Guest 65wildcatconvt Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 hello all- just a question... if i am welding up some holes in my buick wildcat trunk, should i remove the gas tank? may be a dumb question but the car is a driver now and i want to keep it a driver as i am fixing it up. i will gladly pull out the tank, just curious if its recommended for safety reasons. thank you for your time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim65Riv Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 If you don't, the car will let you know if you should have:eek: And I hope that you have a safe landing.I would remove it - it's not that big a job and it's a good idea to always error on the side of caution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
buick5563 Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Always marry somebody who appreciates your hobby......Oh sorry, I thought it said "Restoration Wedding question" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry Schramm Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 It is also a good time to check the gas tank for any areas of weaknesses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 65wildcatconvt Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 (edited) ha ha i had one of those marriages, a bad one. 48 years old and i can finally fix up a car i will be able to KEEP ha ha.summers are so short here in northern wisconsin, my trunk has 4 holes, one in each corner. i was thinking of fixing one hole each weekend and still being able to drive the car on nice days in may... if i pull the tank the car will be out of commission for a month. i want to start DRIVING the car so bad!!!but i dont want to blow it up lol. you guys are right, better safe than sorry.as for cleaning and painting under the tank i was going to pull it out and paint it and the trunk pan in a day... just want to drive... drive...drive the beast. it finally rained up here after the last road salt application ha ha Edited April 30, 2012 by 65wildcatconvt correct spelling (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BUICK RACER Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 One idea, you might pull the tank, and then make some patterns for patches, and put the tank back till the patches are made. I also suspect you will find that the holes are around the body mounts and there's more there to fix than meets the preliminary inspection. I patched the ex's '66 Wildcat GS Convt trunk about 19 yrs ago! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 65wildcatconvt Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 yes the holes are at the body mounts and are kind of a complicated affair to fix, especially for an amateur welder as myself- hence the question..i think i have to fab up metal, all kinds of bends and twists, as i cant find any restoration parts. it looks like it will take me some time...maybe i should drive it this summer the way it is and fix it in the fall but i dont really like the idea of driving it around with the rear body mounts rusted off and weak.its funny, the car and the rest of the trunk is pretty solid, even the trunk under the convertible top. just these 4 spots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 65wildcatconvt Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 thats a good idea buick racer, something to think about:).its amazing if a person throws a question out there sometimes people will come up with ideas you would not think of yourself in a million years:)time is so short these days, still have 2 kids at home with me, i have to cut 10 pickup loads of wood for next winter, having a grad party for my son in june and have to build a deck and finish some remodeling before then.thanks for listening to me whine ha ha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted April 30, 2012 Share Posted April 30, 2012 Drive it the way it is for the summer. As for the holes on the body mounts, if it hasn't flexed or sagged yet, chances are it will be okay for one more season. Then you can do it right after you put in the wood load for the winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wildcat1562 Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 always take it out, if you are working back there with the welderthey all have that problem with the trunk floor and the body mounts behind the wheelkeep at iti do not take it as a laughing matteri seen a guy burt to **** from this, when i worked at a salvage yard when i was youngthe guy would cut the gas tanks out with a tourchone day it was quit back there so i went back to see how he was doing, (i was the yard man), well he was not doing well at allburt, alive but burtand he wasn't screaming eitherjust on the ground, burnt, bad, i will rember that for the rest of my lifeit takes about an hour to take the tank outbut a second for it to light up, and that will last forevernot a stupid question, just one you needed answeredGreg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Harwood Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 You hear about bad things happening to people who didn't take as much care as they should have. Most of us figure that it'll happen to the "other guy." Well, to me, you're the "other guy." Take the tank out, don't take a chance.I agree with John up above--leave it alone for the summer and fix the whole trunk next winter when you have time to kill. I guarantee that the holes will GROW when you actually get in there and start chasing them with a welder. You can see the perforation, but the metal around it is paper thin as well, and as soon as you put the welder in there it will blow through. Look at my '41 Buick restoration, particularly my trunk repairs. It initially looked like I could just spot weld a few pinholes and be done. Not...Enjoy the car when you can, do the work when you can't! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 65wildcatconvt Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 thanks so much for everyones time and wisdom.i am leaning toward waitng until fall and doing the repairs over the winter, i can be an impatient person and i will probably do a better job if there are no time constraints. i can feel my stress level declining as i type this ha ha.one other question...as i will be repairing some trunk\body braces and mounting brackets that are kind of non-existent due to rust in some spots... how do i go about this... do i try and copy what was there and make it as close as possible and not worry about it?i dont want it to look like a hack job- i want the car for a driver, it has some bondo and will never be perfect, i will have less than 5k into it for a running and driving "20 footer"the sheet metal stuff is pretty straightforward just wondering about the braces and mounting brackets...my only other car body work fabricating experience was taking a 1987 subaru 4wd hatch back and cutting the back off of it, fabbing in a piece of 10 gauge steel and welding in a window frame from a subaru brat. basically making a hatchback car into a subaru brat pickup, if anyone remembers those... did it 5 years ago, it turned out well and i still have it today...i just dont want to mess up this buick wildcat convertible, i love this car and i dont want to hack it or make it worse:o Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 65wildcatconvt Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 as far as i can tell there are no reproduction body mount brackets and body brace parts available for 65 full size buicks right???do impala or pontiac full size body -trunk floor pan brace parts work?or am i on my own with my rudimentary fab skills... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 I would think everything is available but you just have to look harder for the Buick stuff. That being said the first thing I'd look for is a 65 GM Body manual. I know my 69 manual shows the dimensions of the mount holes for the various frames, and the Body Manual is for all the marquees of the GM line, not just the Buick. So from there you might reasonably conclude if the mounting holes are in the same place for various GM cars and thus the mounting bracketry may be similar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 65wildcatconvt Posted May 1, 2012 Share Posted May 1, 2012 holy cow i am glad i am asking these questions... i should drive the car this summer, do more research,,, possibly round up some parts and i would be able to do a better job of it over the winter.i didnt even think of that johnd. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Rob McDonald Posted May 2, 2012 Share Posted May 2, 2012 Wow, do I ever remember the Brat. I worked one summer for a shop whose go-fer truck was one of those. I've hated the sound of any Subaru four-cylinder ever since. Not to be entirely off-topic, that was just about the rustiest thing I ever drove. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted "Wildcat65" Nagel Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 Sounds like the typical rust area in the trunk. I've had to get these portions of the trunk cut out of cars and then welded into place. I used this image to show where I wanted it cut out I have a couple parts boxed up...I'll send a PM Ted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 65wildcatconvt Posted May 3, 2012 Share Posted May 3, 2012 ha ha you can see the ground there on my car ha ha.thanks Ted. good to hear from you:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lapham3 Posted May 12, 2012 Share Posted May 12, 2012 I've had good results with cutting/forming sheet metal and using the body panel adhesives in the trunk floors of some '65-6 cats-good luck! Dan Mpls. Mn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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