1958 Buick Caballero

Yep, I know what you mean...and thanks for the compliment. I think I look WAY too old to be their Dad! LOL

 

I love to see the photos of the little ones helping out.

 

After repairing the broken weld, I installed the ventilator and lined it up to the A pillar.

On this side of the car, window alignment was easier and took a lot less time then the passenger side. Part of the time savings was due to what I learned on the passenger side, but the other big time-saver was being able to get the glass aligned without dis-assembling the window sashes to re-position the glass in the perimeter frames. All 3 of the windows on the driver's side (vent, front door and rear door), were correctly seated in the sashes.



Now, on to one of the challenges I face with the interior...

These cars were built with a molded trim cover over the inner rear wheel wells.


Most of the restored cars have had those molded covers replaced with sewn vinyl covers.


I want my wheel wells to look like the originals....so...

My friend Jim and I decided to work on this little project together.

Jim found some supported vinyl with a very stretchy, knit backing. The grain is a very close match to the original grain, as it appeared under the folding seat latches.

We thought about this a long time before we took the first step...

We cut a piece of the vinyl with enough extra material to allow us to hold the perimeter and we attached the lower, front corner to the inner fender, at the floor.


It took us a couple of hours over two evenings, but with me pulling at the rear and along the perimeter and Jim applying the adhesive, warming the vinyl with a heat gun and stretching the vinyl into position, we were able to get a very nice result.





The puckers around the perimeter will be trimmed away and any wrinkles near the edges of the wheel well will be completely hidden by the load floor and the trim moldings that surround the floor.

Now, I have to touch up a scuff mark and dye the vinyl to match the dark tan color of the interior.

This is exactly what I hoped to accomplish!
One down, one to go!

 

The interior of this car was typical of a desert car that spent too much of its life in the sun...

These are the driver's side door trim panels; crispy critters!


Notice that the rear door "Century" script emblem is slanted rearward and the front door script is slanted forward...
The rear door is correct; the car was built with 3 of the forward-slanted emblems. Having come from the OEM interior trim business, I suspect that someone pierced the driver's door panel in the wrong punch press or upside down in the die, depending on how the tooling was constructed. They either had to scrap the panel or install the forward slant emblem and ship the part. Obviously, they chose the latter course.

I will correct the error when I make the replacement part, but part of me wants to build it wrong because that's the way it was done 60 years ago...

I disassembled the panels to understand how they were built; the sequence of assembly is critical to re-creating the original appearance. This is a de-constructed rear door trim panel:


I used heavy kraft paper to create patterns from the original parts.


and made test parts using scrap vinyl from previous projects. The ivory colored material is excess from a 68 GTO vinyl roof cover...


After verifying the contours and shape of the main panel, I traced the original part shape onto new "100 point" (0.100" thick) hardboard.


I laid out the patterns on the main panel, along with the moldings to verify the seam positions, cut lines and armrest & molding attachment points.


I still wasn't ready to cut the vinyl parts, so I used some of the flawed areas of the correct vinyl material to cut my "final" test parts.


Here, I have peeled the laminated padding back from the outermost edges of the dielectrically embossed inserts to exactly match the way the original pieces were cut.


Everything looked correct, so I proceeded to cut the "production" parts...


And also cut the loft pads for the door panels and pre-punched the holes for the window regulator and latch control spindles, as well as all the attachment holes for the armrests and moldings.


I also straightened the perimeter metal edge-fold pieces and replaced the corroded parts by modifying tri-five Chevy components:


I bonded the pads to the main panel substrate with permanent contact adhesive


Verifying position of the subassembled panels onto the main panel with the trim moldings


One of the "Century" emblems had a missing stud, so I fashioned and threaded a replacement stud and drilled and tapped a blind hole in the emblem into which the new stud was epoxied.




If anyone has one of these rearward slanting emblems, I need another one!

 

Before installing the vinyl cover on the left rear inner wheelhouse, I did a little body work to smooth out a few dents and battle scars.



After another adventure with spray adhesive and heat gun!


Shortly after Labor Day, I visited my friend Pat (BuickEstate). He is building the seats and helping me with the door trim panels.


The seat covers are looking great!


He developed patterns for the door armrest covers and he sewed the parts while I was there.


We were not able to build any of the main seat parts, but we determined what still needed to be done before we could install the covers on the frame & spring assemblies.

When I got back home with the armrest covers, I started assembling the door trim panels. I began with the right, rear door.

I installed the armrest base to the main panel with the original steel tabs and rivets where the tabs were broken or missing.

Then I added a layer of batting and the trim cover




Mocked up the armrest with the upper sub-assembly


The right front door armrest had significant corrosion damage around the upper pull handle and the entire bottom perimeter area. I was not looking forward to all that welding repair, but on a recent visit to CARS (Chevrolet reproduction supplier) in Auburn Hills, MI, I noticed several armrest bases that looked a lot like the Caballero armrests. Surprise!
1955 Chevy Nomad front armrest bases are the SAME as the 58 Buick Century bases. The reproduction parts are made of ABS plastic, so I fabricated 3 retainer tabs to duplicate the original retaining tab designs. The molded armrest upper pad might need minor modification, but the contour and size is correct.




I've also been working on the upper "C" pillar trim panels. These are steel substrates, covered with a thin layer of padding and a vinyl cover.


Earlier this year, I installed the clock after having it refurbished and it only worked for a few minutes.

I recently pulled the clock out of the dash and was surprised to see a piece of gasket material trapped under the clock's second hand. As I removed the clock from the car, the gasket dropped away from the second hand and the clock began to run.

I dis-assembled the clock and found that the gasket between the housing and the lens had been glued in by the rebuilder, but it he had re-installed the pieces of the original, brittle gasket.

I removed the gasket pieces, cleaned and re-apinted the black bezel under the lens, made a new gasket and re-assembled the clock. It is back in the dash and working perfectly.

 

Shock! Awe!

My favorite foto is the last one showing the dash with clock and radio. The car is looking awesome! Your attention to the detail is fantastic, thanks for sharing your work in pictures!

 

Sweet jesus that is coming along beautifully

 

My dad's college buddy would've been proud...he was a Buick man.

 

I am constantly impressed with the level of quality work and attention to detail you are putting into this car. It is going to be one stunning automobile when it is finished. Many props to you my friend.

Once it is finished you may need to hide it though. I think Marshall may come over unannounced and try to abscond with it.

 

Dammit, ya stole my line!

J/K, but that thought did cross my mind when I saw Marshall's post on what he'd buy if he won the lottery. Hell, I think I'd buy this wagon, no quibbling on the price, if I won the lottery!

 

Thanks for the warnings; I've got a great hiding place in mind.

 

Very impressed with the work on the wheel-well covers and rear armrests!

 

I'm just amazed at the talent displayed here....

And....Hi, Pat!

 

Work continues on the rear door trim panels....

Test fitting the upper trim assembly.
All the tan and beige vinyl components are mounted to a .030" thick hardboard foundation, which is then mounted to the main substrate panel.



Mocked up in the car:


Those wrinkles around the upper, front and rear edges are there because the perimeter vinyl hasn't been edgefolded to the main substrate yet.

Satisfied with the progress on the right rear door, I started on the left rear.




Then, mocked up quarter trim panels to verify the shape and the color split lines.


This is what came in the car, so I had to do a lot of interpolation:




I didn't like the loose appearance of the cover, so I kept fine-tuning the sustrate and cover to improve the fit.

More progress on the rear door trim.
I pre-assembled the 2 bottom sections in preparation for sewing them to the main panel.


I've been looking for an industrial sewing machine to be able to do more of my own trim work. 57BuickJim and I went in on this Singer 111W155 "walking foot" machine.

It will sew stuff that my little home machine could only dream of!



Pre-installed the lower trim to the door panel with staples that will be removed after sewing.


Ready for edgefolding and moldings!


With the sewing done, I installed the metal edging to the substrates. I had to stop all the sew lines short of the edges to allow for installation of the edging. I tied off the stitch lines to keep them from unraveling and handstitched the outermost inch of the trim so the edgefolded panels would have the correct appearance. I also had to replace several of the attaching "nails" where the originals were broken or missing. Turns out they are standard 1" ring shank nails!


The steel edging gives a smooth appearance to the perimeter of the panel and also incorporates barbs to retain the vinyl as it is edgefolded around the back of the panel.

 

Jim, you are a very talented guy. Fantastic work as always. Thanks for sharing.