Smartin
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Posts posted by Smartin
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I am for hire if you're interested!
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I was going nuts over the hood hinge problem, and the underside of the hood being a mess.....so I did something about it. Good thing I had a full sheet of hood insulation sitting in the basement
I did a quick spray of cast iron color on the hinges, but did the black underhood much more carefully. It turned out nice.
I also did the hood jambs...they were pretty ugly compared to the rest of it. My Centurion is getting REALLY jealous.
Oh, and for those of us who don't know what a straight front bumper is supposed to look like, here is a nice example. Fresh off the press!....34 years ago. Most of the ones I see on these cars are bent in slightly from those little "love taps" that happen when we inch too close to the garage wall, or your wife's car in the driveway. My Centurion's is bent up a little bit. The one that was on this car was hit pretty good and bent the crap out of the lower grille inserts and made the whole thing look totally wrong.
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Likewise! I can't wait until July. I'll have it looking really good by then
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nice, Keith...
Here's another rare color combo on a Centurion::: Twilight Turquoise
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I can see where that analogy is accurate!
I got the front bumper hung tonight...it's quite a task if you're by yourself. :spank:
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I thought about that...and I'll throw them on (maybe) this weekend and see how they look.
As promised:
The nasty carb I ripped apart last night:
The nasty floor I scraped this evening after I got the car out:
Ready for ignition!!!!
Running! You can't really tell, though
Looking at this picture, I really need to pay attention to the hinges and underhood. Yuck!
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W00T the car runs!!!!
Started up like it never went through an operation. I was only off 4 degrees on the timing, so I got that dialed up. I hear a small exhaust leak coming from the choke housing somewhere, so I will get that taken care-of. There are no other leaks anywhere that I can see.
The bumper is still off, so I looked a little weird driving around the neighborhood...but I don't care.
I had a chance to clean the floor up where the car sat for over a month. I had to use a metal scraper to get most of it off the floor. A lot of it was the goop that fell to the floor when I was plucking the grease balls off the motor. Mix in some antifreeze and misc oils, and you have yourself a nice little pile of slush.
Items still on the docket before Rochester:::
Air Cleaner
Find correct emissions sticker for radiator support
Paint all door, trunk, and hood jambs
Paint underside of hood and replace insulation
Touch up areas on lower edge of body
A/C charge...that should be nice and cheap
I think I'll be set after I get all that done. I believe I'm going to just swap the wheels and tires on my two cars so I can see how I like the chrome wheels on the LeSabre before I plop down a load of cash for new wheels and tires for this car.
Pics to come!
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So I can't pull the trigger on the turq C. ...but the seller doesn't seem too interested in sharing much inromation.
I'm going to try to start the car tonight if I can get all the fluids filled and changed. I got the carb rebuilt last night...only took me a couple hours. I've gotten pretty quick at those
I just wish it looked new like the rest of the motor. I may have it sent out and redone at a later date. -
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I have names for people like Adam, he might as well have a meat fork poking me - yes Adam you win, I will do mine now this winter. </div></div>
It's hard not to crack when you can see how nice these come out, isn't it?
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For me, it's been so rare that I get to see a car like this finished with such care, especially under the hood. This car really make or break the value of a car. Anyone can see that it's a nice car, but when you open up the hood and see a spotless powerplant, it rises to another level.
It will be interesting to see and hear the comments in Rochester this year. Although I'd like to be taking a certain twilight turq convertible...hmmmm
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Oh, Brian...what's an extra couple grand in transport costs?
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Yep, Fram is JUNK ...I have a couple AC's on the shelf ready for the proverbial triple oil change after I get the car running again.
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Lots of "stuff" installed today. I've been waiting on installing any brackets until I got my exhaust menifolds on, so I could have some room to work. I was able to run some errands today and picked up a bunch of stuff from the Zone and O'Reilly...also got a load of grade 8 bolts for the manifolds. I still have to pick up the drivers side manifold from the machine shop on Monday, so it will get installed next week along with the rest of the power steering gunk.
The passenger side manifold went on easily with no problems...and note that I used NO gaskets. Buick did not use gaskets on them. If you do this, make sure both faces of the head and exhaust manifold are straight.
There seems to be quite a bit of dust that collects on everything, and it's tough to keep (particularly) the black parts clean and scratch free. The black is a semi-gloss, and it's as close as the factory as I've been able to find off the shelf. The only problem is keeping it looking good. I suppose this is why a flatter black is more prevalent when you see these restorations. CARS chassis black (which is supposed to be correct) is too flat for the core support/wheelhouses, so I'm not really interested in using it. I used it on the 60, and I still don't agree that it's correct even for that car.
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The dashpot helps to eliminate stalling when the accelerator pedal is suddenly "let go." It softens the "hit" of the throttle linkage at the carburetor so that a smoother deceleration can be acheived. It's a good thing to have, but not necessary. www.oldbuickparts.com has them. You will need your original bracket, though.
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The engine turned dash bezels were 71-72...73 changed to the full woodgrain look.
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and a grille found its way onto the front end tonight...along with some NOS headlight bezels and grille emblem.
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We have red!!!
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...and my parts bed is getting full
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More work done today. The FedEx guy showed up with my new trans cooling lines, since I twisted the lines in half trying to get them out of the transmission fittings. The ones I ordered were the universal kit from www.inlinetube.com and I had to bend them myself. I had hte old ones as templates, but it is still difficult to get the slight subtle bends the old hoses made. I actually was stomping them into the ground at one time to get the lines to lay the right way
It worked, though.Here they are in all their shiny glory:
Notice the engine is coming back together. I hope to have it painted tomorrow. After the motor is painted, I can start cobbling thingss back together. I still have quite a few things to clean and paint...like the air cleaner, power steering pump and brackets, all the AC lines, compressor, radiator, condensor, pulleys, etc. I was able to get a few goodies painted today, so I feel like I'm making some good progress.
I went to a local dealer Buick display today, so it gave me some inspiration to get the car going as soon as possible, so I can show it off before Rochester.
The engine compartment is not the only thing that has to be done on this car. I have all the door jambs that need to be cleaned and painted, as well as the trunk jamb. Front clip has to be reinstalled, as well as the "new" rear bumper. I suppose that's about all.....
ou: Oh yeah, I still have to rebuild the carb. I'm waiting on a shipment from Classic Buicks so I can get some other things replaced and installed - like the oil sending unit, fuel pump, fan clutch, carb rebuild kit, rad hoses, heater control valve, all the decals I could think of, hose clamps (yeah the tower clamps)...I realized today that I forgot to order hood bumpers. Maybe I'll grab a set at CARS's booth in Rochester before the car is judged
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I didn't know there were camping sites available. RV?
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Thanks Roberta! I'll check into it if these lines I bend suck.
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I suppose the Northeast will do this type of thing to steel lines and fittings..
I also hope I can bend the ones I ordered to spec and make it look good. The originals I took off are kinda gnarly...and it would be a PITA to ship them. I wonder if anyone local can do this?
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Does nobody make preformed trans lines for these cars?
I already tried inline tube....I have some universal tube coming that I have to bend myself for a quick fix. I would really like to get some stock pieces on here, though.
I twisted the fittings right off the tubes this evening...both of them.
Buick Reatta Modz
in Buick - Performance and Modified
Posted
You don't see too many of the Reattas being modified, but I have seen a couple at the national shows. One of them does sport a supercharger. It was yellow, and I believe it had lake pipes. Pretty cool car...
You might have better luck posting this in the Reatta discussion forum on this website:
http://forums.aaca.org/postlist.php?Cat=&Board=UBB3