1958 Buick Caballero

Looking good! Appreciate all the detail/coverage of you hard work. Look forward to news from the Autorama.

 

Thanks for all the positive comments!

I haven't really been holding out re: Autorama. We just submitted the application this week from Masterworks, the company that did the body work and paint.
It will be displayed in their booth and it will also be competing in the restored category.

 

You're going. No doubt about it. There's no way your wagon's not getting shown there, as you're too close to completion.

 

This is great news, how exciting. The car is looking amazing

 

I was just giving you a little good natured ribbing. What an exiting thing it must be to have a vehicle in that show. Quite an honor.

 

Of course, when the Autorama is over, your next photo-heavy thread will be the Autorama....

 

First step in assembling the front seat back was to clean, paint and inspect the seat frame and spring unit.



The transverse spring wire that supports the individual zig-zag springs (essentially the lumbar support) was fractured and had to be replaced.

This frame came from low-mileage car and was in excellent condition. The clean, shiny metal you see is as the frame appeared when the old trim cover was removed! I coated it with a clear protectant to preserve it.

Initial test fit of the trim cover and side panel to ensure that all the seams will be covered by the side panels as designed and sewn.


I installed the 2 screws that will ultimately attach the ash tray to the seat back. Having the screw heads in place will make it much easier to locate the attaching points for the ash tray after the trim cover has been attached to the frame.


Visible at the top of the above image is the first point of attachment of the seat cover. There is a wire-reinforced upper bolster that is attached via hog rings to the upper frame rail.

The heavy felt isolator is installed between the two layers of springs in the seat back spring unit and the trim cover is drawn over the perimeter of the frame and retained with hog rings.


After installing the cover and verifying the fit of the side panel, the upper bolster looks loose and baggy. The area beneath the french seam required additional padding to fill out the cover contours.


I removed the cover and added thin layers of cotton/poly blend padding to better match the cover shape



After re-installing the cover, fabricated stuffing tools like these make it easier to manipulate the last bits of padding into the necessary position under the corner:



End view of the seat back after revising the corner padding.


Front seat back, ready for assembly to the cushion:


The 1958 Buick foam seat cushions were among the earliest applications of molded urethane foam seating components.

The Special models retained the traditional spring and pad designs for the seat cushions and seat backs.

The Century, Super, Roadmaster and Limited models were equipped with foam seat cushions, but retained the "spring and pad" seat back pads with rubberized horsehair pads.

I disassembled the seat frame and cleaned and painted the steel structure. Since the cushion frame had some surface corrosion, I used a more aggressive treatment and then painted the frame black.

I inserted a stiff reinforcement layer of woven carpet material between the springs and the foam layer, hog-ringing the carpet to the zig-zag springs to ensure that the underlayment would not shift with occupant entry/egress. The carpet replaces the original layer of cotton burlap, which had long ago lost its ability to support the foam and isolate it from the springs.


New foam is installed, along with a layer of non-woven cotton/poly felt to retain the rear endge of the foam to the frame. The felt also acts as an insulator/isolator between the rear section of the trim cover and the "bar cover", or rear bottom section of the frame.


The foam is trimmed to shape and "skived" or contoured at the perimeter to give a smooth appearance of the cover after assembly. I have found that an electric carving knife works great for shaping and contouring the urethane foam.


The pink chalk mark highlights the center of the frame and the center of the trim cover. I always start in the center and work outwards from the center to establish and maintain the proper cover position on the seat.


Like the original design, I added a layer of padding and burlap above the foam, then applied the trim cover:


The first step in retaining the cover was to hog ring the rear "tie-down" to the lower portion of the seat frame, just beneath where the forward edge of the seat back would eventually be positioned. Then, working out from the center, hog-ringing the perimeter of the cover to the frame.

After building up the assembly, I determined that I needed additional padding to get the required comfort, fit and appearance. The cover was too loose on the pad assembly.


I removed the cover from the frame and added a thin layer of padding over the entire seating surface, with additional layers around the perimeter to provide a more full looking perimeter.


The second build-up was much improved


Attaching the seat back to the cushion is accomplished with 6 - yes, 6! - 1/4-20 bolts.


Adding the ash tray and robe cord to the seat back:


It took 3 of us to manuever the seat into the car, but we managed to position it without any injuries or damage:


It will be challenging (impossible?) to install the seat side panels in the vehicle, but the side panels are still at the anodizer's facility. If necessary, the seat will be removed to allow installation of the aluminum trim panels.

 

That's probably a safe prediction!

 

My complements!!! You are doing an outstanding job. This is a gorgeous car and proves that wagons ARE very cool.

 

Always great to see the progress on this build. I can't wait to see it finished, but I'll be a little sad when there are no more restoration updates...

 

He's got a few more to do that we can follow.

 

I'm looking forward to it.

 

With the seat covers completed, I was able to resume work on the quarter trim panels.

First step was to install the windlace along the rear door openings.


The windlace tucks under the roof rail molding at the upper end and is retained with trim screws to the inner "dog leg".

The quarter trim panel - now completed with the decorative deck seam - installs on top of the windlace and is attached with a trim screw to the inner structure.


The black line on the water shield indicates where the color split line is positioned on the rear door trim panel. The quarter trim and door trim color split line up perfectly.

And then, do it all again on the passenger side!


Moving on to the rear door trim installation, I fabricated the water shields from 6 mil poly film instead of coated paper.


Then I re-installed the door handle and window regulator handle springs...


And the trim panel:


The alignment of the rear door and quarter trim two-tone split turned out nearly perfect.


I installed the door handle at the wrong position; another item to add to the list.

 

For the past 4 years, I have been looking for one of the correct Century script emblems for the left side of the car.

The right side emblems slanted "forward" and the left emblems slanted "rearward".

Since my search has not been successful, 57BuickJim volunteered to share his knowledge and skills in moldmaking to help me create an emblem.

He and I used the good part as a sample and built a silicone mold to re-create the emblem.

I was concerned that a plastic emblem might not be strong enough to withstand the forces involved in the installation process, so I made a sheet metal reinforcement plate to add strength to the plastic part. This is my first attempt at the reinforcement:


Tin snips, a dremel and a set of X-Acto files got me this far:


The reinforcement didn't fit well, so I made a second one:


I drilled and tapped six #3-40 holes for insertion of threaded attaching studs to the reinforcement






Here's Jim, working on the mold


Out first mold failed because the material was too old and didn't react. Back to the drawing board...


Jim made a second and ultimately, a third mold to replicate the original emblem


This was my first attempt to manufacture an emblem with the steel reinforcement







Then, lots of patience and grinding required to trim away the excess plastic






We learned that we had made the mold too "deep" and the part was too thick. It would stick out from the surface of the door trim panel about 1/8" further than the rest of the emblems.

Jim made another mold and cast new parts made from plastic, without the metal reinforcement.

As of today (February 4, 2019), the plastic emblems are at Vacuum Orna-Metal in Romulus, Michigan to be vacuum metallized.

The craziest thing is...I found the emblem for sale on ebay about 3 days ago.


Now, I'll have 3 to choose from!

 

Dammit, don't make me laugh! It makes me cough, then I hork up a lung!

I thought I was the only one who couldn't find anything I wanted/needed until after I 'solved the problem?'