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September
23, 2004 Caging the Beast, er, BuickWhen Julia came home tonight, she thought I was building a roll cage for the Buick, hence today's title. Read on to find out what I was really doing. Also, I finally finished the rotisserie yesterday and found the fortitude to get back to work on the restoration. Being momentarily unemployed, I feel very guilty about working on the Buick without having any income for my family, however my friend Andy pointed out that after I've done all the job searching and applying I can each morning, I should apply myself elsewhere. If working on the Buick doesn't cost me any money (at least at the moment), why not use these free hours to get the rough stuff done. So we're working on the trunk to get it ready for mounting on the rotisserie. Though my Buick is a hardtop, I still have concerns about the body moving around and flexing once it is up in the air on the rotisserie. Since I removed it from the frame, it's been sitting on the 4x6 rails of the body dolly so I don't think it has moved much, if at all. But I had to brace the body today before I did anything else (like cut the floor and inner fenders out of the trunk).
I used 1x1 .065" wall square tubing that I purchased at Home Depot for about $8.00 for a 4-foot section (expensive, but convenient) to brace the doors and trunk opening. I thought about making mounting plates from some 16-gauge sheetmetal, welding them to the door frames, then welding the tubing to that, but had concerns about how difficult it would be to finish later. Instead, I decided to weld the tubing directly to structural elements that will be covered by interior panels so even if I don't perfectly erase traces of the weld, nobody will know. It also gives me access to the door jambs for restoration. For the trunk, I made a cross bracket and welded it to the inside of the trunk panels along a seam where the quarter panels meet the rear corner. Unfortunately, it seems that my hunch about the driver's side rear quarter being damaged in the past is correct. In addition to a really lousy weld between the quarter panel and corner panel, there's about a quarter inch of lead filler which promptly melted when I welded the brace to the body. Check it out:
The passenger's side was better and didn't give me any problems. There's no evidence of any damage here and I don't think it was leaded, even from the factory. The weld cracked slightly when I ground off the paint, but didn't come apart. Once the body is stripped, I'll see what kind of repairs it requires.
I welded a pair of support tubes to the hinge supports under the rear window--these are probably fairly strong mounts, being welded to three separate panels and designed to help hold the trunklid. I tacked them in place and welded them to the cross brace below. Using low heat, I didn't damage the sheetmetal at all and I should be able to remove these braces without anybody ever noticing the welded area. The last thing I did was put the body back on the body dolly I built so long ago. For the past two months, it's been sitting on the 4x6 side rails, but hasn't been mobile. Now it is. I'll be able to have full access to the trunk for repairs which need to be done before I can mount the body on the rotisserie. The good news is that the Fisher Body Manual has a very clear drawing of the area. The bad news is that it is 3 complex stampings spot-welded together. We'll see what it looks like when I start sandblasting it and taking it apart tomorrow.
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Restoration Day E-mail me at toolman8@sbcglobal.net This page accessed Thanks, Fidget! |
