the battery acid toasted a few bolts that held the inner fender/battery tray onto the other body panels, but those were easy to replace. it also caused a bit of accelerated oxidation on the radiator surround, but not enough to compromise the structural integrity... i will replace that eventually, but im not worried about catastrophic failure. so, the majority of the damage was, thankfully, just on the inner fender/battery tray that was replaced. i looked underneath the battery tray to see if there was any apparent damage from dripping of acid through the tray, but could see nothing out of the ordinary. my hypothesis is that the car was parked for an extended period of time and the battery slowly corroded the metal.
as for my long-term goals, i would love nothing more to fully restore the car to its original beauty ('Buick is a Beauty Too'
). however, due to current monetary constraints (mainly from just buying a house), i am forced proceed with the 'a little at a time' method and see where it goes. in the mean time, i can still enjoy the car as is.
1958 MOD. 43
STYLE 58-4439
BODY No. BK2451
TRIM 412
PAINT CG
ACC. E (also BFG)