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my 86 FWB 350 project ("hooptielac") thread

30K views 208 replies 23 participants last post by  ChicagoTommy 
#1 ·
I figured I'd finally start a thread on my 1986 fleetwood brougham project car. For those of you who don't know the backstory on this car (or forgot), keep reading.
In April of 2010, I decided to look for a V8 RWD mid size or full size car for my first car. After finding nothing but lemons on craigslist, I finally found a good one. I was at my mechancis shop with my dad because he needed to pay the mechanic for work on his wagon. When we pulled in, I noticed an old tan cadillac sitting on the parking lot. Wen I was talking to the mechanic, I mentioned something about how I liked that old tan caddy on the lot. Well, the owner walked up behind me and said "so you like my car?" I said yes, to which he replied "you wanna buy it?" I laughed, figuring he was joking. My mechanic then said, "no, he's seriously selling it." I asked him how much and he said $1500, which was within my $2000 budget. I looked it over and figured it was worth it (it had some body damage and reeked of cigarettes, but it looked nice). He told me that the car belonged to his boss' mom, who was the original owner (she was 90 when he bought it, so she would have been 67 or so when she bought it new). He said that his car died, and his boss sold him the car because his mom hadn't driven it in 5 or 10 years and he needed transportation to get to work. It did burn alot of oil thanks to the leaking valve covers. The niece of the owner and my dad met the next day to buy the car (since both of us were busy) and my dad paid $1500 for it. the leftover money went towards plating the car and fixing the severely leaking head gaskets and missing exhaust pipe.
I then spent a few weekends cleaning the interior to make it smell less like a nasty bowling alley and cleaned off a couple years worth of dirt off the body.
pics right after I got it. Oddly, despite the rust on the doors, the body is clean.






I originally bought the car with the thought of getting cheap reliable transportation to take me to and from college. I had no plans of fixing it up or keeping it for anywhere past a year or 2. Then I got attached to it. In december of 2010, I was sideswiped by an old lady in a malibu, and the impact blew the headgasket on the left cylinder bank. I already had a couple grand into fixing pretty much everything that goes wrong on these old cars (well, everything except the shocks), so I parked it while I saved up to do a drivetrain swap (which I was planning on anyways).
this is what happens when an old lady in a 90s malibu changed lanes across your front end. I don't have a pic, but her drivers side rear door was caved in 3 inches.

Fast forward 1.5 years, and I had bought a set of bravada buckets for it. not bad for $42 + $3 of goop to clean them (matching console was an additional $15)


I also started treating the rust on the car. Paint hides alot of damage.
I left the rust holes (treated the rust with naval jelly and duplicolor rust converter in a can) and have had 0 problems with the door holding water anymore.




Thanks to the local junkyard, I also picked up some clear front signal lights, fillers, and audio equipment for my car (spend $40 or $50 total).
 
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#2 ·


Since then, I have also picked up a set of rear fillers for a whopping $30 (for all 4 and an extra left filler)

After buying a dud engine from my neighbor for $350 (and subsequently returning said engine for a refund), I picked up a new motor for $650, in the form of a clapped out 1987 silverado slathered in bondo

when I first came to the shop that had the truck, I was very leery about the condition of the truck (which was owned by the owner of the shop (named cheapie's used tires). ...yeah, that seems totally safe and not shady at all

the truck actually died during test drive when my dad turned it off to change fuel tanks and couldn't get it to refire. The worker who was selling the truck drove down with his truck, swapped batteries, fired up the silverado, and switched the batteries back. Aside from the burnt out trans (due to a shoddy rebuild), and a slightly leaking valve cover, the test drive went smoothly and I was able to drive the truck an hour and a half back home.

aside from modifying the drivers side motor mount bracket to allow the motor to drop down 2 inches, the motor fit right in.
old motor out

new motor in

I then ran into a problem with the (new) transmission
it leaked

thankfully the transmission company took it back and sent out another one for free. total delay was about 2 weeks (including installing the new trans) due to shipping.
I also picked up another center console for the caddy. It was ugly as is, but it had potential under the dirt and finish (or lack thereof).
donor vehicle:





mockup

which leads me up to this week, when the drivetrain installation was completed and it was fired for the first time by me (video and pics to come later)
 
#5 ·
well, theres still exhaust system, body work and paint, rims, console, stereo system, suspension, and some other stuff I'm sure I'm forgetting, so I should have enough to last me for a while.

----------

more console pics









and firing up the 350
note: crank the volume if you want the real experienced
I highly recommend turning down your volume though, as the car is incredibly loud. I imagine it's what a dragster sounds like.
sorry my hand kept getting in the way, but I'm left handed
 
#8 ·
thanks. I like the console. So far, I spent $5 on the actual console, $12 on the stain, $5 on brushes and tack cloth, and $8 on sanding pads for the mouse.

Which wires? I haven't looked under the hood that much.

Oddly, I've never cleaned the engine bay, and my mechanic didn't really clean the engine (they wiped down the intake prior to installation to get off 8 years of coal dust and the valve covers since they had oil residue on them.

and I swore I said I got ceramic coated headers. I wasnt going to get the normal ones and have them rot in a couple years (same reason I got stainless exhaust)





also, in case you didn't notice, I need a different fan shroud. LOL
 
#9 ·
Yea, the shroud will have to come off a 90-92 sbc powered brougham. The cleanliness I was talking about was that there was no wires under the hood in the one pic of the new motor sitting in it. Might as well start making my center console while your at it...lol.
 
#10 ·
that was when the motor was first test fit in. no carb, no exhaust, no distributor.

As for the center console, find a 1990 explorer conversions chevy suburban console and go from there. It took me many many afternoons of work on that to get it to look acceptable.
I first removed the cupholders and tape holder, then used murphys oil soap and a sponge to wipe it down. Sludge started rolling off it. I then hit it with the B+D mouse and a pack of diablo mouse pads. Worked far better than the norton pads (norton sandpaper sucks majorly, FWIW)
I did not take off all the stain on the routed edge. I lightly used the mouse to knock off the majority of the stain (what was left of it) where I could and stained over what I didn't want to remove (for fear of damaging the routed edge)

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I was wondering if I could extend my current fan shroud with sheetmetal until I find a 90-92 sbc powered brougham shroud
 
#17 ·
I'll check to see how much the yard want's. One thing though is it's hard to say if it will fit since your motor could be sitting farther back than the 90-92 brougham 350's since they probably used different motor mounts. It's worth a shot but to be 100 percent honest with you the fan shroud looks identicle to the 368/425 shrouds. Either way I can grab it for you if you're interested. I actually lucked out finding a v864 by me so I don't need parts any longer but thanks for the offer.
 
#18 ·
Fleetwood472 said:
I'll check to see how much the yard want's. One thing though is it's hard to say if it will fit since your motor could be sitting farther back than the 90-92 brougham 350's since they probably used different motor mounts. It's worth a shot but to be 100 percent honest with you the fan shroud looks identicle to the 368/425 shrouds. Either way I can grab it for you if you're interested. I actually lucked out finding a v864 by me so I don't need parts any longer but thanks for the offer.
There is a 425 coupe here. I'll have to take a look
 
#19 ·
I wanna say the shrouds are different. The SBC shrouds stick out pretty far while the BBC shroud sits back pretty far. I could be wrong though. I'll have to check, I have both in the garage. I also think the openings for the fans are different sizes. I ran into the problem of finding a fan that fit into my 425 fan shroud. I'll take a look tonight or tomorrow morning.
 
#20 ·
I stripped and resanded the wood for the console yesterday. Only cost me an afternoon and an extra 20 for 80, 120, and 220 grit mouse pads. Monday or Tuesday I'll try staining it the normal way (no more polyshades for me...ever).
I picked out minwax red sedona (brown with a hint of red) for the stain. It should look pretty nice.
I gotta thank talismandave for giving me some good advice on stains and a few tips/ tricks when using the stain. :)
 
#21 ·
CSBuckin let me know what you find. If they are different I can grab a shroud for kevin. Kevin, worst case scenario if you cant get it to line up right due to the motor sitting further back you could always try an electric fan if there is clearance. A lot of guys have retrofitted the Lincoln Mark VIII series fans to their cars and they are supposed to move a lot of air. That way you wont have to worry as much about the engine sitting too far back. ONce you find the info out let me know if you want me to grab that fan shroud for you.
 
#24 ·
yes. I am having issues with the helmsman curing (still tacky and glossy in spots as opposed to the matte parts where it has soaked in) but it looks pretty nice. no bubbles, no start/ stop lines, even coating, etc. Thanks for your help dave.
btw, I did end up getting some stain on myself (on my arm when I flipped over the side panels to do the inside). good thing it wipes off.
 
#25 ·
more console progress









I'm putting in a switchplate here (for seat lumbar, TC lockup, and fog lamps) I'm also thinking about having the amp installed face up to show it off (its an old kenwood rack mount style amp from the early 80s)


also thinking about putting a cupholder here (but a practical one, not one made for super jumbo coffee cups)

 
#26 ·
Thought I'd bump the thread.
Scored pretty good at the junkyard today. They had set out a 1986 fleetwood brougham d'elegance that was black with black top, gold pinstriping, and tan leather d'elegance interior.
Got a factory CB radio and surround in great shape, autodimming rear mirror, set of power mirrors with only 2 pinpoints of corrosion on pass mirror and perfect drivers mirror, rear d'elegance leather seat in great shape, 3 door panels with great wood switch panels and perfect armrests, 3 factory reversable floor mats, all 4 door rocker chrome pieces, drivers side rocker panel, and a great taillight. I also got some pieces for my van and another radio and bezel for jon in canada.
 
#29 ·
I try.

Seriously though, I can't wait to...you know...actually see the Interior in this car all put together. Saw your new seats on the Face Books. Looking sharp.

I actually found what may well have been one of the most immaculate Broughams I have ever seen at a junkyard on my last trip (and got Power Mirrors). It must have had wire wheels, as someone set all the seated chrome lugnuts neatly on the rear seat. Someone else set the hood neatly on the roof, actually laying a tarp beneath it to protect the vinyl, as they had clearly taken the engine (which was probably immaculate, given the condition of the engine bay. I made sure to neatly place every piece I removed in an obvious location, as to not have the Junkyard employees throw it out when they find it on the ground. The burgundy leather seats were absolutely divine :cloud9: but sadly, some a**hole had taken a razor and cut the wreath out of the passenger side seat and without both seats, the Driver's side seat was useless to me. Otherwise, I'd have Leather seats by now.

Maybe if I cet all the good options someday, I can call my car a Crown Sovereign D'Elegance.

Even better, can I add a "V" at the end if I ever find those motor mounts and swap the engine?

Likewise, does your 350 make your car a Hooptielac V?
 
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