Ozzytom.. How great was that whole scenario! Congrats to the newlyweds, you and all concerned. The Buick looks beautiful and I've saved the pictures. Hope my customer's car looks as good as yours with the spoke wheels and WWs. Jack
I spent almost an hour on each wheel to get them all shiny. :shock: There must be an easier way to clean and polish the area behind and between the spokes. It was a real chore using metal polish and polish cloth and contorting my fingers in between the spokes. I'd hate to have to do that every weekend. Lucky the weather is good at the moment. Methinks this car will NEVER be driven on a wet road.
Thanks Jack for the well wishes. You are doing an immaculate job on that 57 Buick. I think your build will surpass mine easily. Keep up the good work. Your progress pics are providing a wealth of info on how it should be done! Looking forward to seeing the whole car when it's completed. regards tom
Looking at the last picture with the 3 cars end-end you can see the quality of the Buick over the Chevs. The Buick looks almost custom from the factory compared to the other two. In my opinion a MUCH nicer looking car. Not taking anything away from the Chevs, but look at the side picture of the 2dr. hdtps. Much COOLER & CLASSIER, again in my opinion, but then again I'm kinda bias. Tom T.
Deck lid was installed today with only a few adjustments necessary. Here's some pictures with some comments. Just about finished up back here. Gaps are consistant all the way around. Here's a worthwhile tip. Assuming you have installed the trunk lid rubber correctly....let it dry and then finish it off properly by smearing this useful product all the way around the rubber seal before closing the lid and repeat it every time you open the lid for two or three months. You will not pull your rubber loose and it will last a long time. No cleanup is really necessary. You'll be glad you did down the road.
Jack, That looks like a million dollars! That red paint is fabulous! Tom, I had the same thoughts, when looking at those pics. The engineering and the fit of; the body and trim, is head shoulders above the cheaper Chevys. The bumper fit on OzzyTom's and Jack's cars look like custom work.
Question for you long time Buick guys. Why is the cowl drilled for these hood stops on this Special, when they are of no use being positioned under the cowl vent grill? Just curious.
As I see it, looks like it kinda does 'double duty' in both bolting down that top corner the fender and then using shims to move it up or down....all taking place under the grill. Also, not much room under the ends of the vent grill for the bracket to slip under. It just seemed funny to me not to see that 'ubiquitious' rubber bumper stop on top of the screw...which in this case does nothing. I'm just going to use a 5/16th bolt, lock nut and shims if needed.
Maybe to keep the grill from rattling??? Does the hood go anywhere near these??? Looks like they should have the rubber stops on top??? I'm sure they are there for a purpose. I doubt Buick would have put them there for no reason. Unless I take one of the '57's I have apart at this point I have no clue. I might just have to do that to satisfy my own curiosity. Tom T.
I went back and looked at some pictures before disassembly, and there were no bumpers on the round flat tops, just a flat washer and two lock nuts. I do know that not all the GM assembly plants did everything exactly the same from all the Tri-Fives I've done. Sometimes, they would run short of some little part and substitute something else that did the same job.
The 3 rear glass moldings are now sealed and screwed into place. Inportant to install the right piece in the proper sequence and which corner first.... Otherwise, you may bend it and won't be a lot of fun for you! There won't be a lot of this going on out there, but if you should be faced with this down the road, I have the notes on the details in my files. The rear glass pieces should be installed this week and then I'm done with all the glass work...Priceless..... Plan is to get the dash installed sometime this week..after the glass is finished up.
Here's a few pictures to update on the progress on the car. Always good to have all the 'glass installation' behind you. The windshield ended up nicely and moldings installation went smoothly. The inside procedure on installing the back glass (from the inside) is both simple and at the same time somewhat complicated. In addition to sealing the windows, there are 11 retainers that hold those three windows in place. Had to make a couple of installation 'dry runs' which included marking the correct screw holes (about 34 of them) for the retainers and there are 14 or 15 more screw holes that hold the three garnish moldings on top of the retainers in line with the retainer screw holes.....Like I said, nice to be past this little task and wonder which engineer/designer dreamed this one up!
I'm also restoring a 57 Special and I'm having a difficult time trying to figure out how to remove the 2 chrome rings on the dash that surround the headlight controls also the pull knobs. If anyone can offer some HELP I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks for any reply, Barry
