BUILD THREAD “The Juggernaut”
- Thread starter Rktpwrd
- Start date
I know how tedious wiring can be and you've knocked it out of the park again! Perfectly laid out and explained. Also the lines of your hood and the mirrors look great. Like they were made with each other in mind. Very very cool 😎.
Wiring sucks, looks great as always. Got to love how the bean counters decided properly working mirrors weren't necessary. I have the same dilemma with my 70, having only a factory driver side mirror. Do I really want to reinforce the passenger door just to upgrade to shitty cable ran mirrors? No, not really. I might have to figure out something similar. Good to know, nothing good is easy.
Nice work, as always Donovan. Just curious here, but what are you using for mirror mounting gaskets on the car now? They look pretty good (at least in your photos).
Thank you! I’m slowly getting used to them, after having the stock mirrors shaved off for so many years I got used to how it looked without them. I’m more than happy with the look of these, and now having the modern convenience of power adjustable mirrors is just icing on the cake.
Keen observation Tony! I never really noticed how the shapes and angles of the mirrors match the cowl so closely until you mentioned it. It’s especially evident in this picture…
…where the angled part of the mirror matches the shape of the back of the cowl almost perfectly. Thanks for the compliments!
Thanks Christian. We’ve gotten spoiled over the years with all the modern conveniences in our cars nowadays, but if we revisit the point in time when these cars were built, just having remotely operated mirrors, manual or otherwise, was a pretty big deal at the time. So to bring this car into the 21st century with something as simple as power mirrors is something that most people won’t think twice about. They’ll just take it for granted as that’s how they came, and that’s fine with me. That tells me I’ve pulled off the upgrade successfully.
As for wiring, I really don’t mind it. In fact I find it relaxing and rewarding. It’s slow, tedious and time consuming work, and requires thinking ahead for a lot of things, but when you’re done it’s very satisfying. For me anyways.
Jeff, the gaskets that are currently installed in those pictures are the second version of the 3D printed ones I’m having made. They’re much closer to the required shape than the first attempt, but they’re still not quite right and need a bit more refining. I’m very eagerly awaiting version 3 as the guy I’m having design the file seems to think he’s got all the adjustments to the computer file for them aced.
It’s been somewhat frustrating because it’s my boss at work that has the actual printer, but he’s not proficient with the design software for creating the file from scratch. A fellow technician coworker of mine has much more experience with the software, but he’s been struggling with creating the revisions I’ve asked for between versions. So, I sit in limbo at the mercy of these two guys, a position I despise being in. I’ve been let down so many times in the past by other people, I much prefer doing everything myself. At least that way I know it’ll get done, and done right.
Unfortunately I don’t have the option of doing this myself, so I have to just be patient and wait. I guess it helps me to learn patience, understanding and trust, but I still don’t like it.
Been a slow week on the forum here by the looks of things, and a slow week in The Skunkworks too due to fulfilling other obligations for my dad and his motorcycle.
But, I’ve already started making plans for the next item on the hit list, I’ll be going after the front bumper and related filler panel again. The front bumper has already undergone an absolute massive amount of work, it’s been narrowed several inches, the end caps have been lengthened, capped and straightened, the front license plate recess has been shaved and smoothed out, and the multitude of trim holes have all been welded up to name a few of the modifications. Not visible in the pictures below is the Kirban aluminum shock absorber substitutions that have been shortened a couple inches to tuck the bumper in closer to the body. All these subtle little tweaks have made a dramatic improvement in the overall appearance of the front of the car.
I had originally planned on rechroming it once all the modifications had been completed, but with my latest envisioning of the car, I have since abandoned that idea. For several reasons. Firstly, chrome plating nowadays has become prohibitively expensive. Secondly, there is no chrome plater locally that can do a really nice, PROPER job of making a custom modified bumper look like it came that way. And thirdly, as I mentioned before, I don’t think chrome will look right in the re-envisioning I have pictured for it. So, to that end, the work I had already done to the bumper was with an old school method called “pick and filing” whereby the low spots in the metal is hammered up from behind with the pick end of a body hammer, and then filled down flush.
Way overkill for regular bodywork, but it gives a nice starting point for resuming the work. The new plan for both bumpers is to bodywork, prime and paint them body color. This will have the effect of modernizing the overall look of the entire car.
The reason I stopped and didn’t finish it several years ago is because I got a little frustrated with the required modifications for the signal lights that I’m planning on using. They are G Body Buick Regal lights. Why? Because unlike the original ‘80 Cutlass lights, the Regal ones are reproduced new in the aftermarket, and sequential LED lights are available for them from DigiTails. So that should give you a little idea of the direction I’m headed with this.
Unfortunately after sitting around in bare metal for several years, it was looking a little worse for wear. I had to spend a couple hours just sanding off all the surface flash rust, oxidation, water spots, and miscellaneous dirt and grime.
I knew I wouldn’t be done with the modifications just yet, so fortunately I had hung onto two other spare stock bumpers that’ll be good for cannon fodder.
Here’s all three together on the stand:
Once you start comparing the stock bumpers to the modified one, the alterations become quite evident. Here’s a comparison of the extended end caps that tuck into the recesses in each fender:
Here, the modified bumper has the front tag pocket removed, the stock bumper is below it for comparison:
And a look at the amount that it has been narrowed over stock:
You may notice how much cleaner it’s looking too, much better than before. I never should’ve let it get that bad.
Also visible in the picture of all three bumpers together is a length of 1” x 1/8” angle iron. This will be for the “new” plan for the signal lights. It will entail building “boxes” out of the angle iron to house the lights, then welding those into the bumper, that’s the plan at least.
Stay tuned to see that all plays out over the next couple days. Until then,
D.
But, I’ve already started making plans for the next item on the hit list, I’ll be going after the front bumper and related filler panel again. The front bumper has already undergone an absolute massive amount of work, it’s been narrowed several inches, the end caps have been lengthened, capped and straightened, the front license plate recess has been shaved and smoothed out, and the multitude of trim holes have all been welded up to name a few of the modifications. Not visible in the pictures below is the Kirban aluminum shock absorber substitutions that have been shortened a couple inches to tuck the bumper in closer to the body. All these subtle little tweaks have made a dramatic improvement in the overall appearance of the front of the car.
I had originally planned on rechroming it once all the modifications had been completed, but with my latest envisioning of the car, I have since abandoned that idea. For several reasons. Firstly, chrome plating nowadays has become prohibitively expensive. Secondly, there is no chrome plater locally that can do a really nice, PROPER job of making a custom modified bumper look like it came that way. And thirdly, as I mentioned before, I don’t think chrome will look right in the re-envisioning I have pictured for it. So, to that end, the work I had already done to the bumper was with an old school method called “pick and filing” whereby the low spots in the metal is hammered up from behind with the pick end of a body hammer, and then filled down flush.
Way overkill for regular bodywork, but it gives a nice starting point for resuming the work. The new plan for both bumpers is to bodywork, prime and paint them body color. This will have the effect of modernizing the overall look of the entire car.
The reason I stopped and didn’t finish it several years ago is because I got a little frustrated with the required modifications for the signal lights that I’m planning on using. They are G Body Buick Regal lights. Why? Because unlike the original ‘80 Cutlass lights, the Regal ones are reproduced new in the aftermarket, and sequential LED lights are available for them from DigiTails. So that should give you a little idea of the direction I’m headed with this.
Unfortunately after sitting around in bare metal for several years, it was looking a little worse for wear. I had to spend a couple hours just sanding off all the surface flash rust, oxidation, water spots, and miscellaneous dirt and grime.
I knew I wouldn’t be done with the modifications just yet, so fortunately I had hung onto two other spare stock bumpers that’ll be good for cannon fodder.
Here’s all three together on the stand:
Once you start comparing the stock bumpers to the modified one, the alterations become quite evident. Here’s a comparison of the extended end caps that tuck into the recesses in each fender:
Here, the modified bumper has the front tag pocket removed, the stock bumper is below it for comparison:
And a look at the amount that it has been narrowed over stock:
You may notice how much cleaner it’s looking too, much better than before. I never should’ve let it get that bad.
Also visible in the picture of all three bumpers together is a length of 1” x 1/8” angle iron. This will be for the “new” plan for the signal lights. It will entail building “boxes” out of the angle iron to house the lights, then welding those into the bumper, that’s the plan at least.
Stay tuned to see that all plays out over the next couple days. Until then,
D.
That bumper is going to look bad and I mean that in the best possible way. Cannot imagine the amount of time spent getting it to this point. I must have missed those posts or just so long ago my memory fails me. Keep on keeping on D.
