BeaterBurb Build

[Big Ray]

you are making it look easy...

 

[LBK TX BeaterBurb]

you are making it look easy...

It IS easy when you have a painter like Lauro Lopez doing the lion's share of the work on the body prep and paint. This is the second complete cosmetic overhaul on which I have had Lauro do the paint. More on Lauro, and that first car that we did, later.

Preview: the paint was dark cherry & w/blackout glass on a 1994 Buick Roadmaster SS Wagon; a total low-rider. Accented with a big white Aerosmith sticker on the rear glass. Completed by the Chevy 94-96 Impala SS OEM wheels.

Badass.

 

[y5mgisi]

You must not be married.

 

[LBK TX BeaterBurb]

You must not be married.

LOL! I will assume you are saying the above for one of two reasons;

1) I must not be married because I have plenty of extra time and extra money to mess with old GM Land Yachts, whether they be 4x4s or low-riders.

2) A wife would not allow me to mess with old GM Land Yachts, whether they be 4x4s or low-riders, even if I did have extra time and money because they are ugly and clog up the driveway and would not look cool next to her X5.

Truthfully? I am married to the best woman in the world; she lets me mess with old GM Land Yachts even though I'm not loaded w/ cash and I am very busy at work, and work sometimes takes me to the other side of the world for weeks at a time, and she lets me clog up the driveway around her X5 with my ugly old GM Land Yachts. We got married young and now we are in our 22nd year. Maybe that right there is the secret to a successful marriage; women ought to just let us men be men.

 

[Greg Ducato]

You are living the dream sir

 

[LBK TX BeaterBurb]

Wet sanding the top coat of the 5 coats of clear. All the bits and bobs painted white. Cowl was sand blasted and cleared for install, better than new...

 

[y5mgisi]

We all hate you now.

 

[LBK TX BeaterBurb]

You are living the dream sir

Thanks Greg. I suppose I am, and I am humbled to say so.

She is a Plainview Texas girl who had 5 uncles, 3 brothers, and 11 boy cousins. When I showed up on the scene, whatever stupid thing I did, she had already seen or heard of before; nothing surprised her. When we lived up in Indiana, my buddies and I would go wheeling in the mud down on the banks of the Wabash (in an old rusted-to-hell-and-back 1970 Jeep Cherokee Quadatrac) while drinking beer all night and then bring home catfish for breakfast before church.

Of course, time passed and I settled down (got old), had offspring, and landed a real job.

So here we are back in Texas, up on the Llano Estacado...living the dream.

 

[Greg Ducato]

Thanks Greg. I suppose I am, and I am humbled to say so.

She is a Plainview Texas girl who had 5 uncles, 3 brothers, and 11 boy cousins. When I showed up on the scene, whatever stupid thing I did, she had already seen or heard of before; nothing surprised her. When we lived up in Indiana, my buddies and I would go wheeling in the mud down on the banks of the Wabash (in an old rusted-to-hell-and-back 1970 Jeep Cherokee Quadatrac) while drinking beer all night and then bring home catfish for breakfast before church.

Of course, time passed and I settled down (got old), had offspring, and landed a real job.

So here we are back in Texas, up on the Llano Estacado...living the dream.

That quote sounds like the makings of a pretty good country music song, she is a keeper for sure, good on you both.

 

[LBK TX BeaterBurb]

It IS easy when you have a painter like Lauro Lopez doing the lion's share of the work on the body prep and paint. This is the second complete cosmetic overhaul on which I have had Lauro do the paint. More on Lauro, and that first car that we did, later.

Preview: the paint was dark cherry & w/blackout glass on a 1994 Buick Roadmaster SS Wagon; a total low-rider. Accented with a big white Aerosmith sticker on the rear glass. Completed by the Chevy 94-96 Impala SS OEM wheels.

Badass.

Here is the Buick Roadmaster "SS". Cruising interstates in that thing was an absolute blast; it slipped through the wind like a hot knife through butter. It had what GM called "Dynaride Air Suspension". To ride in it felt like one was floating on air....

The factory power plant was the LT1 Corvette motor too.

Before & After:

 

[Big Ray]

right on!

those were underappreciated fo sho...

always had a soft spot for those.

 

[LBK TX BeaterBurb]

In all my travels, I have never seen anything like this! I mean, I guess it is much easier to pull a motor when gravity is on your side. Who needs an engine hoist? Engine hoist? Those things are a waste of time and money.


This is totally legit. I left home on Saturday morning to run some errands over in southeast Lubbock; I was going to scope some parts for the suburban at the pick-n-pull salvage yard. Before I left, I said to myself, "You ought to bring a camera that is better than your iPhone; you never know what you may see and then need to shoot a picture". So, I threw in a cheap work camera that had a real zoom.


I ran across these yocals on the Tahoka Highway just south of the old Strip (the Strip was the "Little Las Vegas" outside the city limits of Lubbock before Lubbock went wet). I couldn't believe it. What was the thought process? Did it go something like this: "Well sheee-it! We aint got no engine picker...so les see her'...ummmm....you-un; get der chain on da ass-end da Chevy an flip dis old bitch Caddy on 'er side! See? Din we can let da motor a fall on out afta we undo da fasners."


Is that what it was? Well, whatever it was, I shot some pictures. It was too good too pass up. Larry the Cable Guy kind of stuff.

 

[y5mgisi]

Seems like it would be more complicated that way!

 

[82355]

I've flipped cars to pull an axle.

Martin

 

[LBK TX BeaterBurb]

Out of the paint shop. Windows, mirrors, drip rails etc. installed. Wheels and tires on the rear. Tuff Country 4" under way.

 

[LBK TX BeaterBurb]

More pics. Driver-side front rough-in left for next weekend. Phase 1 fine-tune on all mods to follow for the balance of winter. Partial junk pile in backyard.

 

[LBK TX BeaterBurb]

Working for [can't wait for] the weekend...

 

[y5mgisi]

Awesome work!

 

[Greg Ducato]

So nice

 

[LBK TX BeaterBurb]

Today was a great day for spinning wrenches in Lubbock. No wind, high of 60 degrees, super dry and not a cloud in the sky. Typical highplanes winter day.

All I had left on the lift kit was the front driver side. The main culprit for the delay was...wait for it...

....the STEERING ARM.

When I got to the steering arm last weekend, all progress stopped. Honestly, I had no idea how to get the dang thing off. So I put everything on hold and started reading various threads on this forum and watching similar Youtube clips.

There is a lot of advice about multiple methods and approaches to removing the steering arm. I was very concerned about screwing this up. Everyday last week I read the forum threads AND shot the bolts/cone washers with PB Blaster: morning, at lunch, and twice in the evening; did this five days running. Day six, yesterday, I heated the side and bottom of the arm with a torch and got the PB to boil up out of the cones. Let it cool just a bit and soaked it with more PB. Did this a couple of times.

Today was the day it was going to come off, so I had to decide which method I would go for all-in. Per the forum consensus, I went with the BIG F N HAMMER method. I removed the draglink and brake line then pulled out a 4lb shorty sledge. Put her straight "on the numbers" and whacked it straight down as hard as I could. In less than 10 total strikes, all three cone washers were dislodged and spinnable by fingers. Total time for remove was five minutes...or five days if you count all my reading, head scratching, wondering and worrying.