Re: Josh's 2016 Upgrade Mega-Thread

[Esasky's62Lark]

Really?  You were having that many issues with motors?

Yes, I don't get it either, I'm pretty sure the car was cursed from day one.

The original 455 that came in the car blew a piston out the sidewall of the block -- big enough I could stick my fist through it! LOL

The 2nd 455, the distrubutor gear chewed up the cam gear to the point it was knife edged and skipping timing.

The 3rd 455, which I had built from scratch and had $8K+ in, had a thrust bearing failure within about 100 miles of use.  I spent weeks and huge $$ trying to diagnose why, looked at all the usual suspects and found nothing out of sorts.

Th 4th and final 455 had the lower end noise as noted previously.

None of them had anything to do with me, just dumb luck.

I may end up with a Tempest interior too BUT Im going to attempt to save my original interior by doing new door cards, dying the existing vinyl, and replacing the carpet on the doors with some new leather that will match the rear package tray.  Will see how it goes -- the Tempest stuff is my fall back.

Wow, definitely bad luck with 455s for ya that for sure.

If I could save my original interior, I would. Its just too far gone. door cards are warped. Front seat covers are shot and seats are in need if new foam. Rear seat cover is ok, but has permanent white stains on it from mold that will not come off no matter what I do. Carpet was destroyed.

Basically doing interior from scratch.

[regal81455]

SOOO I got a little sidetracked last night, I finished up the soundproofing in the cab and then looked into the whole speaker situation in package tray and while Im sure 6x9s would fit, they would be right to edges and I kinda wanna keep them hidden as opposed to surface mounted so Im gonna go with an odd size and do 6x8s --- I found a template last night and it looks like I will be able to mount them underneath and just trim the top open to make room for the woofer movement.  Weird that they are physically smaller then 6x9s in width but they are by a long shot, atleast with the templates I was working with.  This should keep the package tray clean and give the uncut appearance once finished.

And Bill I haven't forgotten about getting you a pic or two of the dash -- I just didn't get it done last nite -- will today though.

[Bill]

No worries. Msn do I feel lucky about my interior now. The previous owner threw in a new set of carpet snd the rest was serviceable save for some rips on the driver's seat.

[regal81455]

No worries. Msn do I feel lucky about my interior now. The previous owner threw in a new set of carpet snd the rest was serviceable save for some rips on the driver's seat.  

LOL - my interior was beyond serviceable. The carpet was new, the headliner is new, and the door panels etc.. were all in pretty darn good shape. I'm just super picky and a perfectionist. There were some things that bugged me and now that Ive got it all tore out it's the right time to address them. Door and qtr panels by no means need to be messed with but they could be better. Its just my OCD.

[regal81455]

Dash pic for ya Bill!

[Bill]

Dude... that looks awesome! Nice job!

[regal81455]

Tx dood! Did some more soundproofing, got the majority of trunk done. Ran 4ga for the amp power, two sets of rcas, and a remote. Also, got the whole cut for the 6x8s and the sub fitted in the trunk.

Chris - the radio model is USA-630.

Heres a pic of the trunk...

[woody1640]

lol

[regal81455]

Keith-

I had a partial roll leftover from another build. Main reason why Im using it, I actually prefer Lizardskin spray on but didn't want to let this go to waste. This is a good product tho and should definitely help with keeping the car a little cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. Biggest benefit will be cab noise tho, should reduce it tremendously. If I had to guess, there was prob 30 Sf on the partial. I've almost used another full 50 sf roll so far and have 1 more 50 left to do the doors and qtrs.

[woody1640]

lol

[regal81455]

Lizardskin is applied using a air compressed gun. They sell a kit that has the gun and a wand for reaching inside doors, etc... but u can use a undercoating gun as well. I opted to buy the kit. Sprayed entire cab, trunk, and underside of trunk lid in about 3hrs. That was four coats. Two is the recommended minimum.

[regal81455]

Another day of major progress! Easter bunny brought me a new plunge router, how'd he know I needed to make some speaker spacers? Lol. Got the speakers mounted, Got the package tray covered and installed. Got the power wire for the amp passed thru the firewall, fused, and hooked up to power junction. Also, got bass knob and related wiring ran to trunk. Plan is to get false floor made up over the course of the coming week. Side note waiting on some ss 5/32 rivets, the 1/8th inch worked great for wing window pivot but not so much on the frame to vertical attachment. Heres some pix! Happy Easter!

[regal81455]

Got a little more done on the false floor tonight. Amp portion is built.

[Esasky's62Lark]

Looks killer Josh!

Thanks for the radio info too!

Lets do another side track here again. I got a question

Are our bucket seats in our cars basically the same seats as GM used in all the early 60s models?

I know that our seat mounting brackets are a little different, but I'm talking dimension/general style wise.

Reason I ask is I would love to recover my seats by myself but I know for a fact that my lower bucket seat foam is in dire need of replacing. Of course, no one offers reproduction seat foam for our cars but if the seats are the same design, foam from another GM may work.

I was planning on using PUIs seat covers from a tempest. They look almost identical.

Chris

[regal81455]

Tx Chris and you're welcome brudda!

This thread certainly has ventured off the intended path - if I could rename it I would lol.

Ames Performance has the seat foams you will need, pg 5 in their catalog, they sell 61-63 "Tempest" parts but as you mentioned they are basically the same.

[Esasky's62Lark]

I was going to go with Ames performance. Seem that their prices are a bit higher than OPG but I'm sure they ship faster than OPG.

Have you used Ames in the past?

[regal81455]

I just got some stuff from Ames a few weeks back.  OPGI occasionally runs some good specials but they're shipping times SUCK and they're customer service from what I hear is just as bad.

Josh

[Esasky's62Lark]

That's why I bought my srsls there. Got 20% off. Showed all the seals in stock and then all of a sudden, there's 2 on backorder.

Showed arrival date of 4/4, now they just changed it to 4/28. Badtards!

[regal81455]

BAHAAHAHA What seals did you order -- was that when they were running a weatherstripping special? These were the ones I purchased during that promotion -- saved me like $40. Bet I was the reason you've been put on hold.

S240285 Seal, Division Post, 1961-63 Cutlass/1961-62 Skylark Coupe/Sedan
S240284 Seal, Vent Window, 1961-63 Cutlass/Skylark Coupe/Sedan
S240280 Window Felts, 62-63 Skylark, 61-63 Special, Cutlass, Coupe, Conv., Frt Inr, 2Pc

[Esasky's62Lark]

Yup, they were running thst seal special.

Damn u! :-)

I got the vent seal but didn't get the division post seal and the roof rail seal

Theu are the ones back ordered.

I was going to order the inner felts but couldn't get all of them. Guess which ones I couldn't get? :-)

I actually ended up ordering the whole outer/inner window felt kit from a Tempest. Same doors. :-)

[regal81455]

LOL sorry dood! Atleast you know I wasn't the problem with the roof rail!

Side note: I completed one of the wing windows last night. If you end up separating the triangle frame from the vertical run channel you will need SS 5/32 rivets to put it back together. The pivot will take SS 1/8" rivets. Also I haven't exactly figured out how I'm going to secure the upper section of the run channel w/s -- I'm planning to rivet the bottom, will likely have to glue in the top section. I don't expect it to be a problem - rivets are not an option on the top -- could've probably drilled a whole for the tab of the division post seal to go thru and then tap'd it down to hold both in but I don't want the stuff visible.

[Esasky's62Lark]

Its cool. no worries!

Nice. I am definitely planning on taking the wing windows apart as far as I need to so this is good info.

How are you liking the seals you got from OPG so far? Pretty good fitment?

[regal81455]

They are all just Steele parts from OPGI anyways but yes the fitment seemed good. Obviously, till they are in the car and going down the road I won't know how well they stop wind noise and infiltration but I have no complaints right now.

Another tip -- spray WD40 on the press fit seals, it makes life alot easier! Just be sure to wear rubber gloves - things get pretty slimy!

[woody1640]

lol

[Esasky's62Lark]

That's what I figured. Most of what I ordered were Steele parts as well. Good to hear.

Oh yeah, I did that same thing when I did the seals in my GN. Lot less headaches.

Quick question... imagine this, were getting off topic again...

Does the oil filter come off motor on the 215 in the same location as all the other Buick motors or is it different?

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