Nice kitty...

[charlie8575]

Every year, my parents give me a little money on my birthday, usually to go and get something enjoyable. This year, while I was poking around for a 1963-64 Buick Riviera, I ran across this 1964 Buick Wildcat on fee-bait. I paid a bit more than I wanted to, but I still got a pretty cool, not too-common car out of the deal. Having a penchant for Buicks generally and the ones from the 1960s in particular, I'm looking forward to making this one look good.

Let's see what we're dealing with.

This definitely has the makings of a classic glue bomb. I can almost hear the dash clock ticking away....

Next, we'll get into the dis-assembly.

Charlie Larkin

[charlie8575]

A couple of nights ago, I decided to start taking things apart to see what I was getting myself into.

We have a severe case of tire melt. And pretty well goobered-up tires. They, along with the axle rods and wheel-backs will be going bye-bye.

I intend to replace the wheelback with the finned aluminum style brake drum/wheel backs found in the 1966 Wildcat, which more accurately represent what you would see behind the chrome road wheels.

One more look prior to tear-down.

The chassis is now sitting in the freezer, coated with water, in an attempt to free fifty-year-old glue and gunk from it. The engine was well-neigh fused, nevermind just glued in. I'm hoping I can get things back apart.

These small screwdrivers are very useful for disassembly, and not just removing chassis screws, but when a very gentle amount of leverage is needed for stubborn parts.

Gooey, melty mess! (I really despise the word "melty", but it seems to fit well in this instance).

Chassis removed. Nice clean white 1964 styrene.

These two pictures serve to illustrate exactly what I mean by "fused" re: the engine, and the big globs of congealed cement where those two exhaust-pipe type things were adhered to the chassis.

More to come next post.

Charlie Larkin

[charlie8575]

The good news is that the front and rear bumpers were pretty much held in place by the chassis plate. They came off with only the slightest coaxing.

I need to work the firewall out before I can remove the glass.

Once again, the word "melty" comes to mind when looking at this window unit. Yikes! I intend to try a panel scriber to start gently removing the glue/plastic glop. Seriously, if anyone else has other ideas for getting that out, talk to me.

The interior also presents some unique challenges, starting with the race helmet glued in there. I intend to try the water/freezer on this. The dash will probably require a few passes with my razor saw blade in my #1 X-Acto handle to free up what was actually a pretty decent job of gluing in the dash.

Updates will be as they occur.

Charlie Larkin

[Foxer]

I just took apart a couple of Porsches looking like that ... "melty" IS an appropriate word!

I also discovered from a thread here that paint thinner can help soften glued joints ... somewhat, but not too much in ones like on the exhaust. Still, thinner has become another tool in my dis-assemblies.

[charlie8575]

Nice to see I'm not the only local up late, Mike. I got addicted to Mission: Impossible on MeTV.

I might try the thinner trick- I assume you're referring to standard hardware store-type thinner? I can see where that would be effective- and potentially disastrous if used too liberally.

Barring that, the scrbing tool, some soapy water to act as a wetting agent and the freezer will be tried, too.

Coming east to Classic Plastic next weekend?

Charlie Larkin

[charlie8575]

Brief update: apparently, AMT did its job right in 1962 and '64 respectively. The chassis from the Electra (126" wheelbase) and the Wildcat (123" wheelbase) are in fact different and do not line up. I could say something about doing the job right with slide rules in 1962 and we can't do it right with computers in 2013, but I am NOT opening that can of worms right now!

Barring successful dis-assembly of the old chassis, anyone have any tips for successfully shortening a chassis-plate with an X-frame so it still looks right?

[Foxer]

I couldn't sleep so I checked in ... a rare occurrence.

I used some Testors Enamel Thinner and also some Lacquer thinner ... both were safe on the plastic. I used an old paintbrush and just lathered it on, dripping all over. I did do a check first, but those thinners are in the "safe" paints I use ... though the lacquer over primer. I set it sit a few minutes and pried and ran a knife along the joint. It's not a solve-all solution but it did soften some of the joints and I will be using it again. I wasn't planning to use many of the parts so I was brutal this round. On something sensitive, like your dash, I'd try letting it sit and reapply, back up and do again. It doesn't seem to go into the glue very far, but the outside did soften.

Now, I went through engineering school on a slide rule ... and I hate them!

As far as the X-Frame, centering the cuts around the cross seems the only way to have things sort of match. There aren't too many that would see it to start with.

[charlie8575]

I understand that, Mike. Dad went to BU College of Engineering (B.Sc., Aerospace Engineering), and had to use slide-rules, too, I'm just thinking about some of the spectacular faux pas we've seen with recent-vintage tooling...not naming names, but we all know the culprits, and those were designed with things supposed to make the product better and the design of better easier.

Dad's said he'd show me how to use a slide-rule, just so I'll know how to do it (yes, I'm weird, but we all know that).

I'll try the Testors thinner- I have a little around, and I'll give a shot with the lacquer thinner, too, and simply keep an eye on it, ready to rinse immediately if I need to.

If I don't use the frame, I suspect I'll be using the engine and a few other parts out of the Electra and I'll be re-using a lot of the parts to build a curbside, possibly with a Modelhaus '62 Electra convertible on the chassis and a chassis plate.

Charlie Larkin

[Brianl]

Have you tried putting the bits in the freezer? Only had a play at it myself but was a suggestion from the experts in my club.

Brian

[Brianl]

Sorry for the repeat Just read the bit where you already did the freezer bit. How well did it go. I have a barn find GT40 waiting for resto & a lot of the bits are quite small

[PappyD340]

Can't wait to see the outcome Charlie, restorations are fun, I have 3 or 4 to do sometime, I had a 64 Electra 225 when I was 17 it was a super nice land yacht power everything, thought it was a drag car and blew the engine and sold it for junk for a $100.

[Foxer]

hehe ... how did we get on slide rules here, Charlie? They are easy to use, but the tough part is figuring out where the decimal goes. I think that only helped me later in my career after calculators and computers entered the picture. I always had an idea where the answer should be for any calculation.

Sorry for the repeat Just read the bit where you already did the freezer bit. How well did it go. I have a barn find GT40 waiting for resto & a lot of the bits are quite small

The freezer is the most used way to did-assemble but it's not perfect. Lightly glued kits respond well to it. Heavily glued gobs resist almost everything. The paint thinner may help most with those delicate parts.

[charlie8575]

Have you tried putting the bits in the freezer? Only had a play at it myself but was a suggestion from the experts in my club.

Brian

The freezer is working, slowly, but it is working. The chassis/engine fusion has been in the freezer for a couple of days, so I need to check progress when I get back home.

Dad suggested, thinking back to developing and printing pictures that a wetting agent might also help with getting the water into any cracks and crevices that might develop, so I'll try some soapy water to see if that might help a little. Dad also has a bottle of wetting agent for developing film, so I'll be trying one of those to see if any progress can be made.

For the remainder of the day, however, I intend to be outside trying to fix my 1:1 once I return home, so whether I get to anything this weekend or not I don't know. I do know I'll be placing a Modelhaus order for some parts (the U.S. Royal Master tires, a hood, steering wheel, and some wheels).

Charlie Larkin

[Greg Wann]

This is pretty cool. I really like Buicks. I have mint original issues of the 64 Wildcat HT and convertible kits. I think I have made a mold of the HT body so I might be able to provide a new resin body if needed. Not sure if I made a hood mold. I also have a mint 63 Electra Convertible kit and a 62 mint Electra convertible kit that will eventually get cast. There just aren't enough hours in the day for casting projects. And I am constantly dreaming stuff up that is plumbing related.

[berr13]

Pretty interesting, Charlie, so keep us all updated. I've got a '58 Pontiac Bonneville that needs the same process, so I'll be learning stuff here. Keep up the fight...

[Speedfreak]

Thanks to this thread I now have a '70 Superbird in the freezer!

[chachie]

Thanks to this thread I now have a '70 Superbird in the freezer!

same lol

[Pro Wrench]

I have good luck soaking gluebombs apart in that LA Awesome degreaser that the dollar stores carry. Takes a couple days but it seems to work fairly well and doesn't even cloud the clear stuff.

[charlie8575]

Thanks for the tip, Curt. I'll give that a try if nothing else I have lined up works. I've heard that stuff is pretty good, so I'd like to see how good it is.

Charlie Larkin

[charlie8575]

I took a few minutes a few minutes ago and decided to see how the cryogenic operations on the chassis were proceeding, so after taking the parts out of the freezer after about three days in the freezer.

As you can see, the chrome is thoroughly frosted, just like a real car in the winter.

That big blob of glue at the rear transmission cross-member is being quite stubborn, however.

The parts cleaning tub is soapy water, using the water-wetting idea Dad and I had talked about, I gave it a thorough soaking and it's back in the freezer.

Greg Wann has graciously offered to cast me a chassis plate for me if this one can't be made to work effectively.

Next up will be some work on the interior.

Charlie Larkin

[1930fordpickup]

You might have to get the power tool out and grind away . Just keep it on low and go slow. You just have to decide what part you want to repair the most.

[crazyrichard]

awsome to watch , would love to try this myself

[charlie8575]

You might have to get the power tool out and grind away . Just keep it on low and go slow. You just have to decide what part you want to repair the most.

You're not too far off of what I was thinking, Andy. I might try the razor saw blade for my modeling knife and see if that does the job. I also have a Bare-Metal scribing tool, which I might also give a shot at. I don't have a Dremel and don't have the funds for one at the moment, so this will be the way I'll have to do it.

I know I'll be using the engine from the '62 Buick I picked up, along with a few of the under-hood details to make things looks a little better and to replace missing parts.

I will need an alternator to make this look right, as the '62 still used a generator; I'm looking for one in my spares, or if someone else has one floating around they can spare, let me know.

Charlie Larkin

[mrmike]

An interesting project to watch, Charlie! I'm looking forward to more progress on this. As a side note, my mom had a '65 Wildcat 4-door with the 445 Wildcat V-8 and power everything. Boy, could that car go!!

[Albie D]

Good luck Charlie! Interesting build of a great subject. I, too, would love to tackle an old glue bomb. I'm used to taking dilapidated 1:1 subjects home. I think it would be cool to do the same in scale! Watch listed..