December '12 Wagon of the Month

Hi all- it's an honor to have been contacted by Tom to be the wagon of the month here on the Longroof Forum!
My Name is Dave Servati and I've been into B-bodies for about 12 years now.

My family put's up with my car obsession since I was a teenager.. I love cars but have not owned many, the list is small, my first 1970 a Buick 2 door LeSabre (350/4bbl) with Cragar SS white wagon wheels L60's in the back fun car!, '74 Dart, '78 Fairmont Wagon (my first wagon) and in 1983 I picked up a 1963 Pontiac Bonneville Sport Sedan (still have), '80 Pontiac LeMans, '81 X-body Buick Limited, then a host of mini-vans, in 2000 I got my '96 Impala SS (still have). I have been a body and paint shade tree mechanic since the late '70's (wow it hurts to type that time flies!), and have done my share of engine work, motor swaps, and repairs to keep my cars running.

The first wagon I owned was the ford and it was a hand me down for the sister, rust spots in the center of doors and body panels a result of cheap imported steel an issue of the late 70's and early '80s I painted it, blacked out the trim, and installed a rear wiper motor, but the damn thing burned up due to an electrical fire (not the only Ford I've had with that issue). Wagons are my quiet obsession, although I remember riding to high school in friend's GM wagons with the "clam shell" tail gate and forward facing third row seats, and all sorts of Country Squires and Caprice Classic wagons of the '80's I've never lost my love of wagons. I saw my first cool B-body wagon at the ISSCA 2005 Nationals in Pocono PA and I got bit by the bug. Got my first B-body wagon from "Fred the Wagon Guy" in Waterloo NY in 2006. It was a '96 Buick WB4. Always having champagne taste on a beer budget Fred had a high mileage wreck that he sold to me cheap if I put it back together. It had front end damage- he included the required body parts (fender, inner wheel well,bumper, radiator core, had it inspected, and installed third row seats. The plan was to garage the '96 Impala for the winters and drive the wagon. Here is what she looked like when I got her home (the wife thought I was crazy):



So the story began .. the next post will take you through the next 6 years! Thanks for reading on ...

So I started working on saving the wagon to get into my first Wagon Fest ... here is a shot from the front of the work that needed to be done in under a month:



Well I had to do a lot of work in addition to the front end and driver door, the passenger rear quarter had been hit and needed work, there was some rust near the driver side door and frame area, the rug had blood stains in the driver front and rear pans - Fred swore it was coffee but the history of the car and my inability to remove the HUGE stain with anything led me to beleve otherwise.

The history of the car was that it was a "service vehicle" for a Funeral home in Massachusetts/Connecticut - well maintained (Fred had got another car from the same funeral home). Well I later found out that a service vehicle is the car that picks up the dead from hospital, nursing home, and state run morgues ... yuk!! Bodies are often transported in bags and not always coffins - The car was in an accident while transporting a body and my guess the body shifted the back opened or ripped and the resulting stain and smell was in the car. So I told you that to tell you Michele (my wife) basically stated - I will never ride in that car unless the carpet is replaced! So a call to ACC and Car Interiors got me a molded rug in light tan for $119 bucks shipped. In replacing the rug I found the floor board rusted out on the driver side - replaced that with some steel and installed the rug. By this time your probably wondering how long it took to get the car ready for wagon fest .. well I missed it. I had the car almost done ... fender on, door fixed, rear quarter popped out and chrome hammered out fine, small rust in driver quarter fixed, and painted ... but when I rolled the car into the sun to rub it out .. the "black" paint I got had a chocolate brown undertone.. mad was I embarrassed, pissed, and no way I was taking it to wagon fest. I let it sit in the driveway for several weeks, then back to the paint shop, bitched about the color miss-match got a replacement quart for free, and then retaped the car and re shot her. This is what she looked like when she was done:



I went to Wagon Fest the following year and had a great time - brought the kids, and Cleo our Great Dane, went to the drag strip with some fellow crazy wagon owners and a few sedans, had a huge laugh - driving through a Western NY Monsoon and enduring a police pull over of one of our friends in the caravan - just way fun!

In between then and now the passenger quarter panel had met a huge curb at the local Home Depot while loaded with a 1/4 ton of mulch .. here is my middle boy posing with the wagon and the welded stud repair in progress in our driveway:



I drove the car through the next 5 winters she endured 6 altogether and the salt had taken it's toll. More next the Winterization of the Winter War Wagon .. what she had become know as....

Now fast forward past 5 salty winters later, and now at +230,000 miles rust has taken it's toll. I thought that along with the little bit of rust I could see, that I would also "de-chrome" the wagon. I've always liked the way the wagon I first saw at the ISSCA Nationals looked like .. a Impala SS Wagon in black, no chrome, a Caprice front end and SS Wheels. Well I had secured a front bumper support and skin from Fred shortly after I got the car from him and that stuff had sat outside next to the garage for years so I had the parts why not?!

Well I started the project with too much enthusiasm and positive spirits ... because as I remove the chrome from the car --starting at the front -- I also ground off the studs that held the chrome on ... and as I got to the rear of the car I was shocked at how much of the car was missing that was being hidden by the chrome... here is a shot of the lower pass quarter after sandblasting:



Now there was no going back with a quick patch and re-attaching the chrome to cover it up so I continued to uncover the ravages of six salty Western NY winters:

The tire stowage area had rotted out .. I rebuilt it and welded in new metal inside and out:


The rear pillars were rusted driver side was the worst:


The driver side quarter was the worst .. the rot extended from the back door to the rear bumper ... if you look closely at these next two pictures you might be able to notice that I've cut out the top sheet metal and the rust and holes you see are the actual inner fender and quarter panel structure that ALSO needed to be repaired - rebuilt BEFORE the external sheet metal could be replaced:





So the work I had to do was extensive.. here are some more shots showing the progression of the repairs first cutting out more cancer:





then some welding inside and out to start re-forming the lower quarter ..


Then using some "piano key" sheet metal started to form the outside of the wheel well


Almost done:



Not bad:


rattle can black to see the progress and keep me motivate ..had no clue it was this bad and still had pillars, passenger side, and the stud repaid where I took off the chrome to go so this helped me continue :

Now I turned my attention to the passenger side cutting out the rust and starting to weld in more piano-key metal:



Forming an inside structure as well as I work my way towards the back:



Then repeating the process of adding sheet metal on top of that:



different angle:


close to being done with the fender lip:


Now onto the small hole in the passenger rear pillar weld up a patch and move on:



Driver side pillar a bit more reconstruction to do :


Welded in a three part patch including the hatch window frame and above the rear tail light:





little filler and primer:







As I worked around the back there was a rust hole behind the license plate area .. wow .. had to fix that and reweld the tailgate latch and "popper" that was fun!


I filled in the chrome bolt holes with welded bolts cut to the right depth:



Welded the hood ornament hole:



Please note I am not a welder by trade and I used a $90 flux welder from harbor freight .. a nice MIG welder would have been nice

Then I started the body filler on all areas, ground off studs, and area's I had repaired:








Had to prep the front caprice bumper and fill holes in the back one where the corner pieces were:



To add to the pain, my air sander gave up the ghost .. new one from HF added $30 bucks to the bill:


And to be totally frank I got tired of this project it was now deep into November and I have no furnace in the garage snow was close and I needed to get the wagon on the road and the impala off the road .. plus after seeing so much rust on the car I realized she was not going to be a show car .. so thee body work needed another 16 hours or so with some blocking that I just couldn't do ..keep that in mind when you see the pics:





hood:

Then I sealed the whole car:




I think our cars would look great in flat black with low sheen clear coat!

I then got inexpensive but durable "fleet paint" it's single base paint used on commercial vehicles whole gallon only $130 came out pretty good:





In between this body work saga .. I got a set of five of these off of Craigs list for $135 .. caps for $40 still haven't mounted the spare:



Here is my girl with the wheels, and aftermarket caprice grill ($35 on ebay):




I think she looks good!

Nearing the end of the project I contacted Fred K on the forum and got some '93 skirted sedan chrome wheel well trim for the back and from a good friend in our local Impala Club (RAISSE) got front wheel well chrome and front bumper trim here is a picture of that a bit dirty though:



.. I love the car she has now over 250,000 miles on her she only gets about 17-20 MPG but that is with a slipping transmission, I've replace the brakes, exhaust and mufflers, replaced a tranny shift solenoid, and just recently - right after this year's wagon fest the A/C compressor line gave way so I may install a bypass pulley- just added the first new set of tires - with white walls for the first time that I've owned the car so this winter grip will be great! I'd love to find a Class III hitch so I could get a trailer and tow the Impala to long distance ECIRS racing events but for now the car runs well and the kids and I love her .. I appreciate these forums for advice and fun sharing .. thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy your wagon as much as I do! Here is to keeping a few of these dinosaurs on the road for a few years longer!!!

Here's the last picture of the family minus me, at Watkins Glen Thunder Cruise my wagon is to the immediate right and my Impala is to it's right
I've made my oldest a cloned Impala out of a Caprice and my middle boy wants the wagon with the impala speed parts added



Thanks for reading It's been a honor and a pleasure- Dave!

Great job saving the wagon from the rust monster. Looks good with the Buick roadwheels too. (Those old art-deco Buick hub caps you used in the garage are cool!)

Dave,thank you so much for saving this old girl from the ravages of winter and getting your kids
into loving these cars as much as we do!You do some pretty impressive body work as well.I am
pretty sure I would have gave up and sold it when I saw all that rust and rot.
Thank You

Wow, you've done a TON of work on that baby!
Nice job; thanks for sharing!

Nice story and wow, what alot of work in her!

Glad I live down south for the rust issues.

I remember Dave from the WagonFests that I have attended. I read his story of on the Impala's site. Without a doubt it was one of the most interesting wagon stories that I have read. I knew he had to be a LROM.

Again, thanks for the great story.

Tom

Great story and back story. This kind of dedication is inspiring!

Wow wonderful read and Love the work you've done.

Thanks for the nice comments guys!

I liked those Art Deco hub caps too! They're off a '50's Buick got them off of ebay... they are now for sale if anyone is interested I have 5.
I also have an abundance of chrome available too and most of the black bump strips to go with it except the tail gate rubber.

Anyway I had fun up to a point
- Agree with the comment about giving up and selling her after seeing all that rust .. I would have but I didn't have the funds to go get another car for the winter... at least this way I don't feel so guilty driving her in the snow and salt any more!

This winter will be her second winter season and there's no sign of the rust bubbling through ... yet

Just replaced the heater core last week and now no antifreeze smell inside the cabin ... WOOT !!!

Great story and I really am amazed at the work you put into that car. Nicely done and glad you saved it!

-Mike

Nice job Dave! Being I'm from the midwest I've got all the same rust problem areas on mine too, including the driver's side rear pillar. Question for you tho, it seems like it was a lot of work to repair the wheel wells like you did, why not find a donor car and just replace the quarters? By no means am I criticizing, just curious. I agree with Lance, that your work is inspiring!!

I just replaced the heater core a few weeks ago too... that was a fun project, wasn't it?!?!

best

-Mark

WHY do the rear pillars rust out like that one those northern cars? I understand the wheel-wells get blasted with salt water for months, as do floors and such, and with all the rain that water can get in the car and rust floorpans that way too, but it would seem like that pillar area is sealed...and at that angle, water would run off it.....?

Just curious...is it bare metal behind that or what? I don't remember seeing boxy wagons rust out back there like that.

-Mike

It's from the roof racks leaking. On that one, I don't think us northerners have a monopoly on that.

Tom

silverfox103 wrote:

It's from the roof racks leaking. On that one, I don't think us northerners have a monopoly on that.

Tom

Yikes!

Yep... CRISPY


So Tom, think if I seal the roof rack with something it'll slow the process? Why is it only on the Driver's side?

I followed your thread on the SS Forum...it was amazing to see the work you put into this sweet wagon! Hats off to you for driving it in all weather and keeping it going for years to come.

Thank you for sharing this here!

Chris

Mark - I would have LOVED to just replace the quarters ... but no donor cars up here anything in the junkyard is worse that what I had and the only new sheet metal I've seen is $600 per side that's $1200 and more than my car was worth .. plus the labor is huge .. remove cargo windows .. pray you don't break them ... weld, and body seal .. if the car was perfect I would have considered it so there ya go. On my son's sedan I did patch the 1/4 panel with a solid piece from a donor car, so I understand the question.

My theory on why the pillars rust ... is the sound deadening material that is in behind them .. It's a closed cell foam that's not suppose to absorb water, but I think it traps water that leaks from the roof rack, vista window, and cargo window and accelerates the rusting. I pulled it all out ... and it was a pain in the azz ... as I was welding it was smoking and catching on fire ... so I stopped and spent about an hour pulling as much as I could out of there and there was a TON! I also drilled a weep hole above the tail light on the underside of the pillar to provide an exit for any water that collected there... along with spraying the inside with copper primer to reduce future rusting... or at least hold it back for a while.

Dave

Oh a theory that was given to me as to why the driver side rusts more (quarter panel AND pillar) is the way salt is spread on roadways ... the majority of the salt is on the center of the road not the edges. as you travel on the road the driverside is always closest to the center of the road so the salt concentration is greater and accelerates the rusting ... seem to make sense to me and all the rust I've seen is almost always worse on the drivers side... anyway that's what a buddy told me

-Dave

Very nice story, Dave and boy are you handy with a welder. Respect for all the hard work you did to her.
Pete