I'm preparing myself for the day when I change fenders, inner fenders, hood, and doors. The rust in the quarter panels will have to have a new plate welded on top of the old one, but the rest I'm planning on exchanging. Has anyone done this before, who could recommend in which order these things should be taken care of. You kind of have to take everything off to get to the inner fenders, should I just go with the spacer arrangement that comes off or is there a basic set up and then you add or subtarct to get it right? As the feders are off, I hould do the doors at the same time,since I'll have access to the bolts for the doors. Should I try to allign the doors first, and then the fenders, or should I put the fenders on first and then try to align it all together. I know that this will probably take a whole day to get it right, but it's all part of learning as I see it. Now since all the parts that are going on are already off, should I sand them down and put a coating of primer on them, then put them on, or is it better to leave the paint on, and then only worry about spots that might need to have rust removed?
sounds fun... I've changed doors and fenders before, but not at the same time, although it would've saved me a lot of trouble. If I were you, I'd just pull everything off, as it's easier to work on the door with the fender off. You may want to consider getting the inner fenders and core support powdercoated while you have them off. I have a 70 LeSabre, and the support rusts really bad under the battery, so that'll help save it. I don't know if the Rivs have the same problem, but hey, it can't hurt. Plus it looks good. While you have the doors off, it's definately easier to paint the jams, but if it has the original paint and no rust, do you really want to mess with it? Your call. You may also want to consider Por-15 or something similar while the fenders are off and easy to get to. The more protection that goes on the metal now, the less you'll have to worry about later. It's also easy to get to the front part of the frame (on my car, so I'd assume yours too) with the front clip off. So you could put some sort of undercoating on that too. Sorry, I get carried away like that. When aligning, I found it easier to do doors, then fenders, as you have a reference point with the door to the quarter. If you put them both on and try to align, it becomes a pain. Just be prepared to take the fender off and on a few times, cos you'll probably need to move the door up or down a bit to get it right. One thing that makes it easier is to mark where the hinges were and start there with the new door. Sorry, that was long. By the way, if you don't have power windows, now's the time to find a set and put them in if you want them. Much easier wit the fenders off. Hope that helps!! :beer
Great, I just need some encouragement on this one, cause I know there'll be alot of swearing when this one goes down.. How about the paint prep. situation?
I would've replied sooner, but spring break happened. Anyhow, I don't know what to tell you about the paint prep, as I haven't gotten that far yet and don't really know too much about it. o No: That's next on the agenda. I'm kinda afraid to attempt to paint it myself cos I've heard so many horror stories about how it comes out crappy. ou: Plus, I don't have an air compressor, so that's a bit of a road block too. But...I am curious what you end up doing... :Brow:
Hi guys..I might be able to help a little as I have a 69 Lesabre Convertible that I am restoring at this moment and doing much of the work you are asking/talking about I will post the link to an online album I have been keeping of the project ..I am running late and will try to get back by the week end to talk some more if you have some specific things and try to help ...I have just bought two Parts cars from MooseJaw Saskatchewan..I live in London Ont Canada...I am sort of waiting for the parts cars to come as they are wildcat 4dr hardtops but with air, disc-brakes and many other nice options like tilt etc..so I hope they will get here early next week...I bought the cars for $400, but have to $800, for shipping but they really nice bodys and chrome bumpers and emblems so I am hoping to sell a few things to get some money back...anyway here is the link to the one I am working on right now....my Wild-Lesabre Looking forward to talking to you...fatchuk
fatchuk, Where'd you get all those replacement body panels from?!? I have a 70 LeSabre (well, 2, but only one needs body work now) and I noticed a new floor, a new trunk floor, and new quarters! Where did you find that stuff?!? I wasn't aware anybody made it. Please let me know as soon as possible, as I have about 3 weeks of spare time coming up soon and I'd love to get all that done.
Hi: busy week I wanted to get the body off the frame by friday so I could spend the week-end getting the frame repairs done and water-blast the frame and paint it with por 15 Also, I would like to really clean up the under-body it really just needs a good brushing and pressure wash, blow it real good with compressed and leave it up on the lift for the week-end and soon as I get a chance through the week I would like to paint all the underneath with por 15...may be able to use it for my coffin... I did all the rough body work first so I could tighten all the body skin so it wouldn't move when I lifted the shell..the door fits just never even moved...I was hoping to be able to set the body back down on her by next friday...but....I don't think that's gonna happen now Kinda screwing up my own plans now as I got the urge to build a 430 for her but I would need to find one and be able to scrounge up dough to get the machine shop work done it just seems to make economic sense to build it right probably be a lot cheaper to maintain in the long run and if properly maintained should appreciate quite nicely and be a real pleasure to own and drive.....what I used for the trunk floor in mine was a skylark floor I got a full floor for a skylark and cut and sectioned it to refabricate the trunk floor...in about 3 cuts...the flor pans I used were for a full size b-body Chev 69 or 70 I would have to check for sure ..they were readily available from my local NAPA jobber..the 1/4s I also got from the NAPPA jober the fit both 79-70 lesabre, Electra, and wild cat so they are still available as far as I can tell if you get them through let me I will find the supplier and part number as I believe they a on line web site....maybe like cross canada parts .com.I think that's the name of the supplier and they have an online cataloge...I bought a bunch of parts cars so I think I will take the time to use all the options so I may as well take the time to clean and inspect and repair or service every thing........ hope info is useful fatchuk
Fatchuk, I'm planning on just straight swapping my frame for a new one...mine isn't worth the trouble to fix...I've already patched it twice in back under the trunk, once where the trailing arm connects to the frame on the drivers side, and up front it isn't looking too good either. Plus, at some point the car was in a front end collision and the driver side is higher than the passengers side in front. The trunk is pretty much toast, and the quarters are rotted on the bottoms, and the rockers are starting to go too. How good are those parts from crosscanadaparts.com? They didn't really have a pic of the quarter repair panels, and the trunk floor for the 70 impala or caprice or whatever it was, looked a bit small. Would you recommend a floor panel cut up or one of their trunk floors? I have no problem welding stuff in, but I've just yet to do a whole floor. -Romy
I just pulled the body off mine and I am now working on the frame repairs.. I posted a couple pictures of the body and the frame seperated ..if I had access to a frame, that would be my first choice but as I don't... I am confident that I can do a professional and structual safe frame repair on the one I have, especially with it removed from the car...makes it easier to work on that's for sure ..it will also let me clean and neaten the floor pans and trunk floor from underneath and paint it with por15.. If I had a choice I would use a trunk floor from another Buick 4dr or a parts car but, as I didn't have any choice I did the best I could with the skylark floor and it worked out ok ..may not be concours but it looks ok and is solid...itwill be covered with a carpet or mat of some type ....I found the repair 1/4 panel to good of good quality and made from 18 guage metal so I was comfortable with the quality and really... what choice is there, as far as I could find there ain't nobody who makes one...so I figured I was lucky to find one as a matter of fact I am planning on buying up a few more of those 1/4s for my stock as they may soon become extinct..the floor pans fit perfect....I actualy never thought of a trunk floor for a B-body chev till after I had done the trunk floor with the skylark floor but in hind site I would have used the B-body trunk floor as I really just wanted the ribbed floor for strength...here is a link to another one I am working on it is almost finished....70 lesabre fatchuk
That link doesn't want to work for me. I checked out the 69's page again, and it looks good...must be nice to have a hydraulic lift! I plan on doing it with a retarded system of pulleys...well, it won't be retarded, but it would sure look dumb next to a hydraulic lift. How many Buicks do you have?
Confused here. I offered you alot of the correct stuff cheap. I even thought we had a deal going. Then you just dissapeared.
Floyds...I thought we sorta ended just not having any way to ship the stuff, The guy you thought might take didn't want to.. and I just couldn't find a way to get it here so I figured it just went cold ..I apoligise if you thought we had more commitment...I will go back and read my e-mails...I feel like a schmuck if I messed you up...it was not my intent I been trying to find the stuff as best as I can at a price I could afford... Go: I got a fair chunk on the frame finished to-day and posted it on the link...I will check the other one and see what I did wrong and try to fix it ...Not the sharpest knife in the drawer when it comes to computers...fatchuk
No problem. Last we communicated I gave you my home phone number since it looked like you was coming. It woulda been nice to get a yes or no, but its not a deal gone bad. I only consider a deal gone bad if moneys lost. So all is well. I surfed your site and was very impressed with your metal work. The car is looking great!
Help, Please! Fatchuk: Please, please, please, could you post or PM me with the vendor name and part number of the body panels you used? Specifically, what is the brand and part number of the rear quarters on your 69, the same info for the trunk floor and the interior floors. I have a 70 and use the same parts. I found the info on the "Cross Canada" website you referenced in your post, but I can't find ANY quarters here in the states. If you could give me the name of the vendor, maybe it would be easier to find the parts. It will cost me a fortune to get them from Cross Canada and have them shipped here. Thanks for your help! BTW - Nice car! It will be worth all the work you put into it when you're done. Paul
Paul: got your post..I will look up the actual part numbers and get them posted by the week-end I am away for a couple days soon as Get a chance I will get it done..fatchuk
