Laughing Coyote

Came across this on the local CL. http://tucson.craigslist.org/cto/5549038102.html

I wanted to know what was the first year Buick came out with a true hardtop body (no post body) Thanks in advance.

Thanks Keiser. The frame and other control arm is now at the coaters and is waiting to be blasted. I'm glad that the project is moving along. Still have a little bit more under coating to scrape off and the under side will be ready for a final clean and seal. Then I can apply the coating on that too.

Thought I would give an update. The frame is going on Monday morning since I have to drop off some gates I made for a customer along with the other lower control arm. The other one is ready to go. I have installed all the bushing and it looks pretty good. I will be ordering new ball joints in a week or so. I also have been working on removing the old under coating and that is going well. Not much more to take off. Once it's all off then I will do some more wire wheeling and then final seam sealing and then the final coating. Once that has cured up I will be painting the under side of the car the factory body color. I think with the black frame and other parts it will give it a nice contrast and make things pop more. I can't wait until the frame is all done and I get to start hanging stuff back on it. It's going to be great to start putting it back together.

Well I finished up the leaf springs on Monday and are ready to go. I stopped by the powder coaters and dropped off a door to get blasted and powder coated. I threw in the two control arms that I had disassembled so I can get them blasted when they do the door. I will be taking the frame next week. Probably Tuesday. There is going to be some rain chances coming this week and weekend so I don't want it sitting on a trailer blasted and not be painted yet. I have to get some paint for it anyway this week. I did get the body on wheels so I can roll it in and out of the garage when I need to. That will help when I get ready to coat the bottom of the body. Things are still moving along, and that's a good thing.

Thanks Gary, I actually have a light in my cabinet. I also put clear vinyl on the inside of the glass to keep it from getting etched so bad. I bought a bright 3' led strip with power supply on Ebay and put it inside of one of those plastic tubes you put florescent light tubes in and sealed off the ends. When I built the cabinet I added some hooks to lay the tube in and it works pretty good. I see your from SC. The second owner of the Mercury lived in Banberg SC. He bought the car when he got stationed here for the Army.

I now have the leafs all painted and I'm waiting on the anti squeak bushings to come in so I can put the leafs back together. I'm also in the process of building the body skates so I can roll the body in and out to work on it with more room. Once they are done then I can take the frame to get blasted. I have a picture of what $440 worth of bushings looks like for a Mercury anti harsh ride set up. One would figure they would throw in the upper ones too for that price, but it's just the lowers. Progress is still going strong. I have a new blast cabinet vacuum coming so I can get rid of the dust while I'm sand blasting the parts. Can't see much when you're working in a haze. Have one lower control arm that I'm blasting now and should have it ready for paint soon.

I picked up the leaf springs last week and already started to put some paint on them. I've also started working the upper and lower control arms. I did manage to find a good price for the front bushings that I needed. Had to research a lot of part suppliers, but found the lowest price and free shipping. I started working the differential too. Have to rent an axle puller so I can get the axles out and pull the third member and see what it looks like. I managed to get the drivers rear inner fender well all cleaned up. Just have the other side to do. Not a fun job. I will post some pictures shortly.

While I was at the Air Force base today I came out to the parking lot after a haircut and saw this Plymouth convert out all by itself. Nice looking car.

Came across a nice 1928 Nash on the local CL. Looks to be a great restore project for someone. https://tucson.craigslist.org/cto/5444292655.html

Today I had to run errands around town and drop off products. I stopped by the coaters and asked her how much to blast the springs and she said no charge. She wants to work out things in trade. That works for me.

I now have the rear leaf springs all taken apart and ready to go the the coaters to get cleaned up. I did noticed that when I took them apart that they used some kind of webbing material at the ends so the springs don't squeak. I also found an NOS differential bumper on Ebay so that arrived today and was installed. The old one had a chunk missing. I attached a picture of the one spindle I have all done too. I have to get some caster wheels so I can fabricate a body cart so I can roll the car body in and out so it makes for ease of working on it.

Roger, All the space in that model is tight. I don't know how you even get tools or parts mounted in those areas. The windows will come to you. I'm sure you have figured out a lot of complicated things like this. Coming along very well.

Today was a good day! I received my re-built heater core and got two packages of smaller parts that I ordered for the brakes and wheel cylinders. I've been getting really busy with work so that life thing is trying to derail my progress, but I'm not going to let it. I have to stay focused and press on. I got a spindle cleaned up and painted so I have to work the other one next. Still looking into the bushing issue. One of my friends wants me to build him a good sized welding table so that will contribute to the car fund. It's always nice to get those kind of jobs to help support a project.

Thanks Greg. I will check it out. I need all the lower bushings and all the ball joints so I can complete the front end when I get to that point. Still have a ways to go, but I like to have my stuff ready to go when it's time. I have an email out to another company and I should hear back from them on their kit. I also should know about the rear ones this week too. I know PST doesn't offer the big bushing in their kit.

I will check it out Bleach. Thanks for the info. Roger, not sure why they would have discontinued something if it worked. I will have to do more research and see what I can dig up.

Here is some pictures of the anti harsh ride suspension and a picture of the frame waiting for it's big day. Other than that I have been ordering replacement parts and doing cleaning and blasting of parts. Should have more pictures to post next week.

Thanks Paul, It was factory on the 61 and 62 from what I have found in some research and they did away with it in 63. It's designed to allow the lower control arm to flex back a little to absorb impacts in the road (like big bumps and pot holes) The rear leaf springs have a rubber block that helps do the same thing. I will post some images tonight. The rear blocks I'm going to have made by the same company that did my trans mount and brake pedal pad.

Hey flyermark, I know the pains of life you're dealing with too. I told myself this year I got to get moving on it.. Was getting tired of looking at it and nothing getting done. Thanks for following the progress. I spoke with the owner of the powder coaters and she said she we can do some horse trading on the blast job of the frame. I will probably give her some cash to cover the blasters time and their media. I have been running into an issue with the lower control arm bushings. The car came with the anti harsh front and rear suspension and there is one big oval bushing that no one carries. So this posses a problem. I will have to do a lot of research and see what my options are. I may have to change out the lower control arm with a 1961 Galaxie and use standard bushings. I hope this doesn't put a wrench in it my progress.

The frame is on the trailer and have been stripped of everything. It's ready to go when I am. After hot washing the drums I had a outer bearing race fall out. I thought, "Well that's not suppose to happen". So after a closer look I found out that the one hub was about .030 bigger than the race. You could see where it wore a grove right in it. I bet that had a vibration issue. I pressed off the drums which wasn't to fun. They were on the hubs pretty good. Once off I decided to bore it out enough to clean up the ID and put in a sleeve. I machined a sleeve for it and pressed it in. After that turned the ID to the final size. Now it's just like repaired new. Waiting to get my new bearings in for them and that will be done. Put a nice coat of cast paint on them.

Today I took the drums and front backing plates to my neighbors so he can hot tank them. I included a picture of some of the parts that I have already blasted and painted. I found some marking on the outside of the frame rail so I have to measure and document them so I can recreate them once it's been painted. I will be loading the frame on his flat bed trailer until it's time to take it to the powder coater.

Yes. The car will retain all the original colors. The only thing I will be doing different is adding dual exhaust instead of the single. I like the engine to breath.

Bleach. The color is called Tawny Beige. It's a yellowish/tan color. Definitely a 60's color.

I know I said I was going to pull the frame next week. I guess it's next week already. I decided to just get it done since everything was off of it that needed to be. Didn't take much. Now I have to do some light scrubbing to see what I can see for markings. I will be taking off the last of the pieces later on in the week so it will be ready for sand blasting.

Thanks John. I got the differential pulled out after 50+ years. Still has the original shocks and they still work good. Now I have plenty of room to work under there. I sand blasted and painted the shock perches and U bolts. The rear spring shackles are all cleaned up and painted too. Will be pulling the frame next week. Moving right along now. The warm weather makes it nice. My neighbor is going to hot tank the front drums and backing plates. They're pretty greasy from the wheel cylinders leaking.