[charles bledsoe]

Sorry to hear about your family. I wouldn't worry about posting. Make sure you take care of your wife, for I'm sure she needs you at this difficult time.

[66GTO Jim]

Originally Posted by charles bledsoe

Sorry to hear about your family. I wouldn't worry about posting. Make sure you take care of your wife, for I'm sure she needs you at this difficult time.

X2.... take care of your wife and family first. Jim

[fyrffytr1]

Thanks for the kind words. My wife is holding up well under the circumstances. She is out of town for the funeral tomorrow but will be home tomorrow evening.
As for the ignition switch, I bought an original from Andre and sent it with a new lock cylinder to Sanford at the interior shop. Somehow it got lost so Sanford first sent me a universal switch that he found in the shop thinking it was mine. I sent it back and he sent me a new repro switch and lock cylinder that would not plug into my harness so I sent it back. I called him today to discuss it and he stopped me saying he had found my switch under some upholstery and mailed it out. When I got home the switch was in the mailbox so I am good to go there.
I'll tell Y'all about the wheel well trim next time!

[fyrffytr1]

Well, things have eased off a little with the family woes. My wife's cousin who wasn't expected to live has recovered enough to be moved out of MICU, But, she has stage 4 pancreatic cancer so, unless God works a miracle, it's only a matter of time. It is a miracle that she recovered this time and we all thank God for that.
My wife's sister-in-law and nephew came down Friday night and spent the weekend with us so the car went untouched again.
I did send the nose piece(valance?) and hood insert back to Sanford to be painted. The insert had some trash in it and Sanford's painter forgot to do the nose piece.They should be back about mid month. Then I can put the front end together.
Y'all have a good one!

[fyrffytr1]

It was a beautiful day yesterday so I drove the car around the block in my sub-divsion. It felt good! But, under acceleration I heard a scrubbing noise. I couldn't pinpoint the souce but it may be exhaust rubbing on the drive shaft. The noise quit when I let up on the gas and it doesn't make it when I rev the engine with the car stopped. I'll crawl under the car and see if anything is rubbing.
And, my fuel gauge is pegged out to the full side when the ignition is on and drops to just under the full mark with the ignition off. And, the temp gauge does not move much above the first mark. I know the gauges are good because Pete Serio built them. Could it be a bad ground? The oil pressure gauge works. I spent three hours putting the door and wheel well trim on and drilling holes for the passenger side front and rear lower fender moldings. I installed the front ones but can't figure out how to install the trim clips for the rocker and rear extension moldings.
I'll update totals next week but it will probably be only adding the 3 hours labor.

[Chris Lance]

Originally Posted by fyrffytr1

It was a beautiful day yesterday so I drove the car around the block in my sub-divsion. It felt good! But, under acceleration I heard a scrubbing noise. I couldn't pinpoint the souce but it may be exhaust rubbing on the drive shaft. The noise quit when I let up on the gas and it doesn't make it when I rev the engine with the car stopped. I'll crawl under the car and see if anything is rubbing.
And, my fuel gauge is pegged out to the full side when the ignition is on and drops to just under the full mark with the ignition off. And, the temp gauge does not move much above the first mark. I know the gauges are good because Pete Serio built them. Could it be a bad ground? The oil pressure gauge works. I spent three hours putting the door and wheel well trim on and drilling holes for the passenger side front and rear lower fender moldings. I installed the front ones but can't figure out how to install the trim clips for the rocker and rear extension moldings.
I'll update totals next week but it will probably be only adding the 3 hours labor.

Check the ground wire back at the sending unit, the one that attaches to the floor pan. You may need to scotch brite the mounting surface to give it a good ground. Nice car!

[Greg Reid]

Detached ground will make it read all the way to the full side. If you're having problems with several of the gauges, sounds like it may have a common ground problem...like at the panel or something like that.

[fyrffytr1]

Thanks for the help. I'll check out the grounds as soon as I can.

[fyrffytr1]

I didn't get a chance to check the ground issue but, I did get the rear rocker molding installed and found the scraping noise when driving. The noise was coming from the passenger side front wheel. I had installed disc brakes early on and used a 1/4" spacer to give me room and still had to grind a little off the caliper bracket to give me clearance on my 14" wheels. I must not have removed enough to clear on the wheel and it would rub in one spot on the inside of the rim. I ground a tad bit more off and problem solved. I am going to put new wheels on the car in the future and they will not give me this problem
As for the rocker molding, my car is missing the studs that the clips went on so I used self drilling screws to mount them. Used the same screws to go up through the bottom of the moldings to the body.
All of this took about two hours to do so add that to the three hours last week and that is all I have done.
I probably won't get a chance to work on the car any more before Christmas and I am hoping Santa will be good to me and I will have some more stuff to put on the car.
I did talk to Sanford and the parts I sent him will be ready this week so I may have them back by next weekend. Then, I can put the grilles and front bumper on along with the hood pad and maybe drive the car around New Year's!
Y'all have a good one!

[fyrffytr1]

I didn't have mine dipped either. Had it powder coated and thought about spraying some rust preventative inside but never did.
I probably should have but this car will not be exposed to harsh weather.

[fyrffytr1]

Just a quick note to wish Y'all a Merry Christmas. I didn't get my parts from Sanford so the front end is still on hold. I have company here and can't get a chance to work on the car anyway. We had Christmas today but it wasn't very festive due to a death in the family. Visitation was tonight and the funeral is tomorrow morning. Then, we will be taking my Ma-in-Law back to the nursing home Christmas day. Then work the rest of the week. I don't know when I will get my parts. I'm rambling so I'll cut this short.
Y'all have a good one!

[fyrffytr1]

Hope Y'all had a good Christmas. I must have been pretty good because my wife let Santa bring me some more parts for the car. I got the parts to finish my steering wheel, parts to install my antenna and decals to detail the engine, trunk and door areas.
That was $233.00 plus I put in 5 hours labor over the last few weeks. I still haven't got my parts back from the painter so I can't finish up the front end.
Here are the latest totals:

My Labor at 485 hrs...........$9,700.00
Parts..............................$16,360.06
Outside Labor...................$17,610.00
Gifts................................$3.024.25

Total..............................$46,694.31

[Greg Reid]

decals to detail the engine,

I hope you didn't forget the Buick '400-4' decal for the breather.

[Satyr1966]

Just looking at your totals reminds me a lot of my last restoration. I never figured in my own labor which was somewhere in the same area as yours. My cash expenses were just over 35K & I used a lot of major parts out of my own personal stash. I'm talking rebuilt engine & transmission & lots of trim major. I have no intention of selling the car, but it's a bummer to think that in the present market I wouldn't even be able to recoup my cash outlay for the car if I needed to. Best of luck to you with getting yours finished up. It's an exciting time! Jerry.

[fyrffytr1]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

I hope you didn't forget the Buick '400-4' decal for the breather.

It's on back order through PY. I reckon everyone wanted one!

[fyrffytr1]

Whoever makes the 1200th post wins a big prize. I wonder who the lucky guy will be? Oh wait, I see, it's ME!! I can't wait to find out what I won! Hope it's something I can use for my car. Maybe a steering wheel recast!?

[fyrffytr1]

Got my parts back from the painter Friday but, due to other commitments, I wasn't able to work on the car over the weekend.
The weather is supposed to warm up some this week so I might be able to get some done.
I still need some A/C parts before I can wrap up all the under hood stuff. Hopefully, I will get them in the next few weeks.

[Old Blue 66]

Pics Phil? Your about to take the car for its maiden cruise and no pics??? After following this thread for years, no pics when it roadworthy?

What the heck? I feel used.

[richardk]

Yeah Phil, no pics? What's up with that? I got several inches of new snow on the ground and my car is hibernating; I NEED pics!

[Old Goat 67]