Lets Play "Count The Pedals"

Well Tuesday was quite a day.
Got a lend of a trailer from a friend and headed to Tampa for the pick up.

 Jared was nice enough to drive it onto the trailer for me

 We went back to the original shoot location to do the pay off shot.

 How awesome is that!

 I love this car

 All done and loaded, ready for the trip home

 Ive had worse in my rear view mirror

Home safe and sound.  It rained all the way home
The car is just the way I wanted it. The Car Fix guys were so nice.  I have nothing but good to say about the whole experience.


Im a happy guy!









Here's a video of the first time I drove it as a manual

I got the green light to share! The Buick will be on TV!

Do you watch the TV show Car Fix with Jared Zimmerman and Lou Santiago?
Im finally able to share this... Its been very difficult not to post ahead of time.

My car will be featured on two episodes, July 18 and August 16, on the Velocity Network.
Lou and Jared converted my car from an auto to a manual. I will be on the show too giving them the car and picking it up.

Their Facebook page is https://www.facebook.com/CarFixTV
They are also on the Velocity Network http://www.velocity.com/tv-shows/car-fix
Original Parts Group was a sponsor http://www.opgi.com/
Midas was a sponsor too! http://www.midas.com/

Ive been following them on Facebook for some time.
I saw them post that they were looking for an Oldsmobile for a project. But the car had to be in FL.
People from all over posted but no FL cars.
I posted "how about a Buick?". Some checking with production and sponsors and bam.. I was in.

It was clear to me that this was a special opportunity likely not to happen again.
The producer said they have so many emails, tweets, mail etc that its impossible to go though it all and that they'd like nothing better than to do all the cars. but its just not feasible.
I was just very very lucky.

AAA picked the car up, as it leaks so much fluid, I could not drive it for the 2 hr trip

Hitting the road

Jared and the Producer Bryan

The new.. and old.  Mmmmmm Pretty

Lou Santiago and Jared Zimmerman under the car.  Both Lou and Jared are true car guys, not actors for TV with a script. They don't use a script, its all made as the camera is rolling.










They, and the Producer were very good about the work they were doing and making sure I was getting what I wanted.  The whole production crew was awesome. I spent the whole time there watching and I learned that making a TV show takes a lot more time than you think. It was a great experience to see a TV show come together.  They couldn't do enough for me... I'm very grateful.

The Buick is on TV!

 In addition to the manual conversion, Midas put tires on the car! I had some rubbing up front with 255s. I had 255 60 15 on 15x8 rims on all corners.
Midas put 245 60 15s on the front, and 295 50 15s on the back... no more rubbing and great looking meat on the back!

My new best friends













Filming is done, but we're waiting on a few last minute parts from OPG to complete the car.
Hope to pick it up next week!

Exciting news...

I cant give full details yet... but lets just say .... Muncie M20











And that there... is a 5335 shifter

Magnaflows are installed!

Man time flies.  I think I say that on every update!
This week, I finally got tired of having the Magnaflow box sitting in my garage. So it was time...



It was a cool morning, only 46°



We hung the mufflers first. Added the cross over
This again put the X right under the trans cross member - no good

When I contacted Magnaflow the last time we confirmed we had the right parts, and they measured correctly. They said I could cut some off the ends of the X that went into the muflers. So we cut approx 2.5" here leaving enough straight pipe to go into the mufflers.



Then we had to cut approx 5" out of the straighter section behind the X
One side was expanded, and then put them back together.
Seen here, right above the jack post



From there, everything was measured and leveled. My passenger side downpipe was too high, so we had to make another one of those to bring it down such that the cross over was level.

Everything was welded except for 2 joins, the ones in front of the X. This is so when I have the trans 'resealed' one of these days I wont have to cut any pipes (As a side note there was a 64 Polara 500 Convertible on the lift next to me. Owned by the shop owner.)




It all went together well after that



  



I used the turn down tips cut at 45°. Just showing below the bumper








Now the best part... I can hear my radio! The Flowmasters that were on it.... gee wiz they were loud. My ears would ring after driving to a show.
This is the same kit I put on the previous GS and I still love it.



Video of the first start



And a video at home

Hidden audio system installed!

Took the morning while my wife watched the kids.
Climbed in the trunk and installed the 6x9's.  Cleaned up the radio wiring harness and put everything back together.  It is awesome.

The Custom Autosound kick panels fit perfectly. 

Its awesome to drive around with music finally!

Still need to keep my eye out for an amp at a good price, then I plan a custom box and 10" subs in the trunk.  Mounted tight to the back seat so I can retain trunk space for all the stuff I carry.

All in all, a successful project!

Its Mounted!

My home made mount turned out great!
Mounted in the factory location too.

Now I can focus on the kick panels. I got after market replacements that have an opening for 6.5 speakers.
There will be 6x9's out back.  Plus a couple 10" subs in the back.

The subs will come later, I don't have an amp yet.  I plan to make a custom box so it fits up behind the rear of the seat, and I still have a full trunk to carry a spare, tools, cleaning supplies, folding chairs etc.

Now some of you don't know what this actually is. I will recap.

I bought this 8 Track player as a non working unit.  It was cheap and perfect for what I wanted.  First thing... remove the guts! 

I made a flat piece of aluminum for the front.

Sand blasted the unit

Then a coat of semi gloss black for the front...

 And the body.

Cut a hole.  Inserted and secured the mount that came with the new head unit.

Added hinges.

Here is is assembled.

And here it is revealing its surprise!  Its a Pioneer head unit.  CD/MP3/USB/iPOD

8 Track player bracket

Took a few minutes this morning and finished welding the front on to the bracket  Some grinding and sanding and black paint and voila!

Just need to measure the holes now, and its ready to bolt in!