Skvitt Posted December 6, 2022 Author Share Posted December 6, 2022 Looks OK. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted December 6, 2022 Author Share Posted December 6, 2022 Cut piece of sheet metal 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted December 6, 2022 Author Share Posted December 6, 2022 Almost there To be continued..... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted December 6, 2022 Author Share Posted December 6, 2022 (edited) Next step I have to assemble my cheap Princess Auto/Harbor Freight English wheel, and figure out how it works... But I've seen some amazing jobs done with that very same tool. Edited December 6, 2022 by Skvitt (see edit history) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pvfjr Posted December 7, 2022 Share Posted December 7, 2022 Nice progress! Have you just been hammering it on a sandbag so far? I haven't dove into sheet metal repair yet, but I look forward to it. So many excuses for new tools... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted December 7, 2022 Author Share Posted December 7, 2022 56 minutes ago, pvfjr said: Nice progress! Have you just been hammering it on a sandbag so far? I haven't dove into sheet metal repair yet, but I look forward to it. So many excuses for new tools... Yes, so far just hammered on sandbag and shrunk edges with metal shrinker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted December 11, 2022 Author Share Posted December 11, 2022 Got some time to play with English wheel today. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted December 11, 2022 Author Share Posted December 11, 2022 Here goes my first ever experience with English wheel. Not too bad 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted December 11, 2022 Author Share Posted December 11, 2022 Tacked in place 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted December 11, 2022 Author Share Posted December 11, 2022 Looks pretty good to me 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lahti35 Posted December 12, 2022 Share Posted December 12, 2022 Nice job! Looks good to me too! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randiego Posted December 14, 2022 Share Posted December 14, 2022 Skvitt, Years ago, (mid 70's) I was in Tijuana looking for a chrome shop that was recommended to me. Next door to the shop was a small body shop. What caught my interest was a Porsche 911 in there for a crunched fender and hood. The guy I was with (my interpreter) and I started talking to this body man/owner of the shop. The owner of the Porsche was a student at San Diego State U and was very limited on funds and was recommended to this shop by another friend. The body man took a metal garbage can (remember those?) that was the same thickness of the body parts and fashioned a new fender from that. We were blown away by the absolute fit and finish of his new fender. He told us that he was a metal smith, trained in Mexico City at a "college" for metal smithing. He had straightened out the hood for a perfect fit and the car was to go to the paint shop after he fitted the parts. He did not do paint, only the metal prep work. Your work in the metal fabrication is reminiscent of that "metal smith". A real art. Few are trained these days in that field. It is really educational to watch you tackle this restoration with all of the metal fabrication that you are doing. Kudos to you. I look forward to your posts to see the next hurdle that you clear ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted December 14, 2022 Author Share Posted December 14, 2022 Randiego, Thank you so much Sir. You might be surprised, by I don't have any formal training in what I do with this car. I am a mechanical engineer by trade, but my major was in metal fabrication methods and that includes machining, forming, welding etc. I liked to work with my hands since I was a kid, watching my father doing pretty much everything. I guess coupled with acquired theoretical knowledge it works well I like to play with things electrical too, although my knowledge in electronics covers "before digital" period . Now being 62 years old I'm a bit concerned with what will I do with the skills that I develop during this restoration :)? Will I have time and energy to do another one like this? 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pvfjr Posted December 15, 2022 Share Posted December 15, 2022 I'm impressed! That looks fantastic--hard to believe that was your first go at it. How long did it take? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted December 15, 2022 Author Share Posted December 15, 2022 16 hours ago, pvfjr said: I'm impressed! That looks fantastic--hard to believe that was your first go at it. How long did it take? It took me 10-12 hrs to do the job, including prep work with that 3-d pattern, and probably the same amount of time to watch quite a few youtube videos:) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted December 16, 2022 Share Posted December 16, 2022 6 hours ago, Skvitt said: It took me 10-12 hrs to do the job... To put that in perspective, it would have amounted to about 3 minutes of air time if you had your own cable TV show! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Model56s Posted December 22, 2022 Share Posted December 22, 2022 Great work! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted January 25, 2023 Author Share Posted January 25, 2023 Project is alive and well. Nothing exiting going on though, major sheet metal work is done (I think ) just cleaning old rust, preparing the body for rotisserie. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted February 20, 2023 Author Share Posted February 20, 2023 Long weekend here in Canada. Decided to do a big job, separate body from the frame and put it on rotisserie. Here it goes: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted February 20, 2023 Author Share Posted February 20, 2023 Rear end secured on rotisserie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted February 20, 2023 Author Share Posted February 20, 2023 With rear wheels off and rear end on dollies I needed only 28" clearance to clear the frame 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted February 20, 2023 Author Share Posted February 20, 2023 Here comes the frame 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted February 20, 2023 Author Share Posted February 20, 2023 All done. Took me 4 hrs, all by myself. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted February 20, 2023 Author Share Posted February 20, 2023 Now I need to figure out how to attach front of the body to rotisserie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted March 18, 2023 Author Share Posted March 18, 2023 Spent some time in a shop today. Now I'm all set up with rotisserie. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randiego Posted March 20, 2023 Share Posted March 20, 2023 For an individual who has not done this type of work before, you are amazing all of us out here watching you progress through this restoration. I was assuming that you were a body man who was tackling this job in your garage. Am I impressed that you are an engineer who is doing this job without any previous body experience other than your skills that you have honed in the past. You certainly fooled me as I thought that I was watching an experienced body man bringing this Buick back to life. Wow. Also, it is amazing how many are using Harbor Freight tools and are having the work look like it was done in a body shop by professionals with thousands of dollars invested in the high end equipment (Eastman, SnapOn, Devbliss, etc., etc.). l am going to change my snobby outlook on Harbor Frieght's line of tools. In the past, they were not very good at all. Hence the moniker Harbor S*&#. Recently, a friend of mine purchased some power tools from them and has been swearing by them since. I will stick to Milwaukee, Makita and Dewalt for my power tools but.........I will look at HF for other items. Some of the ratings have a favorable response from users so there must be some good with this line of tooling. The English wheel in your hands sure put out a nice finished piece. AND removing the body from the frame...........That was a monumental task, especially doing it by yourself. Kudos to you. Randiego Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted March 30, 2023 Author Share Posted March 30, 2023 On 3/20/2023 at 4:38 AM, Randiego said: For an individual who has not done this type of work before, you are amazing all of us out here watching you progress through this restoration. I was assuming that you were a body man who was tackling this job in your garage. Am I impressed that you are an engineer who is doing this job without any previous body experience other than your skills that you have honed in the past. You certainly fooled me as I thought that I was watching an experienced body man bringing this Buick back to life. Wow. Also, it is amazing how many are using Harbor Freight tools and are having the work look like it was done in a body shop by professionals with thousands of dollars invested in the high end equipment (Eastman, SnapOn, Devbliss, etc., etc.). l am going to change my snobby outlook on Harbor Frieght's line of tools. In the past, they were not very good at all. Hence the moniker Harbor S*&#. Recently, a friend of mine purchased some power tools from them and has been swearing by them since. I will stick to Milwaukee, Makita and Dewalt for my power tools but.........I will look at HF for other items. Some of the ratings have a favorable response from users so there must be some good with this line of tooling. The English wheel in your hands sure put out a nice finished piece. AND removing the body from the frame...........That was a monumental task, especially doing it by yourself. Kudos to you. Randiego Thank you kindly. This is not my first project. Although some sheet metal tasks were the first time. My previous project was 77 Bronco. Also rotisserie restoration. But on that one 80% of sheet metal was gone, luckily for that vehicle all parts are available, and what wasn't were all flat panels although aftermarket sheet metal required a lot of fiddling. I did not do a bodywork and paintjob on that one myself, my friend, professional body man did it for me. And all original upholstery was in good condition. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted March 30, 2023 Author Share Posted March 30, 2023 End the end result was: 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted March 30, 2023 Author Share Posted March 30, 2023 I never finished the job though, I left it in roadster configuration, and never has doors and hard top finished. Sold it lake that, due to job loss issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randiego Posted March 31, 2023 Share Posted March 31, 2023 Skvitt, It's a beauty and I am assuming that you keep it indoors out of the weather? Otherwise, the elements won't be too kind to your beautiful Bronco. Incidentally, these little wonders are bringing BIG BUCKS in today's market. I saw a "survivor" sell here locally (Southern California) last October for $68,000. ! ! ! The young "techies" here in San Diego area have more money than they know what to do with. And for some, Lambos and Ferraris are their drivers but.......the emerging crowd are gravitating to the older American classics. With the world shrunk with the internet, these vehicles are being watched all over the world. My friend sold my 72 Caprice Classic to a collecter in........Bahrain ! Not that you are selling your Bronco, but it is amazing how the market place has changed. Do you keep your cars or do you restore them to sell and get another project? Seems that you are a busy guy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted March 31, 2023 Author Share Posted March 31, 2023 I've sold that Bronco in 2020, because I lost the job and was a bit scared, new job search was short and everything worked out allright though, and I regretted the sale shortly after. I actually made some profit on the sale, but solely because of that sudden increase in popularity, and therefore price hike. But I do my restoration mostly for fun, just to keep myself busy :). This Buick I think I'll keep for a while after it is done.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted April 1, 2023 Author Share Posted April 1, 2023 Actually there was another quick project in a winter of 2021. But that was mostly engine electrical (had to bring all messed up wiring and sensors back to factory original in order to have it running smoothly), suspensions and interior. Drove it for one summer and realized that it is not my car, sold it last summer to finance Buick project. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted April 1, 2023 Share Posted April 1, 2023 1985? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted April 1, 2023 Author Share Posted April 1, 2023 13 minutes ago, EmTee said: 1985? Correct. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted April 2, 2023 Author Share Posted April 2, 2023 Today I decided to do something that I waited the whole winter for. Give a chassis good power wash. Even though temperature was around 40, but nice shiny day with no wind. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted April 2, 2023 Author Share Posted April 2, 2023 After a couple of hours cleaning and degreasing it looks much better 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted April 2, 2023 Author Share Posted April 2, 2023 Back in the garage. Probably will need more scraping and another power wash. Those "organic, environmentally friendly" engine degreasers don't work very well, even if you let it soak for an hour. I wish I could put a large drip tray under it and clean it with real stuff, like varsol or kerosene. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drhach Posted April 4, 2023 Share Posted April 4, 2023 So what's the plan for the chassis? Paint it as is, disassemble and paint, leave it alone? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skvitt Posted April 4, 2023 Author Share Posted April 4, 2023 2 hours ago, drhach said: So what's the plan for the chassis? Paint it as is, disassemble and paint, leave it alone? That's a really good question, that I don't have an an answer yet, even to myself. I want to make it look descent, but I don't want to go crazy. And I want to put this car back on the road asap. Probably will clean it up as much as I can without full disassembly, then POR-15. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drhach Posted April 4, 2023 Share Posted April 4, 2023 Makes sense to me. The frame looks pretty decent. Why mess with it if it doesn't need to come apart? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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