1967 buick special wagon

[67C10Step]

Still loving it! As a younger guy I overlooked the wagons but I've seen so many cool ones in the last 10 years if I had more room, time, and $$ I'd be looking for one. Guy down the road from me has a 69 malibu wagon that is cooler than the other side of the pillow.

What you are building will turn the heads of the motor crowd everywhere you go.

[3757chevy]

40 years ago I bought a '67 Chevelle wagon. It was a 283 with a power glide and had been the delivery car for the first parts store I worked for. I put Corvette rally wheels on the back and Nova wheels up front with baby moons. I miss it but that was before wagons got so popular.

[gottattooz]

Well good news and bad news. I got another windshield installed. They covered it as warranty. I cut off all the pins and screws for the trim clips and told the guy installing the glass to fill in the gaps with the urethane like a birthday cake. I told them about the dimensions of the channel I installed being incorrect and they trimmed the glass for clearance where it was a little tight, so it wouldn't get pinched if the body flexes for any reason.

When I left the windshield shop, I drove to greg Smith equipment sales and picked up a 4-post lift for the shop. (My dad's friend met me there with his car trailer) On the way up there, it rained and having no wipers, wiper arms, rear glass or rear wheel tubs, it was raining inside the car as well as outside.

On the ride home, I saw a puff of smoke and thought it from the exhaust of the car in front of me. But then I saw another puff, and it clearly came from under the hood, and I could smell burning plastic. I pulled over and the clip for the abs module was burning. It turns out the engine cover I put on was pushing the spark plug wire up against the oil dipstick bracket. The plug wire caught fire and caught the abs module on fire. I removed the engine cover and put it the fire and drove home on 7 cylinders. So now I need plug wires.

Josh

[gottattooz]

Not really an update, but I did make it on a car show poster for the father's day show coming up. So far, the local guys loved seeing the car under construction, and all said they're looking forward to seeing real time in person progress each month as I make changes.

Josh

[gottattooz]

I hated the thought of not using the c6 wheels, so I got one of those sledge hammers with the pointed wedge on one side and beat it up and in where it was making contact. Then I put 2 full turns on each coil over to raise the car up evenly. Then my dad and I drove around hitting every bump and dip we could find and it didn't scrape once. I also measured the clearance under the front air dam and it's up from 4 1/4 inches to 5 inches. I'm beyond happy!!

Josh

[gottattooz]

I tried my best to use the g8 seat belts, but apparently they jam up if the air bags deploy. So I ran across a 3 point setup from jegs.com. I bought one side initially to make sure it would work before buying the passenger side. I'm happy with the fit, and I'm very skeptical that it'll do anything except keep the body inside the car if anything serious happens. But the wagon came with lap belts, and the shoulder belt should keep me from getting a ticket.

Josh

[gottattooz]

The door panels I ordered last year were on back order. I guess no one really fixes up 4 doors and wagons, so they had to make them per request. I just opted for the cheap black panels with no chrome or frills. But I was excited to see on the back of the panel they have predesignated cut outs for the arm rest, door handle and window cranks. Since I'm running the power window motors, I won't have to patch a hole for the crank handle.

Josh

[Ol Blue K20]

Nice!! They look great.

[3757chevy]

Nice.

[gottattooz]

Not much of an update. I mounted the passenger seat belt. I took vacation and, in my travels, picked up some matching rims for spares. With the matching rear spare, I won't have to modify the rear wheel openings to fit the front wheels that stick out another 1/2 inch or so.

Josh

[gottattooz]

Time to tackle the rear wheel tubs. I removed the back seats so I could unplug all the electronics attached to the package tray, and then I removed the rear seat Brace. I used bed frame railing to make a bracket to support the battery box and hold the quarter panel out abs away from the tire.

Josh

[gottattooz]

My friend gave me a pair of wheel tubs from his c10, but I'm not confident I can make them work and still look cool. So I'm making braces from the existing wheel tub to the quarter panel and I'll fill in the gaps with the metal from a 55 gallon drum I have. It'll be easier to build around the fuel filler neck on the passenger side that way

Josh

[KevinK7]

I wouldn't even know where to begin with something like this. I'm impressed as you turn another 'corner' to keep fabricating piece by piece.

[gottattooz]

Originally Posted by KevinK7

I wouldn't even know where to begin with something like this. I'm impressed as you turn another 'corner' to keep fabricating piece by piece.

The whole project is very daunting and time consuming. But if you dissect the whole thing into small steps and focus on those smaller tasks, you make a lot of progress. The whole project is written in chalk, because you don't know what obstacles are going to arise until you realize what does or does not work for whatever reason. I've learned, as this is my 3rd body swap, to keep an open mind and sometimes you have to step back and pivot.

As frustrating as the challenges are sometimes, I enjoy figuring things out and taking things that don't necessarily belong together and making them look like they were intended to exist the whole time.

Facebook has a group dedicated to body swaps, and I'm so impressed with the vision and abilities of other people. From simple rat rod swaps to factory looking swaps that look like gm and Ford and dodge designed and built them. Plus the cross pollination of BMW chassis swaps under 58 Detroit steel and things that blow my mind. That page gets me excited to try new things

Josh

[gottattooz]

I finished making the driver's side rear wheel tub. I painted all the welds and bare metal with engine paint. I'll seal both sides of the seams, undercoat the bottom and I'll put sounds deadener on the top. I'm excited to get one complete. The passenger side will be more of a challenge with the fuel filler neck

Josh

[gottattooz]

I undercoated the wheel well and put sounds deadener on the inside. Then I made a patch panel for behind the wheel well. I'm thinking about the next patch panel going straight up to meet the floor to minimize the number of patches I'll have to make

Josh

[gottattooz]

To center and secure the fuel filler neck, I made a template out of cardboard. There's a rubber grommet on the neck that's 2.75 inches in diameter. I bought a 2.75 inch hole saw and cut the bracket in half to fit around the neck and welded everything in place. If you're ever welding around the fuel cap, put a piece of plastic sheet behind the cap to prevent vapors from igniting.

Josh

[gottattooz]

I bought a new body control module, because I think I fried mine welding. I can't be sure, but everyone I've talked to who knows anything about newer cars says I damaged the bcm. Well I plugged in the new one and it immediately went into security lockout. Another Google search says you have to have it programed to match the car and blah blah blah. So I plugged the old one back in for now.

I did start on the passenger side, bracing the quarter panel

Josh

[gottattooz]

I bought a pair of 6mm (1/4 inch) wheel spacers to push the inner lip of the rear wheels away from the inner wheel tub just a little more so I would feel comfortable hiring hard bumps without damaging the tire or rim. Now I can slip my fingers between each side of the wheel and the fenders easily.

Josh

[gottattooz]

I welded the passenger wheel well tub back in place and am using this 1.25 inch bed frame rail section to repair the lower window channel

Josh

[gottattooz]

I finally finished the passenger rear wheel tub. I still have to finish the seam sealer and the sound deadener on the top side, but I'm glad the hardest part is done.

Josh

[gottattooz]

I replaced the dying starter. Then I found a guy across town parting out a 1967 gs 400. I bought the hood and front bumper. He also had a 67 chevelle front bumper that I plan to cut up and use to dress up the front air dam

Josh

[gottattooz]

I've been messing with the 67 chevelle bumper. I cut out the bottom section and flipped it over to see what it would look like on the car. Then I clamped the ends together on the spare bumper. It's definitely not as pointed as the first version, but I'm also not hating it. I'm going to try to build some kind of jig to mount the spare bumper to so I can build it on the stand and then transfer it to the car.

Josh

[gottattooz]

I cut the bottom of the chevelle bumper to contour the buick bumper. Then I pie cut the center so I could bend it until the ends touched. There's still some tweaking to do before I weld it to the air dam, but your can see what its going to look like. I'm beyond ecstatic on how it's turning out!

Josh

[gottattooz]

I cleaned up and dialed in the fitment of the bumper to the air dam. I ground the air dam to bare metal where I tack welded it in place. Now that it's attached, I'll remove the air dam and I'll fill in the gaps on the work bench.

Josh