Posted on 11/17/2020 1:40:48 PM PST by fwdude
When you don’t have the mechanical aptitude (I don’t), then you risk doing irreparable damage in the process of learning. I could junk the whole car just by a careless mistake. I can change oil, some bolt-on components, like starters and alternators, and can gap and change spark plugs, but that’s about it. When it comes to engine and body structure, I’m an accident waiting to happen.
In this regard, it’s a LOT cheaper just to find someone with years/decades of experience in this type of work.
OK, I understand, but get you a good trouble shooter, that is my best advice. Good luck!
Check. I’m on the search for that.
Besides the busted knuckles, the joy will come from the journey, restore/repair what you can while you drive it. What you can't tackle on your own, search the internet for forums where members have an interest in the same make/model car you own. For the repairs where you need help, ask people on those forums for advice for your specific problem/repair. Most on those forums are glad to help a fellow gearhead, or someone just learning.
Check the internet for local car clubs also, they can be a good source for referrals of shops that can do work you are unable to. Just do as much as you can yourself, and what you can't do, you may have to bite the bullet and hire it out.
I should try to find casting numbers and see if it is a 4 bolt or not.
A 4 bolt could rate some machining.
Besides it came out so it should go in without that much misery.
I am Monk-lite most times.
Drives the spouse crazy.
There are certain things I am Monk like....but I’ve let some things slide..as I’ve gotten some age on me.
I had a ‘74 Gremlin with a 258. Would smoke tires all day.
Hey, I was 16 :)
“1970 Buick Estate Wagon, 454-V8 with 4-bbl.”
Holy crap that thing’s a beast! YUGE!
You might want to find a guyt local who simply loves this kind of stuff who can guide you from there. Maybe run an ad on craigslist?
“Good shade tree mechanic wanted to help guide my resto project car. 1970 Buick Estate Wagon, 455. Need advice from someone honest and reasonable to look it over and reccomend what local shops can do what. Meet inpublic first time. $25/hr (somewhat negotiable), long term project . Maybe 15 hrs per week, +/-. Please have ready your backfeound info on what other cars from this erra you have worked on intensely. Email at first, need your phsone number, please, to weed out scammers. Put “I love Buicks” in the title so I know you are not spam.”
Along this lines. Don’t give phone number, just email, and be prepared for 10-1 spam replies, some quite clever.
Fwiw.
[[[I had a ‘74 Gremlin with a 258. Would smoke tires all day.
Hey, I was 16 :]]]
Excellent no frills autos. I had a 71 Hornet with a 304 I converted to a 3 speed Hurst floor shifter back when I was in High School. The thing flew. There was a factory equipped model with a 360 V-8 but they were rare, (SC360)
You can call it what you want... it is a good shop, but mechanics who work on modern cars deal with a completely different set of issues than people who are trying to restore rusty old hulks. This applies to other types of vehicles as well. I grew up with old tractors, trucks and farm equipment.
I once had an old Johnson outboard motor with a leaky head gasket from being overheated after the water pump failed. The thing had spent most of it's life in salt water. It was a real education for me. Corroded aluminum and rusty bolts basically chemically weld themselves together in a corrosive environment like that. I had the same issue with bolt's breaking off even after spraying it down with penetrating oil and repeatedly heating with a torch and cooling with oil and water. When you are dealing with ancient mechanical devices you have to use a really good penetrating oil. And you have to use it repeatedly.
We have a 1942 Cadillac we are working on. They are very rare since production was halted in February of that year. Ours was special ordered and left the factory on November 8, 1942. It was delivered to Winnifred Filson who owned the Filson Co. which started out as an outfitter for the Alaskan gold rush in 1897.
The car sat in the mud in a cow pasture in Oregon for decades, so we have had some serious issues with corrosion. You have to be patient and let penetrating oil do its work over a period of months and in some areas... years.
The engine was seized when we got the car. After draining the engine oil, I refilled it completely to the tippy top of the carburetor and filled each cylinder with a solution of half deisel oil and half automatic transmission fluid. My goal was to have no internal void in the engine other than the cooling system that was not filled with the solution. I kept it topped off for a few months. After we drained it, refilled it with fresh engine oil and replaced some ignition parts, the engine started right up. Even the rings and valve train loosened up enough to get good compression.
There were not any moving part of the car that were not rusted together. The advantage has been that the car doesn't have any loose parts that rattle when it is being driven down the road; it is extremely solid. This is unlike so many frame off restorations where people forget to reassemble using lock-tight. They turn into rattle traps after all the effort that is put into them. Fortunately, the sheet metal that they used in 1942 was a much heavier gauge than sheet metal used these days and the car never left Western Washington and Oregon, so the body panels other than a few areas around the rocker panels were not rusted completely through.
Get someone that works on boats.
You might want to peruse the web and see if you can find a car club - ideally in the D/FW area to get recommendations.
Concur with the penetrating oil solution. Many mechanics get in a rush with the oldies and start snapping bolts not realizing those parts have been together for decades. Last thing I ever want to do is thread repair as it’s a royal PITA. Patience and perseverance will pay dividends as parts for some of those vehicles are difficult if not impossible to come by.
Found Kroil a few years back that worked like a charm and saw some “new” stuff the other day that’s in a yellow bottle that I wouldn’t mind trying out. Half diesel/tranny fluid solution has been around as long as I can remember but not many younguns know about it.
Absolutely, Kroil is the best penetrating oil that I know of! It is very expensive from Amazon, but we have a local supplier that charges about half as much. It still costs so much that I use it a little bit sparingly.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0018AIJR2/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A2UDNPGKURPVSY&psc=1
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.