BADLASS IS WELL UNDERWAY

Thanks man! Just walked in the door with Pat and she's doing a solid 80%. Not too bad after 12 days. Ive seen cans of "headliner cement" and they are like 12-14.00. I use a lot of spray adhesives which are super duty, but would make a mess on the headliner. I was gonna go with regualr weldwood contact cement. Thoughts?

I was on OPGI this morning; pretty confusing search, and finally found Buick headliners, but they lacked the basketweave pattern. I can go either way, but the visors are OEM and pretty decent. Stiching and everything!

With those clips, did you have both sides done so it was pulled taught? Then drop a few at a time and do the glue? Bill
 
I started going from the front to the back and got that where I wanted. I glued that taking a few few clips down at a time. Then I went side to side with the clips and got it where I liked it on both sides (working back and forth between sides). Then I glued that a few clips at it time making sure to work it as needed. The hair dryer too care of the wrinkles when it was all set. This was during the summer and the material was more compliant in the heat. It should still be OK in your heated garage though.

I have heard weather strip adhesive will work as well as anything. These guys have had most of the hard to find Buick interior parts in the correct color for a lot longer then the newcomers.
 
Thanks! Back in the early 70's I had a pal that had a top and trim shop and used to help out on Saturdays. We made many headliners from scratch and did custom upholstery for the local show cars. Learned a lot. The last one I did was on my 71 GS and the mounts for the stays (bows) were way different than the 64s. Two things I have an abundance of is time, and patience LOL... Merry Christmas to ya! I may hit you up with some more questions as we move along on this part! Bill
 
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So I looked at a bunch of headliner suppliers from 89.00 to 169.00 and the all carry a basket weave that looks nothing like what Ive got(had). The pics are off a sail panel I kept as a sample. Thoughts or ideas? I didnt want to have to get the visors redone, but that may be necessary for a match. The green is from OPGI. The bottom pic is hard to read, but says NAUGAHYDE 64. Bill

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I have a Year One catalog from 2000. Even then, they said the 64 quilt headliner pattern used in some 64s was not available. They suggested the basketweave was the closest match to it?
 
What a banner day yesterday! Got the glass frame painted with a juicy coat of zinc primer for rust proofing purposes, 2 more coats of sandable primer for paint, and then one coat of dark navy blue followed by a dark navy blue metallic. A black primer may do the same effect. I just like the look.

After searching for about 5 hours over the last few days, Ive found that in fact, the '64 headliner material was not a "basketweave, (thats a '65 pattern) but rather the '64 is whats called an ARIEL pattern... no longer in print. Looks like a change over and getting the visors recovered as well. SHUCKS!

While waiting for the paint to dry, I also manned up and cut the bad rear valance panel out for straightening. Way easier on an anvil instead of shaking the crap outa the car. Plus the very bottom lip was crunched in a way (and position) that wouldve made it really blow to try and get it right. The panel in hand with some planishing tools took about 15 minutes to get it close. Another 1/2 hour on the bottom lip (in red) and she'll be ready to go back in. The material back there was tuff stuff, Probably 12-14 ga. and with all the curves etc. was pretty rigid.

Keep an eye ball peeled for headliner kits on sale for me guys! I dont catch them too often. I have one for 79.00 and another for 169.00 and both include sail panel and visor material. Whats the DIFF? Bill


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Another 1/2 hour on the anvil, and a 1" piece of pipe and it was ready to go back in. The cut off wheels are 3/64" on the thickness which resulted in a 3/32 clearance which was used up almost in total by the "stretching" on the panel from flattening it. I left the gap at the top and tacked it in. That actually resulted in zero gap at the bottom. That took a screwdriver to lift it up and onto the mating edge with zero clearance. In all actuality, I shouldve closed the gap at the top, but I was worried about having to fill the bottom where its outa sight and still a bit crusty. Im going to back up the gap with some copper when I weld it. Now where did I hide that copper sheet???

Oh, and another mystery solved! Bill

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Merry Christmas everyone! Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of owning the BADLASS. What a Christmas present!

So today I finished welding and grinding the cut out and straightened valance panel. Its all turning out pretty well. I am right where I wanna be !! Took Pat to the sawbones today, and she's doing better than expected, just 15 days ago. We all need to thank GOD for our blessings, as askew as they may be.

Also trying some various paint strippers to get the bulk of the old paint off. The OEM paint was lacquer, with an enamel recoat sometime a few decades ago. Im just trying to keep ahead of paint dust. We'll see how it looks tomorrow! Gotta pack up the sleigh and make the rounds... See ya later boys... Im fresh outa coal LOL... Bill

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Well the stripper sat overnight, and came off pretty clean with a razor scraper. Im adding a Skylark chrome trim panel between the tail lights, so all that stuff had to get ruff mounted to locate the holes for the valance trim. It seems that the panel is 3/8" too long. It may need to get trimmed with the cut off grinder or the table saw. I want a totally clean cut!

Also got about 90% of the OEM trunk weatherstripping removed. Glued all the way around, its a mess to get it nice and clean. Ill finish that tomorrow along with some filler and primer; I hope! Bill

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Had a little bit of fabbed section in yesterday, and thought about it overnight and decided to cut it out and redo it. Now having a grasp on whats going on, its not as bad as it sounds. Being full of compound curves AND radius's, not to mention contours, the use of a 200 ton stamper and a die would be the proper way to do this. Well, since I dont have any of that, the stuff needs to be fabbed in smaller pieces and massaged to make it look passable. A finger swipe with filler in the radius is all thats needed to make it look decent.

All this and the fact that most of the deterioration is behind the bumper and trim, makes this cruddy job just that much more bearable. I think its gonna turn out just fine. Tomorrow, three small pieces at an hour each and it'll be ready for some 'glass filler. Theres only a few spots up front that need attention, so its gonna start going back together. All I need is the headliner and install it, then the glass can go back in, and keep moving forward at that point. Bill

The port side wasnt too badly damaged. The starboard side was crunched, and the exhaust fumes helped the oxidation issue. Rust never sleeps, so its just a matter of abating it. The two pics show the good OEM fit-up and the fabbed job thats in progress. Next is some practice on shrinking some spots showing through the primer.

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Bill, are you thinking of painting this in the factory color when done or another color of your choice? You have certainly done enough work to make it whatever color you want as a reward!
 
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Thanks Steve!Take a look up at post # 27 and youll see what Im after. We used to play with custom stuff in the early 70's and Id really like to bring one back. We'd do amoebas with an air brush and spider webbing with straight paint outa the gun and lace panels on the sail panel areas. Everyone these days is hell bent on restoration painting. Im still pretty much old school. The bright-ass dark blue with some snow white accents should pop. Always interested in looking at custom work. Whatcha tink eh?? As with everything these days, everything has to be extremely turboed or it just aint cool. For me its KISS... Bill

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Finally got all the barbaric welding fab stuff in. Looks OK now and will better when its got a 1/16 of filler on it. The very bottom piece was a bit of a challenge, but with some mud on it she should look OK. Tuesday Im going to Harbor Freight for a 129.00 spectrum spray gun The sale is 25% off so whats to lose? All my old syphon guns are 30-40 years old and put away dirty. Im ready to step up with something new. Im also getting a 33 oz. cup vs. the 20 oz that comes with it. I think the nozzle is a 1.3 mm and all the pro's across the hall seem to like them.

Gonna try to order the headliner tomorrow. Its been like 6 days of emails with no answers. The complete kit is 79.00 plus the box. The only other sheet metal work is at the bottom of the front fenders with a 2 X 2" bad spot already trimmed out. Im liking the jobs that get done, like 2 per day. Progress ya know! Stall tuned... The quarter panels are all done by hand... NO FILLER! Actually followed Trevs Blog on youtube about torch shrinking low spots and danged if it didnt work!

Wished I had funds to just buy a finished project but Id truly miss all the fun of doing it myself! Bill

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For the last year, Ive been looking at Grammas Crunch job and debating on how to fix it. Thats the rear valance and the very back of the passenger side rear quarter panel corner. I was gonna cut it out and replace it as the damage was very much into the body lines and hard to get them correct again.

Yesterday, I sat on my wood topped 5 gallon bucket and tapped away with my body hammers. I also did a number of area shrinkage problems with the propane torch. Thats hit a spot, get it red, then quench it with a wet rag. That shrinks the material back to flat without literally moving the dent stretched steel all over. Youd be chasing it and having an "oil canning" situation. By the time I was done, I used no more than a teaspoon of filler to fair it it out. I amazed my own bad self! The pics above were in the "OK" classification, but the ones below are closer to perfect.

All the sanding was done by hand with a longboard. Really only about an hours worth of sanding. Ruffed in with #60 and finalled with #150, for the primer end of the job.

The first is totally before, as when I picked the car up. Followed by a few of the past few days.

Happy New Years guys! Bill

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Looks great Bill! Happy New Year. I cant tell you how many hours were spent on the quarters on my 65, but the previous owner said he had a beer keg rolling around in there for quite some time. I can appreciate what you have done.
 
Thank You Sir! Inasmuch as I hate bodywork (try fairing a 36 foot long boat!), this part turned out exceptionally well and its renewed my enthusiasm about continuing with this aspect of the job. Went to Harbor Fright today and bought a new HVLP spray gun for 129.00 and 25% off. Never used one before. Also got a POS gun for primer for 9.99 ! It only needs top last about 10 hours haha.

The boat was done in 2013 and previously 1987. In '87 it was sprayed with AWLGRIP and the 2013 job was done with Interlux 2 part and a badger hair brush... sprayed the red stripes. Billz129.jpg

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Short day here. Dealing with a trim clip guy and looking for paint, doctors office and a 50 lb bag of dogfood. YIKES! The "try panel" is what Im after. Black primer, navy blue and navy blue metalic. SHARP! Bill

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Thanks Steve... been a while but progress is still positive. A few more minor repairs ans some (several) coats of primer and its starting to look smoother. Decided to finish up the few more body fixes, than grind and prime. I just had to get the exposed stuff covered due to condensation etc. Got a can of shitty primer which is gonna take another few hours of sanding.

Headliner is due Tuesday and I picked up a few (4) boxes of 1-1/2" clips for 79 cents a dozen. Bought 4 doz for 3.16 plus a few bucks to ship. Gonna clean and paint the rusty bows tomorrow, get the headliner in and set the rear window so I can get on it! Maybe finish painting underneath and get the fuel tank back in. Id really like to get an early start to finally get some work done! No more goofing off!! Bill



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