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My Wife's 1968 Wildcat convt


Buicknutty

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22 hours ago, Buicknutty said:

 So as I'm progressing along with the car I'm always trying to think ahead a bit, so I'm ready when we get to the next stage and this is about the top.

 

I was wondering about what extra measures can be taken to keep it a bit quieter inside? Typical things like extra insulation on the floor, then there is usually noise from the trunk area, and the thin material of the top itself.

 The Convertible Top Guys offer and "headliner" which goes in between the first and second bows, and it's supposed to improve the appearance, which is nice, and it's also supposed to reduce the noise.

 Does anyone have any first hand experience with this?  What has anyone done to improve the sound deadening in these converts?

I will of course replace the rubber door and window seals and try my best to get everything to seal up properly.

Thank you All.

Keith

Hi Keith,

I found with my ‘63 Skylark convertible that replacing the door weatherstripping made a huge improvement to noise level. (One was MIA) And adding good under hood insulation (again MIA) made it a quiet driver with top down.

 

Top up was definitely much noisier.

 

Just my two bobs worth

Rodney 😀😀😀😀😀😀😀

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 Yes, I do intend to install all new seals and try to get everything to fit well. With most of this stuff being original it's in pretty poor shape to start with, and with so much work being done on the car most of them have to come off anyway.

 Thank you all very much for your comments! They are greatly appreciated!

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21 hours ago, dship said:

My vote is for the Sherwood Green.

 I think we have a winner! Here's a pic with it outside in the sun with the Sherwood Green, same code as Forest Green, on it. Everyone likes it, and more importantly so does my wife!

 Now, silly me, I want to get a quart and do that whole side! This is a single stage urethane but I am intending to do it in base/clear. I did my '41 in base clear mostly because I knew my conditions and techniques weren't the greatest, though the new shop is way better than the old one and my technique is better too I still think I'll do it in two stage.

ElectraPaintOutside.jpg.712436e1f180e7e65e0091243edb01cb.jpg

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

 One little thing I needed was a new power window master switch, so I ordered one off of the 'bay and it arrived the other day and it looks gorgeous! The chrome seems to be perfect and it even works, well at least the two windows which are in the car right now.

 The only problem this is now the best part of the interior! The door panel will clean up a bit too.

 

The big news is we just received the exhaust system from Waldron's, but I'm still in trust on that as I haven't had time to open the boxes up!

 

Here's a couple of the switch.

Keith

 

WildcatWindSwitch2.jpg.e31523f71c02cbe4c080db924fd429ad.jpgWildcatWindSwitch1.jpg.b1d621297ef5e60bdc4fba0378783bd9.jpg

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Here are a few shots of the hood, just before we took it to be sandblasted. The top seems to be better than the underside, due to it sitting around so much I suppose. I did wonder if the area under the insulation might be bad if it was holding more moisture but it didn't and it's nearly perfect. There's a bit of bondo in the front of the hood but we will see how everything is once I get it back! The edges which hold the insulation in have quite a bit of corrosion on them, I'm hoping they don't fall apart!

WildcatHoodBot.jpg.4794a8d2cffa6eef772d5b972a87bbba.jpgWildcatHoodBot3.jpg.589b8aab70c4b5e5cc39302a7dadef51.jpgWildcatHoodBotClose.jpg.1e55455a48d9ddc7f61282c7380d14ea.jpg

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2 hours ago, old-tank said:

:o Hope it is just the bottom bracing?

 From what I can see it just seems to be that area, the guy said he would go easy on it. They have experience doing various sheet metal car parts, so we will see!

I'll post some pics when I get it, around two weeks he said.

 

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 Well Folks we are still waiting for the hood to come back, hopefully in another week or so. In meantime I got the doors primed. One needed some bodywork due to a dent, but no rust on either one. These are replacements as the originals are pretty rusty.

 Otherwise there has been to many other things going to make much other progress on the car.

 

 

Door2NoPaint.jpg.db2b9e02c11097b217d3574e5bce29b2.jpgDoor1NoPaint.jpg.ca41df56d23adfb9a3127883b450f7e1.jpgDoorRtPaint.jpg.1e8258deb560643e66d96eda54880b75.jpgDoorLftPaint.jpg.09f2a87618ead137c31b257fb60972da.jpg

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On 9/1/2023 at 8:16 PM, Buicknutty said:

Here are a few shots of the hood, just before we took it to be sandblasted. The top seems to be better than the underside, due to it sitting around so much I suppose. I did wonder if the area under the insulation might be bad if it was holding more moisture but it didn't and it's nearly perfect. There's a bit of bondo in the front of the hood but we will see how everything is once I get it back! The edges which hold the insulation in have quite a bit of corrosion on them, I'm hoping they don't fall apart!

WildcatHoodBot.jpg.4794a8d2cffa6eef772d5b972a87bbba.jpgWildcatHoodBot3.jpg.589b8aab70c4b5e5cc39302a7dadef51.jpgWildcatHoodBotClose.jpg.1e55455a48d9ddc7f61282c7380d14ea.jpg

 

Won't the sand get in between the two sheet metal pieces of the hood and be a big problem or does your sandblast shop have a method to extract compacted sand. Any retained sand can collect moisture and then rust.

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15 hours ago, Twisted Shifter said:

 

Won't the sand get in between the two sheet metal pieces of the hood and be a big problem or does your sandblast shop have a method to extract compacted sand. Any retained sand can collect moisture and then rust.

They tell me they are aware of the potential issue and will take care. I'm hoping it will be alright, without having to resort to a lot of extra work.

This was the reason I avoided the dip and strip chemical method. There are potential issues no matter which method chosen I think.

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  • 1 month later...

 After another hiatus, things are moving a bit on the car again. We are expecting to get the hood back tomorrow morn, so after a close look and I'll see all it's sins!

 

 We also pulled the driveshaft crossmember off to facilitate some other work, but these mounts which go on the end of it, and bolt onto the frame are in rather poor shape. I have not been able to come up with replacements, or even the proper name for these things.

 Is anyone able to help me on this?

 

 

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 I got the hood back this morning, as expected some of the underside parts where the insulation was sitting did blow through, but the rest of it looks quite decent. Sorry folks I forgot to take a pic of the underside before I flipped it over to do the topside.

 Progress is being made! There are a number of tiny dents and imperfections on the surface and small dent in the nose, not uncommon. But it's otherwise in quite decent shape!

 

 

CatHoodPrime.jpg.3fd9adb7413c6a0d9a953b111590dd3b.jpg

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  • 2 months later...

 I am always so bad about updating this thread. The work is progressing on the 'Cat, albeit slowly for one reason or another. Mostly it's nothing all that sexy, just slugging grinding down welds, stripping old the undercoating off, then finding yet another bad spot.

This poor old thing! A beautiful car that time and the elements have nearly destroyed. Though we are nearly finished everything structural from to the firewall and will paint it top and bottom soon. My son has been a great help with the hard stuff as I'm doing some of the more fussy body work.

 I am so looking forward to installing some of the new things which have been sitting on the shelf, in some cases for several years now.

 A friend of mine in the area who is a good mechanic and an old car guy too, might do the rest of the steering for me this winter, which would be awesome.

 He works in a country shop almost in the middle of nowhere with minimal heat, so I've suggested on some cold days come to mine and do the ball joints and related work for me in relative comfort.

 

 My place is in a huge tobacco growing area, due to the soil conditions and they cure it using natural gas ovens, they call "Kilns" so although I'm out there too I am able to have natural gas furnaces in my shop.

 No pics today, you folks will have to trust me, but I'll try to post some soon!

 Keith

 

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Thanks for the update.  What's the plan for the driveline?  Are you going to rebuild the engine, trans and rear axle, or are they good enough to just clean-up and reseal for now?  Did you separate the body from the frame?

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6 hours ago, EmTee said:

Thanks for the update.  What's the plan for the driveline?  Are you going to rebuild the engine, trans and rear axle, or are they good enough to just clean-up and reseal for now?  Did you separate the body from the frame?

  The drive line needs a bit more work. The engine is still good, runs well, no smoke and has good compression. The timing chain was rather loose so a little while ago I replaced it, along with the timing chain cover to take an updated front seal and freshen the cavity the oil pump gears run in.

 At the time I also removed the oil pan to clean and check things in there, and all looked good after a nice cleanup.

 The oil pressure is very good at 40 lbs+ and no leaks, so far at least.

 

 The trans is slipping and when very cold (like today) simply won't work till some heat gets into it, so it needs going through for sure.

 With the rear axle all it seems to need is re sealing of the pinion and perhaps wheel seals whilst I'm at it to prevent (I hope) issues once it gets on the road.

 

 The steering box seals are leaking a little bit, though the gears are tight.

 

This brings up a question for the bunch here. I have read elsewhere these steering boxes will interchange with other models, and the variable ratio ones which will give a better on centre feel, and generally give better road feel.

 Does anyone have experience with this? If so I'd appreciate your thoughts.

 Keith

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 To continue a bit about the body restoration. At the time when I started it I was really afraid to take the body off of the frame, though that would have been the better course of action, and easier to do some things too. I did lift the body off of the frame of my '41 Roadmaster in my large one car garage in the city house, but it's a coupe and stronger. With no structure to the top, and the amount of rust I was afraid it would get twisted and then never fit right again.

 Now with way better facilities, a lot more outdoor space and no nosy neighbours not to mention a bit more experience I would likely take the body off.

 

 

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30 minutes ago, Buicknutty said:

Now with way better facilities, a lot more outdoor space and no nosy neighbours not to mention a bit more experience I would likely take the body off.

You're right to worry about flex when separating the body from the frame.  Particularly given that it's a convertible, you'll want to add some lateral and cross-bracing in and between the door openings to keep things from moving once off of the frame.  Seeing your other projects, I'm sure you know what has to be done to make it successful!  ;)

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 Here are a few pics of some of the recent work. We took the trunk lid off to better facilitate the work on it, and to clean up the gutter the weather strip fits into.

 You can see the clean steel which was under the hinges, and the blue paint which wasn't covered by the shop when they did the red.

 Also I took it outside before the weather closed in on us and sandblasted the tail of the quarter panel, you can see a bit of brass from the factory assembly too!

 

 

WildcatTailNoPnt.jpg.ad5578947898fffacb8b92fa69fef1a4.jpgWildcatTail2NoPnt.jpg.a449537fef257a27b05452101005344f.jpgWildcatLid1.jpg.e5d48201917cf918f59cc2dec37d13f9.jpgWildcatTrunkMountpoint.jpg.dadf74b407110ee88f976519f8198cd4.jpg

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 Here is the trunk lid as it is tonight. Stripped and primed. The right back side has an old repair and I'm working on a patch for it and I want to at least have it close to the correct shape before I cut it out.

 The original is still there under the patch, which was pretty standard procedure. It looks like they brazed it in, then beat it into shape.

 I'm hoping I can do a neater one! It's a tricky compound curve so we shall see!

 

 CatTrunkBot.jpg.1eb8a79c65ea5fe8807afa807b0a4b37.jpgCatTrunkClose1.jpg.8939f2a09bb5ad778eace3b5edaec5b5.jpgTrunkTopFull.jpg.82dd350bae6f2fa0b911c0fe9e626fe0.jpgTrunkTopClose.jpg.bacce2109196ff87db7d7fe05b252847.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...

Your trunk lid reminds me of the one I rebuilt on a friend's 1968 Cadillac Eldorado .

sanding and priming

 

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during the works

 

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priming

 

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and painting :) 

 

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It's a bit of work, but it's doable :) .

Good luck to you :) 

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 This was one of today's projects, sandblasting the brackets which hold the front bumper on. After a bit of blasting these thicker spots in the original paint appeared, and they are just where I was going to hand them to paint them again myself. So it looks like I'm doing the paint much the same way as the factory did way back.

 I thought it would be interesting to document this before I finish the blasting and painting.

 Progress is being made on the girl!

 

WildcatBrack1.jpg.da7dd0e952b6582600e7ec299cd8f034.jpgWildcatBrack2.jpg.5af57fa20cf127d3bae4ff9765d90037.jpg

 

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10 hours ago, Buicknutty said:

So it looks like I'm doing the paint much the same way as the factory did way back.

I wonder whether they might have been dipped originally...

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19 hours ago, Buicknutty said:

 That's fabulous work Sebastien! Mine is now looking much better too. This is rather tricky work, but with patience and careful welding doable.

 

 

Thank you so much ! :)
A I'm glad to know that your trunk lid is also in good condition :)
Good luck for the future, this Buick is going to be very beautiful when it is finished ! :) 

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