Question).PDF

[kgreen]

7 hours ago, MCHinson said:

 

So did 1937. The three stripes are not the same width either. Attached is an old Torque Tube article that explains the spacing and size of the original stripes.

1937 Buick - Wheel Strip colors (Question).PDF

Great sketch, thanks for providing the article.  I did notice that Hugh Patterson noted that the dimensions were not accurate for the 15-inch wheels.  I have a 1937 15-inch wheel with original stripes that I can measure for more information.

 

I've been thinking of how to repaint the stripes and wonder if some sort of jig could be set up at the front wheel to align a small artists brush for proper placement of the stripe.  Then with the wheel elevated, place an electric motor with a small sheave against the tire for rotation to provide a consistent radius to the paint brush.

[1937-44]

 Actually it is my belief there are some 1937 Buicks that came with only two stripes.

 

Carl