It is funny, because that fiat was made by made by my friend from capri.pl club. Rear drivetrain is from honda civic or something like that as long as i remember.
10.08.2009 Front clip is removed. At this time all brightwork is removed, so are lights, interior, much of the wiring... That took some time - every part needs to be labeled and packed. The problem is not in disassembly, but in later cursing "how and where that thing should go?" Anyway, two days ago I wanted to remove some screws and gone crazy... Ant that's me again...
22.10.2009 More disassembly I still haven't got any time. My other car, ford granada (european) lost oil pressure on valve rockers, i had to do it first (granada is my only other car). Short to say, engine had to be disassebled in order to redo ONE bolt holding camshaft gear to camshaft. That bolt came lose, resulting in camshaft being pulled inside the block (by distributor gear). Valve rockers are oiled from camchaft bearings, and if camshaft is not in its place, it's grooves don't match bearings and... You know. Also, the Buick is under the tarp, but still outdoors. Weather was not very nice, so I hadn't very much will to do something First, photos of new goodies from U.S. e-bay: Such photos need to be done, so i could assemble this few years ahead. This particular shows rear side window rail. And empty place, where glass, trim and mechanism resides. As one can see, there is a lot of problem area around rear glass. Progress not shown on pictures - left door removed, windshield removed (in one piece, thank God!). Below You can see dash being removed. At last! Who could know how one bolt can be troublesome Dash gone. Defroster vents were also removed. Buick was dropped on the ground again. Now i have to move it into the garage for engine/trans removal. For now i decided not to separate body from frame. First part of bodywork will be done with body on the frame. It will be easier to work without tubes welded inside for strengh. Frame will be off later. Also frame has one nice feature - it has wheels to move it around
I've bought donor for the frame, suspensions and floor pieces: And cut it - ruthless Also, i've received some more goodies from U.S.
WOW ! You certainly don't let grass grow under your feet ! (That's American slang for you work fast). You've done more disassembly work in a month than most people would do in a year ! You are right, packing things away so you can find them (keeping a good index of what is where) is the BEST thing you could do, along with labelling boxes. Also, as a suggestion, I would order all new nuts-n-bolts and fasteners and little rubber widgets and hoses for pieces now; and pack them away with the parts they came off with ;-))) That way, when the re-work is completed, the reassembly parts are all together, with the fasteners. I am totally impressed with your progress. Looks like you have some metalwork to do, but at the rate you are working at it, you'll be driving your NEW CAR by summer. . . All new paint too ? Hey Marcin - what's your nick name -- the name your friends call you ? Mark ? Joe ? Koz ? Let us know. Rip Rohring :Comp: PS: I envy you - being able to assemble those awesome temporary tents; to work in during inclement weather. They are "outlawed" here, the zoning people want us allto build permanent structures. I can't even put them up for a month or two. So, my concrete is poured - since Nov 23 - and the builder of my 2.5 car garage has been sick in hospital with pneumonia - but he says he will be ready to work next week.
Yes. But in fact, shipping of that car was so long (6 months altogether), that the most part of disassembly was done in 2-3 MONTHS. Also cutting that caprice classic was a 2 week job Thats quick enough? When i have time - i do as much as i can For now i have so much parts in my garage i can barely put my car into it... The tents are allowed, and they are cheap As for parts - new bolts, washers etc. are hard to buy here - we have everything metric :/ I buy small parts mainly on e-bay, suspension stuff in NAPA. But that costs, and right now i'm out of funds for that car. Bodywork is required, rust removal is tough job, but largest part of it would be making donor frame longer, boxing it; then welding into buick big chunks of caprice floor (rear part mainly - from under the rear seat to the end of the trunk; tunnel also). There is rust around rear window channel (channel is almost entirely gone), rust instead of rocker panels... I was surprised, that trunk lid, front clip and bigger part of the cab has only surface rust. Right now doors are worked on, soon i will start welding the trunk lid.
Great story Marcin. :beer :beer Just goes to show that gearheads live everywhere. That sure is one adventurous project you've begun. Keep the stories coming.:TU:
Ok, so back to present time. I managed to remove left rear brake assembly in order to try it with another Caprice axle i have lying in garage. Also it is necessary to make list of things to buy... I've unbolted backing plate not touching anything else - i don't want to lose any spring yet. Axle shaft and wheel was bolted back, brake drum was put on the other axle... and it is evident, that 1981 Caprice (frame donor) has different bolt pattern that 1991 Caprice (axle donor). I will propably put older axle shafts in newer axle in order to stay with that bolt pattern; or drill another set of holes in that newer axle. I don't want to change front hubs and wheels, but it's not for sure yet. As a side note - i do not have imperial socket set - everything i do with metric tools, and i am very surprised how well they work with imperial hardware
2009-12-15 - from now on i will post only current progress. I was rather busy lately, so I've made not much progress... That's my backyard: As for Buick - I managed to remove engine mount bolts and exhaust header to exhaust pipe bolts in order to prepare the engine for being removed. Then weather changed and snow has fallen, so it's time to do something else in warm garage, not outdoors Anyway, before snow i was able to remove trunk lid.
hey Marcin, Great car you've got there! I bought the exact same car last weekend, and I'm thrilled to get to work on it! Keep on doing such a great job, I love your progress so far. Bye, Jasper
Unfortunately yesterday was a fire in my neigbours home - just above my garage. Garage is flooded with ooze Some Buick parts are flooded, today i will see whats lost, whats saved. I hope that windshield is intact, it was very close to the fire. Also larger part of my tools is wet My home is rather intact, thanks God, only few windows are broken and roof pipes (i don't know english word for that) are melted. So that will slow me down a little. At least no one is hurt.
Thats a pita.Good no one has been hurt. Anyway Wesolych Swiat.Mam nadzieje ,ze wszystko bedzie dobrze. Pozdrowienia z Warszawy:TU: :beers2:
Tools cleaned, almost nothing is damaged. Entire garage floor is flooded, but i have nothing worthy on the floor, only some scrap metal and some spare parts which i should throw to garbage - now it's good opportunity to do that As for Buick parts - the most important and fragile part - windshield is intact. Bumpers and dasboard with instrument cluster is all wet. I will try to clean it when water stops dropping from the ceiling. For me that fire made only a little damage fortunately. Now its time to help the neighbours. I will try to do something productive with Buick parts, but for now I should finish disassembling the body, but it is too cold for that.
Thanks, now i will know As for progress - the weather was ruthless for the project lately: Unfortunately my main tent where Buick was stored started to collapse under all that snow. I had to dig Buick out of it and move it to the smaller, safer tent. On the other hand I was able to do some work in the garage. I have dismantled lights, portholes and entire dash. Everything was prepared either for sandblasting/powder coating, zinc plating or chrome plating. Chrome plating would be expensive...
keep up the good work i too have one send me an email and i will send you some good pics i have (may come in handy later when you puther back together) message me fo my email we got ours last sept - we got a long road ahead as well
I haven't done any updates recently, but that doesn't mean that i forgot about my Buick Winter is gone, time to start working... I've started from removing rear glass (another stressing situation). I decided that it is good idea to make rear glass template just in case it breaks. It is not easy either, You can see that on one of the pictures
