BUILD THREAD Sweet Johnny & Gina: A Love "Two Large" To Fail

78Delta88 said:

Paint is funny stuff... One thing I found works ok, is Testors Model paint. On my TA the blizzard of 82 all it's front spoilers were torn off... Long story.

I had them replaced and professionally sprayed and looked like garbage. Got a can of Testors Gold and beautiful...

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Funny how that works, isn't it? Sometimes the "professional" grade product is a disappointment compared to something cheap or unconventional.

For the longest time I'd stuck with the goal of leaving most things in/on this car stock, but I'm getting tired of that and ready to change a few things. To go with my new dome light and other lighting you haven't seen yet I'll be adding these pieces from a 1988 Toronado.

Hopefully I'm not about to ruin my sail panel trim...

For these lights to look decent they must occupy a space on the trim panel that typically has a tab ahold of the inner sheet metal of the cabin. If it turns out to be absolutely necessary then I'll need to figure something out because I had to completely remove that bad boy. I like the way this looks and don't regret cutting up a perfectly good (although chalky) piece of trim. Now I'll make it black and pretty, and repeat the process for the other panel.

Rktpwrd said:

Obviously I’m no stranger to modifications and wholly endorse them, i just wish you hadn’t done that to a rare set of factory black panels. They are rare as hens teeth being one year (78) only. I have a set of tan/camel panels that I would’ve let you have for the cost of shipping.

But I digress.

I think you’re going to find that you need those tab attachment points as they help hold the panels in place. Both of mine ended up breaking off, I plastic welded ones from a junkyard car onto mine just to keep them.

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Thank you very much for commenting and trying to educate me. I didn't know that they were rare, but of course they were. No turning back now though and it'll play very well into the theme I'll be running with, which won't be revealed until later. Since you enjoy clever wordplay I think you'll be onboard with the moniker I've chosen, especially considering the theme and how it ties to Oldsmobile and the time period in general. The Recaro seats in the following photo are an intriguing clue as to the theme, and in time they'll replace the F Body seats in there now since those are killing my neck and lower back on long drives.



I've been letting some creative ideas stew and bubble around in my mind and I'm starting to like the way they look in there. I don't know that I'll get around to the futuristic fiberglass widebody kit I designed but as Sam Cooke once said "A Change is Gonna Come". There will be fiberglass and entirely different tail lights most likely. The ones I'm looking at are from a van- a foreign one at that. At least I'm not hacking up a Grand National like this guy. Man, some people really got mad at him: https://turbobuick.com/threads/grand-national-aerocoupe-its-happening.317384/

I decided to bite the bullet and plunge into carving up the panels because I figure I'll die before the car needs completely rebuilt again, I'll never sell it, and there's a chance that the panels disintegrate before I do. They're a bit chalky and just touching certain places with fingernails leads to damage so I can't see them being good for anyone as a trade, and I appreciate the thoughtful offer of the tan ones. I may end up needing them.. I already had the lights, nobody wants to buy them, and the project I bought them for is never going to happen in 100 years so I came to the conclusion that I must use what I have in a creative way to build something and be different. After thinking about it I decided it was better to modify the location of the clips then to compromise the location of the lights, and I fully intend to devise a new mount to support the added weight. If it needed those clips before, it'll really need 'em now, and I see no reason they can't move over just a bit. I'm thinking of putting a "hoop" on the car and simply adding a "finger" to the panel instead of recreating what was there. I believe some modeling clay will be informative and should give an idea of the shape and depth needed for each piece, but I'm definitely open to any and all feedback or ideas from the reader.

I'll add that I'm a huge fan of using magnets and have considered simply gluing one to the backside of the plastic trim panel and having it meet another that protrudes but is isolated from the steel body of the car.

Part of the original is still there but needs to be removed so the light retainer can do its job:



Neodymium magnets are cheap, very strong, and I use them to hide things/ secret compartments in furniture.

There's been no progress but here are some pics of the rear floors. Someone definitely sprayed undercoating on the trunk pan but it appears they left the rear cabin floors untouched aside from installing carpet intended for a 4 door. I regret to report that my quarter panels, wheel tubs, and most likely the rocker panels are all in need of a whole lotta love due to extensive rust, but we kind of assumed that would be the case with all that trim. And is it true that the Astro roof drain hoses terminate inside the quarter?

I lost count of how many handfuls of mud and actual mushrooms🍄 I scooped out of the voids before cleaning it with the pressure washer. To help prevent it from becoming a rolling mushroom farm for a second time, I simply pushed my finger on through to the other side. Boom, drain hole. I'm going on break.





I haven't yet decided how I want to coat this nonsense, but I bought some Rust-Oleum rust dissolver spray and some rust converter as well as "rusty metal primer". I also have over 100 gallons of used motor oil that I don't know what to do with.... That'll prevent rust, right?