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64 Buick Wagon "Betty"

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  • 64 Buick Wagon "Betty"

    Hey folks,

    so this is gonna be Betty's official build thread. She is a 1964 Buick LeSabre Estate Wagon with a 401ci "Nailhead" V8.

    I bought her back in 2012 here in Germany from an upholsterer who imported her from North Carolina to use her as a promotional vehicle. But he could not deal with the messed up electrics of the car, had various other projects, and finally sold her for a really fair price.

    The wagon was already bagged, so my initial plan was to just rewire her and maybe do a restoration in a couple years. But of course everything went a different way, so I am in the middle of a frame-off resto right now.

    Sorry that all the pictures are crappy cellphone pics, although the later ones are much better because of a new phone, but I don't want to take my camera to my shop. My shop is dirty.

    Now I'll let pictures talk and maybe add a comment every once in a while.


    The day I picked her up.



    The interior was already disassembled, so I just got everything out of the car and on the roof.


    The problem here is, when the chassis is aired out the flywheel is the lowest point. so I decided that the motor had to be lifted up a little bit.




    So I started disassembling the body.
















    I decided to get rid of the inner fenders for a cleaner look and more room for the wheels.


    The I bought a shop compressor on Ebay. was alittle bit bigger than I thought. I went with a friend (the guy on the picture) to pick it up, we were...surprised. But we managed to get it home.
    My build thread (Old Buick wagon content)

  • #2
    The place where I did all this was an old farm, I shared the room with 8 other guys. It didn't go well, so my best friend Mike and I moved to a new place (he's restoring a 69 LeMans) where we had to put in a new concrete floor first. My ex-brother-in-law knew how to do that, so it wasn't too expensive. Of course we have a lot less room now, but it's just the two of us, which is so much better. No more BS going on in the new shop.










    Of course we had to move with two disassembled cars, which sucked, but was still worth it.






    I cut of the "rain gutters" and another buddy welded that for me.
    My build thread (Old Buick wagon content)

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    • #3
      In for this!

      Comment


      • #4
        I love old wagons im in.

        Comment


        • #5
          Holy crap that compressor is H.U.G.E.! It amazes me to see all the American cars in Germany. I'm subbed to see where this goes.

          Comment


          • #6
            Having a crane in the new shop made the frame-off a lot easier.
















            As you can see, the frame does not lay out. I want to change that. Also no front shocks. I'll add some, I don't want to kill myself.

            I tried some soda blasting with great results. But it took forever and soda is not cheap, so I pressure-washed and wire-wheeled the frame.










            Got this for cheap, thought it was cool.


            Some parts of the frame were busted, so I replaced them with better stuff.






            Disassembled the rearend.




            Then I painted the frame. Which was dumb, because then I decided to do some more welding.





            The good thing is, now I get to repaint the frame. I used Hammerite, which was a bad idea. It doesn't stick to the frame at all.

            Since I didn't have any front shocks, I thought it would be a good idea to use these shockwaves. It was not. Now I wish I would have checked the company Airbagit.com before I ordered there. The quality is bad, the service is...non-existent. I complained about the missing mounting hardware. No replies to any of my emails. Seriously, I'll never order there again. I'll get some Slam Specialties bags now. Ridetech is not quite in my budget.




            The bagged suspension tore up some of the factory weld seams, so I am replacing all the broken stuff. Also wanted to reinforce the factory spring mounts.














            The panhard bar is not the best option in my opinion (for bagged suspensions) so I am building a four-link. Also some new, stronger trailing arms.




            Bought a TIG welder. I've never welded TIG before, so my welds are not too pretty yet. But they will hold up and I'm getting better.




            Made some PTFE bushings at work.


            My build thread (Old Buick wagon content)

            Comment


            • #7
              Trailing arms.




              The factory spring mounts were the first thing I welded with my TIG. Super ugly, I know. I never liked them anyway, so I decided to do something completely new.








              These are gonna be the new mounts. I relocated them to the inside of the frame.


              Also my TIG welding is getting better. It was a huge gap, which was very difficult to weld. At least thats the excuse that I use for the way it looks.




              The finished product, welded to the frame.


              And the strength test, 240 pounds of weight on the mounts. I will reinforce them still.


              That's it for now, I will finish the spring (or bag) mounts, reinforce them, make some motor and trans mounts, redo the trailing arms, finish the 4-link suspension, add shocks in the front,...and post pictures of all that.
              My build thread (Old Buick wagon content)

              Comment


              • #8
                Restoring an already bagged wagon? How can I not subscribe to this thread?
                Steve - now in San Diego!

                Shoot My Car - Automotive Photography in SoCal

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                • #9
                  Fuck yes.

                  '87 Porsche 944 S | Ex-E36 Touring (2009 - 2016) | Daily: '02 Chrysler Sebring

                  www.bastienbochmann.de | Tief & Breit

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    This is gonna be a good one.
                    [CENTER][url=http://www.stanceworks.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66924][color=red]e28 build thread[/color] [/url]
                    [img]http://i.imgur.com/hNTlNvf.jpg?2[/img]
                    Instagram: [url=https://instagram.com/divingboardlord/][color=red]@divingboardlord[/color][/url][/CENTER]

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Nice. Reminds me of my 64 Impala Wagon but the Buick has a better rear

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        This car came with so much potential and luckily ended up in your hands, it looks like you'll do the car justice best of luck! Sub'd



                        Comment


                        • #13
                          I've been waiting for one of these to show up forever. Cant wait to see the end result!

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            rad! I'll be following this one


                            --Golden Boy E30 Build--

                            --My Shop: Where Passion Meets Livelihood (or tries to)--

                            --Etsy Shop--

                            --@ayyyitsmikey--

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                            • #15
                              Thank you for all the kind words! Feels really good to finally get some response.
                              If you want more specific pics of anything, just let me know.

                              Originally posted by Aitch View Post
                              Restoring an already bagged wagon? How can I not subscribe to this thread?
                              Actually this was the worst bagging job I've ever seen. Terrible, and dangerous. Gotta fix all that.

                              So here's the progress from yesterday.

                              I started making the second rear bag mount. Using the cutting wheels to their very end.


                              Then I did something I REALLY didn't wanna do, but it was the only way.


                              The trailing arm geometry does not allow the rearend to tilt forward, it always remains straight (vertically) when the suspension travels. So to get the frame all the way down I had to make some room for the drive shaft. Of course this is not done yet, I just cut it. This is gonna get reinforced as good as possible.
                              My build thread (Old Buick wagon content)

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