The only other restoration that even compares to yours is a 2nd generation Riviera complete by Jason Zerbini, ROA 775. He is also a member here at v8buick, and did a series of feature articles for our bi-monthly magazine, the Riview . . . . a labour of love for sure, congratulations Matt !! :beer
The Wildcat moved under its own power, for the first time in 18-months, for a quick turn around and a not so entirely newsworthy re-entry into the garage. For the 3 people globally that are following me on Twitter I've attached a couple photos of the moments below :kodak: And short video running motor after warm up and timing being set... *video removed*
Looking Good! - Matt- clean out your mailbox! Answer is arrive Thursday for WOT meeting White Squirrel, car show Friday @ Beech Bend.
The project is getting close now... here's a couple photo's of the car. She's in final assembly and then off to have the top installed.
Ok super close to complete now. Just sent in the value increase request to Hagerty, photos and restoration details, then waiting 24-48hrs. before taking it on the open roads. I head up to Virginia (from North Carolina) to drive the car for the first time in almost 2 years and to run through a final punch list of remaining items that need attention prior to delivery. If the list is short it might be in my driveway this upcoming weekend.
I may have missed this in an earlier post, but is that a factory Buick color? Nice choice, it's gorgeous!
Yes. The color is original to the car and is called Diplomat Blue. Its an interesting color in that it can look metallic, dark, and near black depending on lighting conditions.
That color is awesome. There is a 64 4_speed in the northeast that color. I was looking through old photos and saw it 2006 BCA meet at Batavia NY.
Are you going to show the car some this spring? If you haven't already planned to, I recommend you enter it into the AACA national show at the autofair in April.
1 The guy owns 2 Wildcats, the Blue 4-speed and a 66 Wildcat GS that is yellow. (I hope my memory is correct here). Blue with light blue painted top, blue bucket seats and short console 4-speed. I have pictures somewhere, just saw them on home computer. The trunk was so clean and perfect. Whole car is really nice, it probably got a gold that year.
Thanks for asking Nick. Honestly the answer is a very long one. Of which I will spare you and the forum the most grisly of details. Suffice to say that while the paint and body did look good in the photos posted they were not done, by the restorer, to our written agreement. The Wildcat is currently undergoing a second paint job, complete to bare metal stripping with new body work, to remedy the situation (at new paint/body shop). This is obviously at great cost, more than moderate frustration, and potential future litigation. The long and short of it is the restorer subbed in a paint and body work system by Sherwin Williams (when our contract stated PPG). Additionally the quality of the body work under the paint was not to the terms of our agreement (and also not of the PPG brand). At this point I'm hoping the Wildcat will finally be home in the August/September timeframe. It's been a long road... but I'm still excited to have her back in my garage (and out on the highway).
Matt sorry to hear this! I think your experience highlights why a written set of expectations are critical. Too often, myself included, we assume that people will do what was asked and agreed upon. Sadly, it often works out differently. At least you can point back to a piece of paper that says -- we agreed to X and you didn't do it. I have some upholstery work coming up, you've encouraged me to sit down and write up all the details so when the shop starts the work they have no excuse for "not understanding". I look forward to the final pictures -- it will be worth it!
Hi Matt- I feel your pain. I was looking at the job my old paint shop (the guy retired ) did on my 65 (Super Wildcat 4-speed convertible) and found many assembly concerns (proper fasteners )and the main ef up is the white paint with no tint- which he ignored my statements regarding white paint color but also forgot that he did the 67 in the correct Arctic White just a couple years before. Do I accept the appliance white look or repaint? Time to shake the $$$ tree It is not your fault or the car's fault. It does however affect one's affection in the short run.
Thanks guys. I appreciate the support. I'm intentionally not saying much here because I want the car's mojo to remain unscathed by this. I'll post photos of the car in primer in about 6-weeks (in that phase right before 2nd paint). I knew I had to have it redone... otherwise I would have been reminded everyday that I did not get what I wanted (and of which was contractually written) and that a restoration shop got the better of me. At least one of those needed to be fixed to my favor. Whether I can remedy the latter will be decided once I write the final check (to the new shop and then decide on legal pursuits). Needless to say the redo represents an additional outlay of approx. $25K. Ouch... and yes this will never be lived down within my household.
