Alexander's '67 Buick!

[YellowRose]

Alexander's '67 Buick!

I will ask Tom if he has any new pix to share with us since I last posted pix... It has been awhile since I last heard from him.

[YellowRose]

Update On Alexander's '67 Buick!

Tom replied to me this morning and also sent me a couple of new pix which I will post. Here is what he had to say.

"Well things are moving ahead. I sold my 65 Corvair and am awaiting pickup. This will make room at home for the chassis and free up some cash. It’s been stripped, POR15 treated and I’ve cleaned, rebuilt, and painted most of the suspension components. I even did the steering box myself! I have the complete set of brake and fuel lines. The transmission cross member has been bolted in. The trans is at the shop and I did the rear myself. Once the chassis is home, my boys and I will start bolting pieces on. Check out the new tires on my refinished rims with NOS wheel covers!

Tom"

Alexander's '67 Buick is being brought back to life with loving care. Tom is making good progress. Here are the pix.

[YellowRose]

Alexander's '67 Buick LeSabre update...

Tom Cangialosi sent me some information and a picture of the restored frame of Alexander's '67 Buick. Here is what he had to say.

"Here is a pic of the frame. I kinda launched it like a ship, down a ramp out of the back of a box truck.

Funny things happen on this restoration. A few weeks back I was working painting the inside of the driver's side frame box section in the front. I spied something wedged in there. After some poking, a small box dropped to the floor. It was Alexander's magnetic "hide-a-key" box! I've turned this frame upside down twice, blew compressed air through it, flushed it out with a pressure washer over the last year and never saw it, but it was there!

Tom"

Here is what the frame looks like now!

[YellowRose]

More Pix

Tom just sent me a couple of before and after pix of the brake work he and his son's have done on Alexander's '67 Buick. He is making great progress to putting her back on the road. Here is what he had to say. "Things are moving ahead with the help of my sons. Here are some before and after shots of the suspension and brake work." Here are the two pix he sent. Before and After.

[YellowRose]

Alexander's '67 Buick!

Tom Cangialosi just sent me a pic of what Alexander's '67 Buick is looking like now! Beautiful! Alexander would be proud. I am sharing this with Marianne and Julie! He is getting there! Here is the current pic.

[YellowRose]

Update On Alexander's '67 Buick!

Tom sent me a picture of what Alexander's '67 Buick looked like when he got it to restore. Here is also what he said he is doing to it now.

"Right now I’m just rebuilding the dash. The chrome surround was shot from the waterfall that cascaded over it for 12 years but the instruments are fine. I was lucky enough to find one on ebay from a 66 Wildcat. Same design only it was revision F and Alexander’s is revision K. A little filing here, some drilling there and I hope it works!"

[YellowRose]

Latest Update On Alexander's '67 Buick!

Tom just sent me some pix of the work he has done on the dash. It looks like a brand spanking new one. Here is what he had to say and then three pictures.

"With the chassis done, I’ve turned my attention to the instrument panel. The used surround I found on ebay is in great shape. I cleaned, repaired, and lubricated the original speedo, fuel gauge, speed alert, clock and all the switches. Alexander had a modern AM/FM cassette unit behind a false face that he built from the original. He made it look like the old Sonomatic was still in place! His quartz clock conversion quit and I tried to replace it, it failed too. I was lucky enough to find and original electromechanical movement that I serviced. Solid brass! I fabricated a new heater cable and will add a NOS glove box upper section. I was surprised to see how some of the chrome held up after 12 years in a damp interior. The air conditioning / heater controls were all salvageable."

[NYsquarebird58]

Fabulous work!

[djberson]

In addition to being a great memorial, it is wonderful that a less common (to restore) model is getting the royal treatment. What a beautiful car. I am sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for updates on this one!

[YellowRose]

Alexander's '67 Buick!

I had several emails from Tom today regarding the status of the work being done by him on restoring Alexander's '67 Buick LeSabre. Here is what he had to say.

"I’ve stripped the body of all the side glass, regulators, trim, and rubber. It’s all wrapped and labeled. I just pulled the heater box and am now rebuilding/restoring it. I found a label on the heater core that reads “Replaced by A. Sosiak 12/26/92”. I ran my memory back to the date and remember it well! It was really cold as I drove alone to Vermont to ski. He must have froze his butt off working outside. I think this is when he cracked the engine block with a bad water/coolant mix. He shows every repair in his little book but this one! I was able to source a new core and an NOS firewall gasket. I’ll send some before and after pics of the box.

My main issue now is the body. I’ll strip what’s left of the paint off (factory plus one ugly repaint that preceded Alexander) to bring it back to “body in white” as the manufacturers say. Butt welded steel patch panels are in place on the fenders and I have an 68 NOS drivers’ quarter from a sedan that will replace the lower section nicely. I’m still hunting for a passenger side quarter panel. I could get one from California, but it costs a king’s ransom. I know good bodywork when I see it, and can do almost anything else, so I’d like to leave that to the pros.

It’s nice to know folks are following my progress. This is really a memorial to Alexander. The support is heartwarming. I only wish I had more resources and could move quicker. If anyone on the forum would like to help or contact me directly, let me know. I live in Howell,NJ 07731. My email address is: tcang@yesstandard.com "

If anyone knows where he can find a passenger side quarter panel for a 1967 Buick LeSabre (or '68?) in his general area, please let him know. If you have any contacts with salvage yards, Pick-N-Pull places, etc. and know where you can find one, please let him know. Tom, I will check my local Pick-N-Pull and see if they have any '67/'68 (what other year will work?) Buick LeSabra's they have not crushed. If anyone would like to become a part of this project and help Tom finish up Alexander's Buick, please email him and talk with him about this. He is going to send me some more pix and I will post them later.

Here is what Tom said he is looking for on the passenger side of the car.

"Here’s a shot of the car. I need the quarter just above the wheel arch, extending from the bumper to the door. A complete one wouldn’t hurt either. Wildcat is the same quarter. The higher up the side the better. The wheel arch trim covers the drip line of the wheel well. Alexander’s car doesn’t have them now. If they have a 67 -68 Lesabre or Wildcat let me know."

Here is the pic.

[YellowRose]

Alexander's '67 Buick!

Here are the additional pix that Tom sent me to post.

[YellowRose]

Alexander's '67 Buick!

In a previous post, Tom was talking about having to repair the heater box. In the first picture you can see, where he has it circled in red, where it was broken off. Here is what he said. "The heater box was a conduit for water and the top corner where it meet the firewall was gone. I reconstructed it with fiberglass sheet and resin. This is after I put new seals on the heater door."

In the second picture you can see where he fixed the break. Here is what he said. "Here’s a shot of the missing piece. The repair shows on the bottom left of the after shot." In the third picture he said, "Repaired half of heater box and new edge seal on heater core bypass door."

[fcar]

Ray, thank you for the updates, and please let Tom know that he is doing a GREAT job and his craftsmanship appears superior. Nick

[YellowRose]

Alexander's '67 Buick!

Thanks, Nick, I have passed that along to Tom and he appreciates those words. He sent me some more information and pictures of the heater box he has repaired.

But first, I went to our local Pick-N-Pull this morning to look for that passenger side fender panel he needs. They have a classic car section set aside from their more modern area. I went through several hundred cars there and they did not have a '67-'68 Buick Lesabre or Wildcat on the lot, unfortunately. The guy told me that if I found one that panel would cost $150, which I thought was pretty fair.

If anyone out there knows of anyone who has a 1967 or 1968 Buick LeSabre or Wildcat parts car with that fender still on it, please post here so I can tell Tom where he can find it at.

While I was there, I found 1 '63, 3 '64, 3 '65, 1 '66 and 1 '68 Tbirds there as parts cars. I was able to get, for the most part, the VIN #'s and Data Plate info and just registered them on the Tbird Registry.

Now for what he had to say about the heater box.

"A small step, but here's the restored heater box. New core, seals, gaskets and a coat of high temp clear. I even tested the vacuum motor that switches from heat to defrost. This side mounts to the firewall. If anybody in the club needs help with heater box rebuilds, let me know. I have few tricks to make them work and look better than new."

Here are the new pix of the restored box.

[YellowRose]

Alexander's '67 Buick!

Tom told me that while working on the car, he found 2 Build Sheets. Well, the one under the front seat was pretty well shot, water having gotten to it. Here is what he said. "That build sheet lived under the hood insulation for 45 years untouched. I used some paper conservation techniques to flatten it out. The one under the seat disintegrated due to the water damage. I’m so glad I have it." He sent me a picture of what it looks like. He was able to partially reconstruct what it said and put it into an Excel program. Here is the picture of the sheet. One of the things he found is that the car was manufactured in the Wilmington, Delaware plant. He is still looking for that passenger side front panel.