1958 Buick Caballero

Everything looks amazing. I love the light and heater controls.

On the one control panel, what is the "Lock On/Off" for? On the other control panel what is the "Brake" port for?

 

"Lock On/Off" is the ignition switch and "Brake" is a warning light reminding you that the parking brake is engaged

 

Funny you should mention the "Lock/On/Off" switch. I recently discovered that on my Father-in-law's 56 Roadmaster that as long as I don't turn the ignition to "Lock" with the key in I can go from "Off" to "On" without the key and start the car.
I remember my Dad telling me about his 57 chevy wagon years ago and he mentioned that he could start it without the key.

"Lock" was, I assume, GM's version of a 50's antitheft devise.

 

GM is in business to sell cars and, technically speaking, it is still a lock. We've gotten used to locking our steering wheels

 

Yep, the "Brake" warning light tells you if the emergency/parking brake is engaged.

The "Lock/On/Off" switch is actually the ignition power switch, but it doesn't incorporate the start function. To start Buicks in this era, you turn the power "On", then press the accelerator pedal to start the car. The starter switch is attached to the carburetor. It engages the starter when the accelerator is depressed approximately 20 degrees, then once the engine is running, manifold vacuum re-sets the switch plunger. I've been using a remote push-button starter switch until the complete wiring harness is installed in the car. I've tested the carburetor switch and it functions properly, but I won't know if it really works until everything's connected after assembly.

 

Ahh. The brake light looked like a receptacle of some sort to me which is why I was confused.

The starting function sounds cool...as long as the vacuum properly pulls switch plunger off.

 

I thought the vent damper door seals were in excellent condition...until I began to install the doors. I found that the seals were cracked and I didn't want to take a chance that they might crumble with use.

Here's one of the damper doors, as removed from the car:


First step was to drill out the spot welds and remove the original foam seal from the doors. Here are the 3 pieces of the "sandwich"; the inner and outer door and the original foam seal:


I used a sheet of 3.0 mm thick, closed-cell foam to replace the original seals. I didn't have a 5/8" diameter punch, so I made a punch out of a 1/2" galvanized pipe nipple to make the correct diameter holes in the new seals.


Here are the inner and outer doors after cleaning:


I chose not to weld the doors together, being concerned about igniting the foam inserts. I used reinforcing washers and rivets to re-assemble the doors.


And here they are, back where they belong:

 

These are in the firewall?

 

Yes; they won't be visible once the firewall air boxes are installed.
These damper doors control the flow of external air from the cowl area of the windshield to the dashboard vent outlets.

 

Unlike the spotwelders from 60 years ago, you must have been considering that somebody might have a reason to replace the foam 60 years from now

 

Looking good.
As always, thanks for the progress report.

 

Thank you so much for the updates and great pictures!

 

It's been several weeks since I updated this thread, but there hasn't been a great amount of progress. Life certainly has a way of stretching our plans out, doesn't it?

Liftgate latches and the upper tailgate panel are installed in the lower gate:


At the other end of the body, I've installed the cowl seal and started working on the windshield wiper system.
When 57BuickJim came over for a visit, he asked me happened to the wiper transmissions.

Look at the tip of the wiper drive shaft in this photo:



Over 3 years ago, I took the wiper transmissions off the car and bagged them. I never noticed that both of the splined drive capstans and shafts had been cut off.
That wonderful little surprise led to a frustrating search for 2 non-Cam-O-Matic transmissions.
I had 3 spare transmissions that came with the parts car. None of them were functional or complete. I got the RH spare working; the lower cable was off the pulley and wrapped around the base of the housing, underneath the pulley. Took a while with dental pick and gentle persuasion to get the cable back onto the pulley. It's now installed in the car.

As for the driver's side, I hoped to make one functional transmission from the three incomplete units I have.
I tried using a spare 57 transmission, but that wasn't successful. Even though the overall length of the transmission appeared to be identical, the distance from the under-cowl mounting surface to the tip of the 1957 shaft is shorter. The 57 part is too short to allow installation of the wiper arm. After taking the shaft out of a 57 transmission, it was clear that it could not be used in a 58 transmission housing; the shaft diameters and designs are very different. I had to find a complete LH transmission. Ordered it from Bob Fricken (wiperman) and it should be here by the end of March.




The heater core, inner and outer cover and plenum with blower motor have all been installed:
20180325_184935 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr

I had to install the blower motor housing THREE times because I dropped one of the wiper transmission nuts into the cowl vent when I was installing the wiper transmission. Of course, the nut dropped directly down the plenum and into the drain at the bottom of the firewall, where the plenum mates up to the floor pan. Could NOT get the nut out until I removed the blower motor housing from the firewall. And to top it all off, I did it AGAIN a few days later with another part.

Now, the cowl vent openings are taped off.

Tailgate emblem and letters installed:
20180308_195628 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr

Roof moldings were a bit of a challenge.
I pre-positioned all the clips and set the moldings into position on the roof. The moldings were almost perfectly straight, but they had a slight crown; down at each end and up slightly in the center. When I installed the seals and nuts on the first molding, I ended up with a gap between the molding and the roof between each clip position. The molding looked a like a sea serpent, gliding along the surface of the roof.

I had to remove all the moldings and add some curvature to the molding so that the molding would be tight against the roof when the clip nuts were tightened. When I set the center of each molding on the roof, each end was 4" to 6" above the roof surface, as shown by the black arrow in this photo.
20180307_114028 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr

It worked perfectly; after tightening the clip nuts, the moldings fit tightly to the roof surface.


Here was another unpleasant surprise...
When I was installing the liftgate strikers and alignment bumpers, I found this broken bolt stuck in the nut plate.
I remember breaking that attaching screw during disassembly. I forgot to drill out the broken bolt before sending the car to the painter and they didn't notice it. Now, I was faced with removing that broken fastener from a painted and polished panel.

I masked it off with masking tape and a layer of rubber gasket material as an additional protective cushion...
20180307_141520 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr

20180307_141646 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr

I tried to give myself a fighting chance at success by grinding the surface flat and center-punching the bolt.


As soon as I hit the center punch, the nut plate fell off the inner panel. It was being held on to the back side of the inner panel with two miniscule spot welds. Here's the nut plate:
20180307_143007 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr

I cleaned the nut plate and painted the exposed surfaces, cleaned the back side of the inner panel through an existing access hole, and used structural adhesive to bond the nut plate to the inner panel.
Done!
20180325_205705 by 2manycars2littletime, on Flickr

More soon!

 

This wagon is SO lucky that you found it and took it home.

 

Well, I hear it is still winter in Michigan, so you have a little more time before prime cruising weather arrives.

I agree with Fannie, this car is lucky to have you.
I'm looking forward to future progress posts.

As always, thanks for the updates. ​