69 Motion Equipped Resto

Discussion in 'The Bench' started by Duane, May 25, 2018.

  1. Dano

    Dano Platinum Level Contributor

    I didn't realize you needed it for this car based on Duane's comments about the condition of the body above - Figured it was for another project. I'll get you some pics.
     
  2. Duane

    Duane Member

    IMG_2937.JPG IMG_2938.JPG Dano,
    Yeah Nick sent some pics where it was rotted in a line above the firewall trough just forward of the dash panel. He found that after he pressure washed it. It was all under the bottom windshield chrome piece.

    Here are 2 pics of the holy grail of pulleys. Thanks again to Mark Reeves and Ken.
    Duane
     
    Last edited: May 28, 2018
  3. Duane

    Duane Member

    Ya know it takes a village to build a Buick.:D
    Duane
     
  4. Duane

    Duane Member

    IMG_2954.JPG IMG_2955.JPG IMG_2956.JPG IMG_2957.JPG IMG_2953.JPG

    Here are some more pics. One shows a piece of carpet that Nick found under the carpet. It is from the hole the factory cut out for the 4-speed.

    The other pics are of the steering wheel. Its the original 16" wheel that came off the car. It has been cleaned, and I sanded the scratches out of the spokes. It's ready to go back on the car. It was a sticky mess when I started.
    Duane
     
  5. dl7265

    dl7265 No car then Mopar

    Drop those bad boys in a bucket of evapo rust in 100F they’ll come out NICE !
     
    Brett Slater likes this.
  6. 70sportwagon

    70sportwagon Silver Level contributor

    Blue 16" Thumb Groove Sportwheel sighting!
     
  7. wheelz

    wheelz 'B' is for Buick.

    Hello Duane, tell me, whats the overall condition of the consolette? I might have something for you.
    Wheelz, Tampa Bay
     
  8. Duane

    Duane Member

    Wheelz,
    The Consolette has holes drilled into the top plate from some type of bracket for gauges, but all the chrome on the top plate cleaned up nice. We were planning to fill them in and use it if need be. The chrome on the bottom plate cleaned up nice too.

    The chrome "cup" that the tach sits in is pretty rough, but could be plated. James Weinman is sending me a rechromed piece so we will see how good it looks. He says it's not perfect.

    What I need are the 2 rings for the upper boot. Those were missing and I believe are reproduced now.
    Duane
     
  9. wheelz

    wheelz 'B' is for Buick.

    Duane, PM uh, . . er, conversation sented. :rolleyes:
    Wheelz, Tampa Bay
     
  10. Dano

    Dano Platinum Level Contributor

    Too cool on the carpet. What do you use to "un-sticky" the steering wheel?
    I should have the piece. Will dig it out & get pics.
     
  11. Duane

    Duane Member

    HB.jpg Dano,
    I used multiple, and I mean multiple cleanups with Simple Green. I dilute it by half and let it soak in for a while before scrubbing. After about the third/fourth time you will have the majority of the gunk off, but it will still be sticky. If the part is really bad, you will gunk up your brush and have to throw it away, so don't use a good one for the initial scrubbings.

    At that time you can use a different brush to finish it off. I prefer a decently stiff plastic bristle brush. I also use toothpicks to get into the grooves etc.

    Once you get it cleaned real good you will probably have to put a light coating of Armorall on it. The simple green has a tendency of "bleaching out the color a little. The Armorall will bring that back. You may even have to do this several times, as the plastic seems to suck it up.

    The "gunk" is actually due to the plastic breaking down and the oils coming out. If you clean it really good you can get away with it not being sticky for over a year or more, and if you drive it all the time you should be good. The wheels actually shrink a little when the oils come out. That's why you often see 16" wheels without the trim ring for sale.

    I sand the spokes with 120-150 grit, and make sure I sand with the grain. It takes a while but comes out fantastic.

    Now this wheel was probably never off the car, so it was really sticky. I had over 4 hours in cleaning/sanding it up, but it turned out nice even though it is pretty smooth from wear.

    When I clean up the Horn buttons I do not use Simple Green. I use regular dish washing detergent, as I do not know if the Simple Green will screw up the Buick Lens. Once it's clean I use plastic polish on the lens. They usually come out nice.
    Hope this helps.
    Duane
     
    Last edited: May 28, 2018
  12. Dano

    Dano Platinum Level Contributor

    Thanks for the detailed reply/methodology. I'd heard Simple Green but not in that detail and was surprised when it was first presented as the preferred solution.

    When I got my GSX in '86, the wheel was not sticky (poss. had mold seeing that much of the interior did) and shortly after, I cleaned it with SG from a store bought spray bottle of the stuff which IIRC is diluted vs. the jug, but I could be mistaken there. The wheel became sticky very shortly thereafter so I always did (and still do) blame the SG. 16 years of non-stickyness and I ruin the thing within months of owning it. Besides simply being a real GSX, it had few redeeming factors exc. that the GSX only components were practically the only decent parts on the whole car and they were all nearly perfect.

    The GSX is obviously a different wheel/material, so maybe SG did react with it vs. it being the answer to the standard Rallye wheel? You are the GSX wheel expert (an understatement). Any thoughts?

    I do think I still have PTSD from GSX wheel as I'm almost always overly & even to a fault cautious/concerned about using the wrong chemical/lubricant, etc. for a given task. I don't think I've ever, or if so very rarely, used SG since & @ the time I used it on nearly everything.

    Not that I won't try your method. If at first you don't succeed... My '71 is sticky. I think I have a red &/or Sandalwood wheel that's sticky too so I can try it first. I doubt the '71 wheel has ever been off the car but IIRC has beautiful grain. I have nothing to lose short of discovering a process to reverse the breakdown and even then it would need to be cleaned first.
     
  13. Duane

    Duane Member

    All the original Rallye wheels whether they are a GSX or not, will eventually get sticky as they break down. Your wheel was probably the same and the mold was growing off the oils. Once you cleaned it up, the oil just continued coming out of the wheel.

    At the 100th Buick anniversary event I talked to a couple of Retired Fisher Body guys about the "plastics" we have in our cars, and how the white/light colors fall apart. They said that certain colors needed so much pigment that they were really prone to breaking down. They also said the materials were only designed/expected to last for 7 years. That way they would last way past the vehicle warrantee before anything would happen. (That was the engineering level they could do back then.) They also said it was the oils coming out of the wheels that made them sticky.

    I guess we are pushing the envelope a bit for hoping they are still good in the 50 year range.

    Nick says he uses some purple stuff, and I remember seeing that in a parts store. I have even used that myself, but had some SG on the shelf.

    Like I said before, you need to make sure the cleaners do not bleach out the color. That is one reason I dilute it by half.
    Duane
     
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  14. Duane

    Duane Member

    I just thought of another thing. When we refinished antique furniture we would spray down the wood with Windex. It would "attack" the furniture wax and turn it brown. We would then clean that layer off and repeat until all the wax was gone. The cool thing is it never hurt the finish.

    Maybe you could try that on a wheel. It will either work, or the sticky mess will just sit there and look at you.
    Duane
     
    Dano likes this.
  15. Dano

    Dano Platinum Level Contributor

    Great info. - Thanks Duane.
     
  16. Duane

    Duane Member

    Well the car is officially on her side.
    Duane

    IMG_5109.JPG IMG_5110.JPG IMG_5113.JPG
     
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  17. Ryans-GSX

    Ryans-GSX Have fun, life is short.

    Been a long time since we have seen a great restoration thread. I am really looking forward to following this one. I am sure it will be full of great information.
     
  18. Brett Slater

    Brett Slater Super Moderator Staff Member

    They aren't wasting any time on this rare bird, are they?
     
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  19. Duane

    Duane Member

    Brett,
    No we aren't. This one is hopefully going to go rather quickly. That is one reason why I am trying to locate all the pieces now. Thankfully I got most of the hard to find parts with the car, including all the sheet metal.
    I am concentrating on all the pieces that take time to finish, like getting things chromed, etc. There are a lot of people helping me behind the scenes with this one.
    I feel bad for Nick. I keep bugging him on the phone. Once I find all the stuff things will settle down.
    Duane
     
    Brett Slater likes this.
  20. Brett Slater

    Brett Slater Super Moderator Staff Member

    Looking forward to the progress!
     

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