1952 Special Deluxe Project

[Guest shadetree77]

Just stopping in with a quick update. Weatherman is predicting warms temperatures for the evenings throughout this week. I got a little bit of wire brushing done on various loose parts today and hope to continue that process over the next few days. My Dad and I are planning to continue the front end cleaning on Saturday. I hope to get that done with his help. Have a good week Buick guys and gals!

[Buicknutty]

Good luck Robert! The weather up here is going to be cold and snowy. Wish I was there!

Keith

[Guest shadetree77]

Coming soon to a Buick near uhhhhh....me. :p Got my kit in the mail today. Can't wait to try this. I've always wanted to learn how to do this.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jQ_85fp1avs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Edited February 8, 2013 by shadetree77 (see edit history)

[smithbrother]

Practice, practice, and more practice, and make certain metal is CLEAN.

In this case PRACTICE isn't cheap, hehehe.

I wish you well, knowing you, YOU will do just fine.

Dale in Indy

[2Buicks]

Robert,

I have been reviewing the progress on your 52' Buick. I noticed you mentioned going to Cars, Inc to buy the trunk emblem rubber. I bought one from CARS for my 52' Buick Super and I had to modifiy the outer hole cutouts to fit the my emblem. Because of the contour on my Super trunk lid, the top center does not touch the trunk lid, leaving an open gap of about 1/8". I found another website that I want to check out that better matches my old rubber. The website is www.steelrubber.com. They are in Denver, NC. Their items are more expensive but what I was looking for better matched the original parts. Have you used this company for parts?

Don (2Buicks)

[Buicknutty]

Robert;

Very neat video. I remember seeing the old guy with a cigar on some custom car show on Speed channel a few years back.

With some practice, it should work out fine for you. Body work is like playing piano, the more you do it, the better you get at it.

Have fun on your car.

We're digging out from the most snow in one day in about 4 years. We had about 12-14 ins. yesterday, and it's hitting the East Coast today.

Keith

[old-tank]

Coming soon to a Buick near uhhhhh....me. :p Got my kit in the mail today. Can't wait to try this. I've always wanted to learn how to do this.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/jQ_85fp1avs" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>

That video shows how NOT to do it. There is no respiratory protection, skin protection, and on top of that he is smoking a cigar. Lead is toxic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_poisoning . It will permanently contaminate the area for children and pets. There used to be a local old school 'lead-sled' builder and I was fascinated by his work. As with most shops there were always some dogs and cats running around...most did not make it to one year of age.

Modern autobody fillers are far superior. The only substrate problems I have had was with the original lead that the factory used and lead repairs done early in the car's life. The acid in the flux will eventually come through the lead and cause bubbling and flaking of the paint. The only way to get rid of this is to melt all the lead out of the area and grind or sandblast to bare steel. Send the kit back while you still can.

Willie

[Smartin]

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."

[1953mack]

Coming soon to a Buick near uhhhhh....me. :p Got my kit in the mail today. Can't wait to try this. I've always wanted to learn how to do this.

You have my vote: GO FOR IT.

Just the facts re: previous posts.....

∙ Bill Hines (aka The Leadslinger) was 84 in the video.....been leading since 1941.....still vertical today at 90 years old.

∙ George Barris was 81 in the video.....started doing bodywork with lead in the 1940's.....still vertical today at 88.....recently made the news last month re: the original Batmobile. The following is posted on the internet....The Barrett-Jackson auction was the first time the car was put up for public sale. In addition to the $4.2 million bid price, the buyer will have to pay an additional roughly $420,000 in premiums. The Batmobile is based on a 1955 Lincoln Futura, a concept car built in Italy by the Ford Motor Co. In 1965, the concept car was bought for a nominal $1 by noted customizer George Barris, who had a mere 15 days and $15,000 to transform the vehicle for the show. He has owned it ever since..... He probably LHAO at all the so-called geniuses walking to the bank.

∙ BONDO® was bought by 3M a few years ago.....BONDO® or other body fillers has its' purpose.....a lot of people don't know how to read and comprehend at the same time.....not meant to be applied in gobs 1"-2" thick or to be used as a rust/joint filler.....read 'da directions.

It's your call. Who do you want to be known as: "Bondo Bob" or "Robert the Leadslinger?"

Keep us posted and Good Luck.

Al Malachowski

BCA #8965

"500 Miles West of Flint"

Edited February 10, 2013 by 1953mack (see edit history)

[Guest shadetree77]

Dale, thanks for the vote of confidence. I'm going to practice on my old door first.

Don, I may have mentioned that a while back but I never did get around to ordering a new one. I have, however, used Steele Rubber. They have quality products and I haven't had any trouble with fitment on the few things I've ordered from them. As a matter of fact, you might find that the one you got from CARS is the same as the one you get from Steele. From what I understand, CARS gets a lot of their products from other companies and then ships them to you. A lot of the rubber items they have are from Steele. I'm not 100% on that but that is what I've heard.

Keith, the first time I saw "Wild" Bill Hines was on that show Monster Garage that was hosted by Jesse James. I was fascinated with his lead work and have always wanted to try it. Glad to hear you came through the storm OK. It was in the 60's here yesterday so I actually got some work done.

Willie, I appreciate you presenting the other side of the story on lead. That's the first I've heard of any long term problems with the acid. I am well aware of the health hazards though and I do plan on being extremely careful with this stuff. I've got all of the PPE needed and I WILL use it. I am not planning on doing a lot of work with it either. I'm just going to use it to fill some small holes in my door. I realize that I could just MIG the holes, but I've been fascinated (as you were) by lead work for some time and I want to try it out. I've done a lot of research into the process and everything I've seen says that you can neutralize the acid in the flux by spraying it down with baking soda and water, then wiping clean. Maybe they didn't go through the trouble to do that at the factories? Or maybe it will eventually bubble up through the lead but as I said, I'm just filling two small holes and temporarily covering it with paint. I can always melt it out later before the car gets its real paint job.

Al, Thanks and I believe I will go for it. Do I need to? No, not really. But I want to. I find it fascinating. The lead kit was an indulgence for me. 99% of the things I buy for my Buick are "have to have" type things. This is the 1% "want to" thing and I'm excited to learn a new skill that not everyone has tried.

[Guest shadetree77]

Daily temperatures have been slowly climbing here over the last 2 weeks or so. For about every 3 days of cold and rain there is one day of warmth and rain. That being said, my Dad and I have managed to make a little progress lately. We've gotten quite a few of the loose parts wire brushed. Still a lot to go though.

We spent all day Saturday scraping and washing the front end. That is almost done now. One more all day session on that and it should finally be clean. You just wouldn't believe the amount of crud hiding in every nook and cranny. Half way through that day we decided to go ahead and remove the other fender. I wanted to leave it in place as a reference point but we just could not clean properly with it in the way. So off it came. Hope I don't regret that decision.

I took Sunday off and Monday I cleaned up the huge mess we left from Saturday, cleaned and organized my shop, and then separated the inner fender well from the fender. It's supposed to be on the cold side here through this week so I don't know how much I'll get done over the next few days. I hope to get in some more wire brushing at some point. That's the fun stuff......

[JohnD1956]

You make it look so easy!

[jackofalltrades70]

Robert,

Lookin' good brother! Coming along nice. Keep pecking away at it. Matt

[Guest shadetree77]

Feels good to make a decent amount of progress. Let's hope these warm days keep coming. Got a lot more wire brushing done on various parts. Stripped the old paint off of my oil bath air cleaner with the help of some stripping foam in a spray can. It had a large dent in the top so I went looking for a small dent removal device. I found one at Autozone for $19.99. I didn't know if it would work or not but I took the chance. I'm glad that I did because it worked wonders. I followed the instructions and it worked like a charm. Pulled that dent right out of there and you can't even tell it was ever there. Now I just have to fill some spots in with lead and put a coat of bondo over it and block sand it smooth......I'm just kidding guys!

I got my fuel pump back from Then And Now Automotive today. I sent my original to them to be rebuilt. Wow, did they do a great job! Looks brand new! They also sent me back a baggie with all of the rusted out junk that they replaced on the pump. Judging by the amount of garbage in that baggie they must have had their work cut out for them. The pump looks great on the outside but it will be a while before I am able to truly test it on the engine. If the outside is any indication I'm sure they did just fine on the internals. I've included a few before and after pictures of the pump.

It's supposed to be pretty cold here this weekend so I think I'll take a few days off. My Dad wants me to take him to the flea market and antique malls today. Guess he wants to add to our "man-tique" collection. Sure do wish that old junk yard was still up there in the Georgia mountains. I miss digging through all of that rusty gold! It's all sitting in China right now in neat little cubes.:mad: Have a good weekend Buick brethren.

Edited February 16, 2013 by shadetree77 (see edit history)

[avgwarhawk]

Nice to see the pop a dent worked. In your case it worked like a charm. As far as the old rusty pump parts, it amazes me that these motors still run after seeing what came out of the old pump. Sheesh.

[1957buickjim]

Pretty impressive Rob! I like that dent puller gizmo. You use hot melt glue to attach it to the surface? Obviously it adheres pretty well to the surface. As for the paint remover, that stuff is the best. I've used it a ton on stripping many of my components and parts. Just make sure you don't get it on your skin..ouch! Wish we had some of that warm weather here in Michigan..today it is the cold north (no offense Rob McDonald)..

[Buicknutty]

Looking good, Robert. That dent puller is neat, never seen one like that here, (in Canada) the stripper too.

Keep up the good work!

Keith

[jackofalltrades70]

Looking good, my friend! Nice to see you are coming along! Keep picking away! Matt

[Guest Rob McDonald]

Watching your progress is like watching the hour hand on a clock. It doesn't move at all when you stare at it but, look away for a bit, and then you see that it has moved.

"I hope to get in some more wire brushing at some point. That's the fun stuff"

If that's fun, I suggest you've already inhaled too many lead and flux fumes, while watching Wild Bill on YouTube. My nailhead's accessories are sitting in a bucket, awaiting application of my own wire brush. I need a few more snorts of that video to motivate myself.

[Guest shadetree77]

Chris, you've got that right. There is as much crud and debris in the baggie as there are parts. The really scary part is the guy I bought the car from told me he had tried to run the car with the original pump before putting an electric pump on there. I got to see the results of his efforts when I cleaned out the carburetor.

Jim, thanks for the kind words. It is a really neat little gizmo. I had my doubts about it but it did exactly what it claims on the box. Yes, you place a liberal amount of hot glue on the little round black pad and then stick it to the center of the dent and let it dry. Then you put the threaded end through the white holder and screw the handle on there. You continue to tighten until the black pad pops loose from the metal. The kit actually comes with a huge glue gun and two sticks of glue. It also comes with a little sharp pencil looking thingy that you use to press the dent back down a little if the device pulls it too far out. I didn't have to use that. My dents popped right out perfectly. I have plans to use this thingamajig on my '79 T-Bird too. Apparently somewhere along the way someone before me decided to bounce a basketball across that long, flat, expanse of a hood and created a ton of golf ball sized dings. I think this "Pops-a Dent" will work wonders on those. Brother, you aren't kidding about that stripping chemical. Nasty stuff! I got it on my hand the first time I ever used it. Now I'm extra careful not to.

Keith, thanks buddy! That dent puller is a handy little thing. I would recommend it if you have any small dents or dings to remove. I bought the stripping chemical at Wal-Mart here. You might not be able to find that stripping stuff up there. I've heard Canada is a lot more strict on it's chemical products and believe me, that stuff is harsh to say the least! Works great though.

Thanks Matt, I will. You do the same. From the looks of your thread we're both getting some work done after an extended hiatus. Feels good to make some progress.

Rob, don't I know it! I'm hoping that, as the weather warms, I'll more closely resemble the second hand! While I am enjoying these widely spaced bursts of progress, I can't wait to be able to put in full 8 hour days on it again. Oh, and believe me, that wire brushing comment was dripping with sarcasm. If I ever find myself having a good time doing that you have my permission to call up the guys in the white coats to come and carry me off to a nice rubber walled room to eat lime jello and stare at a light bulb all day.

[Guest shadetree77]

Stopping in for a quick, if rather boring, update. Absolutely ZERO progress being made this past week. The weather here has been absolute crap lately. Cold and rainy. Since I'm to the point where 99% of my work involves paint prep and painting(which I can't do in my makeshift garage), I'm pretty much stuck until the weather warms up. I'm thinking that will happen some time this month. In the meantime, I do have some good news. I scored a replacement front bumper on EBAY recently! It's in good used condition and looks a HELLUVA lot better that my original. The original is completely mangled along the bottom edge. This replacement isn't perfect. It has its fair share of scratches and scuffs, but structurally it is very nice. And I believe it's a bit shinier than my original too. I picked up this old grease can recently too. I think I'll use it for a trash can in my shop. Hope you enjoyed this boring little update. Maybe if Spring shows its face around here soon I'll have a little more to report. I'm growing more anxious every day for the the real work to begin!

[jackofalltrades70]

Robert,

Any update is better than no update. Look forward to more progress on your car! Matt

[Guest shadetree77]

WOO-HOOOOO!!!:p

[Ben Bruce aka First Born]

WOO-HOOOOO!!!:p

OK ROBERT!!! We expect to see mega progress!!

Ben

[Buicknutty]

So, may be we'll hear from you on Monday?

Keith

[Guest chevy_dude97]

Make sure when you paint that intake you "fine sand" out the scuffs and swirls or use a good "filler" primer. I know you would not want to get to that shiny paint and see them or add one too many coats and get the "runs" Or "wrinkles" from it not being cured between coats. From the looks of all the painting you have done so far you have it pretty down pat. If you haven't thought of it already a second "garage" just for paint could save you some headaches. LOOKIN GOOD BRO! -Jessie

[Guest shadetree77]

As usual the weatherman was only partially correct. The weather this weekend wasn't nearly as nice as predicted. It had good moments though and I managed to make the best of it. My Dad and I spent Friday giving all of the parts to be painted a final degreasing and scrub down.

Saturday was kind of a crappy day weather-wise so all we did that day was to lug the Dynaflow out of the corner of the shop and set it up on a platform. Having it on that wheeled platform will make it much easier for me to begin the cleaning process on it. I'm going to clean the outside of it completely before I attempt to replace the seals. I don't want that crud falling into the trans. when I begin taking it apart.

Sunday my Wife and I spent all day painting parts. She recently started a new job in the quality control lab at the Volkswagen plant in Chattanooga, so now she has every weekend off. She has vowed to help me on my car as much as possible. She truly enjoys working on it with me and I enjoy having her there to help. Between her, my Dad, and myself I should be able to make plenty of progress in the coming weeks.

Today, I was flying solo as everyone else was at work. I went over all the parts with a tack rag and put a second coat of paint on everything. Well, almost everything. I ran out of paint so a few things will have to be sanded and repainted later. Truth be told, those parts that didn't get painted looked a little rough anyway. I purposefully left those for last because I was already thinking of repainting them. I guess the Buick Gods agreed with me on that assessment because my paint ran out before I could get to them. Seeing all of these clean painted parts is getting me excited. I can't wait to see everything put back together and looking brand new. I also can't wait to see people's faces when I pull up to a car show with a patina'ed car and open the hood to reveal a clean, shiny engine and engine compartment. But, I have a MOUNTAIN of work left to do before that happens.

[avgwarhawk]

If I had to bet on it Robert I would say your patina will be painted before long!!!

What weight gear oil did you use in the rear axle?

[SonOf2Buicks]

I have been following your thread.. Great job !!

[Buicknutty]

Looking good, Robert!

Keith

[jackofalltrades70]

Robert,

Looks as if you keep making leaps and bounds of progress. Before you know it, the car will be heading to its first show of the year! Matt

[smithbrother]

The FUN will be when it's time to PUT BACK TOGETHER.

Some of your pictures will come in HANDY, I bet.....LOL.

Keep on keeping on my friend,

Dale in Indy

P.S. I would love to see someone take every single piece/bolt/nut/bracket/engine part, and lay them ALL on a big white sheet.

That would be a LOT of pieces. hehehe.

Edited March 12, 2013 by smithbrother (see edit history)

[Guest shadetree77]

Thanks guys!

Chris, I used 80W-90. I got it at Wal-Mart. Here's a picture.

[avgwarhawk]

Thanks Robert. I just replaced my primeval goo in the axle and replaced with same viscosity gear oil. There is not much to go by other that straight 90 weight. Others have used the same gear oil as you and I without any issue. I actually noted a bit better performance. The old oil was very thick and black as coal.

[Guest shadetree77]

primeval goo....very thick and black as coal.

You got that right Chris! That was probably some of the nastiest stuff I've dealt with so far. Mine wasn't thick because it was diluted with trans. fluid from the torque ball/torque tube leak but MAN! Did it ever stink! That day I rolled the axle back and then pulled the plug out, so much pressure built up in it that it squirted ALL OVER me! I made the mistake of washing the clothes I was wearing that day with all of my other car work clothes and even after washing them 100+ times since then they all smell faintly of old gear oil. Nasty stuff.

By the way, the forecast calls for ample progress with a 99.9% chance of sore backs this weekend!

[avgwarhawk]

Yes sir, gear oil will stick with you for some time. Fortune for me I did not experience fluid pouring out when I took the filler cap off. Good indication I have no leakage from the manual transmission into the tube and finding it's way to the axle. Not that it matters to much as it is just more gear oil but will overfill the axle possibly creating higher pressures. At any rate, I plan on drilling a small hole in the torque tube to assure there is no manual transmission gear oil in the tube.

[Guest 70WildcatVert]

Loving this thread. Keep up the great work.

[Guest shadetree77]

Thanks 70Wildcat!

Well folks, the forecast for sore backs was definitely on the money. All weekend bent over the old Dynaflow has taken its toll on my poor back. I guess it's a good thing mother nature has decided that she's regressing to winter temps. for the foreseeable future. That will give my back time to rest! Who am I kidding?? I'm going to go nuts waiting on another warm spell for the next week!

I was once again joined by my Wife all weekend. We restored this old crusty hunk of Dynaflow to its former glory. She worked on one side while I tackled the other. We had a great time and I think it came out looking brand new. I wrestled with myself all weekend over what color to paint it. The consensus seems to be that these transmissions were unpainted when they left the factory. However, I found ample evidence to the contrary while cleaning this one up. Look for that evidence shortly in the "Buick General" section. I was leaning towards a flat gray color in the beginning. But, when we got to the store my Wife convinced me to go a little snazzier with a flat aluminum color. She made a very convincing argument in that, A-nobody's ever going to see it but me so why shouldn't I paint it how I want, B-Nobody even knows for sure what color these were originally, and C-Painting it this color would match the gas tank and give me a good color contrast under there against all of the black. She won me over and I bought two cans of VHT Flame Proof Flat Aluminum. It came out great! I've got some little detail work in mind that should make it really stand out too. More on that later.

Now that I've got it nice and clean it's time to pull that pump/converter and try my hand at replacing the seals. I wanted to clean it up and paint it first so that no crud would fall into it during the seal replacement. Unfortunately, that's going to have to wait a while. As I said, mother nature decided that winter isn't quite over here in Georgia. Until next time, enjoy those Buicks! Or rather, enjoy prepping those Buicks for Spring and Summer. Or, if you're as brave as a fellow I hear tell of by the name of Bernie somewhere up there in New York, get those suckers out and sling some hot oil anyway!

[smithbrother]

You TWO/THREE counting your Dad are doing GREAT.

Dale in Indy

[avgwarhawk]

I could swear Roberts wife is doing all the work. Robert is simply taking pictures.

Edit: With all the crud and goo coming off the car it should at least drop 500lbs and gain a few more miles per gallon!

Edited March 18, 2013 by avgwarhawk (see edit history)