Build Thread: Project Rusty Hulk

Discussion in 'Members Rides' started by sriley531, Feb 16, 2015.

  1. sriley531

    sriley531 Excommunicado

    .030" over is 462", .038" is 464".

    So one glaring item I haven't mentioned that is of utmost importance is how The car got its name. Obviously it was very rusty, and it just so happens it was green. With the engine power determined, I have received a lot of compliments on how it oughtta be fairly "mean" and a bit of a handful on the street. When talking with Taulbee one day, I off the cuff called it "a rusty hulk of metal". And it was then a light bulb lit. Now hanging in the barn right next to the car is its mascot and namesake.
    [​IMG]

    With the front suspension on, it was time to start making my way to the back of the car. Another glaring thing you'll notice has not been mentioned is the transmission of choice for the car. I had purchased a freshly built th400 with a shift kit in it. Easy peasy. In comes the snowball effect again....

    I've always had a thing for 4 speeds in muscle cars. A 4 speed big block, even better. Now here's where I get weird: a 4 speed big block with a bench seat? I'm in love! I've always had a thing for bench seat stick cars. To me it screams no frills hot rod. Sure, buckets are more sporty, but a bench and a shifter said function over form and the function was to go fast! Sooooo when taulb bought a GS he was going to part out and it had a Muncie in it I pounced!

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    This is only going to be a temporary trans though as I know it won't live long behind this engine if I throw some sticky tires on it. I plan to replace it in the near future with an autogear super Muncie. But for this cars first year of breaking in and shaking down bugs, it'll due. But not without a rebuild and some upgrades. I was feeling adventurous, so time to bust out the wrenches and see some Muncie guts....
     
  2. sriley531

    sriley531 Excommunicado

    So with a Muncie rebuild DVD playing on the laptop, and a rebuild book (that proved to be useless) and the 72 chassis manual (definitely NOT useless!) nearby we dug in.
    [​IMG]
    The internals were all in fantastic shape luckily enough. No chipped up teeth or other signs of carnage. Also, it was an M20 wide ratio which is what I was wanting. So the tear down continued...
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    All spread out...
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    We reused the gears and main shaft, but just about everything else was replaced. The sliders were upgraded to the torque-lock variety and an iron mid-plate was added, along with a few other tweaks
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    [​IMG]

    With the side cover refreshed and it cleaned up, a quick spritz of paint and she was all set
    [​IMG]
     
  3. woodchuck2

    woodchuck2 Well-Known Member

    Very nice!!! Keep it coming. Glad to see someone giving it hell in the dirt and a small shop with friends/family and beer. Although you may not be striving for any trophy's dont be surprised you get some as there are not too many Buicks around, at least not around here anyway. Keep up the good work.
     
  4. Taulbee2277

    Taulbee2277 Silver Level contributor

    You finally started a thread, now I have to think of something new to pester you about. Notice our calibrated and precision transmission rebuilding tool, so some folk they call it a bar stool.. but what do they know. It would take a few dozen more pages to describe all the effort that went in between each step. But if we wanted easy we would have picked a Chevy (I love gm cars by the way). Thanks for the mention, it's been a fun ride so far!!



    And is my reputation from here on out in the Buick world really is as the leaky transmission guy?!?
     
  5. sriley531

    sriley531 Excommunicado

    Yeah, its usually taulb and I and our trusty (but not large enough) beer fridge! The barn is 22x30, we make it work but its cozy.
    I'm sure you'll find something sooner rather than later to be your go too tool of harassment. But I can always call you "the leaky tranny guy" now!!!! Hahaha
    Yep, our finally tuned Muncie transmission reassembly jig, otherwise known as an upside down bar stool. Hey, necessity is the mother of invention, right??

    And your absolutely right, this is the abbreviated version for sure. Makes it sound like to get to this point has been quick! Anything but....
     
  6. sriley531

    sriley531 Excommunicado

    I've got a minute, might as well add the next installment to this little adventure...

    Continuing rearward, it was time for....the rear! Despite having kept as much in house as possible at this point, I decided against rebuilding the 2.73 peg leg myself and instead contact Jim (monzaz here) and have him pit together a good rear end for the car. After some discussion, we pretty much decided to copy "Larry the Wizard"'s setup that Jim had done for him. 30 spline mosier axles, Eaton posi unit, and fresh 3.42 gears were the order of the day. Jim was a pleasure to work with and does a fantastic job! When I got it home, I put on a TA girdle for function and pretty looks.
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    And onto the chassis it went.
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    All new brake components and were in business!
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  7. cpk 71

    cpk 71 im just a number

    Great work !! Those olds rallys didnt look to bad!
     
  8. sriley531

    sriley531 Excommunicado

    Thanks Chris! They got me by, although it added to the confusion from casual car enthusiasts as to what it was. "I like your chevelle" was regular, but now I also heard "I like your Cutlass". They gave the car an even worse identity crisis! But I was 16 at the time, and anything was better than those 14" bias ply's that were on it! I scored those wheels with really nice Firehawk ss tires for $200 at a swap meet so I couldn't complain.

    So I had brought the engine home from its dyno session

    (Transport picture....ooh ahhh...)
    [​IMG]

    And the headers were home from a post dyno trip to get ceramic coated.[​IMG]

    Rolling chassis? Check. Main drive train components? Check. Might as well let them all get acquainted.

    Installed the nice shiny headers on the engine along with the flywheel and new centerforce clutch.
    [​IMG]

    Then came a freshly painted Lakewood blow-proof bell housing and trans. The bell housing indicated in beautifully!
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    A note on the bell housing: What a quagmire it was getting my hands on that thing!!! They're a bit tough to find and pricey to ship so it made for a real chore getting one. A HUGE thank you to John Stevens and especially Gary Paine!! These two gentlemen really stepped up to help get me this part and they truely exemplify the class that the Buick community is known for. Thank you gents!

    So we got ourselves a rolling chassis with a drive train! Time to address the huge, green, rusty elephant in the room... The body :eek:
     
  9. breakinbuick11

    breakinbuick11 Platinum Level Contributor

    Great thread, the pictures are awesome!

    Also, it seems yeungling is the common denominator in this build. Seems to be a motivator, note taken!
     
  10. sriley531

    sriley531 Excommunicado

    Thank you Louie, glad you're enjoying it! These aren't even a third of the pictures I have taken during the project. I'm just trying to hit the highlights.

    And yes, as Taulb and I tell people on a regular basis, this restoration is powered by Yuengling! Haha
     
  11. Mr. Sunset

    Mr. Sunset Platinum Level Contributor

    Damn, I want that rear end girdle. just because it has that "moser" logo. that's perfect. sometimes things just work out well.
     
  12. 69GS400s

    69GS400s ...my own amusement ride!

    I hearby dub thee P.P.Trannie

    :Brow::Brow::Do No:

    .. I'm waiting for the part of the story where Little Yeung Ling says "This clutch is too hard" .. "and this clutch is too soft" .. and THIS clutch ? its just Ri... BOOM !!"
     
  13. sriley531

    sriley531 Excommunicado

    That's actually a TA girdle, just branded Moser. Came in a TA box and everything.
    Oh boy, Taulbs gonna love that!

    And whattya mean boom??!! NO BOOMS!!!
     
  14. Taulbee2277

    Taulbee2277 Silver Level contributor

    Actually at a loss for words on this one, guess it's nice to be dubbed a name by a charter member for the BPG?? :Do No: I do expect a lanyard and nametag to commemorate the occasion though!

    We shall see who is laughing this year.. I am fixing those leaks or I am putting adult diapers on my "P.P. Trannie"!
     
  15. sriley531

    sriley531 Excommunicado

    Buy Pampers!! Support project Rusty Hulk!!! Haha

    Anyway, the chassis seemed to be at a good stopping point and it was time to turn towards the body.

    But before we get to that, let me fill you guys in on my thought process here. As mentioned earlier, this car was never meant to be concourse or perfect. I am not a professional body man, I don't play one on TV, and I did not stay at a holiday inn express last night. But I do the best with what I got and learn some good stuff along the way.

    As for the " theme " of this car, its based on a car I read about many years earlier. It was love at first sight, and I knew I had to have one. So my car will bear similarities to this one, but not a direct copy by any means. It is owned by our very own Buquick, and many of you will recognize it.
    [​IMG]

    Its at this point where this thread is gonna get messy...

    Step one was to build something for the body to sit on while we performed various surgeries. Some 4x4's and an excessive amount of lag bolts later, we had just that.
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    Next, we had to get the pig on top of the contraption. THIS WAS NO SMALL FEAT!! 6 strong backs (and a few weak minds) and we had it on, and wiggled and jiggled it to make sure it was solid. There aren't any pics of the loading procedure as it was all hands on deck, but you can imagine. Here she is on her perch.
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    It was fast becoming time to chop some metal!
     
    Donuts & Peelouts likes this.
  16. JoeBlog

    JoeBlog Platinum Level Contributor

    Abbreviated version or not, I've gotta tell you - this thread is as much inspiring as it is entertaining. Keep it up! You're doing the Buick nation proud on this one!
     
  17. sean Buick 76

    sean Buick 76 Buick Nut

    Nice work!
     
  18. Taulbee2277

    Taulbee2277 Silver Level contributor

    I truly hope you saved some of my art with the plasma cutter.
     
  19. sriley531

    sriley531 Excommunicado

    Thanks Joe, that's a kind compliment and I'm glad you like it thus far! I hope this does inspire people to not give up on their projects. Me and taulb, we're just average working guys, mostly self taught via reading or diving in and doing. The parts of this project I've covered here span over 3 years. Do you know how many people told me "you'll never do it, you'll never get it done"? We've all seen it at one point or another. I became that crazy guy saying he'll fix it up someday that never would. Well guess what.....

    So if it lights a fire under one guy here to say "hey, he did it so why can't I?", well that'd be an achievement in itself.

    But enough motivational speaking, back to the work!

    We decided to hit this thing head on, and tackle the worst of it first: quarters. I bought a pair of repop skins, and I gotta tell you guys, they aren't anything to write home about. They're about as straight as Laguna seca and as flat as Kate Upton. They didn't fit up overly well just playing with them, but it's what I had, so it is what it is. Gonna have to make it work.

    We marked our lines, figure our flange overlap (knowing we weren't good enough to butt weld it all. Just had to be real with ourselves....) And....
    Bye bye....
    [​IMG]

    Fired up my shiny new plasma cutter
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    And a few nerve racking minutes later
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    Holy crap, no turning back now!!
    Drilled a few spot welds and we were on our way to a repaired quarter, or a trip to the scrapper!
    [​IMG]

    We fitted the panel up to make sure we didn't screw anything up too bad and taulb gave his "I approve!" face
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    Taulb was itching to play with the plasma cutter so he did the drivers side
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    And I gave my "I approve!" Face!
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    Donuts & Peelouts likes this.
  20. Taulbee2277

    Taulbee2277 Silver Level contributor

    And let's not forget the "I'm freaking nervous" face

    [​IMG]
     

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