1967 buick special wagon

[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