Customs 1951 Buick Special - the begining of the end

Alright, Im not just sayin this to be complimentary! This is so fucking incredibly killer on so many levels that I can even begin to describe it!!!!!!!!!!!! I know about customs but Im not smart enough to execute what youve pulled off. As a matter of fact, no one has.

 

geee Ant thats a big comp, thanks! really this car is one i plan to never ever sell. i want it done the way i want so i never have second thoughts. im just stoked how well everything is working out and that i have the oportunity to do this. thanks again!

hand formed the inner trunk to bottom of window structure, actually did it with a hammer and a vice. will get painted before the sail pan goes on and later finish welded from inside the trunk...



worked out the cuts to allow the 2 roof halfs to flow properly at the sides. this took a while but its darn close. some lead work is definately scheduled for the future...



the roof profile, very similar to the stock one, which i dig...



from this angle i am very very very happy with just about everything. i almost dont want to mess with the rear quarters. lights will still get shaved and installed neatly in the bumperette...



another view, focusing on the rear window and how it looks. im extremely satisfied with its fit, now the hard work of carefully metal finishing the hole back half. more time = more progress



tomorrow if the blaster is working properly, i will be attempting to cut my windshield.

thanks!
Yaril

 

Did you get your lead problem figured out? If your going to be doing some lead work anyway, you might as well melt what is there out, and check any seams under it for rust issues, but I doubt that car will have any. If you need to weld near the lead I'd get it out for sure. Melt it with a torch and wipe it out with a wet rag or a wire brush, don't grind it, you don't want to inhale it.

 

i have not messed with the lead. i want to get the car to a meet this Saturday so ill leave that as is until later. the metal behind it, from what i can tell looking through the back, is fine. i will consider melting it away and wiping it clean for when i go to lead the car later on. i wonder if this was a factory job?

 

very very nicely done... I like seeing someone take their time and improve a car rather than making it look like a cartoon.

 

hey wat show is going on sat?

 

x2, my thoughts exactly. Very nicely done. I can't wait to see it finished.

 

thank you guys! cartoon look is definitely not what i was going for i still want to be able to put 5 or 6 people in my 2 door car.

Cheif im talking about Fudruckers. first sat of every month. down on us-1 & palmetto.

so i got to blasting this morning! after replacing the sand and getting a handle of things it was a smooth operation. took me about 3 hours to cut the glass...



tiny cartoon windshield. maybe someone will want to buy this for there 10" chop...



need to go back to the shop now and polish the top edge. its close and with a little bit more it should be as close as it can be.

see ya!
Yaril

 

Hey tylerdurben , this is a good thread!. Now you got to give us the more details on how you sandblasted your cut line because I'm going to do the same to my 51 windshield. I'm just going to copy you .

 

cory and any others interested...

no magic tricks. like everything your finish is all in the prep work! template is key to getting it right. 3 or 4 layers of duck tape to make the edge as precise as possible. cover what you dont want blasted and protect yourself too! regular ass standard sand that my bud had next to his sandblaster. i went through about 4 50lbs bag fulls. pressure was always changing cause the hose didn't have a regulator on it and had some leaks, not the best of working conditions but hey i dont have a blaster or compressor of that power. i move all the time side to side. just like mother nature erosion will take its course. once i got to the film from side to side i flipped and did it again. a razor blade and the glass was cut. i went back in and got the edge a little cleaner with the blaster on both sides. just trying to get closer to the tape edge. later ill belt sand the edge a little smoother and rounder. i test fit it in the car with no seal and its looking mighty good.

hope that helps you guys out!

 

Nice chop cant wait to see more

 

Nice work - it´s coming out great.

 

thank you!

less progress than i hoped, had to go look at a car that was for sale. it was too rusty!

windshield mock up, looks mighty good. seems to have the same gaps all around for the rubber, just need to polish the top...



also got to 95% finish welding the roof section. ill tackle the pinholes tomorrow from inside so i can see where they are. there will still be a lot of hammer and dolly work to get it better and of course the lead work later on, but its not far...



see ya,
Yaril

 

Thanks man. I second the vote on melting the lead out. Sometimes you can get away with no rust starting in the seams under the lead, but on the east coast? The only car I didn't melt the lead out of and start over screwed me after I finished the paint job by reacting. I thought I would be all right because it was a low mileage car, but I was wrong. Just my opinion. That subtle chop was just right for that body style of Buick. Good luck.

 

Sweet Buick. The chop looks great and the stance is killer. Can't wait to see more.

 

alright, so the lead will get burned off later when i go to relead the car. thanks!

some progress this morning. got the top of the glass smoothed out and it looks good.

got to working on the sailpan. made a template then transfer to metal...



i used Bass's technique of overlaping, tacking, trimming then welding. its more work but the line cant be any closer to perfect. so i then simply pulled out the cut metal from the sides...



the hard part comes next. making the 2 corners. i will just take my time and make it out of chip board until i got it where i want it. then transfer to metal and repeat. for now the center section really flows well from the beltline into the trunk, at least i think so...



thanks,
Yaril

 

great thread

 

Your chop is going swimmingly, Just wanted to throw a bit of encouragement your way as I'm sure your motivation is like all of ours, UP and DOWN. Your making alot of the so-called masters look silly.

 

Yaril, great work so far, I can't fault it!!!!

A quick question..... how are you going to tidy up the welds between the belt line and the sailpan without actually digging into it? That's the one thing that would be the most challenging.

Maybe if you could also illustrate with some close up photos?? Cheers.

 

looks great .ya style is great .keep up the great work and progress..

 

I love this car.

Always had a soft spot for those Buicks.

You've done this one a great service by putting the roof line down where it should have been to start with.

Very nicely done.

 

Holy shit balls Batman what a sled.........

 

thank you guys for all the compliments. i am very happy with how its coming out. i know it will still need much more work to be perfect before paint though.

funny cause i rarely have moments of DOWN. i look forward to every aspect of the build. i keep in mind that there are guys like Cole that make stuff and throw it out cause its not just right. so i look forward to the mistakes too. thats when you get better, right? so i have to push forward, always. thanks though!

that sir will require my steady hand and patience. i might bring out the tourch? im sure that would make it a lot neater, but i havent practiced in a while my oxy asced. we'll see.

i wrapped up the sailpan last night. all tacked in place. it looks good, the flow between it and the existing car came out very well. need to install the front windshield today.

 

well its not done, at all. but here are some pics from yesterday. i took it to the local meet and it was great! some guys didnt know what happened to the car they just knew it looked better. i heard one guy comment to his wife that i was simply doing some rust repair. guess the 2" haircut went unnoticed to him. those that know my car commented that "Buick should have built it like that!" so this week will be much much slower progress but progress none the less. will finish the sail-pan and begin on the vent windows so i can install more glass.







hope you all enjoy the pics,
Yaril

 

Very nice! High five!

 

Awesome!!!

 

nice work, the chop fits the car so well you can hardly tell its been chopped at all. But when you look at them side by side you can really notice, and it looks so much better like this. Looking back on it... its goofy looking not chopped....

 

That is incredible man - fantastic job.

Gives me the inspiration to head to the garage.

 

thank you guys!

 

Nice work! you don't mess around when you start a project.