Roger Zimmermann

Just buff the body and it's ready to show! There is still air in the tires...

Finally, I decided for an easy part, the doors. Easy? Not so! I expected to do the outer skin in one piece but the peak at the top is the difficulty. To have it at the right place is difficult; the one I did was not where I expected...Furthermore, my line was not straight like the original door. Therefore, I cut the door at the peak and planned to silver solder the remaining. As the soldering can hardly be done without some trick, I soldered first a channel under the skin on which the missing piece could be soldered, without deformation if possible. Because of the channel, I cannot check or correct the shape of the door's skin on the wood buck. To overcome the problem, I did a negative mold with polyester and fiberglass. As it's thick enough, I can also make some correction to the skin while it's placed on the polyester mold. The picture is showing the first door's skin and the polyester mold.

Why temporary? Because, as you can see, most internal structure is done. This structure has positive effect on the strength of the roof and it's the foundation for the upper trim. However, to attach them to the roof I should first do them, which is way too early. The side moldings are attached from the side rail but the front and rear window moldings are attached by screws through the structure. When I'm so far, I will add what is needed to attach them. The long legs at the rear will be soldered to the rear wheelhouses. They will be trimmed as needed. I will now do either doors or rear quarters. The later parts would make more sense than the doors because I could at least attach them to the floor. But the doors are easier do do...

The last few days I trimmed the apertures for side windows, windshield and back window. I then discovered that my wood buck was not square! It was not a lot, but enough to see that the windshield aperture was not correct. And, of course, the rear window was also affected...I removed a little bit of wood on one side (RH in front, LH at the back) to correct the issue. The roof may be a tad too short after the correction (probably 1 mm - 0.04"), but can be compensated by the rain gutter at the front. I soldered the gutter to the roof; normally it represents a "U" but the distance is so tight (0.5 mm), it could create problems when finishing the roof. Anyway, the chrome molding will be correctly shaped and will not snap on the roof like the real ones are attached. I'm now preparing the inner structure.

No, you are not seeing double! There are effectively two roofs on the picture. Doing another body just for fun? No! 3 days ago, I soft soldered both halves from the indeed second roof. Took a very thin strip of brass (0.1mm) which was probably an error; maybe a thicker material would have caused less trouble. Before soldering, the roof was almost perfect. After soldering, I had all kind of deformations...Not very important, but enough to be a concern. Then I discovered that my soldering may not be perfect and, with the inevitable flexion of the roof during construction, a crack may develop at the joint. If it's during the construction it can be easily repaired but, if it happens after the car is painted...No good at all! Therefore, I decided to do a third roof as I have some experience! Doing it in one piece is more difficult as in two pieces as there are four sides which must be cared for instead of 3. The result is not too bad, with one exception: the roof is more bulbous than the wood buck, about 1 mm. By chance, the roof is not looking like the one from a VW Beetle! There are certainly techniques to bring the excess metal down (it was what I tried with the first one), but I will do nothing as the buck may be itself too flat... The "good" roof is in foreground.

Both are missing the same pages. No problem, they go in my store room again...

The part number is: 1366298. The last page is the one for the bulbs, #78. As I saw some Cadillac owner's manuals with dealers at the end, I assume it was that which was removed. As the maintenance schedule was different in Switzerland than in the US, this is the reason why the last 10 pages were removed. I'm adding pictures from the first and my last pages.

I went to my store room this morning. I noticed that the dealer addresses at the end of the manual have been removed. If you would like to cancel your order, no problem. On the other hand, I have a mint '63 Riviera brochure, the small one measuring 165 x 180 mm (6.5 x 7.0") with a black cover, $ 10.00.

I'm sending to you the list by email. I'm also publishing here the list in a more legible format, as well as the list of the few shop manuals I have. I have also many catalogs, as well as one or two dealer albums from the seventies, but I don't have a listing for them.

Hi John Have a look at the "list" below. The manuals in English are marked with a "E" next to the quantity. For example I have 2 manuals in English for 1959 full size models or 2 for 1964 Riviera models. Sorry for that useless listing; it's a Word document which translate not well here. I can send a correct looking list at an e-mail address. In rare cases, I have export manuals but usually the manuals in English are the domestic ones. Roger BUICK OWNER´S MANUALS F= French G= German E= English X= 10 or more Buick Special Skylark Riviera Century Regal Apollo Skyhawk Starfire 56 57 2F 58 1F 59 2E 60 4F 5E 61 1F 7E 9F 3E 62 5F 3E 5F 9G 3E 63 6F 2E 9G 9E 64 5F 7E 6F 8G 8E 2E 65 1F 7G 2E 5F 8G 9E 1F 7G 66 1F 4G 5E 4F 9G 5E 1F 4G 2E 67 4F XG XE XF XG 8E 4F XG 4E 68 9E 4F XG XE 69 1E Xg 5E 7E 70 3E XG 5E 8E 71 6E 3f XG 7E 72 4E 4f xG 3E 4E 73 5E 5E 5f XG 3E 74 XG 5E 5E XG 9E 8E 75 4F XG 8E 4F 4F 8E 4F XG 9E 4F 7F XG 9E 76 8F 9E 8F 8E 8F 9E 8F XG 9E 9F 2G 9E 77 6F 9E 5F 8E 6F 9E 5F 9G 8E 7F 78 3F 6E 5F 9E 3F 6E 9G 9E 9F 5E 79 1F 7E 1F 1G 9E 1F 3E 1F 8G 9E 1F 9E 80 5F 8E 3F 1G XE 5F 7E 5F 7G 8E 5F XE 81 7E Xg 9E 6E 7G 8E 82 83 84 85 Regal Le Sabre 86 4E 1F 1E 87 1E 2E 88 1F 1G 3E 1F 1G 1F 1G 2E 1F 1G 1E 1F 1G 2E 1E 89 4F 4G 4F 4G 4F 4G 1E 4F 4G 1E 4F 4G 90 2G 1E 2G 2G 1F 2G 2G 91 1E 92 1F 1G 93 4F 4G 2E* 1E 1E 94 4F 6G 3F 4G 95 3F 5G 1E 3F 5G 1E 96 5F 4G 7F 4G 97 * 1 Park Av., 1 Roadmaster

Once the technique to recess the sheet metal is in the fingers, things are getting rather well. As you can see, both halves are finished; they are following the buck rather well. To check it is easy: when the sheet metal is on the buck, small blows with a small hammer will sound like blowing on the wood if the metal is touching the wood. The sound is much different if there is a void between the wood and the metal. I have a good sound on about 75% of the surface; the space between metal and wood on the remaining 25% is probably about 0.1 to 0.2 mm which is acceptable for me. Small imperfections can be filed away; this is the reason why I choose a 0.4 mm brass. Now, I have to trim both halved and soft solder them together. The trimming for the side windows will be done at a later date.

As somebody told me in another forum, I have the wrong brass. My soft brass is not the "super soft" which I should have. In fact, I did not see a significant difference between the half hard and the soft one I have now when I did the rear roof's shape. It does not matter; I have the impression that I can master the process well enough to have a satisfying result. Yesterday, I did the recess at the rear window; today, I silver soldered both sail panels without disturbing the shape. I can now shape the front of the roof. The other side is almost in the same condition.

If the bushing is rubber, the bolt is clamping the inner tube which is vulcanized to the rubber. There is no movement allowed. If the bolt is not tight for one reason or another, the inner tube is moving. creating nasty noises.

You're right! Fortunately, I will not have the same publicity

After the downfall with the first attempt, I got new material: soft brass and copper. Honestly, I don't see much difference between the soft and half-hard brass...As I have now a large quantity of soft brass, I will use it for the roof and almost flat panels. Trunk lid and hood will certainly be done with copper: once annealed, the copper is soft like dry leather... Yesterday, I did a sample curve at the roof's rear; now it's serious. It's still not easy, but at least I'm satisfied with the first compound curve. The sail panels will be silver soldered to the roof's halves, before both halves will be soft soldered. I will modify the wood buck to allow a flange to be formed at the windshield and rear window; this will add some rigidity to the roof and be a guide for the inner structure.

Who is George? If it's means to be me, please remember that when this one will be ready, I will probably be about 74-75 at the pace the construction is going. Will I have the energy to begin another one? Only the time will tell!

You, joking guy!

The more I attempted to correct the shape of the roof, the more he was OUT of shape! Finally, I destroyed it by cutting in 3 pieces. Soft brass and copper have been ordered; I should get it this week. I was probably overconfident that I could do it in one piece... In between, I did the "teeth" from the grille and the lip for the hood. For those who don't know exactly from which parts I'm speaking, a real car is shown: And the parts:

The front is usually less problematic due to the various oil leaks. At the rear you have further the projection of water and mud which is rarely a positive factor for bolts. The Biarritz I restored several years ago was a rust nightmare for the body. The frame was in a very good condition and I could remove the rear axle without problem. One leave was also broken so I had to buy a set of new springs.

Still no interest?

Then you know more than me! I had also a misspelling when I began the Mark II adventure. An administrator modified the title. Good luck with your sixth Singer!

Yesterday, I began with the roof. I had the impression that it would be an easy part, ideal to gather experience, even if, when finished, it cannot be used immediately. Easy? well, not at all. I tried to form the curves with the method described by Gerald Wingrove after I did a small tool by crimping the edges. Well, probably my brass did not read that book because once the crimps were flattened, I had almost no curve. After trying several times, I came to my old method: cutting slices, do the shape and silver solder the cut. According to somebody from a modelling forum, I probably used the wrong material. In his book, Gerald is using copper, much softer than the mid-hard brass I have. Finally, I got a roof as you can see. It's far away from finished; I will spend some more hours on it and, if I'm not pleased, I will do another one with either soft brass or copper. If I'm doing another one with one of these metals, I will probably have to reinforce the roof. On the picture, the back of the roof is crimped; maybe I will get some good results as the curve to be get is light.

Bernie, I'm glad you found a new project. I noticed too that you let modify the title as there was initially an "r" which was strange to me.

John, you will have to replace them in pair if you buy them new. Or to find an old assembly where you could take the broken leave. If I remember well, the Avanti springs are the ones from the station wagon.

Saturday, I went to the man owning 4 Mark II with the buck to compare the shape. I was well inspired to do it: I saw many errors, some minors some not so: the hood and trunk lid were too square; the radii are much larger than what I did. During the winter I could not begin the work because it was too cold in my store room; now, it's almost 30°C in my flat! I'm glad that kind of work is almost over. It would be cooler in the store room, about 22°C, but I cannot move the PC to see all the pictures I have on it, as well as the documents I am refering to... To illustrate my comments, I'm adding two pictures (doing that let me cool down! from the back. The passenger side has been reworked; the modifications are less apparent than in reality. The picture from above is showing a disrupted line on the left side (to be reworked) when the RH side has a continuous line. That kind of details are hard to see on pictures; once I know that, some picture's reflections (from a real car) are now totally understandable