cevensky

For those of you who were watching my ‘33 Buick, I apologize for the hold... med school is a busy time and I’ll have to save work on it for larger breaks (also the carpenter is a hard man to pin down). So, I got a project that I hope to be less time consuming and labor-intensive to get it down the road: A 1948 Pontiac Streamliner “SilverStreak” with an in-line, flathead 8 cylinder. Buying this car is a STORY all its own but now I have it for the bargain price of *drumroll*....... $1500! The look of this car, even in the current condition got my heart racing and then I saw the flat straight 8 and that was all it took. The worst news first: 1) thought I’d be able to get away with some basic engine cleaning cause it did do the briefest of turnovers (even with a totally nonfunctional carb); however, after removing the head, I have some burnt and bent valves. 2) there’s rust through at the bottom of the trunk lid and in front of pass. back seat. 3) wiring is a mess but it’d run with the current set up. The better news: 1) turn the key and press the foot starter, turns over smooth and gave some fire with starter fluid and gas. 2) upholstery is redone (not a huge fan fashion-wise) and very intact. 3) doesn’t look like a total piece of trash and I like it so, here it is:

Keiser, yes I do and I picked up the rebuilt starter the other day too! Has a large rust through on driver's side lower cowl... other than that, minor stuff. I mean... minor to me ?

Thanks for the words chistech. At the end of the day, we're less the "owners" of these cars and more stewards since they will outlast us, regardless of how old or young you may be. I'm young and able to restore, so that's what I'm doing now, but one day long down the road maybe I'll come into the care of some fine restored cars as current owners need to, or have to, let go of them. And definitely, mistakes have been and will continue to be made. It's how I learn best ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ As for the wood: it does in fact have the curve you're talking about, it's just not visible in the pictures because it's covered by the rocker panel metal that we used to estimate the curve, which can be fine tuned if needed with a sander. But this Buick does have a very pronounced taper from rear to front. Again, I really appreciate comments like these to make sure I'm doing things right. For example, I hate to not use the beautiful rims but based on the advice here, I may not and it's turning out to be an incredible inconvenience, holding me up considerably. But, I can't waste money on them if they aren't good.

Had the carpenter out today. He came and fit the wood on the spot since we don't have any of the bottom wood. Only a few more pieces he'll need to do this for. I've been a little busy getting a model A running that sat for 20 years and a '29 dodge brothers (DA Deluxe? Standard Six? Not sure) made it to my place on Wednesday. Oh well!

Good to know... I'll be more careful around it ? Most of it looks good, but some is also unnecessary.

Today I ground paint and surface rust off some of the rear passenger side panels, sanded, wiped with acetone, and primed. I also decided on a gloss black "epoxy" appliance paint to do the inside because I've used it before and it's really durable (and cheap). I also refined (smoothed) some of the body filler put on there probably 50+ years ago and while welding some splits in the body I discovered it's something like solder. And there's a lot of it in two places, one picture attached. What is this??

After a little wait due to my real job having no schedule or regular hours, I've made it back to the Buick. And John, thanks for the question because here's the next update: the awesome carpenter brought by the first two pieces of wood today and they're beautiful and fit perfectly. The main sills are next and then we go up from there.

I've been working on the rims since getting them back from the blaster. Luckily these artillery wheels are very very heavy duty and no worries about the integrity. But. Each one has mild to moderate pitting on the face and at least 5-6" of the outer lip that was eaten away. I really impressed myself with my welding/grinding/filing skills; I was able to get all the lips looking good as new! However, that pitting... I tried bondo to fill the pits along with a high build spray primer. This is my first rodeo, but the curves are just so hard to sand and there's still putting after a couple primer coats. Any suggestions on this? For now I'm pulling off, cleaning, painting, and bagging small parts. Main sills and other major stabilizing wood pieces are going in next week(ish). I might just leave these in primer and put some nearly-trash rollers on these just to move things ahead. Thoughts and input?

Thanks Coyote, I'm not actively looking for one, just thought it may be fun to have a driveable old car for the interim. I'm thinking most of the rust is not too bad, but won't know till I can touch it. However, I would have thought the fact it drives is enough of a plus. I don't have much money but again, I'd love to rescue this car and spruce it up a little. The interior looks beyond serviceable and the lack of missing major parts is encouraging to me. We'll see if he'll take less I suppose.

This is on the gulf coast now, formerly a well kept car bought from California for $9500, allegedly put $13,500 for things like carburetor stuff, new fuel tank, etc. not entirely clear, but the interior is well kept. Current owner has no investment in it. I offered a little more than y'all have suggested, now I guess I'll have to tell him that I can't offer my original but I'd still like to save the car.

Hey y'all, I'm about to buy this car to save it from salty air and high humidity. It runs, everything is more or less solid (minus the windshield), and I was wondering what y'all would peg its value at based solely on the pictures, fact it drives, and that it's (allegedly) had a decent amount of money put in it in the last 5 years. Here's the pictures:

The other day before work I got to use a tire machine to dismount what was left of the rubber then I drove out and dropped all 6 rims at the blaster. The two spares are very rough, the rest will require a touch of welding and grinding for aesthetic purposes, but I believe them to be structurally safe. We'll see what blasts away. The carpenter texted last night, he wants to start Monday. After burning out one grinder, I have a good bit of the inside of the body cleaned and epoxy primed (you'll notice a "2" was painted on the rear driver's side panel at one point. Any ideas?), I'm going to get the deposit for him tomorrow and have him start around lunch doing his thing. Felt good to get something so big so clean. I also had spent some time getting the huge dent in the rear pass. panel out best I could. The little dents I made will have to be handled at a later date

One concern I've had since the woods was that the front wheels did not turn at all. Thankfully today I was able to pull the passenger side brake drum, clean it up (until my angle grinder started smoking) along with the bearings, pack those, and spray it with some paint to protect from humidity. Luckily, the bearings and races all looked amazing. I'm keeping the brake shoes and their linkage out to work on in the meantime but they won't be needed for a couple months at least. One down, four to go! i also did a little wire wheeling on the frame and other grease-covered stuff just to check it out. Everything looks really great–very encouraging.

Yes! Please, if anyone has a sequence of events I'd greatly appreciate any kind of outline you've followed or if you've just got some ideas, any suggestions for a sequence here are appreciated.

Carl and 1939_Buick, I really appreciate the advice and of course this is a worry of mine but for now the car literally can't be moved. For better or for worse, his family is wholly disinterested in all of his cars. when the frame goes to the sandblasted, I plan on asking for the title to be legally transferred to my name, likely in addition to a sort of will addendum/separate legal agreement for some of his other cars too. Luckily, my sister is a newly minted lawyer! We've already discussed details and surprisingly, he is the one who brought the subject to me first. Today I met with a carpenter who is enthusiastic about bringing the main body to his shop where he can do the complicated wood work and teach me to do the easy stuff (floors) along with letting me use body working tools with instruction! It took up a lot of garage time though so I only got a running board off today.

Last night I got the rear passenger fended off–it was a necessity because until my jeep's transmission is in fighting fit again, it has to share the garage and it's a tight fit along with this behemoth Buick. I also got the entire dash out and I hope the wiring diagram with whatever harness I buy is decent! More teardown tonight after work. (I'm showing off a picture of my personally and completely restored '42 Ford jeep, the one on the right. The one I got driving for him is on the left) I'm taking suggestions on how to best lift the body off. I'm imagining some wood to stabilize where the doors should be and using my rafters and shop crane. Pictures for now will be boring and monochromatic due to my lackluster garage lighting and ubiquitous rust/dust! Sorry!

Ken, I'm in Shreveport and this car was in Plain dealing, nearly up in Arkansas. The technical owner of this, my friend, has several dozen cars, some better and some worse off than this one. I just finished reconditioning a 43 jeep for him, and amongst all the projects I could've taken from him, this was the one that stood out to me.

It's nice to see all the interest! No snakes, some rats and mice, & a squirrel skeleton with a 1928 dime under the back seat. Of course, lots of sweat dragging it 20 feet through dirt with a come along. I'd chop down two dozen more trees to get it out though.

Well, I've decided to take the plunge and start another restoration project on this fine (beauty is in the eye of the beholder) 1933 Buick. As a disclaimer , several people have already tried to politely discourage me but I know what a restoration entails and I'm not totally blind so I know the amount of work before me. I'm also ready to take it on and do it fast and well. I hope y'all enjoy following along and hopefully offering advice and help wherever you can because I can assure you, I'll need it. This is a joint venture between the real owner and myself (the future owner and current caretaker). The owner, a friend of mine (he's 75ish and I just turned 22) told me he had one of these in the woods north of where I live. I googled a picture of a "1933 Buick Series 90," and the next day we were out in the woods chopping down trees in the dead of the Louisiana summer (100 F and ~90% humidity). A few weeks later it was out and at my garage. Now, several months later I've spent one day muscling it into my garage (alone) and one day beginning the tear down. Hopefully around the end of the month/beginning of March, the frame will be at the sandblaster! So, here's some pictures of its very humble beginnings in the woods, up until how it sits now: