Hi people I'm from Essex in the UK, thought i'd post on here as I just bought a real cheap 83 caprice woodie wagon. I bought it just for the transmission as it's got a TH350c and i'm in need of one for my sedan caprice so I can bolt in a 350 V8, But after driving it home 120 miles with no problems iv'e decided i'm gonna use it and seek out another TH350 for the classic. I'm thinking of doing something with it, maybe a rat rod or something!? What do you guys think? Don't wanna spend too much cash.. Currently i'm just rolling it back and foward to work and it's a real good driver, just the usual rot in the doors and around the tail gate and the saggy roof liner, no big problem really!
My goodness. I never would've believed that North American wagons would be so popular over there! Malibu wagons were a big seller here in Canada, so if you have to find stuff, you might look on our national want ads: http://www.buyandsell.ca/index.php http://www.buysell.com/Brand/BuySell/Splash.aspx Welcome to the Wagon Castle!
Welcome! Glad to see there's some Caprice fans 'cross the pond. I don't think I'll be able to help you much with the trans. I know of one from a 79 Caprice for $150, but the shipping trans-atlantic, I think would be a killer!
Welcome, I have the Oldsmobile version of that wagon. What do people in the UK think of something that big over there? Here is my wagon. I have a 350 Olds engine backed by a 200R4 trans with a 2.73 rear gear. It's so nice on the highway.
to the toolbox V8 !! Ratrod???? just for the record....nuttin newer than 1950 or so...should ever be called a Ratrod...thus the 'rod' part sorry...petpeeve... glad ya found us tho
Thanks for the welcome guys! Any idea's for the wagon?? Oh and how bigger job is it getting the wood vinyl off? Or should i say, is it worth removing? Well yeah i see you're point there, what i mean is along them lines. It would be different i guess? I turned down a pair of 63 plymouth valiants the other month for £500, they would have made proper ratrods! But they were slant 6's and pretty rough (plus i'm not a chrystler fan) People don't really take much notice of the size to be honest, there are quite a few US cars and trucks about over here. It's the big old duelly trucks that make people comment on size! Some of them trucks are HUGE! Had an F350 in at work the other day an that was big, but fairly cool! Oh yeah and i'd like too say I love the Old's wagon, so cool! Iv'e been looking for a late '70s 88 or 98 coupe for a while but can only find 4 doors! You gotta love Oldsmobiles Cheers people
Removing the woodgrain takes about 5 hours. Don't do it unless your're going to repaint it. The process will scratch the paint under it. There's no avoiding that. Use the best paint remover you can for real Wood. Here we have Lepage's. It's a heavy body, kind of like eggwhite, consistency. BECAUSE it's a hydrochloric acid, you NEED rubber gloves. You need a cheap whitewash paint brush, say about 1.5" wide, medium bristle length. You need a few widths of metal scrapers, and two kitchen pails of fresh water. If you're fairly tall, get a short stool. This is "patience" work. 1) Remove the trim, if any. 2) Tape off areas that you really don't want the paint to be etched, using wax paper for masking. 3) Working temperature, wind and humidity will affect drying times, so you do areas of about 12" X 12" with the paint remover, wait a few minutes, and as it bubbles up the vinyl wood, you scrape it off. The thing to remember is that this wood vinyl has 3 (THREE) layers. A clear, a grain and a solid colour backing. The glue layer is a fourth, but it comes off by default. So your scrapers need to have a clean edge, but not a knife edge, just clean and square. You'll likely have to do each area 3 times. Rinse your brush in the same pail, and have some soft rags nearby. The paint remover get hardened after sitting for 10 minutes or so. When you do the adjacent area, overlap by the width of your brush. Wash the residue off, as soon as the film is off, with the water from the other pail. I used a box of disposable surgical gloves that I picked up at the pharmacy for under $2.00. You really need that other bucket, because if the paint stripper gets on your skin, you won't have any. I tried 3M's automotive vinyl remover. It's a pussy cat. You're wife could use it for nail-polish remover. It probably works on cars that haven't been in the sun for under 12 months, but on cars 10 years or older, you need the strongest paint remover you can find. The 3M costs $34 per litre, the Paint Stipper costs about $9 per litre. The 3M takes days, the paint stripper works in under 5 minutes. Check our Cosmetic/Woodgrain threads. I went step-by-step in there as well. Hope it helps. EDIT: On your full-size wagon, you'll need at least 2 cans of Poly-Strippa or Paint Stripper. I'd get a 3rd just in case, so that you can finish it off in one sitting. You can always return it. 2nd EDIT: Use mineral spirits to wash off any remaining streaks of the adhesive. The lacquer type cleaners or thinners will attack your adjacent paint and clear coats. Mineral spirits won't. Then wash the car, before doing any body work, with soap and water.
