My Limited Four Door Project

[Smartin]

Epoxy primer applied!

[Smartin]

Some minor bumps and pits smoothed out, seam sealer, then 2 coats of high build primer!

[dvonk]

its coming along!

random question since it looks like youre painting right in your garage... have you had any issues with overspray and/or atomized paint settling on things around the garage?

[Smartin]

Oh yeah, I expect an extensive cleanup after the primer is finished. I plan to line the whole garage in plastic when I paint everything. My entire house smells like a body shop now...I love it

[Smartin]

Ok boys and girls...

We have a white top. The paint was surprisingly difficult to get. The PPG guy told me I was out of luck unless I had a part with the old paint on it that they could match. Since nothing but the top itself was white, I had nothing to give him. With the help of a v8buick board member, I was able to cross reference the code to a Spectramaster code from DuPont.

[Smartin]

Rear drivers side door ...this is the only door that I couldn't salvage off the parts car last Winter, so I drug it up the stairs today and gutted it. Found a bunch of rust. Started to repair today, ran out of time tonight. Time for some beers with the neighbors.

[Smartin]

Filling holes...rear left door is done with rust repair. I only needed 6 pieces to make this one solid again. The lower jamb was pretty bad on this door. Then there was the front corner...

Not a perfect repair, but only a small amount of filler needed to smooth the joint.






I pulled out the other rear door this evening, and it is worse than this one. I then pulled out the one from the black parts car, and it is much more solid....still one spot in the front lower jamb that has to be patched, but better than open heart surgery like this door. I will have to drill new holes for the Limited trim and weld the Super trim holes shut on this door.

[Smartin]

I finished gutting all 7 doors from both cars today. The doors from the Super didn't have really any rot in them with the exception of one door in the lower jamb. No skin rot. I am going to try to get them glass beaded this week sometime. I just don't have the energy or interest in stripping them myself, especially the jambs. Ugh.

Here are the dead doors that came off the Limited. Off to the scrap pile they go!




Here are the good/patched doors ready to go to the blaster.




I started cutting on the trunk lid this evening, but didn't get very far before I had to wind down for the night...I really dislike Sunday nights.

The entire inner lip is completely gone, but the outer skin is reasonably nice. I cut off the lower section of a 57 Roadmaster lid 2 years ago to graft it onto the Limited trunk. This should be an interesting repair.

I've already cut off an inch of the Limited trunk, so there is no turning back now!

[Smartin]

I gave up on the trunk lid...too much rot.

So since I bailed on the old trunk lid...the 58 Buick Ranch came through for me with another one. He dropped it off to me on Tuesday on his way through town. Also swapped him some taillight bezels and a trunk bar which were in better shape than mine.

This trunk lid still has some rot on the inside lip, but it is about a quarter of what was on the other one. I can fix this in a day.






After I bailed on the old lid last weekend, I took the beltline moldings from the doors and polished them. I finished installing the new window sweeps last night. They look perfect!

[Smartin]

Rust is repaired on the trunk lid.

Tacked




Weld complete...





Ground flat...






I dragged the front fenders out of the basement this morning and dismantled them for stripping. This always gives me a reason to vacuum the floor, since I leave a trail of dirt and rust from the basement through the house to the garage door.

These are rusted in the usual spots just under the headlights. Shouldn't be too bad to repair. There is one spot on the driver's side fender that needs a small patch along the door line.




I disassembled the headlight assemblies, too. This job really sucks.




Does anyone know if this is a factory splice? It is on both sides. They were both wrapped in cloth tape and looked very old. Seems to be a hokey splice if it really is a factory job.






Of course, the day wouldn't be complete without sweeping and shoveling up 10 lbs worth of crap.

[Dynastar]

Hi Adam,
the car's really taking shape - keep up the good work!! I look forward to your updates, as I know that I'll be going through the same process one day when I finally get around to tackling my 58 Roadmaster!

[Smartin]

Back on track...

Fender patches are complete. I am going to try to get these in primer and smoothed out, possibly paint the jambs and install before the Heartland Regional in September...oy...lots of work. Good thing I took off work the week of the regional.

This little spot rusted through, just in the outside of the brace behind the fender skin...appears to be a good spot to catch water and garbage.




Both fenders we completely rusted through below the headlights, and were a bit of a pain to repair.




My garage has been a bit crowded with all of the body panels stuffed in there lately. The trunk lid and hood are sitting behind the car, and the other two doors are on the other side of the car.

[Smartin]

Been working on the doors lately. Block sanding and skim coating...all day and night long! Two of the four doors are nearly complete.

[Smartin]

Jambin'!!

The color appears to be a slight bit more purple than the original, but it's in artificial light right now. I may roll it outside tomorrow and see how it looks. It shines like crazy, too. Looks wet...love it.

The color combo looks stunning, though! I am pleasantly surprised at how well the white compliments the Blue Mist.

[Smartin]

Dad came over this afternoon and helped me install the doors. They line up pretty well, but there are a couple spots I might have to tweak, since it seems like the doors are not true. This sure does light a fire under my a$$ to see it put together this far!