1958 Buick Caballero

nice work!

 

I really like the way this project is heading. You've made good progress for a guy who is doing most of the work yourself in your garage at home.

 

Update: October 4, 2015

Still plugging away!

Finally got the time to remove the rest of the components from the firewall.



Lots of firewall-mounted stuff waiting to be cleaned and repaired:


Wiring harness is quite filthy and brittle; will need to be replaced.


The shift lever could not be moved. Had to completely disassemble the steering column to get the transmission control tube and the column upper

head out of the housing. Now, I'm waiting for penetrating oil and solvent to free up the joint between the hub and the housing.

When I removed the shift control tube, I found that the felt anti-rattle insulator had caused significant corrosion damage to the tube. I

removed all the rust (chemically), fabricated a steel repair sleeve and welded it to the tube. Still need to replace the felt bushing, but this

repair should last for the next 50+ years.







I finally tackled the fuel tank. As I mentioned earlier, the tank was badly damaged and full of foul-smelling remnants of very old fuel.

I filled and emptied the tank a couple of times with plain water, then filled it with water again before beginning surgery.
I spoke with a sheet metal professional about the "right" way to fix the tank. He told me to cut a couple of large openings in the top of the

tank, leaving enough connecting structure to maintain the integrity of the tank.



When I cut the openings, I used at the locations of visible spot welds to determine the position of the baffles and reinforcements. I cut along

beads and radii to provide the best surfaces for welding the access panels back in place after the repairs are complete. Here is the tank after

cutting the access openings:


The entire interior was covered with either a gooey, tar-like residue or "crust" that appeared to be rust, but turned out to be a heavy layer of
deposits. Luckily, it looks like the interior metal is solid under all this junk.


I also removed the rear seat and the rear compartment and load floor.


The floor pans are worse than I thought; found more rust under the deadener pads.


More patching and welding in my future!

 

Just found this site! I wish I had seen it earlier. I'm just finishing up (well, getting close) to sending my Estate Wagon out to paint. You have re-inspired me! Cheers. Michael.

 

October 23, 2015 update...
After bead blasting, here's what the exterior of the fuel tank looked like:


Badly dented corner where the differential case crushed the fuel tank:


The bottom of the tank is badly crushed; it is caved in about 3" in the center:

Looks like the result of an off-road adventure!

Luckily, the metal is excellent.
Baffles and internal reinforcements were badly bent, but easily straightened:


I have started repairing the tank, but still have a long way to go.
Great training for panel beating skills...
This area had a 1/2" deep crease; turned out pretty well:



Earlier this week, we were able to move the car to storage and prepare for removing the body from the frame.
Big day today: we pulled the body off the frame.
I didn't get a pic of the body on the body cart, but here's a photo of the body and frame after separation.
This was easy with a 4 post lift!



In the next few days, I will bring the chassis home.
It's my winter project this year.

 

Started by pressure-washing before disassembling the suspension/drivetrain to get to a bare frame.





Then, into the garage:



That pile of crud on the floor is the first wave of junk that came out of the boxed area of the frame.

Rear suspension:


Front:


Front shocks still have the sheet metal push-nuts:


I was surprised to learn that the rear bumper brackets are attached with larger bolts than the front brackets.

Also surprised to find that the driver's front shock tower is welded to the frame. Got some work to do here...


I only broke two fuel line clips! Yee Haw!


Desert cars are great! All the brake lines came apart without breaking any fittings or tubes.


Got the call today (November 2); engine assembly starts tomorrow!

 

You go Joe! Looks like you're making good progress. Bummer about the gas tank though. Going to be one fine wagon!

 

It's funny how big our cars seem, and then you see just the frame sitting there and it doesn't look large enough to hold an entire station wagon. Looks like you're making great progress. Keep up the good work.

 

Grate werk Joe! Here's a link to a completed Caballero video where you can see a lot of the detail including the ribbon speedometer Joe mentions.

 

Cool video!
Thanks, MotoMike!

 

Kind of Cool that the pink one was originally sold in Walla Walla.
They are a thing of beauty that's for certain. Can't wait to see yours all finished jmt.

 

We unwrapped the block and spent most of a day washing it.
We discovered that the oil galley plugs had not been replaced. The block was hot-tanked but the original oil galley plugs were not removed because the machine shop couldn't locate the proper diameter plugs.
Luckily, Russ Martin (Centerville Auto Service) has the right diameter plugs.
We removed all the old plugs, cleaned out the oil galleys and installed the new plugs.
It will be a few weeks before we can get back to engine assembly due to travel and work conflicts.

In the meantime, I continued disassembling the chassis to prepare the frame for sandblasting and powder-coating.
This picture shows the junk that came out of the boxed areas of the frame. No rust; just lots of dried mud, gravel and (apparently) mouse fur.


Removed the steering gear and made a temporary tie rod to allow the frame to be moved.


Lifted the frame off the rear springs.


Made up a small caster cart to be able to easily move the frame:


All components removed; bare frame resting on the cart:


More to come...

 

In a previous post, I showed that the driver's side front shock tower had been welded to the frame.
Time to cut it off and repair the area properly.
After removal:

LOTS of weld!

Cleaned up the frame and made up a small patch panel:


Welded a nut and a reinforcement to the patch, then welded that subassembly into the frame rail.




After cleaning up the welds:


Looked over the entire frame for other issues.
Straightened out a few dents and dings in the cross-members. Somebody must have taken this thing off-roading in the desert; lots of rock damage!
Found that one of the mounting holes for the steering gear had some cracks around the bolt head. For some reason, the bottom bolt had no washer under the bolt head. Looks like the bolt head cracked the outer frame wall when it was torqued down.
I ground the cracks open and welded them up:

After clean-up:

This bolt will get a correctly sized washer when the steering gear gets installed!

 

We have been traveling, so progress has been slow.

The frame is at the sandblaster's shop. It is being cleaned and then powder-coated satin black (excellent match to GM chassis black).

I got the ball joints and control arm bushings apart before we left on our trip, so the upper and lower control arms are also being powder-coated with the frame:


Here is the rear axle assembly, as removed from the frame:


Disassembled the rear brakes and radius rods:


Removed the front section of the torque tube and the front prop shaft.
There is a U-joint behind this bearing. This torque tube design certainly was beefy!


Hard to tell from the photo, but this front section of the prop shaft is almost 4 feet long:


The rear axle and torque tube housing assembly is being media-blasted, then I'll take the rear end to a local shop for assessment and rebuild.

"Sparky" (the guy at the radiator shop) bumped the dents out of the radiator tanks.
The radiator looks GREAT!
Here it is, with it's new core and freshly-painted tanks:


Until the frame and suspension parts are done, I will be cleaning and re-finishing chassis and suspension parts.

Frame and suspension assembly should begin soon.

 

Another step in the long process. It will all be very satisfying though when the work is done and you know it was done right. Thanks for the update.