I finally got my hands on a pair of 2010 cadillac srx tail lights. They've got the tail, brake, turn and reverse lights all in one housing. I made a tape template, transferred it to cardboard and reassembled the "mold" with more tape. This was to see if this was the right look before doing any serious cutting on the body Josh
And so at the point of no return, I cut the pointed end off to better situate the template I made and mark the quarter panel for cutting. I trimmed the tail light bucket to fit inside the quarter panel. I secured everything with self tapers and painted it white for continuity. I'm liking it Josh
I like all the creativity. This is the first I have seen your build very impressive. Will it be titled as a 67 or a 2008.
It'll be titled as a 1967 buick wagon. I have cut off almost everything that may have had a vin plate for the g8gt. Thanks, Max. I've been back and forth about the tail lights for so long. It's nice to have made a decision and started down that path. Josh
I cut out sections of an old driver's door to make up the rest if the quarter panel. The other missing patch closer to the door handle is to delete the fuel filler door. Once I got the door skin in place, I cut off a section of outer rocker panel to fill in the bottom. Personally, I'm very impressed on how is looking. Josh
I fitted the passenger side tail light. I need to tweak things so both sides are even, but it's coming along nicely Josh
I cut out and patched the original fuel filler door. I used a flange/ punch tool to recess the top and bottom sheet metal to position the patch flush with the quarter panel. Then I drilled out 2 holes to accept the clips for the side molding. It's not perfect, but that's what body filler is for. Josh
I bought a rear bumper for a 64 el camino because the 67 bumper didn't look right with the cadillac tail lights. There was a bit of sheet metal in the center in the way of the bumper sitting snug under the tail gate. I made a template of the shape of the bumper and traced it out under metal and cut it off. Josh
And here's a few fitment pictures. I like how the bottom of the new quarter panel hangs below the bumper. I think it'll made a decent valance below the bumper all the way across. I have another rocker panel i want to mount to the bottom of the bumper and maybe run the exhaust tips through, or just behind. Josh
I spent the day messing with the rear bumper setup. Trying to make brackets to attach it to the car, only to see those brackets are in the way of the exhaust. So I pulled the bumper off, reverse the middle brackets hoping to make more room for the exhaust tips. Swapping the brackets moves them outward about 2 inches. I found a solid plate of steel that was already powder coated black with a hole in it that was the perfect size for the battery cutoff switch. I trimmed and mounted the plate behind the hinged license plate frame and modified the switch lever to fit inside a fuel cap and found a longer screw to tie it all together. Then I notched the top corner of the backing plate to mount the jumper cable quick disconnect terminal. With the bumper back on the car, the exhaust tips still hit the bracket. I'll probably cut the dual tips off at the muffler and extend the pipe below the brackets. I still have to make a valance for below the bumper and tie into the new rear quarter panel pieces I'm making with the door skins and rocker panels. Josh
Maybe one of those smaller, straight through mufflers would clear or give you more space to work with there? Love seeing your updates on this project!
It's only hitting the dual tips on the side of the outer tip. I'm cut them off at the muffler and extend them out later once I figure out the valance. Thanks for your kind words. I'm glad I'm not the only one who gets excited about this stuff. Josh
I finally got together with the guy selling the c6 corvette wheels. I put each one on my tire balancer. Only one of the rear rims has a small bend in it. It's barely noticeable. It was too cold to mount and balance all of them, but I wanted to know how the rear clearance was. It's in about 1/4 inch on the outside which is perfect to clear the quarter panel skin and there's about 3/4 inch clearance on the inside which I'm very comfortable with. Josh
I mounted and balanced all the tires on the new rims. The passenger side is inset a little more than the driver's side. I'm hoping to have the same clearance once I get an alignment. I did measure inset the front air dam and it's got another 1/2 inch of ground clearance now. Josh
With the rear bumper in place, I set the tail lights a little further into the quarter panel. Then I trimmed up the other rocker panel and mounted it under the rear bumper as a valance. I'm not totally sold on it yet, but it did give me a few ideas. Then I welded up and set the passenger side quarter panel skin in place to match the driver's side. Nothings permanent yet, but at least it's progress Josh
I don't like the way the bumper pulls the quarter panels in so tight. I saw on one of the car shows how they tucked the bumpers in. Well instead of cutting thy bumper, I'm widening the quarter panels. I traced our where the bumper sits and cut it out with a little room to spare Josh
Then I cut a 2 inch wide strip out of the lower quarter panel and welded it along the edge of the new quarter. Then I cut the outer edge off. With both sides done, I trimmed the extra rocker panel to fit below the rear bumper. I don't hate it as much, but it's about an inch shorter than the sides. Josh
I bought a pair of roll pans for a 67-72 Chevy pickup. The idea for the pair is that I'd use the license plate recesses for exhaust cutouts below the bumper. But, if you look at the offset picture, that's where the exhaust tips would exit and I didn't like it. My dad keeps nudging me to do center exit exhaust tips. I told him I wasn't sure if there would be enough room with the full size spare wheel well hanging down. But after hanging the roll pan off the bottom of the bumper, it looks like there's plenty of room, so that's the direction we're going. The roll pan is about 8 inches tall, so I cut it down to 5 inches to match the rocker panel height on the rear quarters. I'll fold the bottom 1/2 inch up for strength and to give it a place to attach to the rocker panels. Josh
