Smartin

Looks like I may finally get back to the BCA national meet since 2006 this year!

I think Rob is referring to the white over blue scheme your car was sporting before it was resurrected.

There is definitely some contrast "enhancement" in the photos that makes the paint look iridescent.

Ok, dash pad is off to Mr. Upholster to have the padding rebuilt. Meanwhile, I have redyed the top of the dash pad and repainted the trim pieces that frame it. I feel like I did a bunch more work than that, but now that I look back at it...that's all I have done:rolleyes: The pad should be finished before the Easter show on March 31. I guess I need to redye the small padded bits on the glove box and the face of the dash, too. "While I'm at it...." Redye the carpet black, paint the package shelf... Doesn't look like the paint will get buffed before the show, though. I'll have to save that fun little project for later, along with the engine compartment and chassis detail.

hah! Not a chance, JD The Limited was too far gone for me to just fix a few things and drive. If I could've, I would've. At least on the Roadmaster, I don't have to brush off the foam material from my back when I get out of the car...or pray the emergency brake would stop the car!

Time to fix the dash pad! I am going to have a friend of mine rebuild the foam behind the vinyl on the pad. He is the same one who did the door panels on the Limited. It took about 20 minutes to get the pad out, since pretty much everything it touches has to come off first. After a good scrub, I slowly started to peel off the vinyl. It came off surprisingly easy. Really just came off without any fight.

My goal is to get the Roadmaster to South Bend. I think it is a realistic goal. It's the vacation time I need to make sure I can get! Thanks for the kind words on the Limited everyone. I never saw myself selling it, but you can't see into the future. I now know that it's a much better venture to find a car that is in solid shape to start with next time. My late friend Hank always told me the way to buy a car is to make sure that 2 of the 3 major components of the car are in good condition (Body, interior, engine). Otherwise, you guarantee you'll be upside down on it...unless, of course, you stole it.

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

Gary, I haven't done it myself, but I've heard that the SEM spray dye works well.

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! 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! 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

All I know is that it's cut pile...I'm assuming it's just a soft nylon fiber, but I'm no expert. SMS was able to provide the correct blue carpet for my Limited. It was expensive, but it was perfect. The carpet in the Roadmaster is nice, but not perfect. It could use a quick dye job. I don't want to replace it for fear of losing the great fit of that original carpet.

I was thinking $500-800 depending on if you were doing a 4 door and bought this for parts.

First order of business was to get the dash lights to work. The courtesy lights all worked with some bulb replacement, but all of the gauge and accessory bulbs were inop. It felt to me like the headlight switch was bad. So, off came the top of the dashboard! While I have it off, I might as well give it a good scrub. This should give me plenty of working room to get the headlight switch out... So, I discovered that the rheostat on the switch was badly corroded. I proceeded to take it apart, only to find out that it had several tiny springs and parts that were retained by the metal plate that was screwed to the side. After 10 minutes of crawling on the floor, I found all the bits. Thankfully, I had just swept the floor. All of the contact points were cleaned and the switch reassembled...it took a few tries to get the lid back on without the springs exploding apart like it did when I removed it. Oy. Initial test revealed the switch cleaning did nothing. After further review, I found out that one of the contact points on the switch was not connecting properly. (thermo circuit breaker) ....I popped it back into place without having to remove the switch again, which is a pain in itself. Ok, now all of the dash lights work...they a bit on the dull side, though. At least I can see how fast I'm going at night, now. All 4 original T3 headlights are in the car. Of course, one of the low beams decided to die on me shortly after I bought it. I replaced it today...polished up the chrome surrounds on that side, too.

Where in IL are you?

Wow! That's awesome.

What's the 60 look like?

Barris is a goofball...and the guy doing the work could barely stand up on his own! Obviously he didn't give a hoot about safety. Honestly, if I had been doing it that long without all the PPE, I wouldn't give a hoot, either. I agree with Willie, though. Modern fillers have come a long way from "Bondo."

So what purpose do these really serve? I have them on my 58's, and I know they were on the 57, too. They don't appear to do anything...

I've made the decision that the Roadmaster will not be sold. I tentatively had a sale pending, but a recent turn of events has ended it. I will move forward with detailing this car soon. I may wait until after Easter to do the engine compartment, since I want to take it to the Easter show...I don't think I can get it done before then. Maybe a good buff job on the paint to bring out the shine again...

A good photo would help immensely.

I was going to suggest what you just did...flip it on its head and pull it out the passenger door.

Can you furnish photos? If you can't post them here, could you email them to me? adamm@buickpartsdirectory.com Thanks

The Formal Coupe Hank's 60 225 71 Centurion convertible 71 LeSabre cream puff The Limited (chassis)

Wow...makes me feel good about what I had to start with on the Limited.