1958 Buick Caballero

Well Joe, you've got a lot going on with this one so we'll give you a pass.
This time...

 

I know it isn't finished yet, and may be jumping the gun a bit, but this project is absolutely incredible.
For you to take the car from this:

To this:



In your home garage is, if I may say so, absolutely amazing. You are an inspiration to us all. Well done.

 

Thank you!!

 

Assembling the front door trim starts with attaching the armrest base to the main panel, followed by a layer of padding and then the trim cover.



The second layer consists of a sub-foundation that carries all the upper trim pieces.


Lots of measuring and double-checking before bonding and sewing the individual panels together.


The two-tone split lines must line up with the narrow, stainlee steel trim moldings that surround the center section of the panel.





I hand-stitched the upper and lower panels together and bonded the joints with contact adhesive.


The completed upper panel is retained to the main board with several bend-tabs above the armrest, and adhesive & staples around the perimeter.


Below the armrest, the beige and tan panels are sewn to the main panel with a seam reinforcement to provide a clean, straight edge at the color change lines.



After sewing both the beige and tan pieces, I test-fit the moldings again:


The beige material is "peeking" out above the lower molding, which meant that I had to re-do the two lower sections.

Now that's better!


Moldings installed and perimeters edgefolded. Waiting for the arrival of the Century script emblems.


Passenger side emblem, I marked the positions of the studs on the front side of the panel and used a small pick to create the holes for the attaching pins.


From the back side, I used a 1/8" drill bit to enlarge the holes in the main panel, while leaving the small holes in the vinyl cover material.

Here, I am installing the retaining clips. I used a small socket, sized to drive the perimeter of hte clip onto the studs. I used a small mallet to drive the clips and supported the emblems from the front of the panel with a cloth-wrapped piece of wood.


Complete and ready for installation! I will cut the holes for the door and window crank handles when I install the panels to the doors.

 

My pleasure.

 

I read through this whole thread and I must say, what a beautiful car and a top notch restoration on it, very impressive to say the least. Looking forward to seeing the finished product.
Ken.

 

This Power Steering emblem is the center of the horn ring.


It's got a few scuffs and scratches and one of the attaching studs broke when I tried to install it to the horn ring.

I repaired the stud with a Loctite "super-glue" type of adhesive. I also sanded off a bit of the flat side of the emblem to allow it to fit better in the cavity on the ring.
Then, I re-painted the back side of the emblem with a semi-flat black that matched the original paint.

A very gentle test-fitting of the emblem to the horn ring indicated that the build-up of copper, nickel and chrome (mostly copper) on the horn ring had altered the dimensions of the emblem attachment points.The holes on the freshly plated horn ring were slightly too small to accept the attachment pins.

I taped off the chrome and enlarged the holes with jeweler's files. I removed small amounts of material (copper) until the pins dropped easily through the holes.






Here's the polished emblem, attached with small dabs of clear silicone:


The painted steering wheel looks great!


And the horn ring makes it look even better!


I masked off the surrounding areas before spraying contact adhesive for the rear compartment carpeting.


Applied a coat of adhesive to the back of the carpet:


Repeat 10 times, including rolling the carpet down to ensure a good bond.


I applied the adhesive to one section at a time on the long pieces, then rolled the carpet into place.


With all the pieces bonded in location, I have to add the hold-down screws in each corner of every panel.


In every corner, I used a small pick to find the original hole location and installed the screw in the original position.


One more step on the road to completion!

 

Installing the front door trim panels began with the 6 mil polyethylene water barrier.


I was surprised to see that the original retainers each had a foam seal incorporated into the clip design. I have seen the simpler clips (on the right) on previous projects, but the integrated seal was a new feature to me.

I inserted all the retainer clips into the trim panel and postioned the panel on the door inner, without fully engaging the clips.

Then I marked the positions of the window and door handle shafts and cut small diameter holes at the shaft positions.


A couple of additional test fits and eventually, I increased the diameter of the handle holes to accept the handle washers.


After installing the panel with the retainer clips, the handles, upper trim panel and lock knob finish the installation.




Oops...snapped this pic before installing the door handle.

 

Looking good!

 

The seat side trim panels came back from the anodizer. Time to install them!

I test-fit the passenger side panel and discovered that additional padding was required along the side of the seat. I inserted multiple layers of thin, felted cotton.


Installation took a lot of finessing and adjusting. The lower panel on the passenger side required an "Ionia Body" tag. 57BuickJim to the rescue!

Using a high-resolution image of an original Ionia tag, Jim re-created and printed new, replacement labels.



The backing plates were made from .030" aluminum and the new tag was attached to the side panel with split rivets. To avoid deforming the thin aluminum side panels, I used a dab of clear silicone on the back of each rivet to bond the tag to the base panel.

The rear corner closeout has to be installed before the upper panel. I used the original cover patterns to help locate teh attaching screw holes, then some gently prodding with a small pick allowed me to find the original attaching holesd in the seat frame. No new holes required!


Near the top of the upper panel, the robe cord escutcheon attaching screws also retain the inboard edge of the upper trim panel.


My grandson painted the spacer needed to align the rear folding seat back latch to the seat back.


The liftgate window has 2 "layers" of stainless steel exterior moldings. The first layer was installed after the glass was installed.

The second layer is retained by unique spring clips, many of which broke or disintegrated when the moldings were removed during disassembly of hte liftgate.

I have not been able to find any replacements for these clips, so I had to fabricate 8 of them.

The clip inside the white circle is one of the replacement clips I made, using a medium binder clip as the raw material.


A heavy bead of glass bedding compound was applied to the liftgate surface and the clips were pre-inserted into the molding. I interspersed my fabricated clips with the original clips, using the originals in the most critical positions.

The masking tape on the glass was marked to indicate the position of each clip (C) and each screw(S) for the two layers of moldings.


I centered the molding on the glass and pushed each clip into position. The outboard, vertical moldings also act as retainers for the pillar scalp moldings. Quite a complicated molding scheme!


I managed to scuff the top edge of the quarter panel with the molding edges. Another touch-up for the painter.


All moldings in place; my clips appear to be working well.

 

I love seeing the younger generation involved in projects like this. I'm sure he did a fantastic job.

 

In the rush to complete the car for the Autorama deadline, I have fallen a little behind on my project updates.

Let's skip the last 4 weeks of work and take a look at the car on display at the 2019 Detroit Autorama.

Move-in day was Wednesday; the show opens at noon on Friday and runs unti 7pm Sunday.

Larry Schramm graciously allowed me to use his enclosed trailer to move the Caballero in the slushy mess on Wednesday. I doubt his trailer has ever carried anything this heavy; we calculated teh trailer + vehicle weight at approximately 7700 pounds.
20190227_153613 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr

I've never had a car in this show; it's an exciting day for me!
20190227_153554 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr

We dropped the 2 cars (my Caballero and the Modified 74 Corvette) in Masterworks' spot and left as soon as possible. There are about 800 vehicles being delivered in a 36 hour window; you can't leave your tow rig in the building any longer than absolutely necessary.
20190227_170331 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr

One happy guy...
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We made a last-minmute decision to make "Before" posters; Schramm to the rescue...again!
20190301_085728 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr

I like the "Air Born B-58 Buick" advertising materials and logo; the decorative plate turned out great!
20190301_085756 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr

Cloth pull-up sign to tell a little story and thanks the major helpers!
20190301_114915 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr

Ready for Friday opening
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POM6 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr

POM10 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr

POM11 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr

POM12 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr

That's me, cleaning and preening the car. I figure I've earned the right to wear that "Authorized Valve-in-head" service shirt by now!

POM18 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr

POM22 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr

TRh ecar drew a lot of attention. THere was almost always a small knot of 3 to 12 people checking it out and asking questions.
20190302_111636 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr

Family visitors; my daughter, son-in-law and grandchildren came to check out our handiwork
P1050016 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr

I didn't win any awards with the car; the class competition (1958 - 1967 Restored) was fierce and I agreed with the judges selections of the top cars in the class. Mine was close, but not as perfect as the winners.

All in all, a great weekend!

I'm going to be off-line for a week. I'll add more photos when I'm back.

Thanks again to Pat (BuickEstate) for his interior work, Jim P (57BuickJim) and Larry Schramm for years of hard, support and help in bringing this baby home!

 

Well Joe, I must say this is downright impressive. The car looks amazing, and I imagine having it displayed in the Detroit Autorama must have been a thrilling experience.
Looking forward to future updates, but until then, enjoy your time off. You deserve it.

 

Holy cow. I would have love to have seen the winners. Your car is absolutely stunning. I’m glad you agreed with the ones that’s were picked. I’m not so sure I would have been as gracious knowing the work you’ve put in to it. Again it is just a beautiful piece of art on wheels. Good luck with it in the future. Hope to see it in the dream cruise.

 

SCREECH!!!!!!!! Absolutely stunning!

(How's it running? Did you get the roughness sorted out?)