Restore my buick electra 1969 :)

[sebastienbuick]

8 hours ago, Ted "Wildcat65" Nagel said:

Moving along, great job!  

 

Thank you very much Ted !  

[sebastienbuick]

hello to all, here is the rest of the work on the Buick  

And so I continued with the grille of the rear window defroster box which I had repainted in its original color

 

 

With its screws

 

 

Then set up

 

 

Then as we saw together that the press stud screws were not original I did not put them back

 

 

Then then I took care of the small panels that go down along the bench

 

 

But as I was missing clips, the panels are not well fixed, so I ordered the clips and I am waiting to receive them

 

 

 

 

So I will come back to this step as soon as I have received the clips

 

I later received the screws for the interior strips

 

 

And I was able to reassemble the last rod from the top of the rear window tower

 

 

Then I took care of my interior sidelights, the chrome on the plastic started to come off, and I ordered this product which looks a lot like chrome that was recommended to me  

 

 

I applied the product with a brush and the rendering is not bad  

 

Before / after

 

 

For the bottle version they say that there is a drying time between 24 and 48 hours, but after a week they feel that the product is still soft and despite being self-smoothing and that we try to do it fast enough to avoid a recovery, we still see a recovery when you go over it as you can see below

 

 

And so I bought the version in spray paint so that there is no recovery

 

 

And the finish is great !  

 

 

 

 

They say that the spray product is dry to the core after about 4 hours, I let it dry for a week and a half and I felt that it was still not dry when handling (so you have to do be careful where you put your fingers in case it is not very dry)

 

Then reassemble and try  

 

 

[sebastienbuick]

Then I took care of the sun visors, and at the time they had stuck a mirror on the passenger side sun visor

 

 

Then once the glue or double-sided that had been put, there remains glue on it

 

 

 

But in the end the glue residues leave quite well just by scraping with the nail but we still see a spectrum, but I just saw that I don't have any photos :/

But as it does not show much and the fabric is in good condition and original, it will stay like that unless it really shocks.

 

Then once the fabrics have been cleaned, cleaning of the imitation leather (we can see clearly on the lower part on the "sausage")

 

Before / after

 

 

 

Then the chrome parts

 

 

 

Then cleaned

 

 

Then to finish, reassemble the new "tips" of the ends of the sun visors

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then the sun visors are finished  

 

 

 

Screw cleaning

 

 

And reassembly  

 

 

We can see the spectrum of the mirror on the passenger side, it's light but it's a shame especially since the fabric is in very good condition

 

 

I'll post more pictures soon  

[GARY F]

Your work looks great. i keep watching.

[95Cardinal]

Fantastic work, Sebastien!

[sebastienbuick]

9 hours ago, GARY F said:

Your work looks great. i keep watching.

6 hours ago, 95Cardinal said:

Fantastic work, Sebastien!

 

Thank you very much GARY F and 95Cardinal !!  

[sebastienbuick]

hello everyone, here's some news from this month's work on the Buick  

To start, I received the clips for the small rear panels

 

 

 

Reassembly, and this time everything is well clipped  

 

 

 

Then now that the rear part of the cabin is done, I took care of the dashboard.

On my original dashboard, they had at the time cut out the location of the car radio to put a new car radio there.

So a few years ago I bought in an American junkyard (CTC Auto Ranch) this dashboard which was mounted on an Electra

 

 

It is not in superb condition, there is almost no more chrome on almost all the surroundings of the small counters, the lower part is broken, some chips of black paint, it is dirty,...

 

 

 

 

I started by fixing what was broken. So after putting the broken part in place and then gluing with glue with a hardener, I made a cardboard template

 

 

 

Then I also made two other jigs on a fragile part to stiffen these supports

 

 

 

Then I do it again in sheet metal

 

 

Then apply a primer

 

 

Then in black paint

 

 

And set up reinforcements

 

 

 

 

 

[sebastienbuick]

Then after cleaning the dashboard, I took care of the black paint touch-ups

 

 

 

 

I started to do a test with this model paint but finally (I didn't take a picture of it), I did with another paint that was closer to the original

 

 

 

 

 

Then I redid all the surrounds in chrome

 

Masking

 

 

 

 

Then apply chrome paint

 

 

 

 

 

The dashboard is finished and it is ready to receive its instrumentation

 

Then I disassemble the original dashboard, it's quite easy to do, there are a few screws to remove then you have to disconnect everything

 

 

And here is the reason for me to change the dashboard, this big hole that had been made to put a new car radio in it

 

 

[sebastienbuick]

This is the engaged speed display system which is attached to the steering column.

In the high position it is on Park then as you lower it you go to Drive, ...

 

 

 

This is adjustable if the slider is not really in front of the engaged position

 

Now I can start dismantling the dashboard instruments to reassemble them on the new one.

And to start I disassemble the front with the rear window ventilation switch

 

 

Then cleaning

 

 

We can see that there is a hole that had been made at the time, and I try to plug it with a plastic plate that we find for sale at the end of the aisle in the DIY store

 

 

The result is not terrible

 

 

So I dig it a bit with a dremmel and I apply bodybuilder's putty

 

 

Then sanding and with a cutter blade I make small lines to imitate the pattern a little

 

 

Then painting as well as some chrome touch-up

The repair is still going a bit but it will still be better than it was

 

 

Then I took care of the ventilation opening, and for this only a good cleaning was necessary

 

 

And we can see its date of manufacture, February 19, 1969

 

 

Once that was also reassembled, I dismantled the plate and switch for the manual lighting of the rear pilot lights in the passenger compartment.

So cleaning and some chrome touch up

 

 

then I took care of the headlight switch block.

To remove this one you have to press this little button and gently pull the axis (by making it play a little while turning it) of the headlight controls

 

 

Then cleaning and applying contact cleaner while rotating and pulling

 

 

 

 

Now everything is disassembled on the original dashboard, all that's missing is the counter unit reassembled on the new one

 

 

 

[sebastienbuick]

So now the counter block

 

 

 

 

You can see its date of manufacture, December 30, 1968

 

 

 

The counter block works very well before, and I don't want to mess up or damage anything, so I won't expose the "shell" of the counter block for the shortbread

Then I take out the original sticker which was half off then I position it on thin double-sided to make a sticker again

 

 

 

The counter block works very well before, and I don't want to mess up or damage anything, so I won't expose the "shell" of the counter block for the shortbread

Then I take out the original sticker which was half off then I position it on thin double-sided to make a sticker again

 

 

Then change the fasteners

 

 

 

Then dismantling the front of the meter block

 

 

I wanted to remove the Speed Alert button to be able to clean the glass, but this little button is well fixed and is made of hard plastic

 

 

Then we can see the different parts that there are in the counters

 

 

And we can see that black paint is missing as well as white paint on the frame of the right part

 

 

So put in black and white paint

 

 

 

On this part, the red pads (engine light) are simply placed on these square cardboard tubes, and the bulb is inside the cardboard

 

 

 

 

Then clean the window by lifting it gently, taking care not to damage the Speed Alert button which has remained attached to it, and reassemble

 

 

And reassembly

 

 

 

Then I took care of the little gear lever position pull tab

After sanding, painting

 

 

Gray for the zipper

 

 

And black for support

 

 

 

And set up

 

Then here is the "writing" lighting system on the dashboard (Wiper, Lights, ...), it was fiber optic! already at the time!  

 

 

The socket has a little burnt but I will replace these bulbs with yellow LEDs to avoid heating the sockets.

Otherwise for the principle, there is a second socket with a bulb which comes fixed on this one, and at the bottom of this socket there is a "dial" which is connected to these fiber threads, and the Light arrives at the " lettering" bitch has this fiber  

 

 

I will put the rest of the work on the dashboard tomorrow  

[neil morse]

Chapeau, Sebastien!  There is so much plastic in this car compared to older cars (like my '41) -- I'm amazed at what you have been able to do to reconstruct it!  Keep up the good work.

 

Neil

[sebastienbuick]

3 hours ago, neil morse said:

Chapeau, Sebastien!  There is so much plastic in this car compared to older cars (like my '41) -- I'm amazed at what you have been able to do to reconstruct it!  Keep up the good work.

 

Neil

 

Thanks very much Neil !  
It's true that there are a lot of parts on these dashboards, and it takes time for all of them to be renovated

[sebastienbuick]

Hello everyone, here is the rest of the work  

So to continue, I took care of the clock that I never saw working

 

 

To disassemble it, use a small wool key to unscrew the small cylinder-shaped screw inside the button

 

 

 

 

Then then with a small clamp, you have to lift the "ears" on the sides

 

 

Then all that remains is to lift the rear part

 

 

This clock is a mechanical clock with an electric winder, the coil which is connected to 12v triggers the winder and the clock operates more or less 1 min until the winder is again in contact with the coil, which re-engages it , ...

Here is the crown, we can see the two studs which must put in contact to re start the clock

 

 

Here the coil

 

 

This part is the gear system to set the clock manually

 

 

The whole gear

 

 

Then the "pendulum", the part that is constantly turning to make the clock work.

 

 

to start, with my soldering iron I recharge the contactor pads of the coil and the winder while off

 

 

 

 

Then I test the continuity, and it's good

 

 

 

Then the mechanism, the problem with these clocks is that if they have had a downtime or if they work for a while with an empty battery, they seize up.

And the very simple solution is to put fine oil (for sewing machine, ..) in the gear system and gradually with the finger we activate the pendulum of the clock (thinking to manually start the winder) and you can see an improvement very quickly

 

 

 

 

I'll try to put a video, but otherwise once that's done, the clock works very well and the electric winder also works very well  

 

Then cleaning the glass which is bleached and slightly rough

 

 

Despite the product, the glass is bleached in the mass and the product will not do anything better, on the other hand there are no more micro scratches and the glass is very smooth on both sides

 

 

Then after cleaning the button and the assembly, reassemble

 

 

All this is very well explained by this person who made this video, and I did exactly what he said, I just re-soldered the contact points that were not said in the video  

 

 

 

[sebastienbuick]

Hello everyone, here is the rest  

So I then continued with the heating control box

 

 

And we can see that the thin layer of adhesive aluminum takes off in the corners

 

 

Cleaning and application of a colorless varnish on the metal part of the mechanism

 

 

 

Then after dismantling the facade and regluing the corners, I redid the chrome surround

 

 

 

 

 

Then as you can see, some inside of the letters are missing, and I redid it in paint

 

 

 

Then then reassemble on the dashboard (but I don't have a photo)

Then I reassembled a small piece that I had wanted to put on for a long time, the serial number surround  

 

 

 

Then cleaning the steering wheel, Before / After

 

 

As well as the chrome lever (I do not have the others in photo)

 

 

[sebastienbuick]

Then it's sandblasting of different parts

And to start, sanding of the rail / mounting bracket from the dashboard to the frame

 

 

 

 

 

Then sandblast the accelerator pedal support

 

 

 

 

 

Sandblast heater control box bracket 

 

 

 

 

 

Then application of a clear varnish on the rail / support of the dashboard and the support of the heating control box

 

 

 

 

And application of zinc-based primer (light gray color) for the accelerator pedal support

 

 

 

 

Then then application of black paint on this support but I do not have a photo :/ 

I'll post the rest of the pictures soon . 

 

[usnavystgc]

I love watching all that you are doing with this car.  I only wish I had the patience and skill to do the same.  Please keep the pics and updates coming.  I don't comment much but, I read every post.

[sebastienbuick]

13 hours ago, usnavystgc said:

I love watching all that you are doing with this car.  I only wish I had the patience and skill to do the same.  Please keep the pics and updates coming.  I don't comment much but, I read every post.

 

Thank you very much usnavystgc, it's nice
It is with pleasure that I share the evolution of the work on the Buick
I will put (this evening if I have time) the photos of the rest of the work, with the car radio continuing . 
I am currently looking for the turntable with the "Antenna / Rear def" switch, I am in contact with someone, I hope he still has this part available so that I can buy it  

Edited April 1, 2022 by sebastienbuick (see edit history)

[sebastienbuick]

Hello everyone, here is the rest of the work on the Buick.

So now that the dashboard is finished, I took care of the part behind the dashboard.

So after some preparation, paint the dashboard in color on the frame rails as well as the underside of the fixed part of the dashboard, paint the left rails black as well as the steering column support, clean the wires and lugs, application of a colorless varnish on the part which was bare metal to keep this aspect, painting on some elements and I kept the original insulation which is still good

 

 

 

 

 

Then I took care of the car radio, and for the record, as we have seen above, at the time they had cut the dashboard to fit a more recent car radio and a few years ago I had bought these two Buick car radios.

The one on the left is the standard car radio in "AM" frequency with sonomatic writing, then the one on the right is the optional car radio with its second amplifier on top with the "AM" and "FM" function.

 

 

I took these two car radios to a professional who restores old car stereos, and I took them to him when I started restoring the Buick, 6 and a half years ago, and I just got them back there. barely 1 month ago.

When I brought these car radios with the aim of repairing the one in AM and FM, I had no news for 3 years, and it was I who contacted them to get news (I think I had left him enough time to look anyway), and he tells me that he's dead, that the amp above is also dead, that it's a real gas plant, that he can't find a wiring diagram and that the only solution was to remove all the electronics inside to put that of a recent car radio and to adapt the buttons if possible.

I tell him that I don't really agree with this modification, and he tells me that he will therefore take it to a friend to specialize in American car radios.

I let 1 year pass and I contact him again and he tells me that his colleague is still looking for the breakdown, ... and that for 3 more years.

Then I contact him again at the beginning of 2022 and I got them back about 1 month ago.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I plug it into a battery and it doesn't work.

So I start taking it apart to see.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then I start to test some elements with the multimeter and I realize that there is no continuity to the big button / potentiometer of ON / OFF and volume.

All while leaving my multimeter plugged in, I but contact cleaner while turning the ON / OFF button and as and when there were measurements displayed on the screen of the multimeter.

Then I did this for 10 minutes and I really felt that the pimple was freer than before.

Then after 1h30 of work on this car radio...

 

 

 

( How do I post videos on the forum ? )

 

The car radio works very well  .
I left it running for more than an hour and everything works fine, although according to some people it was dead.

[sebastienbuick]

Now that it works, I take care of the facade of the car radio

And as we can see, in FM function there are stations displayed but not in AM function (well it depends)

 

 

Dismantling, and we can see that it is very dirty and that the station sticker is peeling off the roll

 

 

 

 

Cleaning and placement of the original sticker on very thin double-sided tape to redo the sticker

 

 

Then with matte black paint, I paint the places where there is no paint.

 

 

 

Then disassembly of the roller which is fixed by both ends and is connected to a rope for changing stations, then installation of the sticker

 

 

 

Then reassembly

 

 

 

Then remove the glass support and the glass from the front of the car radio

 

 

 

Then sanding and application of black paint on the support

 

 

Then cleaning of the chrome of the facade of the car radio and black painting of the AM and FM frequency selector

 

 

Then clean the window

 

 

And reassembly of the glass with its support

 

 

Then reassembly

 

 

I recovered the chrome buttons from the other car radio which was in very good condition, but I could not recover the top left one in the photo above.

So I will have to re-chrome it

Then I glued the original stickers which are starting to peel off.

 

 

 

 

 

[sebastienbuick]

Then with a small brush and black paint I rewrote the reference that we no longer see too much

 

 

Then for the protection I put a transparent film on top

 

 

 

 

And set up

 

 

Then I did the same for the one above, but this one is in bad condition

 

 

 

 

Then I continued with the car radio buttons

 

 

You can see the chrome peeling off

 

 

 

chipping and sanding

 

 

 

Then application of Go Chrome

 

 

 

Then cleaning the other buttons

 

 

The dashboard is now finished and ready to be reassembled, I will put the car radio in place once the dashboard is reassembled

 

 

Then reassemble the dashboard with the car radio (the buttons are not yet in place because the Go Chrome is not yet dry and I wanted to reassemble the four buttons at the same time)

 

 

 

 

Then reassemble the buttons of the car radio, it's a shame for the glass of the clock which depending on the lighting it is white, but as I said, the product did nothing because it is in the mass, the clock is reassembled and the glass is crimped with the frame, so I will leave it like this

 

 

 

then, I wanted to change the filament bulbs of the fiber optic lighting of the dashboard by LEDs to avoid heating the base

And when I bought these bulbs I did not pay attention that their lighting was white (yet it is written in gord  )

 

 

so I painted it yellow to see  

 

 

I put a thin layer, and well the result is that it lights up yellow like my original bulbs and just as well

And then connecting the loudspeaker and antenna (the antenna is not yet electronically connected and I therefore unfolded it by plugging it directly into a battery)

And try  

 

[sebastienbuick]

I can't upload a video :/ .
But otherwise that's good it works   , and I realized that the dashboard speaker does not work, I put another one plugged into it and it works so my original speaker is dead .

So disassemble the loudspeaker

 

 

And I found there placed on the grid, a piece of 10 cents ( Franc French )  from 1969  

 

 

Then here is the original speaker that no longer works

 

 

 

 

 

 

The small problem (which may not be one) is that the only support for this speaker is this support on the rectangular magnet, and the new speakers have a round magnet and then there is this foam with its mesh which is fixed above is made the total height of the loudspeaker once in place.

I will most certainly put a brand new speaker as a friend showed me on the internet but I hope that the original support can be adapted to it, and I will need it in 10 Ohm as originally.

And I'm currently working on connecting my telescopic antenna. There is the original wiring with the socket behind the dashboard but I don't have the right plate, I will have to replace the "rear def" plate with an "antenna and rear def".

A colleague helped me found the right plate but the Antenna switch is missing, which is the same as for the electric hoods (it has exactly the same visual as that of the rear def, with the difference that when you press on the left or to the right of the switch, it returns to neutral on its own when released.

 

So right now I'm waiting to receive my turntable, I'll soon buy a speaker for the front and I'm looking for the Antenna button  

 

That's it for now  

[EmTee]

As usual, beautiful work on the dashboard reconstruction.  Even radio repair -- there's apparently no job on this car that you can't conquer! 

[sebastienbuick]

5 hours ago, EmTee said:

As usual, beautiful work on the dashboard reconstruction.  Even radio repair -- there's apparently no job on this car that you can't conquer! 

 

Thank you very much EnTee, it's a pleasure  
I am currently looking for the switch for the antenna which is fixed on the plate on the dashboard.
I found the right turntable on the internet but I'm missing the antenna switch, if you know someone who has this for sale, I'm interested

[old-tank]

18 hours ago, sebastienbuick said:

I can't upload a video 😕

Post on Youtube and then supply a link.

[sebastienbuick]

2 hours ago, old-tank said:

Post on Youtube and then supply a link.

 

A ok, I thought I could upload a video directly to the forum.
Thanks for the information  

[EmTee]

18 hours ago, sebastienbuick said:

I am currently looking for the switch for the antenna which is fixed on the plate on the dashboard.

Is this what you are looking for?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3738435020

 

[sebastienbuick]

10 hours ago, EmTee said:

Is this what you are looking for?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/3738435020

 

 

Hello, I found and bought the right plate that I need with the Antenna and Rear def functions.
But when I bought the turntable, the seller told me that he had just sold the Antenna switch for a person who needed it for an electric soft top for his convertible.
Here is the turntable that I bought (on the photos the turntable is complete)

 

 

 

 

 

I still bought this turntable, but now I'm looking for the Antenna switch.
And if I can't find it, I won't have a choice and I'll have to buy another plate to get the switch back.

[sebastienbuick]

Good evening everyone, here is some news from the work  .

A few months ago I took the door panels to a friend to restore them for me.

They were stained on the upper part at the level of the reinforcement, and they were a little damaged

Inside the housing where the interior handle is placed in the door panels to open the door, there is a screw to fix the panel. But over time this location breaks and the panel no longer holds by this fixing point.

So we saw with him and his brother, to make thin metal panels to put it inside this housing for the consolidated (like a kind of large washer)

Then then I went there to make an acrylic joint around the four plates

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then he and his brother used a device to get the original shade (after cleaning them thoroughly), and after several tries they got the right shade.

 

 

Then they cleaned the carpet on the lower part of the panels, cleaned the chrome strips, repaired an armrest and then painted the original color of the door panels, as well as the plastic part where the armrest is placed with the instrumentation, which had yellowed

(sorry for the blurry picture)

 

 

 

 

I will reassemble it later, because of my seal / exterior window seal problem, but at least they are ready 

[sebastienbuick]

Then, a big thank you to @JohnD1956 who offered me this clock so that I could recover the glass, and the antenna switch.
I am really very happy, thank you John !  

 

 

Dismantling the clock glass

 

 

And cleaning

 

 

 

disassembly of my original clock

 

 

Then reassembly with the new glass and comparison between the two

 

 

 

then I took care of the "Antenna / Rear Def" board, removing the rear window defroster switch

 

 

And application of chrome paint on the borders

 

 

then reassemble the switches

 

 

Then reassembly

 

 

 

 

I then connected all that but my new electric antenna does not have the same connection and I will have to put a diode for it to work, but I have not done it yet.

I will therefore have to make this small modification to the antenna in the trunk and change my dashboard speaker so that it is finished and move on to another step.

And at the moment I'm also working in sheet metal on a wheel arch of a friend's 69 Cadillac Eldorado.

That's the news  

[GARY F]

Great work.

[JohnD1956]

Looks great. Glad it worked out for you. 

[sebastienbuick]

9 hours ago, GARY F said:

Great work.

 

Thank you GARY !  

[sebastienbuick]

6 hours ago, JohnD1956 said:

Looks great. Glad it worked out for you. 

 

Yes I'm happy  , the glass is superb, and the switch too!  

[JohnD1956]

Many thanks to Courtil for sending me three French auto magazines. I am surprised and anxious to practice the lessons  I learned back in the 7th grade French Language classes.  It may take a while but everything we learn has a way of popping up eventually.  Now where did I leave my class notes from then?  

 

Thank you again Courtil. And keep up the great work on that gorgeous Electra. 

[sebastienbuick]

15 hours ago, JohnD1956 said:

Many thanks to Courtil for sending me three French auto magazines. I am surprised and anxious to practice the lessons  I learned back in the 7th grade French Language classes.  It may take a while but everything we learn has a way of popping up eventually.  Now where did I leave my class notes from then?  

 

Thank you again Courtil. And keep up the great work on that gorgeous Electra. 

 

Thank you , it is with pleasure that I sent you these books   .
Happy reading, and thanks again for the Buick clock and switch  

[sebastienbuick]

Hello, this weekend of May 28 and 29 I went to a car show in the south of France.
Here is the link of the subject if you want to see the pictures  

 

 

And right now I'm restoring the plastic panels and the carpet that is under the dashboard (the panels with the large shutters for ventilation) of the Buick, I'll put pictures soon  

[EmTee]

That was quite a car show!  Large number of cars of every type.  It was interesting to see other US police cars similar to the one you have.

[sebastienbuick]

31 minutes ago, EmTee said:

That was quite a car show!  Large number of cars of every type.  It was interesting to see other US police cars similar to the one you have.

 

Hello and thank you EmTee  , I regularly post photos of car exhibitions that I do in the south of France, and it is with pleasure that I share these photos  
Yes I exhibited my 1978 Dodge Monaco police and my brother exhibited his 1984 Peugeot 205 GTI 1.6L.
And there was a second police car, this very beautiful Chevrolet Caprice that we could see

[sebastienbuick]

hello, here is another topic that I just did on an American car show in France that I just did this weekend  

 

 

[sebastienbuick]

hello to all, here is some news since that time  .

So concerning the work, I was about to change the dashboard speaker which was burned out and find a solution to make my new telescopic antenna work.

While waiting to find and order the loudspeaker, I continued by the small panels of the ventilation nozzles under the dashboard next to the front doors.

As you can see in the photos, they are not in superb condition, the plastic is very very fragile on the small part that goes up, and on one panel the piece is even missing

 

 

 

 

 

 

And the panel on the other side is whole but very fragile too (the plastic crumbles on the nail)

 

 

 

So I have to repair that plastic and consolidate it, so I tried with fiberglass.

I do not know this product and I have never used it, and I bought this kit in a DIY store

 

 

So after having thoroughly cleaned and degreased the support, first test on a part to consolidate the plastic

 

 

Then while it dries, I apply some on the other panel to consolidate it as well.