BUICK 1964 Skylark Coupe Project

DRIVEN said:

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Sorry, I've been slacking. Got some kind of virus or something about a week and a half ago and it's been kicking my *ss. I've been doing what I can to not be bedridden but I've felt like hell. Finally got an antibiotic so hopefully that gets me back up and running full speed very shortly.

Happy New Year folks... It's cold as balls and I'm still getting over some illness so we're currently in a bit of a holding pattern, but my New Year's resolutions is to have this damn thing in paint by the end of the year. We'll see if I can follow through on it, but I think it's very doable.

Curious if anyone has used Rust Encapsulator Platinum from Eastwood? They've made some pretty bold claims about it and they've even got a video using it on a pitted roof skin right under epoxy. I'd never use it on a roof skin, but I'd use it on say, floor pans, or trunk hinges, or the interior of my C-Pillars or roof skin, or on my frame. It's not cheap stuff, but if it works as advertised, it'd be worth it.

pagrunt said:

If things go according to plan with Jr.'s car we may need this for his roof when the old vinyl roof gets replaced. I'll guess if it does as the video shows & their guy says it should be good for a low impact pit repair to make things level.

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I'd like something that I can use in that rear window channel, and inside the C-pillars and backseat area. I've blasted the worst of it, but there's some stuff that would just take forever and make a total mess with the sand to blast. POR-15 could work but I don't like POR-15 enough as it is, and that aside the other issues I have with it are 1.) Paint will not stick to it (IDGAF what they say about scuffing it) outside the recoat window, and I want topcoat it with body color, and 2.) It doesn't stick well to multiple substrates- rust, old paint, clean metal. With this Encapsulator Platinum, they specifically claim it is ideal for multiple substrates. I mean, I'm not a huge fan of rust encapsulator type products in general, but this particular one seems to forego a lot of the issues that others like POR-15 have, and I want to get this car rolling so I might just have to trust their advertising. Gotta bear in mind, this car isn't a numbers-matching GS, not a Tri-Power GTO, not a big block Chevelle. Not doing a frame-off rotisserie restoration. Cruise. Night. Car.

DRIVEN said:

Joe, I'm glad you added the last couple lines of your post. It's really easy to let mission creep take over when you have an eye for detail. If you do rust repair (like you already have) on the vulnerable and exterior panels and clean and neutralize the inner structures, I'm sure you'll be fine. It took 60 years of being treated like "just a car" to get the way you bought it. When you're done, I suspect it'll get washed regularly, spend almost every night in the garage, and never be driven in salt. Once removed and/or neutralized, rust will never be a problem again. At least not in your lifetime.

The fact that it isn't a particularly rare car is a huge upside. You can build it your way without needing to submit to the whims of the concourse judges. I don't remember if you posted in the thread about your choice for the possible color change, but I hope you're still leaning that direction. It's a beautiful color on those Skylarks.

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You're dead right. What's the saying, perfection is the enemy of progress? As much as I want to get every last spec of rust off the body of this car, it's just not practical or feasible with the constraints I'm working under and ultimately for how this car is gonna be used. I'm not trying to do hack body work either, but I also want to drive this car this decade.

As for color, I can't recall if I discussed it at all in this thread. If I haven't said it before, I'm back and forth between the original Sunburst Yellow or a color similar to it (I like the '65 Bamboo Cream a bit more than the '64 Sunburst Yellow) orrr... the Code F Marlin Blue, which is a light blue metallic. For a while I was really feeling the Marlin blue, but I saw this 1965 Skylark on Marketplace (it's for sale in SE Michigan, decent price too) in a cream color and something about the redlines with the off white paint is really doing it for me.


That said, I love the blue. Here's a '64 GTO in it, I think Pontiac called it Yorktown Blue, same color. I think it would look super sharp with bright white inside the halo trim on the roof, and some redlines.

I could be convinced either way.