The "NotRod" 6spd DGGM '94 Roadmaster Wagon Refurbishment Album

Here is the public Facebook Album I've started on the somewhat-famous "NotRod" 6spd DGGM '94 Roadmaster Wagon that I will be refurbishing over the next few months here in Austin. Will update as the repairs progress! https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10217641937910937&type=3

It needs to be said that this car has over 300,000 miles. For that many miles it's in amazing shape. Mike, how deep is your backlog? I might have something for you here soon.

It IS in really great shape for that many miles! I tried to upload some pics and the site here is giving me an error. Will try to re-size. For now, here's the Album text for those not on Facebook:

1994 Roadmaster 6spd Manual Wagon Refurbishment - So I'm about to do a light cosmetic and mechanical refurbishment on the somewhat-famous "NotRod" owned for years by Tim when he lived in Pennsylvania. This car is well-known in the Impala SS and Longroof/Whale-Wagon communities. Tim's love, work and attention to detail on this car are well-documented, and the car was part of numerous Wagonfests and car meets and events over the years. Tim recently sold the car to a good friend of mine out in the Texas Hill Country, and I picked it up this past "Black Friday" to begin a refurbishment process.

Here is a quick list of mods and upgrades the car already has:

1994 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon - Dark-Grey-Green-Metallic "DGGM" Woody Wagon

- T56 manual 6-spd transmission with interior matched Blazer console

- 1993 Camaro Z28 speedometer cluster mod

- Pontiac Bonneville leather seats, front and rear

- Impala SS front/Ford Panther rear sway bars

- Vogtland front springs

- EURO headlights/Cornering lamps

- Ridler 695 wheels with Riken Raptor tires

- K&N CAI Intake

- Bilstien HD shocks

- Airlift 1000 bags with custom controller and pressure gauge built into the left/rear cargo area storage pocket (very cool!)

- 4.56:1 rear gearing

- Rear Disc Brake conversion

- Chevy SSR 4.5" alum driveshaft

- Impala SS Hood (no hood ornament hole)

- Gran Sport body trim

- Body-color painted grille with no Buick lettering

- Polished bright exterior woodgrain outline trim

- LT1 engine bored to 355/227 Crane cam/ported alum heads/Comp cams 1.5 RR/Corvette starter/beehives/Tri-Y headers without CATS.
- More mods throughout....

On picking the car up in the Texas Hill Country we drove from Fredericksburg to Kerrville, then down to San Antonio and back to Austin, so I was able to give the car a real 200+-mile shakedown run. The car is a beast, starts with a ROAR, and it has power EVERYWHERE. I can best describe the driving experience as "manly". The clutch is HEAVY, the shifter is SOLID and requires a firm hand to row, but in a great mechanical way that reminds you of how manuals are MEANT to feel. The exhaust system is LOUD and the car sounds amazing and flat ANGRY. We got stuck in rush-hour traffic in downtown San Antonio for nearly and hour, and my clutch leg got a workout it hasn't had in years...that leg was sore the next day, ha! The steering is straight and power assist is very firm, but has some on-center play that I believe is age-related and in the box. All the power windows work, locks work, keyless-entry works, even the original Delco CD player works and sounds good. The A/C blows very cold and the cruise-control held speed fine on the drive home.

This car was always well loved and enjoyed, but it was also well-used by Tim as both a daily-use, business-road trip, and towing vehicle. The car has lived through many harsh Pennsylvania and Northeast winters, and while it's still solid, it's a bit rough around the edges...something I plan to address. The body also has over 300K miles on it, but again all the modifications and updates don't have that mileage on them! The first repair I did was re-mounting and re-aligning the passenger-side exhaust, which had been knocked back about an inch and was off three hangers (shipping issues possibly?). It was re-mounted and welded, and while in the air I was happy to see the frame is in GREAT shape and general underbody of the car are still VERY solid! It has some light crust on the floorpans and on the mounts for the fuel tank straps, but I plan to wire-brush and rust-reform those. The only real rot on the car is the spare tire well (common) and some light rust around the screw holes where Tim had installed mud flaps. All that will be repaired.

The car was a show car, but now has the usual age-related cosmetic issues and some general glitches are expected of a well-used Roadmaster. The wagon still has great bones, and it demands to be brought back to it's full former glory. I'm planning to spend the next few months of weekends addressing most of these common Roadmaster repairs. I love these cars and know them well, and really am looking forward to getting my hands dirty on this wagon!

11/24/18 - Not cleaned or detailed in any way yet. Shakedown Run. My nephew Hunter totally fell in love with the car, as seen here.



11/24/18 - Shakedown Run.

12/5/2018 Update:

Not a huge NotRod update, and more details in the the Facebook Album linked above.   Have had family/holiday obligations but am tinkering as I can!

Hand-washed the exterior and cleaned the interior really well.   Still not waxed or detailed inside, but much cleaner.    Next project will be TOTALLY cleaning the engine compartment, then come waxing and such, but still it cleaned up well!

I also installed the replacement under-taillight trim on the driver's-side, using the "Christmas-Tree" clips to repair the broken stock clips, a trick I learned on this forum.  Works great!









In addition, when going through my parts-stash I found the black flash-mount roof rack rail that's I'd removed from my '92 Olds wagon for a bright polished rail.   Added the black rack to the NotR0d and it looks like it was born here!   Rack no-longer looks "naked".





This past weekend my oldest son and I took my "Basic-White" wagon and the NotRod to two local good car-meets, and the wagons were a big hit!   Links to those albums below the pics if you care to look.




Brown Santa Car Meet: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10217685015787857&type=3
Freddy's Car Meet: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10217685125710605&type=3

Lastly we too the "long-way-home" from the last car meet and stopped at Lake Pflugerville.   Was a GORGEOUS day and we has such fun running the back roads with the two wagons together.




More updates as the come!

-Texas Mike

Hello All!

I need to re-dye the steering wheel and repair the door panel on the NotRod, and want to touch up some trim inside as well. I did a search here on the page, but an not seeing the exact color. Anyone know the "for sure" tan SEM color for a 1994 Roady wagon?

Would like to get this ordered so I can work on it over the Christmas holiday.

THANKS!

-Texas Mike

Well nobody replied but Tim got back to me on Facebook. I'm told he's 95% sure the SEM color for the 1994 Roadmaster interior is SEM Saddle Tan, # 15033. Ordered two cans at just under $16 each from Amazon.



Hope it IS the right color and if so that this helps others on here in the future.

Painting plan is the Thursday after Christmas. Fingers crossed!

-Michael

You can use MEK to repair the crack in the door panel. Take the panel off, position it so that the sides of the crack are aligned. Apply MEK to the backside. Once it dries, put a piece of window screen over the repair, and melt some scrap plastic in MEK to use as a "resin". Put a little MEK on the surface and screen, then paint it with the paste. The screen will act like glass in a fiberglass panel.

Careful with SEM.

https://gmlongroof.4umer.com/t11146-sem-color-code-for-1994-tan-interior-code-642


I bought the same one you did. Carquest keeps SEM products on the shelf around here. I will be painting the entire dash so an actual match is not a concern. Not sure if the Buick is the same but the Chevy interior is about 5 different shades throughout the car and not much really matches perfectly.

94Woody wrote:

Careful with SEM.

https://gmlongroof.4umer.com/t11146-sem-color-code-for-1994-tan-interior-code-642


I bought the same one you did. Carquest keeps SEM products on the shelf around here. I will be painting the entire dash so an actual match is not a concern. Not sure if the Buick is the same but the Chevy interior is about 5 different shades throughout the car and not much really matches perfectly.

Ordered three vans and will be painting as soon as I have some free time on a nice weekend!

-Mike

1/10/19, so a little update...I hate rust.   This is a neat car but you can sure tell where it lived.   On going through the car, I've decided I want to replace the inner-fender on the driver's-side front...has a rust-hole under the computer.   Getting one off a salvage-yard car here is no issue, but all the bolts on the car look crusty.

We. Shall. See.

-Mike

Be more concerned with the speed nuts. They break at the bend, and you can turn the bolt forever, and not get it out. I used a hacksaw blade in one of the holders (not a hack saw frame) and slipped it between the parts, sawing the bolt in two. The cutting stroke must be toward you so you do not fold the blade.

Fred Kiehl wrote:

Be more concerned with the speed nuts. They break at the bend, and you can turn the bolt forever, and not get it out. I used a hacksaw blade in one of the holders (not a hack saw frame) and slipped it between the parts, sawing the bolt in two. The cutting stroke must be toward you so you do not fold the blade.

Oh joy... Thanks for the heads-up Fred!

-Michael

SO it's been a long time since I've updated this, and figured I better follow-up.   Frankly between the Holidays, family obligations, and really POOR weather here in Texas much of this winter, the 6spd wagon had been just sitting under my carport.   I had a car-friend come down from Minnesota over the week between Christmas and New Years, and my son and I met him down in Austin in both the green and white wagons and did a tour of Austin, hit the Top Notch, and had a good time, but on the way back to the suburbs the 6spd wagon developed a loud rattle under it that I thought was a blown muffler, and I'd parked it since.





So yesterday, Sunday 2/17/19, it was TIME for me to give the 6spd wagon some love. Thought it had a blown muffler, but turned out to be a bad heat shield. Good deal. SO opened the hood and decided it was time to clean the Pennsylvania off of it, and to swap the hush-pad. Here are the BEFORE pics.





Rotten hood hush-pad removed. Cleaning up under here...everywhere.






Was a productive afternoon. New hood hush-pad installed, engine compartment cleaned and de-greased, then washed the entire car and took a short drive to make sure the underhood was totally dry. Exhaust rattle gone, underhood looks a lot better.






2/18/19 - Drove this green hotrod to the office today. Getting some estimates for paintwork this week.


Car is a beast!

-Texas Mike

81X11 wrote:

94Woody wrote:

Careful with SEM.

https://gmlongroof.4umer.com/t11146-sem-color-code-for-1994-tan-interior-code-642


I bought the same one you did. Carquest keeps SEM products on the shelf around here. I will be painting the entire dash so an actual match is not a concern. Not sure if the Buick is the same but the Chevy interior is about 5 different shades throughout the car and not much really matches perfectly.

Ordered three cans and will be painting as soon as I have some free time on a nice weekend!

-Mike

Still have not tried that SEM out I bought, but it's on the list!

2/18/19 - Small victory, got the Blazer shifter boot to stop popping out of the console in 5th and Reverse. Hint...involved a drill and a screw. Not fancy, but hidden and it works!! Redneck Engineering Expert Level!

Did you find the hoodpad from a junk yard? Or did you buy it new somewhere? If new, where?

Looks nice! The camo light covers and fuel rail covers (I know they used to be flames...) could use some work honestly. lol

You can buy new ones.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Hood-Insulation-Pad-1-2-Fiberglass-for-1991-96-Caprice-Impala-Grey-Black/192818284414?fits=Year%3A1996%7CModel%3AImpala&hash=item2ce4dd877e:g:LbYAAOSwpa5cXKrk:rk:10

brokecello wrote:

Did you find the hoodpad from a junk yard?  Or did you buy it new somewhere?  If new, where?  

Looks nice!  The camo light covers and fuel rail covers (I know they used to be flames...) could use some work honestly. lol  

Yep, really need to do SOMETHING with those covers.   I nearly left the one on the to of the engine off, as that intake is gloss black with polished ribs and looks pretty good outright. I'm thinking of painting all those covers black, and then adding a Buick or Roadmaster emblem. Not sure....

And the hood pad was a salvage-yard fined.  I painted it Semi-Flat Black, which looks about perfect on these when done.

Paint the light covers DGGM/clear.

Intake cover... I'd ditch it. The LT1 intake looks pretty unique. Maybe get a new throttle plate that isn't F2B blue.

2/19/19 - Planning repairs and mods on the 6spd wagon refurbishment. Going to replace the scratched gauge cluster lense and install the Buick tri-shield decal on the cluster face. Also have the actual round Buick emblem for the steering wheel, along with SEM paint for the wheel. Have non-worn front seatbelts, two climate control heads, hopefully one with working button backlights, new black decals for the bodyside moldings, and new hatch glass struts. Also dug out the silver paint-pens to re-do the dash trim. I've also got a good lower plastic driver's side door panel to replace the cracked one.   Will try to use the better UPPER door trim from the car now with the non-cracked lower door panel.   I "built" the same door panel in red on my '96 wagon.   Lots to do!


The gauge cluster lens has a deep scratch above the steering column, so will be installing this decent replacement. Just polished it. Also will be adding the Buick tri-shield decal the the Camaro cluster face, which is a great little detail that I did on my white wagon.


Round emblem on the top is for the steering wheel. It's metal, and came off the pre-94 Buick wheels. Looks a LOT nicer than the interior-color emblem the 94+ wagons have. The lower tri-shield decal will be added to the Camaro gauge cluster face.

Checking out dash lights on the 6spd wagon. The Camaro cluster lights work perfectly. These came from a '93 Camaro, so have the yellow backlight colors and orange needles. The cluster in my '96 wagon had the white backlights, and I added white needles on my '96. Fun to compare them. My only mod here will be adding that tri-shield Buick decal above, under the fuel and temp gauges.



The backlights for the buttons on the original climate control head are out, so hoping one of these spare heads will have good lights.



You can see the rear wiper and window button lights down low here, but what you can't see if the headlight switch, which is in the MIDDLE of this pic. Will have to see if I can figure out how to replace this bulb


The seatbelts in the car are both frayed, and these are good used replacements. I replaced these on my white '96 wagon already, and other than breaking the mounting bolts loose, it's not a hard job.


The hatch glass stays up, but barely. These will fix that!



This is the black tape for the chrome bodyside molding. This was used in place of the trim that always falls off. Just need to re-do a few areas.


I bought this SEM paint to re-do the worn steering wheel, and the silver paint markers are for the dash outline trim. It's all in the details!


The first rule of ownership of a 94-96 Roadmaster is you NEVER slam the door on these cars. The SECOND rule of ownership of a 94-96 Roadmaster is you NEVER slam the door on these cars!! Typical crack seen here on the 6spd wagon now.


HAPPILY I have a perfect replacement.

RARE good lower plastic driver's side door panel to replace the cracked one on the car now.   Will try to use the better UPPER door trim from the car now with the non-cracked lower door panel.   I "built" the same door panel in red on my '96 wagon by taking two and making one.  This alone is a good project.



Oh the PROJECTS we have on this car!

-Texas Mike

2/20/19 - wanted to replace lens on gauge cluster and add tri-shield Buick decal to cluster face, but lense was GLUED ON, so had to settle with polishing the existing lense. I got a good bit of the scratch out. Looks much better!


This tiny bulb is the backlight for the foglight switch. Parts store doesn't stock bulbs this tiny. I miss Radio Shack. Will nab these at the salvage yards from now on.



Replaced the broken aftermarket headlight switch.   Had limited choices as the parts store...this one is black with a chrome tip...was trying to get something that didn't look TOO odd...



Cleaned the dash bezel and repainted all the chrome trim lines, and the Roadmaster dash emblem.  Paint pens and a steady "somewhat" hand!  Ha!










Installed the new climate control head in the 6spd wagon. Works great and nice to have working backlight buttons again!



Dash cleaned from top to bottom, new climate control head installed, polished the Camaro gauge cluster lense, installed new fog light switch, installed cleaned dash bezel with chrome trim repainted, and added Buick emblem to steering wheel.




Was too cold to paint or steering wheel would have gone re-dyed tonight too. That's next.

Having fun polishing the rougher edges on this cool old hotrod....err...NotRod.  

-Texas Mike

2/22/19 - Had an EVENTFUL night with the NotRod project.   Started by removing and replacing the driver's-side seatbelt, which was worn and frayed.   I'd done this project before on my own '96 Roady wagon, so I knew the routine, but forgot to take into account that THIS car came from the land of salt...the lower seatbelt bolt that bolts to the floor beside the driver's seat was frozen, and I mean FROZEN!   I finally got it out buy putting my torx socket on an adapter so I could use my breaker bar, and I actually managed to TWIST my torx socket slightly before that bolt broke free.   CRAZY.   But it came out, and I installed a used but still very nice replacement belt.   Oh and the other two bolts, on the B-pillar, came  right out.   Again a pain but really nice replacement.







I'd invited my "other kids", Lili and Joseph down from Temple for the weekend for the big Radwood Austin 80s-90s-only car meet.  They showed up about 8:30pm, and Lili then spent the next three hours in the garage with me working on the wagon.   She used three different colors of artist paints, and touched-up the woodgrain all over the car.   Really blended will, and while you can see the touch-ups when you look up close, from 2-3 feet back the car looks TONS better.  We also touched up all the worn black areas on the door panel switchplates and painted the Concert Sound II lettering under the door speakers.  Also repainted the MAF sensor black, replaced the radiator cap and rusty bolts on the fan shroud, and added a much-needed decal to make folks smile!  Lastly I added the GS emblem to the grill...looked naked without it, and finally polished the headlights. Car is really looking good!










2/23/19 - Daytime pics of the touched-up and detailed wagon from Radwood Austin.  The NotRod was a HUGE hit.  Everyone did a double-take when they realized it was a stick.











I've posted more pics and the Facebook Album link to the 400+ car pics from Radwood here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10218347249183278&type=3 and in the Car Show section as well.  

More updates to follow!

-Texas Mike

I have twisted a couple of Torx bits in the bottom seatbelt bolts. I often use an extension, or breaker bar on my ratchet when removing the seatbelt bolts. I also have a swivel head breaker bar/ratchet that allows me to put the grip on the same plane as the bolt head, and avoid angular torque on the bit. I also broke a TORX on a C10 trying to remove the belt. Fortunately it was a cheapie, and I got another better one.

Fred Kiehl wrote:

I have twisted a couple of Torx bits in the bottom seatbelt bolts. I often use an extension, or breaker bar on my ratchet when removing the seatbelt bolts. I also have a swivel head breaker bar/ratchet that allows me to put the grip on the same plane as the bolt head, and avoid angular torque on the bit. I also broke a TORX on a C10 trying to remove the belt. Fortunately it was a cheapie, and I got another better one.

I'd never seen one twist before. Shocked it didn't strip or break entirely.

-Mike

WELL I guess it's time I updated the NotRod chain here. I still have the car, and will for a bit longer, but it's coming along!

WELL since the last update I've now replaced the faulty airbag/horn button and re-dyed the steering wheel.

Before:



Working:








Re-Installed:

More work done. Put my 11-year-old Tuck to work replacing the Honda headlight switch bulb. And YES we removed the steering wheel which you DO NOT have to do, but I was afraid we'd scratch it when pulling the dash bezel:










Finished this off by installing a USB plug in the added power socket. FYI that little light comes on whenever the car is running, so it's not too shocking that those bulbs burn out.

Next I replaced the worn-off brake-release handle and installed the better turn signal lever.

Crummy pic but you can see how most of the writing on the brake release was worn off. With the stick this lever gets a lot of use!


Salvage yard lever installed.



Then installed the not-perfect but much better turn signal lever. Hardly worn at all but a little sun-faded (Texas).

Installed the new compass mirror. Great Mod! Find a non-OnStar Chevy HHR with a sunroof. Mirror has auto-dimming/dome-reading lights and digital compass.




Here are the stock auto-dimming and light, but no compass, mirror, and the compass mirror from the HHR. The stock mirror on the Notrod was loose internally and had a burned-out reading light. Replacement mirror is tight and works great!


Snip off the plug from the salvage-yard Chevy HHR when you grab a mirror and leave some wiring, and here is how to wire these in. NOTE, some HHRs has regular bulbs for reading lights and some have LED reading/dome lights. This one had regular bulbs, while the one I put in my 96 Roady has LEDs. The wiring below is the same for both. I think the regular bulbs match the rest of the interior lights in our Roadmasters better, but if you want to be "modern" the LED ones look cool.

#13 Red - 12+ ignition (Pink or Red on Roady)
#9 Green - back up lamps (Green or Brown on Roady)
#8 Black - ground (Black, Roady)
#6 Dk blue/white - dome lamps 12+ (orange on the Roady)
#1 Gray - dome lamps ground (dark blue/white on the Roady






This is a GREAT mod!

-Texas Mike

4/26/19 - 6-spd wagon work in progress! Spare tire well and 1/4 panel repair! All metal, seam-sealer used inside and out. Spare well not painted black yet, but almost done. She's looking good!





The front roof was also repainted, because the paint has been blended in the past and in direct light you could see the blend line from the old repair.


Out of the body shop!


Hard to tell here, but spare tire well is now painted black.






Looking Good!

5/21/19 - Spent this evening "building" a new door panel for the 6spd Roadmaster wagon. Used the rare lower hard plastic non-cracked panel from my parts stash, combined with the original upper door panel and inner pocket carpet from the cracked original door panel. Lots of work and epoxy but worth it!


Removing the cracked original door panel



Sound-deadening removed from original panel, and good upper panel removed from cracked lower panel.


This door panel has been off before. These are the wrong kind of clips for Roadmaster doors. The mount is WAY too small.


Door panels dissembled for cleaning.




You can see where the crack started under the power window switch panel on the original lower panel. So typical of these 94-96 Roadmasters. Someone had tried to repair or stop the crack from getting worse. Sadly didn't work.



Tools for the door panel refurbishment/repair...and yes I used ALL this epoxy for this repair.



Original upper panel and lower carpet pocket epoxied and clamped to the perfect parts-stash lower panel. I also re-epoxy the wood and door-pull trim on the upper good panel. Want everything to be TIGHT!




When I refurbish these panels I reinforce the area known for cracking. This lower panel was still perfect, but I added epoxy to all the area where these develop cracks, and also added this extra black plastic piece to add support to this area. Even still...you never NEVER want to slam the doors of a 94-96 Roadmaster. EVER.


Spray-glue added to sound-deadener cloth. Re-installed arm rest pad and sound-deadener. Also note that as-typical the Christmas Tree mounting points on the upper-right and lower left here in the pic were damaged, so I reinforced and epoxied new clips in these locations already, and will let the entire panel dry and set for 24hrs before re-installing on the car.



Here are the correct Napa Christmas Tree door panel clips for our B-body cars. Part # 665-1107. These are flexable and won't crack like the cheaper Autozone hard-plastic clips.


5/21/19 - Refurbishment door panel for the 6spd wagon came out really well! Tight and no more cracks! Will let the epoxy dry really well overnight, install new Christmas Tree clips tomorrow and re-install it after work.


No more crack here! I'd had this perfect lower door panel in my attic parts stash for years. Hated to let it go, but the 6spd wagon was crying for it!


Refurbished door panel came out really well. Will let it all dry for 24hrs and will re-install with new clips tomorrow evening. These are a good bit of work to rebuild but worth the effort!

5/22/19 - Crummy nighttime pic but refurbished door panel is installed. Tight! No cracks. Door closes with a nice solid click...with no after-rattling. It's the little things that make an old car seem younger again!

looks like new!

nice work with great write ups and pics!

Well I've got an issue with the '94 Notrod. I went to start it and move it last night, and while the backlights for the climate control buttons come on, the actual digital temp readout is totally blank, and no amount of button-pushing would turn it on. I also hear a "burring" sound from under the passenger-side of the dashboard. I was in a rush last night so didn't check it out further. The car itself started right up and everything else seemed fine. Anyone else experience this issue? Will plan to check fuses and such this weekend, but was hoping someone can chime in.

Thanks as always!

-Michael

Great work so far. Looks like that SEM is a pretty good match.

81X11 wrote:

Well I've got an issue with the '94 Notrod.   I went to start it and move it last night, and while the backlights for the climate control buttons come on, the actual digital temp readout is totally blank, and no amount of button-pushing would turn it on.   I also hear a "burring" sound from under the passenger-side of the dashboard.     I was in a rush last night so didn't check it out further.   The car itself started right up and everything else seemed fine.     Anyone else experience this issue?   Will plan to check fuses and such this weekend, but was hoping someone can chime in.

Thanks as always!

-Michael

UPDATE: SO I read online that taking the battery off would re-set the climate control head. If it comes back on, the control head is failing. Yep. Pulled the battery for a minute, put back on and control head came right to life! Let it sit overnight and it was dead the next day again. Wonderful.

This was actually a new control head, and was still in the box. The backlight buttons on the original 300
+K mile head were burned out so I'd swapped this in from the parts that came with the car over the winter. I guess I'll see about replacing the bulbs in the original head and will reinstall that. .

What fun.

6/8/19 - 6/11/19 - Spent the ENTIRE last weekend and the past two evenings after work on the 6spd wagon refurbishment.   Posting a lot of pics here, but there are even more detailed pics in the public Facebook Album.    To break it down, I  sanded and re-painted the front bumper black trim, wiper arms, black trim on the door mirrors, the B-pillars, the inner wheel well housings, the roof rack, rear wiper arm, rear window hinges and lift handle, and trailer hitch all in either Semi-Gloss or Satin Black, and painted the upper licence plate trim on the tailgate with Satin Nutmeg.   I also replaced the ugly rear wiper blade with a more correct style, removed the corroded extra backup lights that were strapped to the trailer hitch, and installed new plasti-chrome trim on the front bumper.   Also while I was under the car I fixed a rattling exhaust heat shield near the fuel tank, and polished the exhaust tips.   The car is looking so GREAT!
































I love doing the same job multiple times... I'd replaced the climate control head with an NOS one when I first started working on this car because all the backlight bulbs behind the buttons were burned out. The NOS controller worked fine until last weekend...when it died. I determined it was dead because all the fuses were fine, and removing the battery cable would bring it back to life for a while.. then it would go blank and shut down again. SO tonight I took the dashboard apart...again...removed the NOS control head, opened its case and stole the bulbs, and installed in NOS bulbs back in the original control head. A/C works great. What fun we have....  Since the dash was apart for the climate control head, I replaced the clutch pedal safety switch, as the car would start without pressing the clutch. Well it will still start without pressing the clutch...but now has a shiny new switch. I. DON'T. KNOW. Beyond that, the car was missing the underdash hush panel, and I'd nabbed one at the salvage yard. Had to notch it out to clear the clutch and brake pedals...thank God for whiz-wheels. Got it installed...looks better than an open hole filled with pedals and wires.










So THAT'S where we are as of 6/12/19.   I've still got more work to do under the hood, and some other small details, but my part of the refurbishment is nearly done!

-Texas Mike

I like your masking technique - Car looks great! Those little details really stand out and set it apart from the rest.

Fix Until Broke wrote:

I like your masking technique - Car looks great!  Those little details really stand out and set it apart from the rest.

Yep I buy a $3 plastic drop cloth at Wal-Mart, throw it over the car, then cut out and tape off the areas I need to paint. Works great and saves time.

Look great! But PLEASE do something about the camo light covers and engine cover...that bugged me even when Tim had it. It makes the engine bay look like sh!t. (sorry, but you have worked so hard on everything else...lol)

6/15-16/19 - Spent much of the weekend working on the 6spd wagon.

First, installed the clean replacement 4-note horns, as only ONE of the rusty original horns still worked.  We are in "full tugboat" mode now! Nice and loud! WONK-WONK!





Also on Saturday I sanded and painted the upper radiator support, hood latch mount, K&N filter housing, and for Brokecello I finally painted the faded flamed/camo headlight and engine covers to semi-gloss black. I'm sure the flames were cool before they faded-out, but everyone kept asking why the car had camouflaged trim under the hood (ha!). It may not be as exciting in black, but it sure looks cleaner to me.


















Sunday I did some more cleanup work, replaced the rusty Pennsylvania fender-to-firewall support bars with freshly-painted Texas ones.  






Also installed a cap on the repainted trailer hitch...so now that really feels "done" to me.



And last added GM emblems to the front door panels...just like the ones I have in my plain white '96 wagon.



Coming Along!

6/30/19 - Oil Change Fun on the 6spd wagon. Synthetic 5W30 and a fresh filter. Runs like a watch...a FAST and LOUD watch!



Coming Along!

-Michael

I need a set of those bars... mine are long gone/misplaced/tossed/who knows what. lol

If you find another nice set in the yards - I'd be interested.

RedandBlack wrote:

I need a set of those bars... mine are long gone/misplaced/tossed/who knows what. lol

If you find another nice set in the yards - I'd be interested.

FYI if it helps you, the Caprice and Roadmaster Sedan and Wagon all use the same bars, and I believe the ones on the Fleetwoods are the same too. They are a dime-a-dozen in the salvage yards still.

-Michael

Yeah - none in my local yards surprisingly. It's weird. They've all kind of dried up. Or the ones that do end up are the rusty ones.

RedandBlack wrote:

Yeah - none in my local yards surprisingly. It's weird. They've all kind of dried up. Or the ones that do end up are the rusty ones.

If I ever get my lazy butt over to the LKQ in Daytona I will check the bars on the B body cars they have. 3 wagons and a sedan last I checked.

Nice. Yeah I combed my local junkyard last weekend and was kind of saddened/surprised to not see a single one.

7/3/19 - Polishing the wood outline trim on the 6spd wagon. If the rag doesn't turn black, you're not working hard enough!!






Wax On-Wax Off! Making it SHINE!!



Backed the car out after waxing. For those that asked to see the Hella lights behind the grill turned on, here you go! BRIGHT!!





Such Fun!

-Texas Mike

7/4/19 - Freshly-waxed and gleaming, both the paint and the woodgrain. Almost done with this Roady and it REALLY came out well.



Detailed underhood pics. Lots of cleaning, painting and detail work done on this refurbishment. Will miss this wagon!






Nearly Done! Green 6spd wagon is scheduled to go back home this coming weekend. Will miss this view...but my wife won't miss it



-Mike

Looks great!

did you wax the woodgrain?