I assume you have an air compressor if you are planning on painting it yourself. You should be able to get an air powered DA sander to make it a little easier. It's a big car, so it's going to be a big job! There's some electric DA sanders available too.
I found a dual action electric sander today. I will pick it up tomorrow. It's on sale, 50 down from 120. I cannot pass this up. Add in some sanding disks and I'm up to 70. I am borrowing my son's VISA and will pay him back on Friday. I will also need some primer. I am going to do a section, such as the hood, then prime it. Do a fender, prime it. This is going to take some time but, what else do I have to do right now. Almost everything I like to do in Lethbridge is closed. Restaurants are take-out only. Thrift shops, closed. The weather is improving, so, sand sand sand away! Also remove chrome. My compressor is a little light for this work. Ray's is professional, but also 450 miles away.
Okay, my lack of mechanics and car knowledge is showing. I am embarrassed to admit this. I have the car running great (Thank you Bob at Bernie's Auto). She doesn't scrap entering the alley (New Coils in May), doesn't roll going around corners, other than paint looks really good. But.... when the car gets to 70 KPH (~ 40 MPH) the most annoying buzzing sound, like something vibrating, would start. It would do it if there was wind, or even no wind. I tightened bolts, I oiled everything. I took the passenger side vent apart, lubricated everything and cleaned it out. No change. I was at my wits end, but since I drive it around town at 50 KPH (30 MPH), I was living with it. Today, I took the dog to the off leash park and, since it was overcast and trying to snow, I had my headlights on. I backed in (telecom training... always pull through or back in), turned off the car and, buzzzzzzz. My headlight reminder I added. I turned off the headlights and, lightning hit my brain (boy, that really hurts ) It sounds just like my annoying buzz. There is a adjustable speed reminder standard in my car. You can adjust it to see when your speedometer goes above it. It is set to....40 MPH. After walking the dog,I took the car out on the highway. Buzzzz. I adjusted the minder all the way up.... Peace and Quiet. I Am An Idiot!!!!. But, I can be taught.. Anyone else have a similar story! I really don't want to feel alone in this.
Thank you. I should really follow the KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) methodology, but I dug into everything down deep. Well, at least I cleaned, lubricated, and tightened things. Going to try to remember this next time
I had a young guy come up to me today and ask about the car. He then asked if it was for sale? I said no, it's not for sale. He said "I'll give you $2000 right now for it." I said "That's a joke, right? I wouldn't sell it for $20,000." He said "It's not worth more than $2000" I told him it wasn't for sale at any price, and I just put $6000 into it. He said "Your loss." and walked away. I shook my head and got in and drove away. You would have thought the first no would be good enough. Offering $2000 was an insult.
Today I was too sore to lay under the car. Our age does come with it's limitations. I got out the backup camera system that I purchased last month. The instructions were, how to put it, confusing and read like they were translated by a 4 year old. The diagram was little better. It took me 4 hours to install, but mostly because I refused to drill any holes in the body anywhere. I used existing holes, put the wires behind the chrome trim and soldered the joints. I used the hole for the license plate light to get out of the trunk. I had to gently pry the bumper out about 1/2 inch to get the connectors past the bumper. I used my light to verify the backup power since both wires were green ???? Ah well, it wasn't too hard to figure out. It came with double-sided tape so I didn't have to drill any holes in my bumper. Finally, I tried it out and, nothing. Now what? I checked the trunk and, of course, I verified the power and forgot to plug the camera back in. Try again, upside down. No problem, turn the mirror over. There, now I will feel better backing up into the parking down at the dog park. The posts and wire are too low to see in the mirror. I don't want to dent my baby.
I installed the windshield washer monitor yesterday. I managed to hide all of the wires in the split loom I installed under the hood. Today, my wife and I sent the Granddaughter back home next door for a nap and I asked my wife if she wanted to go for a drive in the car. We are both going a little stir crazy. As they said in Muppet Treasure Island, we've go Cabin Fever. Up north, we used to call it being "Bushed". Off we went for a short drive, just a 30 mile round trip. The car ran like a dream. The annoying buzz..... gone. Now, we did hear whistling through the windows a little, but I knew it needs new seals. The plastic I put in the doors cut off the drafts through the doors. My wife enjoyed the drive. She said it brought her back to her teen years, cruising with the other teens in Whitehorse Yukon. For me, it was more akin to when we first got together and couldn't afford a new vehicle. Either way, it was way too much fun. Have to do it again, although I might have to keep a closer eye on the GPS for my speed. Easy to speed in the Wildcat.. Have a good day all....and... stay healthy!
Today I ordered the basecoat paints for my car 3 gallons of mulsanne metallic blue, 1 gallon of pearl white and the mixers reducers required. 1200 USD (1700 CAN). I love my wife. she really pampers me. She also spend $550 for a decent RC truck for my birthday next month. I am ecstatic. It is an electric one with brushless motor guaranteed to do 80 KPH (50 MPH) plus. I can't fly drones, might was well stay on the ground. Between caring for my Grandchildren, working on the car and running the dog, my days are pretty filled up. Well, a good and safe night to all. God Bless
So, today I was driving down Mayor Magrath (Our main north-south corridor) and an older gentleman in a Dodge Rumblebee pickup pulled up to next to me at the light. He complimented the car asked a few questions, then, as the light turned, asked me if I wanted to trade for a 1965 Mustang. Now, a few years back, if you had asked me if I wanted a 1965 Mustang, I would have drooled saying yes please. Today though, I shook my head and said "No Thanks, I love my car." This isn't the first time this has happened, but it is the first time that anyone offered me a Mustang, my previous dream car. The thing with Mustangs, common as grass. Wildcats..... no nearly so. I do love my obscure car.
Today, after my Son woke up and took his kids around 10:30 (Mom is in the hospital, not COVID-19), and taking a load of garbage to the dump, I worked on my car for 3 hours. I started by removing everything from the trunk and checking it out. Definitely need to strip and paint the floor. I sprayed all of the nuts inside for the letters and rear chrome trim with penetrating oil. After waiting a little, while straightening out the tool box, I started removing the letters. The two Wildcat words on the sides, all individual letters, came nicely. I removed the chrome trim from the back of the trunk and then worked on the Wildcat letters on the trunk. Easy Peasy, until I came to the D, right in the middle. Nice, the trunk locking mechanism was in the way. Okay, it's only 3 bolts. Well, that started, not, now, how to get this pin out of the middle. I guess I need to remove the lock. Now, how...... must be below this little plate. Remove the screw and small bolt... and... not a plate. Now what?????? On a whim, I pulled on it, hmmm, it's a plate that releases the lock. Pull the lock and the latch, get the rest of the letters and go to put the lock back together. It was at this point, I could swear I heard my Dad "When you put that back, I want it to look and work like new." (Don't you hate it when that little voice, from 30 years ago, won't keep quiet?) Okay Dad, I brushed the lock and latch mechanisms clean, oiled it and looked. Not quite like new, but clean and working well. I then tackled the side chrome moulding along the side of the trunk. Have to remove the chrome from the wheel well first. Darn, those screws were sticky. Penetrating oil again! Now I have the side moulding from the trunk off, look at the clips. Definitely have seen better days. That explains why the trim was never tight to the body in places. Look up the clips, find them, well, universal ones online. 5 for 9.95. I will look local first, but the original ones are not going back on the car! Next, back seat and doors, but tomorrow, my wife has me building shelves. Everyone have a good night and stay safe and healthy. As they say, we are all in this together!
I took everything out of the trunk the other day and, lo and behold, I found the jack. It was right up front, under the carpet. I sanded it down and repainted it to look like new. When dry, I oiled it and tested it. Right as rain, works perfect. I don't think I would actually se it as it is a bumper jack and would probably scratch the chrome, but it is nice to have it. I crawled up under the back dash and checked it out. A lot of surface rust, so, wire brush, wipe down and then primer. After it dried, trunk paint. I then pulled up the carpet and used my drill and wire wheel to remove all of the surface rust and wiped it down. More trunk paint. I removed the rear fan and opened it. Rusted solid, and shorted. I contacted another member here and he found me a new fan for $76.40. I verified the power from the ACCESSORY switch. That works great. My car is coming along great!
I may have a few of those clips from the '66 I'm parting out. I will take a close lock at them & let you know. Tom T.
Thank you. I'm having more fun than a barrel of kittens with this project, although, if you listen to my language sometimes, it might not seem so. I't's like in Telecom Equipment Build. It's not tight without the patented "Installers grunt".
I went to my mechanics store today as he also sells RC trucks and other hobby items. This is where I bought my 1/10 scale Electric RC ARMMAX Granite 4x4 3S from. Goes like stink 50+ MPH! I broke a steering link on my truck today. He is going to order me one. While he was looking to see if he had one, I decided to look around at his stock. I couldn't believe what I found. I found a new AMT 1/25 scale 1966 Buick Wildcat Hardtop Sport Coupe model. I can't build it right now (arthritis in my hands is crazy bad right now), but might ask my eldest son to help me. First, I will need to find some model glue. He was sold out and other hobby shops are closed right now. I plan to build it as an exact replica of my car and mount it in the back window of the car. Man am I stoked. I knew they existed, but on eBay, they are crazy expensive. This was only $36.40 for the model, still wrapped in plastic, right here in Lethbridge. I am taking a short break from working on the car to help care for my Grandchildren while Mommy is in hospital. Hopefully she will be able to come home soon. We miss her.
Yesterday I installed a Tire Pressure Monitoring System on my car. It is either solar powered or USB powered. I have also installed a console with my stereo, a bank of 4 12 volt and 1 USB and 2 cup holders. I had some leftover plywood and stain so, why not? Much better than the one I made earlier. That one was not thought out very well. I also ordered the clearcoat for the car. Eastwood had a 50% off sale. My wife said to buy. We saved around $250 Can. buying now. I am having so much fun.
When Ray had the car he took the clock apart, cleaned it and got it working again. It still works I put my Equus tach on the column. It blocks the left signal partly, but it seemed the best place for it.
Today, I put my new variable rate coils in the rear of my Wildcat. So much nicer than the old ones with the coil spacers I put in. Now, our dump is closed so I will have to wait to dispose of them as I recycle whenever possible. Now the rear has new shocks and new springs. Slowly working on fixing her up.
I took my spare tire in for repair today without a lot of hope, but you never know. They called me 30 minutes later to tell me that the tire was far past it's prime, had cracking in the sidewall and was leaking through the membrane. In short the tire is toast. They are going to order me a Cooper to replace it. $150 Can installed and balanced. Be here Tuesday since Monday is Victoria Day long weekend. I can live with that. I did mention to them not to misplace the rim as they are hard to find. I talked to Ray and in the conversation asked him when he bought the spare. He said it came with the car and was flat 12 years ago. So, since the car hadn't been used for about 5 years before that, at least 17 years old. Yup, it's toast. I absolutely refuse to take the car out of town without a spare tire. No longer a risk taker.... too old. Ray said to bring up the coils. There is an auto wreckers there that will take them for scrap steel. I just do not want them in the dump.
