BUILD THREAD 81 Buick/Olds Turbo Wagon 02/15/2024 More Parts!

[liquidh8]

I feel your pain.
Our washing machine took a sh*t right after Easter.
Should have the new one next week...

Can't wait to see you start cutting up my bumper! lol

Yeah, I hate them damn front loaders, they don't last long at all. But they take up less space stacked.

I will be finishing up my fenders this week, and I will begin hacking up that bumper I got from you right after that. I may need to find another bumper, I was thinking of filling in the license plate area (we don't need a front plate in PA), this way it doesn't hang down as much for when I make the intercooler scoops.

I won't really know what is going to happen to I fit it and start hacking!

 

[Blake442]

Food for thought...

It's even the same color mine used to be...
Glad I'm changing mine...

 

[liquidh8]

Food for thought...

It's even the same color mine used to be...
Glad I'm changing mine...

View attachment 40511 View attachment 40512

That looks good! I seen those pictures some time ago. I have the 78-9 header panel, and I am going to use that bumper, with bit from another bumper, to make something work and look good. I have the stock location intercooler, so there is a set of air damns that the GN uses under the front bumper to direct air to the center under the radiator support to the intercooler. I will be coming up with something for that.

 

[liquidh8]

Well, the passenger side fender should be done with the welding and rot repair. I stripped the paint off the outside, I am going to blast the inner and jamb area just to make sure no more rot pops up. I have to strip the drivers side yet and have a few patches to do to fix some rot.

I was messing around with the alignment of the doors. It sucks because each fender is from a different car, the header is from yet another. The doors came off the car but never fit right to begin with. Soooo, I have to align them the best I can and hope I don't have to weld rod on the ends of the doors since they already have 95% of the body work done (just need final "flat" sanding after assembly).

If I can get the panel alignment, and DS fender sorted tonight and tomorrow, the weekend I will finish the tailgate and get started on the front bumper.

 

[liquidh8]

Got the passenger side fender blasted, and the inner side in epoxy. I also Iined up the door and fender on that side. I am happy with it.

I did spray the back of the skin with Eastwood under hood black, just didn't get a pic yet.

Today I started fighting with the driver's side panels. These things are pissing off. I have too get the gaps just right, add it seems like the doors on this side are wider, lol. Friggin GM.

It's work stop for a few hours while I sit at dance with my two little ones.

 

[liquidh8]

Well, after getting the doors and fenders all bolted on, and fighting with fitment issues, I finally managed to get them in a good spot. The DS fender is messed up, and will need some modifications to get the gaps right. I'll post pics when I get to it.

I switched gears and started on the front bumper. I have the 81 Century bumper, a Malibu bumper, and the 81ish Olds bumper (Thanks BLAKE!) that is the basis for the front bumper.

The bumper is getting sucked in to the car and raised up to the header. This gets rid of the fillers and looks cleaner IMO. I am also making the parking light holes smaller as I am not putting lights in there. I am using a combination of the Malibu (for the curves) and the Buick Century bumper ends where it meets the fender. The curves closer match the body line of the fender. I'll be filling the plate pocket, and making the drop in the top of the bumper match the ends of the grill, think the 78 Hurst Olds.

I'll add some pictures with a bit of progress. When the bumper is done it may be easier to just do a walk around video pointing out the modifications.

 

[liquidh8]

Here are some pics for your viewing pleasure.

This is the bumper mocked up. I have an aluminum bumper support. I have to add the center brace to the header panel since the middle is sagging, I'll do that tonight. You can see how the center of the bumper dips, but the ends don't line up with the grills, I'll be changing that.



I had to cut out the end of the light hole to move the side of the bumper in an inch or so.



Mocked on the car. There were a lot of slices cut in here so I can tighten up the radius, and angle the side of the bumper to match the angle of the lower fender.



Trial fit again, a lot of on and off. I didn't get a good pic of the side yet, the garage is tight.



Here is the inner part of the light hole cut out.



Side view. This is the Buick bumper side piece welded on, since it matches the Olds fender better.



Light hole shortened up.



Filler piece welded in from the donor Buick bumper.



Shitty picture of it last night before I closed up. I'll have some better pictures later.

 

[Longroof79]

I'm likin' it so far, Jim. I can appreciate the amount of work that goes into altering bumpers.
So, you're going to eliminate the front license plate pocket by grafting in a section from a Malibu bumper. I like the smaller signal light openings. It should look really cool when it's done.
. Doesn't PA use a front and rear tag?
I love the hood. 😉

 

[liquidh8]

I'm likin' it so far, Jim. I can appreciate the amount of work that goes into altering bumpers.
So, you're going to eliminate the front license plate pocket. Doesn't PA use a front and rear tag? I love the hood. 😉

I know you can Jack, I love how you did yours. I don't want the side "flush" with the fenders. I had the tucked fiberglass bumpers and they do that, I don't think it flows well with the header panel. So I pulled the bumper in till the top lip of the bumper matches the header, and the sides stick out just enough, not needing fender fillers either.

We do not need front plates in PA. In Jersey and most other states you do. Since I will be fabricating an air damn similar to the GNs, I figured it would flow better without the plate pocket.

The hood is one of my favorite things too. I can't wait to see the car in color with that hood!

 

[Longroof79]

Jim,
You're right about the rear tag only for PA, I keep thinking about New York and New Jersey.
I like the contour of your bumper. I too didn't want it flush to the body like those shitty looking fiberglass roll pans. I like them to stick out just a little, but not as much as the original bumpers that stick out like Mickey Mouse ears. Are you going to paint yours, or chrome them?
My opinion, the Olds bumpers look a lot better than the Buick Century ones.