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ExplodingSims
Aug 17, 2010

RAGDOLL
FLIPPIN IN A MOVIE
HOT DAMN
THINK I MADE A POOPIE


Hello, my name is ExplodingSims, and you might remember me from previous threads where I absolutely finished my projects and nothing was left hanging.

I like cars. I’ve bought a few cars. Some might say too many cars. Some might be wrong.
I can quit anytime I like.

So this is what my driveway currently looks like:

But we’ll get to those later, let’s meet the real superstars of this thread first:

Currently living in the garage is my 1940 Buick Super 8, Model 51




And for a 70 year old car, it is in remarkably good shape. Yeah, its rusty, but its all just surface rust.
The panels, the roof, even the floor is all solid, minus a few pinholes here and there.
Like, you can jump up an down on the floorboards and it just sits there.

Of course, it’s missing a few things, like all the glass, and engine, and transmission.
Minor things really.

Sitting in the driveway is its uh, slightly less than healthy brother:



So I’m not 100% sure on just what this car is.
I know it’s a Buick, and I know its of the same general years, either 1940 or 41, but that’s about all I know. Based on some quick Google searches, it might be a Series 80, which would have made it a pretty top of the line car back in the day.

And it’s been though some poo poo.
Seems the guy I bought it from was trying to make a hot rod out of it.
The frame has been swapped to that of a 90’s S10, and currently occupying the engine bay is whatever V6 would have come with that. The 4.3? And there’s some manner of automatic transmission under there too.

And while I’m sure it’s a perfectly cromulent engine, its not for me.
Its gonna yanked and sold off. I’ve got a V8 to cram in there.

So, as you can see this needs some work.
And the previous owner, while he did the frame/engine swap, well, he like the cutting torch.
And he didn’t have a steady hand.





Oh dear. :ohdear:

Still, I’m going to make a proper car out of this yet.
De-hot rodding it is on the agenda, and while I am dropping a V8 into it, I do want to try and make it look fairly stock on the outside, but very nice on the inside.
If this would truly have been a top of the line car in its heyday, then I’d like to make it comparable to that now, with a lot of bells and whistles.
This is what my end goal is:

Will I get there? Let’s find out!

Also, funny story, I really didn’t want to buy another car or even really end up with this one.
The guy I was buying it from implied he was selling just the frame with engine, wheels, etc… off, but when I went to pick it up, well, he had the whole thing ready to be loaded up.
But I guess it works out, I don’t have to hack up the existing, somehow is somewhat better condition car.

Now then, I said I had a V8 that I was going to be dropping in there and you may be wondering where it’s coming from.

Well, enter long suffering 1999 Express 2500.
Here’s what it looked like the day I got it!


Then I promptly let it sit for a while.
A long while. Time makes fools of us all I suppose.

Anyways, here’s what it looks like now:


I’m pretty sure this has the Vortex 5700 in it, aka the Chevy 5.7, and behind that in the 4l80e transmission, which I think will make a fine combo for the Buick.

Turns out getting an engine out of a van is not a terribly easy job when you’re trying to do it the “proper” way, so with most of the useful bits already sold off, I do believe it is SawZall time. :getin:

Once the engine and wiring harness bits are off, its off the scrapyard for this guy.

Also starring in a minor role in this thread are these players, my Econoline collection:

First up, the best of the bunch, a 2007 E250



This guy had been broken into when I picked it up, and the streering column had been smashed. But with a new lock cylinder and new trim, and its all good. The interior needs work, as it has no flooring material in the rear, and apparently had some sort of sliding shelf system in there.

The dash need some work and there’s some minor electrical stuff to be addressed, but it’s a perfectly fine van otherwise. Even comes with power locks and windows, which seems pretty rare for a cargo van of this year

Next up, 2006 E250:


This one had the cats stolen, and also appears to have had the gas tank drilled. Runs and starts just fine, when it has fuel anyways. Just, very very loud. I’ve got a while new Y-pipe assembly for this one though, just gotta get around to dropping it in.
This one also has power windows and lock, which is really surprising that I was able to find 2 with that option

And lastly, my 2006 E350

This guy was basically rescued from the scrapyard. It had been broken into, the drivers side window was smashed out, the steering column destroyed, and the cats were also stolen on this one too.

Got a new drivers window on there just to keep the PNW weather out. Got the column lock replace, but I don’t have any keys for the exterior locks at the moment. I do have a full kit of matching locks and cylinders for all the doors and the ignition though.
I also have a new Y pipe for this one as well, just gotta get around to dropping that in too.


So now you’ve met my collection, let’s get to work!

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LobsterboyX
Jun 27, 2003
I want to eat my chicken.
I'm LobsterboyX and I support this thread.

Raluek
Nov 3, 2006

WUT.
you don't have too many vehicles, you have too little space.

plans for the vortec? keeping it stock or gonna put a cam and carb on it and make an easy 400HP? (just make sure you do the valve guides if you go this route)

ExplodingSims
Aug 17, 2010

RAGDOLL
FLIPPIN IN A MOVIE
HOT DAMN
THINK I MADE A POOPIE


Raluek posted:

you don't have too many vehicles, you have too little space.

plans for the vortec? keeping it stock or gonna put a cam and carb on it and make an easy 400HP? (just make sure you do the valve guides if you go this route)

So I guess this kinda ties into my larger plans for this thread, so here's my plans for both vehicles here
I've got 2 Buicks, and I'm going to make 2 running cars out of them.

The first one I bought, the Model 51, well, it's mostly complete, so I see no reason to go hacking it up now. So, for this one I'm just going to go for a straight restoration.
I've got an I8 I've ordered for it heading my way now. I found a good deal for a ~mostly~ running engine at decent price. Just gotta find a transmission to pair with it.

But outside of some minor safety considerations, like dual circuit brakes, a 12V conversion, etc..., I'm gonna try to keep it mostly stock. I do wanna try and get any accessories it would have had though, but we'll see how that collection process goes.
These both seem like they're pretty unique cars, and I do believe there is something to be said for appreciating a car on its own merits, and truly being able to enjoy driving it in a very old school way. Plus, its not like Buick didn't have some cool innovations for its time.

As for the Vortec, I do wanna beef it up a bit, but I'm not necessarily trying to make some crazy 800 HP monstrosity out of it.
I do intend to keep it EFI, though whether I stick with the stock ECU, or try and make a standalone work I haven't fully decided. There are some mods I've been looking at, as far improving the internals, possibly new heads, certainly want a new intake, and other such goodies,
Headers and dual exhaust are a must though.

I'm just gonna call the second one the "Special" for now, pending finding out what it actually is.
This one, as I alluded to in the OP, I wanna try to replicate a top of the line car with modern components for this one, and that includes having a smooth, but powerful engine on it.
As far as other mods for it go, by the end I'd like it to have:
- Power Steering
- Power brakes
- Disc brakes all around
- Seatbelts
- Full HVAC
- Heated seats (Maybe heated steering wheel?)
- Power adjustable seats
- Full audio system, with a double DIN Head unit, with touchscreen (And Bluetooth)
- A fully redone interior, with nice materials
- Auto headlights and rain sensing wipers

Is this too ambitious? Probably, but hey, its already been hacked up, so I mind as well try and have some fun with it.

In other news, I didn't really get anything done this weekend due to being on call.
But I get some packages in the mail and got myself a new toy at partially set up:

Raluek
Nov 3, 2006

WUT.

ExplodingSims posted:

As for the Vortec, I do wanna beef it up a bit, but I'm not necessarily trying to make some crazy 800 HP monstrosity out of it.
I do intend to keep it EFI, though whether I stick with the stock ECU, or try and make a standalone work I haven't fully decided. There are some mods I've been looking at, as far improving the internals, possibly new heads, certainly want a new intake, and other such goodies,
Headers and dual exhaust are a must though.

the vortec heads are already the best factory heads chevy ever made for the first gen, so if you want to do heads it'll be some modern big-buck aluminum stuff

since you're ditching the weird spider injection stuff for a new intake it's probably easier to go with a carb intake and one of those stand-alone tbi setups, fitech or whatever, but thats not an endorsement of that specific product

power steering and power disc brakes should be p doable since it's an S10 underneath, so plenty of bolt-on kits for that

sounds like a good roadmap for the project overall, looking forward to seeing progress

ExplodingSims
Aug 17, 2010

RAGDOLL
FLIPPIN IN A MOVIE
HOT DAMN
THINK I MADE A POOPIE


So! It's been quite a weekend here.

As you might have noticed, the driveway is, uh, quite full. The Chevy van should be on its way out soon though,
So, in order celebrate, , we bought a brand new car to fill the driveway.





Its a 2023 Sonata Hybrid. And when I say brand new, I mean BRAND new. It only had 23 miles on it when we signed the paperwork.
I never in my life thought I'd ever have the ability to buy a brand new car off the lot like that, but the timing and pricing worked out. It's mostly for my wife, but we had agreed if we got another daily driver car, we'd either get something electric or a hybrid.
And the used market is all hosed up right now, a used one with like 30K miles was going for more than a new one was, so we just pulled the trigger on it.

So, after celebrating with that, I got back to work on this bastard:


And after much gnashing of teeth, this happened:



And as I found out the hard way, the 4L80e seems to hold a small oil tankers worth of ATF in all the nooks and crannys that can't be drained out.
I didn't even end up having to cut the body away. Though I did kinda gently caress up the bits under the windshield. Oh well.



Just gotta finish pulling the wiring harness out and this thing is off to the junkyard.


And then this morning I got a delivery. Of course they showed up when I was in the middle of a test, and couldn't clear the driveway, but this got dropped off:

Now, what could be under that lump of plastic wrap?





Apologies for the pics, the garage is getting a bit full and the weather outside is being, uh, very disagreeable today.
But man, considering all I had to go off of were some very blurry eBay pics, this engine appears to be in great shape.
All the parts are there, the manifolds are there, and according to the ad, aside from needing points it should be in working order.

Then I got a really tiny box to go with it as well.
Like, I can't understate how amused I am at just how tiny this transmission is.


Shop vac in the background for scale.
I'm not really sure what condition this transmission is in, but at least I've got one now/

So now I've got the running gear, I guess its time to get to work on the body.

ExplodingSims fucked around with this message at 02:11 on Feb 14, 2023

Raluek
Nov 3, 2006

WUT.

ExplodingSims posted:



Just gotta finish pulling the wiring harness out and this thing is off to the junkyard.

those have hydroboost, right? strongly recommend pulling the booster and all its hoses in case you feel like retrofitting it into something old. im putting a chevy van hydroboost setup in my chevelle (at a glacial pace)

LobsterboyX
Jun 27, 2003
I want to eat my chicken.

ExplodingSims posted:

And then this morning I got a delivery. Of course they showed up when I was in the middle of a test, and couldn't clear the driveway, but this got dropped off:

Now, what could be under that lump of plastic wrap?





Apologies for the pics, the garage is getting a bit full and the weather outside is being, uh, very disagreeable today.
But man, considering all I had to go off of were some very blurry eBay pics, this engine appears to be in great shape.
All the parts are there, the manifolds are there, and according to the ad, aside from needing points it should be in working order.

Then I got a really tiny box to go with it as well.
Like, I can't understate how amused I am at just how tiny this transmission is.


Shop vac in the background for scale.
I'm not really sure what condition this transmission is in, but at least I've got one now/

So now I've got the running gear, I guess its time to get to work on the body.

details!!! take some pics of both sides of the motor..

The buick 3spd is a pretty great little transmission, very easy and somewhat customizable.

kastein
Aug 31, 2011

Moderator at http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/and soon to be mod of AI. MAKE AI GREAT AGAIN. Motronic for VP.

Raluek posted:

those have hydroboost, right? strongly recommend pulling the booster and all its hoses in case you feel like retrofitting it into something old. im putting a chevy van hydroboost setup in my chevelle (at a glacial pace)

It totally slipped my mind to suggest this, I see the hydroboost pressure reservoir peeking out. Definitely grab that, pull the pedal box and clips and stuff for it too just so you have it for throw/bolt pattern/pedal leverage dimensional reference etc.

Grab that power steering reservoir off the firewall right over it too, they're great little remote reservoirs for swaps like this if you're using the factory van PS pump and bracket. I used the factory van one like that on my Honcho build and as a result I should be able to climb something like a 50 degree slope before my pump has even a chance of sucking air.

kastein fucked around with this message at 10:08 on Feb 16, 2023

ExplodingSims
Aug 17, 2010

RAGDOLL
FLIPPIN IN A MOVIE
HOT DAMN
THINK I MADE A POOPIE


Well, I was going to work on things this weekend, but it looks like cars are canceled.



I knew I should have thrown a tarp over the Buick.



LobsterboyX posted:

details!!! take some pics of both sides of the motor..

The buick 3spd is a pretty great little transmission, very easy and somewhat customizable.

I'll get some pics once I can get back out to the garage, but it seems to be a pretty good motor from what I can tell.
Literally everything came with it too, carb, manifolds, generator, etc... As far as I know its the smaller 320 one.

It also appears to be three different colors as well. The block is metallic blue, the head flat blue, and the valve cover is grey. I went and bought some proper Buick Engine Grey to repaint the whole thing once its all been gone through though.
No idea what condition the transmission is in though. Glad to hear its easy to rebuild and work on though. I think they might have come off the same parts car via eBay lol.

No pics at the moment but I also got a heater box for that one as well.

Also because I go whole hog on any project I have interest in, and I also have a thing for vintage advertisments, I got this as well!


kastein posted:

It totally slipped my mind to suggest this, I see the hydroboost pressure reservoir peeking out. Definitely grab that, pull the pedal box and clips and stuff for it too just so you have it for throw/bolt pattern/pedal leverage dimensional reference etc.

Grab that power steering reservoir off the firewall right over it too, they're great little remote reservoirs for swaps like this if you're using the factory van PS pump and bracket. I used the factory van one like that on my Honcho build and as a result I should be able to climb something like a 50 degree slope before my pump has even a chance of sucking air.

Yeah I'm still striping parts off the van. Already grabbed the reservoir, I recalled that from the truck.
So far I've got the Hydroboost, wiring harness, some misc HVAC parts, and the igintion on the "left to pull" list for now.


"

ExplodingSims
Aug 17, 2010

RAGDOLL
FLIPPIN IN A MOVIE
HOT DAMN
THINK I MADE A POOPIE


Well, spring has has started to show itself here in the PNW, which means I've completely ignored working on the Buicks for another w2 weeks or so now.

I did however, gain some more ventilation in the parts van:



And since I felt like crawling around on the ground, I decided to work on one of the other vans as well. Its about time I finally put the exhaust back on there.
This was all that was left after the crackhead crew had gone to work on it:


Makes removing the O2 sensors easy enough though!


Add 1 shiny new cat assembly:


And it no longer sounds like a warbly mess!
What fun.

And I almost forgot that the Portland Roadster show was this weekend!
There were a lot of cool hot rods and such there, but I think this was by far my favorite thing at the show:



The Corvair vans are something I've always loved the look of, and an XL flatbed one is super awesome.

Various other cool things:
I loved the shade of blue on this one:


I'm pretty sure this is a HotWheels car:






They also had a military display there, which was mostly WW2 Willys Jeeps, but they also had this contraption, which was apperently for loading bombs into the bombers


And a tank


Then I decieded the best way to spend a Sunday would be to plow through some blackberry bushes.

POV: You're hating your life right now:


Brush hog makes pretty short work of most of them though. And I cleared up more than enough space to start parking the excess vehicles back here:



If you're wondering why there's random hose spigots out there, well, this property used to be a farm.
The whole house is something of an antique itself. It was built in 1927, (Might be a Sears home too, not entirely sure) by a guy who was a machinist for Union Pacific.
When the Great Depression rolled around apperently he cleared out the trees that were remaining on the property and started planting fruit trees, corn, etc... and there's still some remnants from that hanging around.
There's also some cool bits around the house from his work as well. The garage is awesome because he had built a workshop area in the back, so there's a great workbench, drafting table, and all sorts of built in shelves and such back there. (Less awesome was him doing all the wiring himself. Including wiring a bunch of undgrounded 2 prong outlets for 208V) I know is the most boring thing, but there's also some really cool looking old school industrial florescent lamps in the workshop area as well. They seem to be original from the 40s or so based on the ballasts I pulled out of them.

Speaking of original from the 40s, I did do one thing for the Buick.
I bought some new keys for it:

PainterofCrap
Oct 17, 2002

hey bebe


Raluek posted:

you don't have too many vehicles, you have too little space.

Bookmarked.

LobsterboyX
Jun 27, 2003
I want to eat my chicken.

ExplodingSims posted:

Speaking of original from the 40s, I did do one thing for the Buick.
I bought some new keys for it:


how much, from where and are there more?

ExplodingSims
Aug 17, 2010

RAGDOLL
FLIPPIN IN A MOVIE
HOT DAMN
THINK I MADE A POOPIE


LobsterboyX posted:

how much, from where and are there more?

I got that set off of Ebay, from the seller A1relics.
I paid about $40 for the set including the Keychain.

I'm not sure if they have more, but I've seen a couple different variations come up on there, some with the shield pointed too, ranging anywhere from $20 up to $100.


In other news, I got a new Milwaukee Battery mower which exploded on me. Went to go run it and withing about five minutes this happened:



This is the first thing by Milwaukee I've ever had break. And just earlier I was abusing the M18 hand drill I have by using it as an auger.

Go big or go home I guess.

PainterofCrap
Oct 17, 2002

hey bebe


That's some Final Destination poo poo. You OK?

ExplodingSims
Aug 17, 2010

RAGDOLL
FLIPPIN IN A MOVIE
HOT DAMN
THINK I MADE A POOPIE


Still got all my toes at least, so I got that going for me.
At least Milwaukee was pretty good about the whole thing, and I did end up getting a new one sent out. So now I have a busted one that I have no idea what to do with, but I'm sure....something can come from it.

I haven't done much of anything for the last week or so, I managed to have a bit of an accident at work so I was out of commission on the working on cars front. Over the last few days I got back to working on stuff.
One of my end goals was to move all the vans out of the driveway into the newly cleared space in the backyard, and I got 2/3 back there.

The last one I had parked on the side yard a few weeks back, and it still needed the exhaust rebuild on it, so I went to go move it and uh. it didn't go.



A man who get he van stuck in he own yard, a shameful man.

Its pretty much been raining nonstop up until the last few days, so the ground was basically mush. I could get it to go a few inches or so and then it'd just sink again.
So, a rescue was deployed:


Who says an Explorer can't tow anything?


So once I got it on the driveway, I went to start it up again and it cranked and cranked with no go. Turns out I ALSO ran it completely out of gas.
Went to go fill it up and promptly had gas spilling all over the driveway. So, I guess when the master criminals cut off the cats, they also sliced the bit of flex hose on the filler neck for some reason. At least its an easy fix?

Been trying to get the new Y-Pipe in and for whatever reason it simply does not want to line up neatly like the other one did. Got one side on, and after much straining and cursing I got at least one stud through the hole on the drivers side.
I think I need to get new studs though, and I can feel where one is really worn down/significantly smaller on one end than the other. This van is really putting up a fight.

PainterofCrap
Oct 17, 2002

hey bebe


For what it’s worth, be it an air-cooled Volkswagen or a ‘65 Plymouth, installing new Y-pipes always involved swearing and brutal force.

ExplodingSims
Aug 17, 2010

RAGDOLL
FLIPPIN IN A MOVIE
HOT DAMN
THINK I MADE A POOPIE


Well today marks the day ExplodingSims has 1 Less Many Automobiles (Still too Got-Dang many though)

I finally finished harvesting the parts I needed off the Express van, so it's time for it to get turned into toasters.
But, before I saw it off, I figured I finally had an opportunity to get rid of the ductwork from when I remodeled my HVAC system here, but, one small problem, with no doors, how do I keep everything from spilling out?

Well, scrap plywood and some self tappers solved that conundrum!


And, after some waiting, the man the hour showed up, looking sketch as ever!


He was rocking an F350 with a repo rig in the back, and his truck was most certainly not happy to be lifting the van there.
But he got it out and I got some money to blow at the dispensary, so it all worked out in the end!

Well, now I have that space cleared out from that van that was sitting there for way too long.
I dunno, it looks a bit too empty now.



PERFECT

kastein
Aug 31, 2011

Moderator at http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/and soon to be mod of AI. MAKE AI GREAT AGAIN. Motronic for VP.
Neighbors: IT KEEPS HAPPENING

honda whisperer
Mar 29, 2009

It's like a clown pulling vans out of his sleeve.

Goodbye unwanted car is such a good feeling though.

ExplodingSims
Aug 17, 2010

RAGDOLL
FLIPPIN IN A MOVIE
HOT DAMN
THINK I MADE A POOPIE


honda whisperer posted:

It's like a clown pulling vans out of his sleeve.

Goodbye unwanted car is such a good feeling though.

It really is. I let that one sit for....way too long just not doing much with it, then parting it out took....longer than anticipated.

Anyways, got the last van more or less done and ready for its trip to the backyard for further storage.
I ended up just replacing both studs on the exhaust manifold, because on was stripped out and it just ended up being way easier the thread it in through the flange holes and installing everything that way.

Even with generous applications of Kroil it still put up a fight. At times like this I'm glad Grandpa left me all his old tools, including the big wrenches.


This whole Y-pipe assembly seems to have terrible fitment all around though. It took some major pulling, like, feet planted against the frame rail pushing with all my strength pulling, just to get it lined up with both outlets.
Then once it was all done, it didn't want to line up with the rest of the exhaust. The outlet was pointing at a jaunty angle up and then was way too short to fit with the rest of the exhaust.

Enter the flex pipe.



Thats only like the second worst exhaust repair I've done with flex pipe.
Its not ideal, but it seals it up good enough to run and be quiet, and pass inspection, so good enough for me!

Now that the van stuff is more or less out of the way while I wait for my contractor's license to be approved, I can finally dig into the Buick. I've also been working on re-organizing the garage to have some working room, which I'm sure most of you know is a process....
Starting with looking at colors!

I managed to find an original page of color swatches for Buicks from 1939 to '41, and can see what the colors on it were supposed to look like:



I'm leaning towards doing a two-tone color job, with Montery Blue as the primary color, and then using the original Casino Beige on top and for the accent pieces.
Something akin to this:

everdave
Nov 14, 2005
Those are great colors!

LobsterboyX
Jun 27, 2003
I want to eat my chicken.
Those are great choices - however the car you posted looks to be a bit more like a base/clear with a more modern flake job to me. the originally laquer paint would have been a bit more subdued - if your going for a hot roddy/modern look then thats perfect! if your going for more of an original look, this would be more correct: https://www.zoomclassiccars.com/vehicles-for-sale/used/1940/Buick-Super-Series%2051%204%20Door%20Sedan/1193215

cant wait to see more progress on these!

Edit: I also have a ton of color books that I can double check if needed!

ExplodingSims
Aug 17, 2010

RAGDOLL
FLIPPIN IN A MOVIE
HOT DAMN
THINK I MADE A POOPIE


LobsterboyX posted:

Those are great choices - however the car you posted looks to be a bit more like a base/clear with a more modern flake job to me. the originally laquer paint would have been a bit more subdued - if your going for a hot roddy/modern look then thats perfect! if your going for more of an original look, this would be more correct: https://www.zoomclassiccars.com/vehicles-for-sale/used/1940/Buick-Super-Series%2051%204%20Door%20Sedan/1193215

cant wait to see more progress on these!

Edit: I also have a ton of color books that I can double check if needed!

Yeah, I want the more subdued look in the end, that pic just happened to be the first one I could find in that particular color combo.
Once I get closer to paint time, I'll look more into the color codes to get things the way I want them. Do you happen to have any reference material for the interiors though? According to the data tag I believe this should have had a cream cord interior.

Moving on, this weekend seems a good a time as any to jump into things.
Before I get to the serious bits, I'd like to point out how ridiculously tiny these wiper blades are.


Also, I love the level of detail on older cars. Just all the lines, the folds, the way the trim goes together.
Just look at the details on these turn signals.



Anyways,
WHEN WE LAST LEFT OUR HERO:


Turns out the only thing holding the front clip on was the radiator mount.


Something something the front fell off.


Proceed to reduce the front clip to components.


So after taking things apart is where we start to get into the bad news portion of the project.
So going in, I found the car had 3 major problem areas.
One was this dent on the front fender:


The other two were some (bullet?) holes in the passenger door and a small dent on the trunk lid.
This dent on the front isn't too bad, that can be hammered and smoothed out easily enough

What does suck though is that half of the grille is junk.
I knew it was cracked and missing part of one of the ribs, but after unbolting it, I found out it was cracked apart in 3 places


Oh well, at least the other one had a good half.

Here's one of the other frustrating things, the center hood trim was removed, apparently by someone just prying it off gorilla style


Other than that though its been pretty good news.
The original radiator was still in the car:


I tried flushing it out, and it seems to be clear. Had some orange water bubbling out, but I didn't see any major leaks or anything

The terrible exposed 1940s terminal block is in good shape


(When they say the don't build them like they used to, sometimes its a good thing.)

The only other somewhat frustrating thing is that the inner fender liner is apparently tack welded to the outer fender in several places.
Not the end of the world, but I didn't really want to punch too many holes in the steel there.

I was thinking of leaving it intact, but I'm worried about a few spots getting rust jacking possibly forming.
Especially where its sandwhiched together like this:


Though once your start peeling away the layers of paint and surface rust, the actual steel is pretty much immaculate


Outside of just surface rust and a few stuck screws and bolts, there's virtually no major rust holes or major corrosion going on
On a somewhat related note, I got to play with a new toy while stripping back the paint and such, and I highly recommend getting this: https://www.eastwood.com/eastwood-contour-sct.html
It really makes short work anything in its path, and is way faster than the grinder or RO sander.

LobsterboyX
Jun 27, 2003
I want to eat my chicken.
For interior stuff, reach out to SMS auto fabrics - https://smsautofabrics.com/ - they will send you a sample sheet showing exactly what your car would have had - they are very expensive and not the easies to deal with, but it will give you a good starting point for what kinds of materials your going to be looking for - IIRC all these cars had a gray mohair interior, some had pinstripes, others had subtle accents in the fabric.

Shame about the condition of the front end/grill - I'm headed to a super secret sale tomorrow of my late friend who had a ton of parts ect. I'll keep an eye for a grill.

I may have a hood trim part that is equally as hosed, its yours if you want it - a competent stainless guy should be able to re-form that for you.

for that radiator, I'd highly suggest finding the oldest rad shop in your area and having them repair/recore that one before even thinking about trying to find a interchange. they'll de-solder the top, clean it out with rods, boil out all the crap ect... the stock radiators on these cars can cool a steam locomotive if they're free of any debris and all the tubes are clear - far more efficient than any modern aluminum garbage.

re: wiring - those blocks often fair well, but really if your wanting to find a wiring harness kit that comes with brand new fresh blocks for that car look no further than : https://www.ynzyesterdaysparts.com/ - this is really the biggest money option, you can find a more universal kit for far less money but its not going to be exact and I find them to be more work in the long run and if your time is money, they kinda equal out in price vs frustration.

I've really been wanting to get one of those drum stripper things, the old freight train has one I've been eyeballing - I've been holding off because I'm not ready to get super messy around the garage. If I had it in hand, id be tempted to strip my roadster and rattle can it.

ExplodingSims
Aug 17, 2010

RAGDOLL
FLIPPIN IN A MOVIE
HOT DAMN
THINK I MADE A POOPIE


The grill I'm not too worried about, like I said, I do have another half in that came with the frame swapped one that's in pretty good shape.

However, if you are going to be somewhere with Buick parts, there are a few other missing bits I'm looking for.
If you happen to know of anywhere to get the rocker panel trim, I'd love you for that.



Its one of the few pieces here that's just straight up gone.

If there's any steering wheel too, that'd also be awesome.
The one that came on here, well, it's pretty far gone.



The other one isn't much better.


Though I do have this other one that I bought from you about a decade ago.
Not quite the right fit though :v:


If you do happen to find anything, I'll be happy to sent you funds for it, and I'll actually be heading down to LA in July, so I could pick them up so we don't have to fiddle around with shipping.

I think you're right about the grey interior. There's a few scraps left of the original material



Its pretty decayed but it appears to be pretty grey looking to me.
I had thought about going for more of a tan/brown interior, but I'll have to see what the options look like down the road.

LobsterboyX
Jun 27, 2003
I want to eat my chicken.
Hah! I'm really glad you still have that wheel!! - it will fit, but its not right for your cars

I have a friend thats buying up those wheels and having them recast - I think he's giving 75 bucks per core - since you have 2 of them, you may be able to get some money off one fresh one.

-Rocker trim is going to be a tough one, I had to pay quite a bit to get some for my 42, they're just sitting there. Matter of fact, they came from the same guy who is doing the wheels I just mentioned - I can give you his contact.

I didn't have the heart to go up to buy stuff from my late friends son, but I will soon, I dont want to let the vultures pick the place over too much.

Call up SMS just for kicks - they used to give the samples for free, dont know if they still do, but they will give you exact swatches.

ExplodingSims
Aug 17, 2010

RAGDOLL
FLIPPIN IN A MOVIE
HOT DAMN
THINK I MADE A POOPIE


Yeah, if you could PM the info for your guy there I'd appreciate it!
I'll hit up SMS at some point once I'm a bit further into things here.

Didn't make too much progress this weekend.
My perpetually broken riding mower decided to give me the hardest of times today.
Replaced on of the spindles that a blade had spun off of and wrecked things, and either I hosed something up putting it back together or the belt had just had it, but it chewed up the belt real good and snapped it shortly thereafter.
This makes several components I've replaced on a mower that's barely 2 years old at this point. It already chewed up the wiring harness when the slip clutch didn't quite slip. Don't buy Cub Cadet folks.

Also, I don't think I posted this before, but this car was from California at some point, if not its whole life.


A whole dollar in processing fees. What a time to be alive.

ExplodingSims
Aug 17, 2010

RAGDOLL
FLIPPIN IN A MOVIE
HOT DAMN
THINK I MADE A POOPIE


So, I've been super busy lately, and somehow not managed to touch my cars for like.....a while now. Oops.

So you know I'd been working on all those vans and getting them ready for when my business took off?
Well, business took off before they were fully legally road ready.

So, I went ahead and used ALL of the Explorer's towing capacity


Honestly, it wasn't a bad ride, it only mildly gave some pushback going uphill but otherwise was fine.

After that though, I went on vacation for a bit, and got to see some really cool stuff:

Trains:


I'm a huge Train nerd IRL. I'm actually building a narrow gauge garden railway, because I don't have enough going on in my life right now, so when I saw the Nevada State Railroad museum was nearby, I had to swing by.
Unfortunately they weren't running the trains that weekend, and it was pretty dead and everything was in the sheds there, but it was still cool getting to see some the 1800's locos there.

I couldn't get a good pic of it, because it was tucked away, but the one I really wanted to see, the Glenbrook, was there.


They really knew how to make some of those steam locos into works of art.

Nature:







So we did a very long driving trip from Oregon to California, and took the long way down. Went to Carson City, and Lake Tahoe, down to Yosemite, and then to LA.
It was amazing, and the route we went from Carson City to Yosemite was so cool. We got to snake up through the mountains.|

Yosemite was extremely cool and beautiful, and I definitely want to spend more time there. We were only there for a day, but I could easily spend a week there.
I think it might be my second favorite National Park, just behind Zion.

Moving on, got to LA and got to see some absolute works of art:




And they had some garbage clogging up the lobby too




So, this next stop was really cool for me. we went over to the Tar Pits and saw the skeletons there:



So, the company that I've been working and building is actually called Mammoth Mechanical. I've had a logo designed around them and everything, so getting to get up close to one, and really see the size and scale of them was truly impressive.
They really were such massive creatures. And the scale of the tusks is just unreal.

I also wish I'd gotten a picture of it, but they had So. Many. Dire Wolf Skulls.

Rounding off the tour we went up to the Griffith Observatory.
I've always seen in it pictures and movies and such, and getting to get up there was really cool.

ExplodingSims
Aug 17, 2010

RAGDOLL
FLIPPIN IN A MOVIE
HOT DAMN
THINK I MADE A POOPIE


So, I think I've ignored this thread for long enough!

Though not intentionally, I had been working on my own business for a minute, while working for a larger company, and well, my own business became alarmingly successfully and has become my full time gig, and that left me with not all that much free time for a while.
But, things have finally leveled off and I'm back on my bullshit!
AND! We added a new family member to the pack here.

Meet Joey, the laziest husky to grace the Earth:


Which brings us up to a grand total of 2 pups



Back to car stuff:
Let's start from the beginning:
Cleaning up the van and getting the interior actually set up for working in:

First Step
Make the floor usuable
I'm not sure what they had been doing in here, it looks like some kind of homebuilt slider assembly had been in here, but they used casters welded to the floor.
And the term welded is pretty generous









Step the Third:
Add flooring material:



4th Step:
Let there be light!




Next step, get rid of the loud rattly red toolbox thing "welded" to the side

Remember kids, More Weld = More Better!


Replace the drivers seat and you're ready to roll


Then, the most important step!
Realize that no matter how much work you put into it, this will be a rattling, heavily used piece of bullshit with a quarter million miles on it and may not serve you as well as you hoped
Replace the thing

So yeah, after all that I bought a new van.
I got myself a 2012 Econoline E250



Here's what it looked like the day I brought it home.

And here's what it looks like now!


Had 130K on the clock when I bought it, every thing worked, it wasn't too bad.
Outfitted it with new flooring, new LED lights in the rear, and some very nice Adrian Steel Shelves. And its been great!
No death wobble, no rattling noises, and I even outfitted it with a very nice Alpine radio and camera set.

And, just today, I finally added a receiver hitch and and trailer connector so I could buy this!




21' former travel trailer. Going to be converting it into a flatbed for hauling RTUs and other work related stuff. Maybe the occasional project car?
Seems to be a pretty solid base. A few of the exterior crossmembers are a bit bent, but otherwise it seems solid, and it has electric brakes, so that's pretty nice.

Speaking of project cars, well, I haven't really made much progress on any of the Buicks so far.
I did find some paint I liked for the one I want to keep original, but I haven't really had the time to focus on them.

And because I don't have enough to do between 2 project cars, running a business, building a trailer, trying to build a garden railway, and raising dogs, I went and bought myself another car.
But not just any car. This time I bought a car I've been chasing for a few years now, one I've been a bit obsessed over finding.

I got myself a 1947 Lincoln Continental Convertible.

I'll grab some more pics of it when I can, but right now its...a few states away. In Arizona.

Though, after talking to the owner of it, he actually came down from Portland with it. Actually his grandparents had a house not too far away from me, and they had a Lincoln like that as well.
From what he's told me, its complete. All the trim is there, the interior is decent, and the engine is intact, and supposedly ran within the last decade.

Going to be my first foray into a V12, so that will be fun!
I have no idea how I'm going to be getting this back home to Portland, but for the price of it and the condition it was in it was way too good a deal to pass up.
And I've wanted one of these for awhile. I've been so happy to actually find a decent one that wasn't like $15.

kastein
Aug 31, 2011

Moderator at http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/and soon to be mod of AI. MAKE AI GREAT AGAIN. Motronic for VP.
V12... 292ci... 120hp.
I wonder what those are capable of when you put the prohibition whiskey runner rebuild and tune on them? Got to be smooth as hell with that many cylinders. At 398cc/cyl it's practically Honda 4 cylinder size, wild.

ExplodingSims
Aug 17, 2010

RAGDOLL
FLIPPIN IN A MOVIE
HOT DAMN
THINK I MADE A POOPIE


Yeah its, uh, quite something that a V12 somehow makes less HP than a modern 4 Cylinder. Chalk it up to how manufacturing and engineering have really come a long way.

Though apparently the first gen ones were even worse, and prone to oil issues. Per Wikipedia:

"Initial power output was quoted as 110 horsepower -- a little higher than the target figure -- at 3,900 rpm, a rather high power peak for those days. The torque curve was quite flat, however, with at least 180 pounds/feet available from 3,500 rpm all the way down to 400 rpm, which made for incredible top-gear performance. Though the Zephyr V-12 no more resembled previous Lincoln engines than the ubiquitous V-8 (despite sharing the latter's stroke), it was more like a "12-cylinder Ford" than a classic multi-cylinder powerplant in character. And it was not without problems. The main ones were inadequate crankcase ventilation that caused rapid sludge buildup in sustained low-rpm running, aggravated by poor oil flow, plus too-small water passages that led to overheating, bore warpage, and ring wear. To a degree, some of these maladies were dealt with during the Zephyr's first year, and Ford improved the engine by adopting hydraulic valve lifters for 1938 and cast-iron heads and oiling improvements for 1942. Yet this V-12 never shed its reputation for service troubles, though the postwar versions were actually quite reliable."

Which :lmao:

Speaking of which, here's my V12


Again, I don't know anything about it, and haven't even seen in it in person.
The current owner says the PO had it running, but, I'll believe it when I see it.

Here's the rest of the car. Ya'll are seeing everything that I know about it so far.







And the lone shot I have of the dash.
From what I can see it looks pretty decent though. Given that the top seems to no longer exist and its been exposed to the elements.
At least it looks like everything is still there!



Again, I can't say just how over the loving moon I am to have one of these cars, even if it is 1000 miles away.
Life has a funny way of working out sometimes.

IOwnCalculus
Apr 2, 2003





:sickos: That thing looks amazing.

Dr Rocksalt
Oct 21, 2004

Unbelievably cool.

LloydDobler
Oct 15, 2005

You shared it with a dick.

I don't know how to get it here but when you do I can help unload it. I'd love to check it out.

kastein
Aug 31, 2011

Moderator at http://www.ridgelineownersclub.com/forums/and soon to be mod of AI. MAKE AI GREAT AGAIN. Motronic for VP.
Arizona is kind of on the way from Florida to Oregon, right?

fake edit: assuming the Lincoln is in Phoenix for google maps purposes, picking it up with a uhaul trailer would add only 370 miles to a FL-PDX trip in the Trukk.

Black88GTA
Oct 8, 2009
This is super cool! I think I'm with everyone here, and would love to see what happens with it, but...you posted two different cars. Which one are you getting? Assuming the one with the red / white spare tire cover (since the majority of the pics appear to be of that one)?



ExplodingSims
Aug 17, 2010

RAGDOLL
FLIPPIN IN A MOVIE
HOT DAMN
THINK I MADE A POOPIE


Yeah its the second one with the Red/white cover and Grey fender. I've had a FaceTime chat with him and he did a walk around the car and confirmed everything was there.

He did mention he had multiple Continentals there, both coupes and convertibles, so I'm not sure if he sent the wrong pic initially or what.

Still working on scheduling a transport.
As much fun as I think I'd would be to fly and drive down there. I just don't have time for it at the moment.

Plus the route back looks kinda boring.

Either way, should be here in Portlsnd by the end of the month!

LloydDobler posted:

I don't know how to get it here but when you do I can help unload it. I'd love to check it out.

I'd love a hand shunting it back down the driveway, so yeah, come on by and see my ever increasing junkyard!

ExplodingSims fucked around with this message at 21:36 on Feb 4, 2024

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ExplodingSims
Aug 17, 2010

RAGDOLL
FLIPPIN IN A MOVIE
HOT DAMN
THINK I MADE A POOPIE


Welp.

I'm down 2 vans now.

I sold one more off because I wasn't using it,
Then my new one, the 2012, shat itself on the highway.

Something went crunch and it wouldn't accelerate anymore.

Had to get it towed to a mechanic where they've been looking at it since. Current diagnosis is that the flex plate may have sheared off in the center.

Which would make sense, it was acting like the engine wasn't attached to the transmission anymore.

But what really ducks is that it's been raining so heavy lately my backup van has sunk into the dirt in my storage area. And it's proper sunk in.

Man, when it rains it pours. Literally.

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