1960 Buick suspension and drive train finish

[Bob Engle]

I've pulled the differential so I can pull the transmission to fix leaks.  The differential shows no sign of ever having been painted.  The backing plates show cadmium finish on the mounting area to the differential.  

 

What is the correct finish for the springs, differential, track bar?

 

Bob Engle

 

 

[buick man]

…. Well hope this helps you.  Regarding my California built Roadmaster 1957, when I got it in 2010 it had been sitting in an elderly ladies garage in L.A. California not driven since 1970 with just shy of 60,000 miles and spent it's entire life in rust free southern california.   The car was manufactured in L.A. as well.  So with those qualifiers stated, there was no rust on the frame or anywhere on the torque tube, axle, springs etc.  Do not know if they followed the same recipe in other state GM manufacturing plants but the following is correct for my California built 1957. Oh, BTW -  I also  have a Texas built 1957 model 75 Roadmaster with 58.000 miles and the under carriage and aforementioned components appear the same in treatment as my California built Roadmaster. The following is therefore factory correct:

 

The torque tube and all of it's associated apertures and fittings were not painted.  It does however have assembly line check status marks of yellow, blue and red strips found at the transmission end of the torque tube and then again at the end of the torque tube at the input differential housing just before the rear axle.  This differential carrier housing is painted in the factory brown/red semi gloss enamel.  ( Note:  Enamel and not rat crap can primer as many you see, this is incorrect ) .  The axle and the transverse stabilizer bar are NOT painted as well.  The rear springs themselves as far as I can tell on my coupe appear to have been gloss black enamel yet as on my other R.M. 75 they appear to be been gold cad plated like the backing plates; The brake/wheel backing plates are factory gold cadmium plated.  The 2 foreword truss bars that go from each corner of the outer axle housing to the forward end of the torque tube just before the rear of the transmission are not painted as well.  All the fasteners, bolts and nuts are all silver cadmium plated.  Here are a few photos of my coupe that I happen to have handy right now on this computer. 

 

Edit:  Oh, the carrier photo laid out next to the boxes is not mine, but I posted it to show the correct representation of the brown/red color. Although it appears to be primer it is not.

Edited October 22, 2016 by buick man (see edit history)

[EmTee]

Wow -- you would never see unpainted steel that clean in a 3 year-old eastern car!

[Bob Engle]

Thanks For the great photos.  This is how I thought they had been from the factory, but a number of people have told me they were chassis black.  It will be tougher to restore this way.  I will will get the parts shot blasted to give the smooth steel finish that is not obtainable from sand blasting.

 

Bob Engle

[NTX5467]

Thanks for those historically significant pictures AND the mention of the production ID paint marks!!!

 

I'm surprised at the "bare metal" on a vehicle which saw many sales in "the rust belt".  Possibly it was a higher-grade of metal than normal cold-rolled steel?  I suspect, also, that assembly line workers also wore gloves as the oils from their fingers would have left "prints" on the metal which would later attract dirt and possible corrosion from skin oils.

 

There are several "chassis black" colors.  The "chassis black" I feel is most accurate is actually GM Glossy Black Engine Paint.  Rather than the "hard gloss" of the chassis black paint I've seen in the restoration industry, think "satiny black as on metal air cleaner housings of the 1970s".  It does come in a spray can, but I've also carefully sprayed it into a smaller glass bottle and then brushed it on (with an artist's brush).  It also is a pretty accurate match for what GM used on rear axle housings, engine brackets, and similar "black" items . . . at least in the 1970s era and very possibly earlier, from what I recall seeing in prior times (before we started worrying about those things).

 

Back in the 1990s, I read in a regional Mustang Club newsletter about the adventures of several club members at their national meet that year (in Atlanta, I believe)  They mentioned the pains they took to correctly and accurately restore the Mustang they took down there for "high-level" judging.  During the judging, rain started.  This was a concern due to the "bare metal" on several underbody components.  "Surface rust" would surely happen, but they took solace in that OTHERS would be in the same situation . . . damp bare metal, so they felt that any points deduction would be minimal, if at all.  Clearcoating the bare metal was NOT allowed in that class, as it was incorrect for "bare metal".  Also, by observation, the "cast blast" color of paint is not accurate, either.

 

Thanks again for those pictures!

 

NTX5467

[old-tank]

I use Duplicolor Bumper Coating (FB106 Gray Bumper) for my steel finished parts. It is durable, affordable and locally available. This was one of those accidental discoveries: I was looking for something close in my collection of rattle cans and found that I could not tell the difference between a painted part and one that was media blasted.

[buick man]

11 hours ago, Bob Engle said:

Thanks For the great photos.  This is how I thought they had been from the factory, but a number of people have told me they were chassis black.  It will be tougher to restore this way.  I will will get the parts shot blasted to give the smooth steel finish that is not obtainable from sand blasting.

 

Bob Engle

Bob: Glad it could be of some help to you.  BTW: If you are considering blasting the metal surfaces,  then be very sure to use only glass bead # 9 followed by bead # 7.  Do not use crushed glass and never use garnet sand or black beauty etc. as these WILL profile the metal with a no return to normality fate.  To preserve cleaned and freshly beaded metal simply then wipe on a product called " A Must For Rust " ( A light weight Phosphoric Acid based product with proprietary solution conditioners )  with a rag, let sit for 10 minutes, then reapply with rag then wipe completely dry with a clean rag and shop air dry.  Let it set over night.  Then come back the next day with Marvel Mystery Oil and apply with a rag liberally, then let set for a few days.  Come back and reapply but with a light amount on a rag followed by wiping with a clean cotton rag.  This treatment will preserve the bare metal for a complete Spring to thru Fall season.  Repeat during the winter in storage as it does not take long to repeat as the metal is clean.  What they did at the factory was spray these metal components with a special grease solution to keep things in check and preserved until the dealer got hold of the car.  In this 1957 era, dealers would sell undercoating spray jobs as well for the exposed underbody pan areas but the bare metal would be left alone.

[NTX5467]

Thanks for that additional information!

 

NTX5467

[Bob Engle]

Great information!  It will help me a lot and I am sure many other people will know more about their 50's early 60's Buicks.  I have seen photos of unrestored Rivieras with the bare metal drive trains, so this continued well into the 60's.

 

Now who can decode  the paint markings?

 

Thanks 

 

Bob Engle

[buick man]

…. yeah Bob that is a really good question.  I know the corvette restore crowd are all over this kinda thing being very correct and these production paint marking are the finishing holy grail touch to a correct job and  mean everything to them.  Might suggest searching and taking a cruise over to an uber corvette site as I recall checking into one a few years ago and these guys were talking extensively about these factory paint markings.  These are a coveted given and they even strive to duplicate the color, tint and % or not of gloss in the markings.  Remarkable … !  So following this mantra, notice on a few of the photos posted, where the gas tank was installed.  Note what the gas tank cushion pad strips are and where they are located even though no one will ever see them and the correct color of trunk pan underbody paint in it's brown/reddish tone and tint.  

 

A few thoughts here … so consider this … Many and that did include me at one time, until I got this R.M.,  consider this attention to detail some form of pure Anal Intensive Care and as a result throw out the term anal in a discussion anytime conveniently without really considering what that means.  However, this is the point.  If your sole purpose in any given task is to simply accomplish it or as some say  " Just get er done" ,   which when distilled to it's essence is just a series of random organized movements and hopefully with the least amount of energy and thought expended then yes I would agree and agreed for a long time.  Now consider that car collecting is perhaps either a hobby or chosen profession for us car folks. Then one can appreciate for example when the art world folks care for historical paintings, documents etc. they strive to preserve these renderings by considering all the details of the original.  For example these folks do not simply paint over a Van Gogh in their attempts preserve or restore as , but rather they strive to duplicate as exactly as they can the originality of the painting with a most minimalist approach as possible without changing what remains as untouched original because this is their calibrator.  Without a calibrator one does not have a set standard as to what is original and / or correct.  

 

Now for the car hobby.  This is just one man's opinion here, but one has a decision to make. If you are just plain and simple lucky enough to have a preserved original piece of work, then a Preser-vation one would think, would with conscience and heart be the most important approach to take and strive for. On the other hand, if you are beginning with a canvas that is weathered, rusted or ozoned away and the original renderings are all but history and a correct calibrator is needed as a reference then either a Resto-ration would be your chosen path or for that matter a complete resto-modification could be a route to take as well. But in either case following a well defined goal and set of standards is required even in the resto-modification approach.  Yes and there will always remain those folks that say " flat black on it's back including the straps is the way to go " then so be it. However, attention to detail & period correct is your decision and responsibility to make and thinking something is too anal should not be part of this Big Picture equation. Remember, there are very few things in life where there are two ways to being absolutely correct which leaves all the remaining territory in a category called Artistic Expression ….

[NTX5467]

As the Corvette enthusiasts might have been the first segments of the vehicle hobby to be concerned with "numbers and marks", this "science" has spread to other vehicle makes, too, and the restoration supply industry has expanded their product lines as a result. 

 

Back when our cars "were new", not many people worried about those inspection marks/paint daubs/color codes outside of the factory workers who put them there.  The Mopar hobby has intensively taken note of these things and those specific suppliers for the Mopar restoration industry (yes, INDUSTRY) support the replication of such things.  Correct paint daub colors, applicators, and all other related things.  Even several articles, over the years, of what marks are correct for which vehicles and where on the vehicle they should be.  BUT I don't recall every seeing some of those cars (when new) with the multitude of colorful paint daubs some of these articles illustrated.

 

The color stripes (as pictures) helped the assembly line workers choose the correct part for the vehicle next into their work station.  No need to look for "a tag", just look for the color stripe sequence on the part (once "the codes" are known to them).  Pretty simple, easy to do, and facilitates speedy production line processes.

 

The paint daubs were usually to verify that the particular fastener's torque was confirmed by an inspector  as "correct".  In theory, EVERY bolt/nut/fastener on the undercarriage could have paint marks on them, but that was usually not the case, although it could have been.  It's also possible that every inspector/shift had their particular paint colors, or even the particular plant.  These "unique items" would easily allow a later-failed item to be tracked to a particular plant or work shift thereof in a time before wide-spread computer records might have been as available as they now might be.

 

In the case of some underhood items, paint stamps and grease pencil marks were operative.  Many of these are also in the GM restoration parts industry.  Usually, the pant stamps were on the a/c compressors, but could also be on alternators or generators, power steering pumps, brake boosters with the grease pencil/chalk marks for the engine itself, coolant anti-freeze concentration checks, or otherwise.

 

When doing a restoration of YOUR particular vehicle, it's always good to photograph the particular components after you've cleaned them, gently but thoroughly.  Taking note of any paint stripes, paint daubs/stripes, and such.  THEN, upon reassembly, these things can be duplicated easily.  Neatness doesn't always count, either, as the applications generally had to happen within a narrow time window.  The applicator brushes can usually be found through normal channels and sources not specifically from the restoration industry.  Possibly some of these things can be sourced locally from model car kit hobby shop places?  This way, you might be able to closely match what's on your vehicle, allowing for any "age-fade" from "exposure" from the vehicle's initial assembly time.  Or a paint store might mix you a quart via "hand match", but then you'd have a lot of paint left over.  OR you could purchase the paint and possibly the brushes from particular (GM in this case) restoration sources more attuned to factory-correct restorations (not specifically tied to a particular GM carline).  In this case, some of what you might need can come from Chevy, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, or Cadillac sources . . . just look around and see what matches what you need.

 

As with the chalk/grease pencil handwritten items, remember that speed was more important than neatness.  Dissecting those items, you can usually tell from what angle the item was written from, where the marks are "thick" or "thin", for example.  Not disturbing those things might work, but not for a "to bare metal" restoration situation.

 

In prior times, we saw those things and didn't worry about them.  They were "there" and that was that.  It seems the Corvette enthusiasts were some of the first groups to be concerned with these things, in addition to paint stencil numbers on frames.  Some of these things naturally filtered into the normal Chevy enthusiast groups.  These "bar raising" activities seemed to next surface with the Mopar enthusiasts, who seem to have further elevated this science on many levels.

 

The other area of correctness is on the underbody area.  What paints were applied where AND in what sequence of application.  Undercoating applied by the factory in what areas, too!  GM typically didn't undercoat the entire underbody as Chrysler's "undercoat and hood pad" option did.  Rather GM divisions would apply undercoat in the wheel well area, but not the adjacent body areas.  This is what made them quiet on hard road surfaces, but wen you got on gravel surfaces (with loose gravel!), you looked for an open window due to all of the additional noise from gravel hitting the painted metal floorpan.

 

As to underbody coatings, the 1969 Dodge Daytona wing cars had THREE levels of overspray on the undercarriage area.  The sequence related to what was done at the factory and what was done at the conversion contractor which made the normal Charger into the specific Daytona model.  Some of which was acrylic lacquer as the factory paint was acrylic enamel.  Again, such things were things we probably noticed, back then, but didn't "key on" specifically.

 

One other important issue can relate to a specific plant, the particular inspector, and related things.  Although the plant's assembly instuctions would have been the same for all plants making the particular vehicle line, Such uniformity might not have always been followed.  Perhaps an inspector was called away for some reason and some vehicles didn't get marked?  Perhaps the marking materials supply ran low and additional items hadn't been received yet?  A stand-in inspector who brought is own supplies from is work area and used them in the temporary job?  EACH of these variabilities can make it hard to generalize about assembly line "marks", which is why documenting what's on YOUR vehicle very important!  And also means that what's on your vehicle might not exactly match what's on another similar vehicle (although some correlations might exist).  Again, pictorially document YOUR vehicle in a detailed manner.  If no "marks", "no marks".   IF "marks", do what you can to accurately duplicate them in color, application style, and location.

 

Some restorers are very aware of the marks and their significance, duplicating them as a part of the job.  Other restorers remove them and don't replace them.  For some buyers, these marks are a vital part of the documentation of the vehicle.  For some, the correctness of the marks is just as important as the surface finish they were applied onto.  Others don't really care as much about them.  A "variable situation" at so many levels!!!

 

Regards,

NTX5467

[Beemon]

So the parking brake horseshoe is supposed to be mounted upside down... huh... my car didn't come with one when I had it, so this definitely helped me. Thanks for the pics!

[buick man]

… for sure Ben.  Also note for reference on the front suspension is the following:  All Silver Cad Plated - Lower and Upper Control Arms, Stabilizer Bar including both Stabilizer Bushing Bracket, Pitman Arm and Drop Link on passenger side including the complete Steering Cross Bar Linkage Assembly.  Off course all fasteners, bolts, washer & nuts are Silver Cad Plated as well.

 

A dependable plating company which I have personally used many times that plates real Silver Cad Plating is Van Nuys Plating, located in Van Nuys, California.  They also do real correct Hexavalent Chrome Plating just like the GM factory did back in the day.  Not Trivalent Chrome Plating which is a completely different process, way less durable and involves dyeing the plating vats to "assimilate" true blue Hexavalent Chrome Plating in appearance.  Come close but still no cigar.  You can tell Trivalent Chrome when placed next to a true Hexavalent plated item.  It will have a blueish mirror  hue to it and the Trivalent, no matter how good of a dye job will present with a mercury sharp whitish hue kinda like chrome paint …. 

[NTX5467]

Thanks for that explanation of the different chrome types!  I first noticed "color" differences between GM 1990s chrome and import chrome which seemed to be "brighter" (but also had a blue tint to it) and generally made the whole vehicle look nicer.  Making an otherwise "appliance vehicle" look nicer than it really was.

 

Were those changes from "hex" to "tri" caused by environmental regulations or cost?  Just curious as I know that many chrome operations, from prior times, closed in the 1970s with bumper reman operations scaling back with the increased use of elastomeric bumpers.  Kind of hard to find a local/regional chromer any more.

 

 

NTX5467

[Bob Engle]

I've got the differential from my 60 Buick dismantled now.  The only indications of color on this car is black on  the top of the springs, The red brown on the differential carrier housing and silver cad plating on the backing plates where they mounted to the differential flanges.  I'll continue to research what differences there may be between 1960 and 1957 Buicks.  I'm fairly confident that the differential housing and torque tube components were not factory painted.  There was some undercoating on these components, but no sign of paint under the undercoating.

 

Bob Engle

[Smartin]

This entire thread is a good read regarding the subject of Buick underbits of this vintage...
 

 

[buick man]

…. nice but we believe what that linked discussion was referring to was a paraffin based coating that was sprayed onto the metal as a complete unit before the suspension and drivetrain systems where line installed.  So with that said, we thinks this 1936 frame detailed mockup should solve everything regarding painted vs. plated/bare ( Not really ) as apparently GM had been doing this for a long time as can be seen on the suspension parts and drivetrain :  :')

 

 

[Bob Engle]

I pulled the transmission yesterday.  Wow is it dirty!!

I began cleaning and inspection of parts and building a game plan for getting it back to correct.

I found some black paint that looks original on the tops of the rear springs.

I found one piece of transmission shift linkage that definitely is gold cad plated, but all the other linkage parts appears to be zinc or silver cad plated?

There is a hand painted number on the differential carrier on the portion covered by the rear torque tube.

There is also a painted band on the front torque tube as well as a stencil painted "2" on the torque tube.

Lots more cleaning and research to do.

 

Bob Engle

[buick man]

….  If it is not too late, here is what we do for preservation purposes.  Spray everything Marvel Mystery Oil and let it set for a few days while each day it sets spray again but do not rub.  After a few days, get some Orange spray cleaner without any petroleum distillates or harsh chemicals added  …. read the ingredients label …. , then spray onto your surfaces and only if necessary use of semi hard small tight pattern brush is O.K. but never rub or brush anything over known or suspected factory paint marked areas.  Then go back with a clean cotton cloth and gentle spray dampen areas with clean water and rub these special areas to final clean ….

 

Doing this approach will preserve and not screw up anything that you want to preserve.  If you attack things with degreaser or harsh chems you can kiss the originality good buy.  

 

Great to see you are going forward.  If dismantling the Dynaflow, if you can we suggest you build yourself 2 long wide plywood top work tables.  One is for disassembly the other for assembly.  Start at one end  of the table as you disassemble the parts and move along the table top in increments for each section of the trans taken apart.  Take photos of each sections components.  Keep everything separated on the table and use it as a work reference library.  Use the assembly table after you have cleaned the first section of trans parts and check and assemble there.  Then go back to the dissasemble table and repeat the process.  This way you will not be running the very real risk of mixing up parts or losing them from on big heap ….

 

Edit:  The factory used akyl enamel on these parts.  Today you can use acrylic enamel with a hardener or better yet use a single stage urethane with hardener along with a flattening agent like Southern Poly Urethanes Flattening agent out of Georgia, or House of Kolor's flattening agent to get that period correct semi gloss effect. 

Edited November 1, 2016 by buick man (see edit history)

[Bob Engle]

I thought I would give an update on my project.  Transmission is rebuilt.  I did not bead blast the cast housing as I did not want to take the chance on glass beads getting into the internals.

 

I have bead blasted the differential and torque tube.  They were heavily rusted and pitted in some areas.  I did not aggressively blast and  so some areas still show pinpoints of rust.  It was my first experience with glass bead blasting and found it to be a very slow process in my hobby level blaster.  The process sure consumes a lot of glass bead material.  If I had  a lot of bead blasting to do, I would seriously consider purchasing the ceramic bead material rather than glass bead.

I tested several methods of protecting bare metal.  I used the Marvel Mystery; Rattle can satin clearcoat; CRC SF350: and Gibbs.  The last two are rattle can product.  I have decided to use the Gibbs product as they claim it can be painted over and did as well as any other methods tested.  As I stated earlier, I know I can't return many of the components to their original appearance and condition, but I do want it to be correct.  I will see how this process holds up over time.  

 

I have found enough black paint on the frame under the heavy undercoated areas to confirm that the frame was factory painted black.  I have also determined that the brake backing plates and front suspension items were factory cadmium plated.  It is interesting that a previous posting on the finish of late 50's Buicks has a short video of a 1959 Buick assembly line.  The comment was that the suspension was bare metal and then black wash painted after assembly.  Knowing that I found some evidence of cadmium plating, and think the video confirms this.

 

I'm currently working on the underside of the body panels and the frame.  I am removing old undercoating, and rust.  This is slow work.  I plan to use rust proofing paint and then rattlecan spray undercoating on the body panels and just paint the frame.

 

I keep you posted on my progress.

 

Bob Engle

[buick man]

… Bob, I for one, commend all of your endeavors in striving to keep it original.  That in itself is a noble endeavor and personally find it a challenge and rewarding at the same time.  It's a whole lot simpler and easier to just cut corner's everywhere in an attempt to just get it back on the road for whatever reason as many are so prone to do.

 

Did you overhaul the transmission yourself and if so what suppliers did you use and how did you go about it ?

 

Looks like you got the Dynaflow correct and real nice fob done btw.  On my 57 as described above, the body of the is the same blue aqua paint color as the engine including the trans pan, yet the bell housing is just like yours as shown in this silver cast treatment. All of my linkage shift arms and brackets showed to be silver cad plated as well as the kick down linkage from trans to carb/firewall. 

 

Regarding media blasting, what we use is a progression approach to blasting.  In our arsenal we have garnet in various graded fines, crushed glass in various fines and then glass beads in various sizes.  With cast iron or steel, we start with the appropriate sized garnet grades and then progress to a finer garnet grade.  This we follow with decreasing grade fines of crushed glass.  If a smooth polish finish is called for we then move to glass beads.  On aluminum and other similar classes of soft metals we go in with various sized crush glass then finish with a treatment of various glass beads increasing in diameter size once again depending on how smooth a finished surface is called for.  

[Bob Engle]

Thanks for your feedback.  It's difficult getting correct information.  There is a lot of misinformation and opinions floating around.

 

I looked for any sign of the transmission cast body having been originally painted, but I couldn't find anything.  I also did not find any signs of paint on the bottom pan or dipstick tube.

 

I thought seriously about rebuilding the trans myself.  5 years ago I would have, because I always felt if it didn't work right, I would tear it apart again and find out what I did wrong.  Now I have too many projects and do't want to have to pull it apart again.  I took the transmission to FATSCO in New Jersey.  The top restoration shop in the area send theirs transmissions to them.  They also are known for quality replacement parts.  Their expensive,  but this is no place to go for the cheapest.  Their specialist on dynaflows is 80 years old and literally rebuilt hundreds of them.  They have all the tools and fixtures that are needed for correct repairs.  I would have spent a week making the needed tooling.

 

I had a discussion with them about the correct ATF fluid to use in the rebuild.  They said all the parts they installed will work properly with any of the Dexmerc fluids, including the synthetics.  I plan to stay with the straight Dexmerc grade and not of any of the newer grades.  My decision is based on the fact that dynaflows work on the principle of slip and fluid pressure in the turbines.  Newer fluids have a lower viscosity to reduce friction and improve mileage, but they all work on clutches to shift gears which the dynaflows don't use except for low and reverse.  I think the newer fluids would mean slower acceleration due to greater slip.

 

Like your car, the shift linkage was silver cad plated, however, the kickdown linkage was gold cad plated.

 

With my blasting cabinet,  changing media is a nuisance, especially when I am only doing one or  two parts at a time.

 

Bob Engle

[buick man]

… that is very interesting regarding FATSCO, I had no idea they rebuilt as wet and still have a museum guy there as well still rebuilding …. So how much was how much for the rebuild ?

 

Regarding a few words on blast cabinets if I may … here's a few photos of what I did to my existing TRINCO 36 inch cabinet to soup it up for easy of use, media change overs and blasting performance. and with separate vacuum attachment  diverter to help facilitate fast and easy media changes … It now takes me about 4 minutes to make a media change over where before it took a long time.  This setup also allows me to control both air and media content to the stream and ultimately the gun nozzle  for vastly increased blasting performance all the while allowing me to "tweak" the sweet spot for the exact amount of media flow to the gun nozzle … and essentially totally eliminating all those frustrating stops and starts due to clogs and clogged lines ...

 

As photos show, I took the existing factory bottom spring loaded bottom plate off and constructed a fast collecting cone following the Trinco's bottom shape so media can flow continuous and free through the system.  This I fashioned a template out of art board then made it out of steel and riveted it together then spot flash welded the seams. I welded on a steel threaded collar for threading on the control dispersion valve then painted it with some of my Buick aqua blue engine paint I have on reserved for painting railheads that I formulated via hand tinting trial and error from scratch years ago using Dupont Nason urethane catalyzed paint which is very durable and long lasting.  Then installed an adjustable proportioning valve as shown which  I purchased from Mike at Tacoma Media Blasting Equip & Supplies, 509.732.6286 as he sells all forms of glass, garnet, pean, oxides medias that you can imagine and a great honest guy to deal with… as pictured this setup affords complete performance blasting while still maintaining your standard compressor setup too.  Perhaps one day I should do a how to do write up on this as well ….

 

Edited January 19, 2017 by buick man (see edit history)

[Bob Engle]

It's been a while since I posted on my 60 Invicta undercarriage project.  The transmission is back in the car.  I've working on cleaning up the floor[pan and frame from the transmission back. Lots of dried up old undercoating with plenty of rust underneath.  It's a pain working around the frame and body panels, but I am not about to do a frame off to do it correctly,  

 

I found a rusted through spot into the trunk, so I cut it out and had a patch panel made and welded it in place.  This meant replacing the trunk mat which is an asphalt llayer with a mat on top.  I could not find the correct original material, so I opted for a material called Max Mat which is a synthetic asphalt with a black aluminum surface.  I't all hidden under the houndstooth trunk mat.

 

 

I've got the floor pan and frame painted and now it's on to finishing the differential.  I had bead blasted the components and tested several methods to protect the bare metal appearance.  All showed flash rust over the last two months.  So I have opted for the Eastwood Euromax product which has been tested for over 4000 hours of saltwater spray..  I hope to apply this tomorrow.  If it rusts, at least it will be correct appearing.  I always opt for correctness over condition as I like to drive them too much to ever maintain showroom condition.  

 

I've got lots of wrap up items.  bleed brakes and power steering, add fluids all around and get front end alignment.  Test drive and see what needs attention.  I may make it for our club car show mid May??

 

Bob Engle

 

[EmTee]

Bob, how did you clean off the rust and what did you use for paint?  From the pictures, it looks like it came out very nice! 

[Bob Engle]

My first step is with wood lathe turning tools to scrape off the old undercoating and loose rust.   They are hard metal and can be sharpened to scrape against the rusty metal. From there I used wire brushes in my 3/8 drill.  I then apply some Fast Etch from Eastwood.  I don't try to get all the rust removed as it's too difficult to get in many places.  I then wipe it down with warm water and scuff it with Scotch bright pads and a final wipe with a paint prep solvent.  I worked on about 3 square feet at a time.  On the underbody I used Eastwood rubberized rust encapsulator.  On the frame I used Eastwood Black rust encapsulator and a top coat of extreme chassis black.  

Of course, in the photos, I only showed the best spots.  There are some really tough spots, that make it impossible to get any tools or hands in there to get it right.; especially the tops of the frame where the is on about an inch of clearance to the body pan.  

I'll report back in two years as to how it's holding up.

 

Bob Engle

[buick man]

… greatly impressed with your finished product and can definitely relate to all the work you have done and that is actually involved dealing with all the cramp areas and hard to remove surfaces that make up the undercarriage, frame and pan areas of the car.  You stated that all the various attempts to preserve the stock natural look to your driveline components eventually blushed out.  So what kind of approaches and products did you use before selecting Eastwood Euromax ?  I looked on their site and could not find a Euromax product.  Is that a clear coat urethane based system ?  

[Bob Engle]

Sorry!!  I went brain dead when I posted the material for protecting bare metal.  It's EXO-ARMOUR.  

 

One other interesting item that I would not have thought I would find.  Upon having to patch panel the trunk floor section, when I removed the floor matting material, I found that there are holes in the metal floor pan that are only sealed by the floor mat.  You can see the round about 5/8 " dia in the photos.  This makes it critical to use a good sealing mat as a replacement.

 

Bob Engle

 

[Smartin]

Those holes are usually plugged with rubber plugs.

[Bob Engle]

The holes in the bottom of the stiffeners have the rubber plugs, but the ones that are flush with the interior do not have the plugs as they would have a raised part show through the trunk mat.  Go back and look at the 1957  photos and you can see the holes with no plugs.  The trunk sound deadening material on my 60 Buick was never disturbed and had no plugs.

 

Bob Engle

[Bob Engle]

My guess on these holes is that they were fixture locating holes for body assembly before welding.  I can think of no other reason why they would spend the time to punch these holes.  Most of these holes end up under the gas tank.

 

Bob Engle

[Bob Engle]

Fluids in and a retorque of all fasteners.  I hope to test fire it tomorrow and see where I screwed up and what I forgot.  Test drive and off for front end alignment.

 

Maybe I can back to work on my 32  a post some progress on the prewar forum.

 

Bob Engle

[buick man]

… Yes excellent presentation and right-on correct completion Bob … this Eastwood Exo comes in both matte and gloss and you should have good overall results.  It is refreshing to see someone actually accomplish this almost forgotten aspect of the undercarriage as texture & flat black paints have become almost endemic in their carless usage in this area of a restoration.  Your efforts here should be abridged into the judging rules and Bob's endeavors used as a calibrator for correct finish and presentation ...