Gearing up for my biggest wagon build yet .....

As a car guy you HAVE to love having a buddy like Pete to help out.

The entire conversation went like this.

Me - Pete, you still have a sawzall?
Pete - You know I do.
Me - Wanna help me cut out my B pillar?
Pete - That's a stupid question. I'll see you in a few.

Anyway, I got the door glasses out without drama, but after we cut out the B pillar, I needed Pete's expertise on glass removal for that rear cargo area glass.

In this picture, I'm holding the camera, and Pete is holding the glass removal wrench:


Then yesterday, I couldn't get the beat up sawzall blade out, and Pete couldn't assist with the drivers side, so I broke out the plasma cutter, some pliers, and a 3 pound sledge and started roughing in the window sill to be a little more forearm friendly.



So that's about it for "progress" pics at this point, and I think it goes without saying that this past weekend was VERY theraputic for my soul.

Thanks again Pete!

THAT POOR CAR!!!!

It was a blast!! Got me away from my project just at the point where I was getting frustrated. We really did try to save the window but it busted....oh well. We had a good time with the blue-tip wrench.

BigBlackBeaSSt wrote:

THAT POOR CAR!!!!

It's OK, Tim. Trust us. We know what we're doing. Kinda.

Damm

Bewber wrote:

BigBlackBeaSSt wrote:

THAT POOR CAR!!!!

It's OK, Tim. Trust us. We know what we're doing. Kinda.

Liar....But seriously, this car is in BAD shape. We aren't hurting it a bit.

Just out of curiosity how flimsy is the roof with no B and C pillars?

enjoying the build vicariously

matthimself456 wrote:

Just out of curiosity how flimsy is the roof with no B and C pillars?

Dunno. It still has the C pillar on the drivers side until I can get some more help. May just leave it in until we're done wrastling the body around onto the new frame.

FWIW, when Pat was here the other morning and we were looking at the car - On the side with NO pillars, I grabbed the roof and rocked the car up and down VERY agressively and there was ZERO deflection on the roof or within that opening.

There seems to be a LOT of strength in the outsides of the roofline.

Well, eager to see this thing.....

Bewber you have inspired me to make plans for a unique build as well. I drew up an deal last nigt and it's going to be a lot of work but I need a donor car to try the ideal out on. Not going to cut up the white wagon i'm getting from Chris, but rather another one first just to try my ideal out,.... then cut up a good one.

2 groundbreaking builds to watch at the same time? YES!

If Crovo would tear into the Marshmallow I could cancel cable.

matthimself456 wrote:

2 groundbreaking builds to watch at the same time? YES!

If Crovo would tear into the Marshmallow I could cancel cable.

Oh shut up.

But I lol'd!

And the Marshmallow is rolling into the garage this weekend!

Yessssssss Crovo is in.

My ideal entails cutting off all of the outer sheetmetal and reshapng the body a little wider at the back so I can stick wider tires in.

It will be flat black with dark cherry wood and copper plated chrome.

SATIN BLACK. NOT FLAT.


FOR THE LOVE OF GOD.

Yeah you got it. I know the downside of flat, been there done that.

this is so friggin' cool... wish I had the time and space to do this too!!

So we have 2 convertible (roofless) wagons now...whens someone going to make a 90s el camino?

Who says this is a convertible?

cadillac kevin wrote:

So we have 2 convertible (roofless) wagons now...whens someone going to make a 90s el camino?

been done a looooooooooooong time ago both by GM and forum members. Pics around somewhere.

GM already did... in 1995. Keep up, Kevin.

I have an idea thats slowly sinking into the mud,. that was built by somebody else, and its a half wagon,.

My wagon build is gonna be so radical,. when i,m done chopping stuff off,. it'll look like ,.



Nick
Not a master car builder but real good at baiting fish hooks,.

Well - after much drama and road tripping this weekend I finally got the donor-ish crew cab truck home today.

I really only wanted it for the frame length, the rear end, the electrical system and the engine ....

Turns out that the rear end isn't as wide as I thought (and need) and I've since gotten an offer on a different motor that I'll probably go with.

SOOO, I've got some electrical to harvest, some more measuring to do, and some heavy scrap to unload.

Different motor? C'mon, give it up.

jimbeau wrote:

Different motor? C'mon, give it up.

probably some old carburated leland engine,.,.

One of these would be bad ass

Agreed, but I'm going to be in dire need of torque - and it doesn't matter how much I love me some straight 6 and it doesn't matter how nice the torque curve on them tends to be, a good friend has made an even torquier caddy 500 available to me, and it only makes sense to go that route.

I have a motor that has more torque than a caddy,..it,s a straight 6,. if you,re interested,.

Nick

Well, I'm still on the hunt for a commercial duty rear end that'll be wide enough with reasonable gearing - but the word has gotten out and I'm CLOSE. Really really close.

The situation with the commercial gearing has made me realize that I'll pretty much have to go with the straight 6 motor, since I'll need the mechanical advantages of overdrive and there isn't an OD trans that will live behind a 500 caddy.

So as long as I'm gonna go with the straight 6, I had to ask myself.... If there's one thing in this world that'd be more bitchin than an open engine'd straight 6, what would it be?

The answer came to me, so I searched, learned, shopped, and scored.

Say haa-loe to my liddol fren!



It's an ALMOST complete turbo setup from an early 80s buick. I should only need a couple minor small parts and be good to go - aside from having to finger out how to lose all the hosing, etc.

This unexpected little bundle of joy obviously calls for some serious adjustment in my previous exhaust routing plans, but I'm confident that I'll adapt and overcome.

There is an OD that will live behind the 500. The 4L80E.

Good to know. I wasn't aware that'd work, but it's not in the budget, and I'm trying to avoid as much electronicals as possible - no matter what Jimbeau and Nick think about all that new fangled stuff.

Besides, the 6 should work out fine anyway.

Bewb,... if you need anything else for that turbo let me know I think there is one down the rad if the guy hasn't gotten rid of it. It rotted away on the guy.

I think alls I need now is a knock sensor, and the extra thing inside the dizzy that changes the timing when the knock sensor tells it to.

Bewber wrote:

The answer came to me, so I searched, learned, shopped, and scored.

It,s probably already scored,..
complicated to get to run right,..
ELECTRONIC spark control,.



nick

If it turns out to be more pain in the butt than it's worth, I can sell the stuff and get my money back. The guys CL ad was like 6 or 7 weeks old, had no pics, he lived an hour from civilization, and everything was in boxes on his carpeted garage floor. I got it all for, "get this crap off of my carpet" pricing, so I'm not all THAT worried about it.

Besides, my dad and I are friends with a local guy who's been running these same parts trouble free for over 20 years and has driven all over the country with them on his I6 - so in addition to the online inliner geeks who like to help, I also have local know-how and support.

Bewber wrote:

If it turns out to be more pain in the butt than it's worth, I can sell the stuff and get my money back. The guys CL ad was like 6 or 7 weeks old, had no pics, he lived an hour from civilization, and everything was in boxes on his carpeted garage floor. I got it all for, "get this crap off of my carpet" pricing, so I'm not all THAT worried about it.

Besides, my dad and I are friends with a local guy who's been running these same parts trouble free for over 20 years and has driven all over the country with them on his I6 - so in addition to the online inliner geeks who like to help, I also have local know-how and support.

excellent,..

.....and?

Oh, yeah, a big thanks to John for getting that extra Astro rim for me.

updates

I believe that Bewbz has moved to a cave and communicates by smoke signals.

His new job is keeping him pretty busy.Guess that we are at the bottom of his "Keep In Contact"
list.Hope the new job is what he wanted and is still enjoying it!

welp that sucks, he's probably pretty busy though, smoke signals take a while to learn.

way to leave us hanging!