Following the instructions from the Buick Performance club link on dash removal, plus some hints from a few other guys, the job went pretty smooth. Two difficult parts were actually prying the dash pad up and away from the frame, and using one hand to push the speedo cable clip and pull the cable in unison. Playing with the new dash, I cleaned it well and painted it with gloss black. I think im gonna re-do it with some satin black. A bit less bright. Also bought 2 (fine and regular point) silver paint markers from the hobby lobby. It has an aggressive solvent that still softened the 3 day old enamel. Not sure if the edges are getting re-silvered or not Also have a really nice baby blue sport rally wheel to trade for a black one. Must be as nice as this one. Bill in TR There was three studs (with only 2 finger tite nuts) along the front and about 6 clips at the top of the pad with 2 pretty robust push pins at the sides. Once she let go, it was sitting in my lap. After a perfect extraction, I can study the innards, and replace all the dash lite bulbs and straighten out a bunch of other issues. Once I got my big ol' head in there, theres nothing magical, just a ton of amateur wiring that's gonna need to be straightened out, like deleted grounding wires on devices and some gage lense cleaning.
Had a few days where the weather didn't cooperate, and some other issues as well so the dash job has slowed to all but a standstill. Doing a lotta puttsing right now. Just getting it all ready for the "mad dash" to finish it. I ended up ordering a new AC face kit from Greg here and when that shows up with the replacement lighter and frame, itll be game on. I tried to salvage my old AC controller face, and it would have been classed as "usable" less than driver quality. Got a replacement for every lamp in the dash too, and painted them with some dark red Revlon nail polish for that aircraft look (well, boat look in my case!). Also got an old vacuum gage to put in place of the stoopid dodge ammeter from the under dash triplex unit. An ammeter on a car ranks right up there with an altimeter... Bill in TR ---------- Post added at 07:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:16 PM ---------- There is one other issue I need some advice on... and that's sport mirrors. Both the L & R are frozen to the point that the glass is gonna crack if I move them. I know theres a bunch of pot metal innards attached to the cables... will these come apart? I plan on removing from the doors so that they can get a good soakin'. The U clip is already deep within the door since well before purchase. Any words of wisdom??? Again, frozen in position from sitting for 20+ years...At least the PO got the beveled gaskets right! Door latches getting serviced too. Gotta give both doors a good shoulder bump to get out... any ideas on those too?? Bill in TR
Ho-Hummm... its always fun talking to myself; maybe Ill see something that I forgot. Finished assembling the dash today, that is until the lighter and AC applique' gets here. I sure as hell don't want to do this job again! Pulled all the gage lenses off and polished with the NOVUS acrylic polish. Gages look like new again! Used the silver pen on the dash trim. Went a little wider as I had to follow the tracks since the old hands aren't too steady anymore. Judges; go look at some valve stem caps or something significant. Bill in TR
Bill: That looks great! Sorry I could not help with your sport mirror question - I never took one apart. Your car sure is coming along. UticaGeoff
Sometimes me thinkst we are the only ones reading this stuff... Ill probably be painting that rally wheel tomorrow, waiting for santa to get here! Bill in TR
Not quite. You've got this Aussie interested any tips re removing the dash pad. The before & after on the lenses is amazing. Cheers, Chris
G'day mate! I got some decent pointers for doing this; its a job I dreaded for YEARS! Certain parts need to be forced, like clips and alignment pins but the rest is plastic and the best hint I received was "take your time". There was some fatigue in the glove box liner.... enough to get at the face nuts above it, but it'll hafta come out to get the AC hose back on. I have a friend that owns an F104 Starfighter (!!) and also a P51 Mustang and they both use the NOVUS to clean the canopies. The smaller sized bottles like pictured are expensive, maybe $50 US for the polish and a bit less for the cleaner. A motor rebuilder (electric) that I was working at was cleaning house after being sold and was tossing the gallon jug in the trash. It was only missing an ounce or two. It goes a LONGGGGG way! Bill in TR http://www.buickperformanceclub.com/page1.htm and in particular: http://www.buickperformanceclub.com/cluster.htm Take an hour and have a look around... TONS of neat info here !!!
Lah-tee-dah-tee-dah... Masked off the wheel this morning and got 3 coats of vinyl paint on it and the button. Didn't wanna peel the tape off just yet; maybe later today. Did a nice job running a vacuum line from the carb base to the gage, and installed some red bulbs in the gages then trouble shot them to make sure they work. Blurry pics are from being in the dark... Bill in TR
Pulled the tape off after 3 coats of vinyl paint and VOILA! Honestly? Ill give it a 99% ! Itll have a good week to fully dry, but is absolutely dry to the touch after a few hours. Nice. Also had the wife come out to the shop and "Floor It" to make sure that I did indeed have the correct cable bracket on the throttle... stranger things have happened! Secondary's are opening 100% !! http://www.buickperformanceclub.com/Buick455ThrottleCableBrkts.htm
Bill: You never cease to amaze me. Looks great, like everything else you've done. I have been thinking about your sport mirror problem. I don't know if EvapoRust will harm painted surfaces, but I've had some success with it derusting metal. I know AutoZone sells it. UticaGeoff
Yeah... for right now the mirrors are close, so at least its drivable. I seem to remember in my YOOT that the mirrors were hung on the door brackets with a single Phillips head screw on the aft end. Anudder dream; these are bolted from inside the door, so that means when the doors come apart for the handle, latch and riser maintenance, the mirrors will get the attention they need too. Yesterday I was gonna pull the handles off a spare set of doors. No interior panels so the trusty vice grips go on the crank spindle. One window came right up and I got the handle off in a few seconds. The other one kept coming up crooked. As I spent an hour in 2 feet of snow trying to get it up (!!) I ended up taking a punch and busting the window. At least it was only clear glass, not tinted. Walked away with two decent handles tho... So now, heres another question... The thumb button pushes a stub innards to open the latch; these are bent down at maybe 30-40 degrees. Does that sound right? I can see making a good set out of 4 handles. That's gonna turn into a latch and hinge overhaul, I just know it!! Oh heck, lets not forget the rubber kit too! On the evap-o-rust... I don't know what thatll do for pot metal. I seem to recall theres a steel ball inside the mirror housing with the glass plate having 3 (?) crimps around that to hold the position. If I can see around the edge of the glass, maybe some PB blaster??? Wish some exspurts would chime in... ws
Bill: I haven't had the door handles apart in a while, but I seem to recall the rod on the backside of the pushbutton has a bend at the end which pushes on a squarish metal piece that is part of the latch. UticaGeoff
A P-51 & an F-104 ! Two of my favourites. Are they flying or projects? Rathe than hijack the thread I'll PM you re the 'planes. Cheers, Chris
This is MY thred so feel free to post anything on this one you want... The P51 owner and his brother inherited a 15 room motel on Route 66 in Illinois after out high school years together. The brothers tore down the old motel and built a world class Holday Inn/Holidome entertainment center. Vlado, the older brother always liked flying and decided to buy his P51 MoonBeam McSwine. He flies with a group that does airshows all across the country. My other pal, Tony, never flew a plane, but always liked the F104. One was in the states for an overhaul, having had belonged to the deposed King of Syria. His son had a sister ship. Both have been demilitarized. available for sale with expended airframe time so a major over was needed to recertify. My pal needed to start out with regular flight time before advancing through to multi engine jet aircraft. This is one of 5 or 6 that are in private hands in the states. His money came from one of the largest candy companies in Cuba, that pulled out as Fidel came in to power. He was an only child and inherited everything when his dad died in about 2000. He told me whats invested in it and youd never think there was that much money in candy! Google MoonBeam McSwine and F104 starfighters flight team. ---------- Post added at 03:44 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:39 PM ---------- So, back to the shop... I just gave the tail end of the drivers door a good lift and can feel about 1/8 - 1/4" of sag in the hinges. Is this an adjustment on the jamb pin, or overhaul the hinges time??? Is it customary to do both hinges per door or just the uppers? Geoff... got any literature on THIS one? LOL... Bill in TR https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTtPsxnSDYM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSrH1Dg5Y30 ---------- Post added at 04:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:44 PM ---------- New dash applique' showed up today ! Tomorrow we start re-assembling in earnest!! ws
You may be able to hold off repairing the hinges with no more than a quarter inch of play if they close smoothly. They make relatively inexpensive repair kits for the hinges. I seen them talked about several times on the forum. I'll check my manuals tomorrow for the door hinge info. UticaGeoff See George's Site: http://www.buickperformanceclub.com/doors.htm
The doors actually open pretty well from the outside, but from the inside need a good shoulder bump. To me that actually means that they are hanging heavy on the jamb pins. The thumb buttons on the outside handle get a little sideways and stick in too. They probably need grease , or maybe a plastic bushing there too. Ill make bronze ones for that. That's the bent pin part. That link was pretty informative, and I thank you! So now I get to cheat the hangman LOL... Ive got two junk doors with hinges and can have that part all done and do a swap out, leaving one hinge on the door at a time for a primary alignment. So I think in manana, Ill be pulling the hinges of the rusty doors and the latches at the same time. Then we can get 10" of snow! We are only a block off Lake Michigan. We can have a foot of snow or 2-3" of rain and a mile away its dry! Im even gonna try that "HELP" part number to see if its viable... ws
Just finished snow blowin' 8 inches of wet Lake snow and I sure can use a CIGARETTE OFF THE LIGHTER IN THE GS IN THE SHOP. ray:ray::laugh:
Bill giving the door a bump could mean the inside handle mechanism is wearing out ,they do wear out and you have to pull the handle a little further to get the door open . Clamp a vise grip on the nipple where the pull handle goes and check the play it might be pretty bad. Check the door u have it might have a good one that you can swap out. ---------- Post added at 08:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:44 PM ---------- The outer handle Is supposed to be bent ,over time the can bend more then they should and you will have to push it in further to open the door. You can straighten them out a little to make it easier to open the door, kinda a test and tune kinda thing with the outer handle.
