1958 Buick Caballero

Are the cables new? You may have to verify: 1) the cables are properly attached at both ends, and 2) each cable's the proper length. And, whether your p-brake is on the driveline or the rear brakes, ensure the shoes are properly adjusted BEFORE the final cable adjustment.

 

That car looks fantastic! Let me know when you'll be near Newnan on your nation wide tour!

 

Installed the fender "bulls-eye" ornaments.
It was interesting...
These are current reproduction parts. One of them dropped into position perfectly; the other was too large to fit into the base. I tried one of the original Buick parts I have; it fit perfectly.

I had to grind off the chrome plating and some of the copper plating at the bottom of the emblem shaft to get the emblem to fit into the base. Once I got the emblem to fit into the base, I painted and sealed the base to protect the surfaces. Another case for OEM parts over reproduction parts...

BUT, they sure look good!





The eyebrow moldings are on. These are fun to install...



Then on to the grille. More bling!


The grille still has to be adjusted to fit "square" to the rest of the front end components.

I also started working on the headliner insulation today. Measure, cut, glue, repeat.



Those little bumps in the narrower piece are there because I made the first piece a little too wide. I still need to trim it around the molding retainer nuts.

 

The cables are the ones that were on the car; I just cleaned and lubricated them. I suppose they could be stretched, but I haven't gone down that investigative path yet.
The brakes were adjusted per the service manual instructions (expand to very heavy drag, then back off 15 notches) before testing the e-brake.
When I apply the e-brake, the cables do get tight but I don't know if the brake would stop the car or even keep it from moving. I should be able to test it soon!

 

The amount of "jewelry" on this car is unbelievable. Looks great!

 

It just keeps getting better.

 

Next up: grille extensions and front park/turn lamps.

The chrome-plated die cast trim panel gets bolted to the steel base plate, then the lamp is attached to the panel.


The lamp housing attaches with studs, washers and nuts. I ran a tap through all the threaded holes to clean out all the excess copper and chrome plating from the threads.


After assembling the lamp housing to the plate, it's on to the car:




And repeat for the right side...




Just SO cool.

 

I really appreciate and enjoy these foto's and description of your work, thanks! (You're a GM engineer right?)

 

I couldn't agree more.

 

Agreed

 

I triple the motion

 

Another case of 2 steps forward and 3 steps back...

See that little pile of oil absorber on the floor, next to the wood block?



That's the size of the oil puddle you get when you start an engine without remembering to connect the oil pressure gauge line.

I was lucky that the engine only ran for a couple of seconds!

I had squirted a little bit of gas into the carburetor and the engine fired almost immediately. When it stopped I could hear a gurgling noise from under the car...that's when I discovered that I had not connected the oil pressure gauge line after I removed the temporary gauge that was used for camshaft break-in.

Took me over an hour to connect that line; with the body on the frame, there's not much room to work - or see - under there.

Next start-up was uneventful. Oil presure is good, all gauges work and I decided to move on to brake bleeding.






Larry Schramm did all the pedal work while I handled the bleeders.

We got a solid pedal after bleeding the 4 wheel cylinders, but when I started the engine I got absolutely no assist from the power booster.



I checked the booster and it was not holding any vacuum, so I had to remove it. Not fun...


Here is the booster, coming out of the car after removing that wonderful nut, under the instrument panel and between the two pedal mounting brackets, that holds the master cylinder assembly to the firewall.







Got it apart and found that the new internal vacuum hose had slipped off the power piston connection.





I took off the new vacuum hose and re-installed the original hose. It has a tighter curvature and "wants" to stay on the fitting.



But even with the hose connected, the booster would not hold vacuum for more than a few seconds.

I disassembled the power piston and found that the air valve seal does not form an airtight seal against the seat unless I pressed on the vacuum piston side of the valve.


I dressed the seat to make sure there were no gouges or scratches, but it still won't seal.







I took apart my spare booster assembly and it appears that the seal in the original booster is slightly thicker than the one that came in the re-build kit.


I am still looking for the "fix" for this issue.

 

Very interesting! Sorry for the hiccups but that's how it goes. I just finished a head gasket/cylinder head replacement on our Isuzu Trooper, I know all about 3 steps forward, 2 back, lol.

 

So, while the brake headache continues, I am trying to get other tasks done.

I started working on the vent window glass installation. I measured and cut the glass setting tape and cut relief notches for the corners:


Sprayed the parts liberally with window cleaner (got that suggestion from the guy who installed the windshield), and began inserting the glass into the vent window frame.

I thought I was being patient and careful, but I sliced through the galss setting tape in the area where the drip channel is inserted into the vent window.


The windshield guy reminded me that the glass setting tape can be steretched locally to thin it out if necessary. I'll try that on my next attempt...

The rest of the vent window seals and the glass frame went in with only minor trimming/adjusting required.



I've also been working on the front end trim and headlights.

My granddaughter likes to inspect my work...


Installed headlight bulbs and checked the light output; they were very dim. With all the powder coating, epoxy primer and paint on the parts, I checked resistance between the headlight attaching screws and the battery's negative terminal. The ground connection was very poor.

Rather than scraping coatings, I added a dedicated ground from each headlight bucket to an adjacent core support attachment. Might not be "correct" for judging purposes, but I've done this on several cars now and I like the certainty of this ground connection. You can see the added ground screw and wire in this image.


The arrow points to the ground wire attachment at the upper core support bolt. And now, the lights are bright!

Also been working on the remaining front end trim.
I was unpleasantly surprised to find that 5 of the 8 attachment holes on the outer fender moldings were partially stripped.

I had to install heli-coils in all 5 holes. Quite a stressful activity, given that all these parts are already plated.





Right side molding installed:


It took HOURS to get these to fit this well. I still need to fine-tune the hood fore/aft position to allign the front edges of the hood and fender moldings, but this is getting close!

Test-fit of the driver's side headlight door. Fits great!


The headlight doors are attached with chrome-plated, brass barrel nuts, attached to studs mounted to the headlight bezel. I made new studs, using 10-32 screws.


I also re-shaped the barrel screws to allow insertion through the holes in the headlight doors. After installation in the headlight door, the barrel screws were originally flared to retain the barrel screws in the door.


T-3 headlights are installed; next step is to aatach the seals to the back side of the doors and install them.

 

I think I know why your lamps were dim with the original attachment point...on the '55 Star Chief I worked on, oh so long ago, all ground wire-to-body connections had a star washer between the lug and body panel; tightening the bolt causes the star washer to 'bite' through the paint, into the metal, so you don't have to remove paint to get a good ground contact.