2012-01-31 56X Buick

56 X BUICK SESSION JAN 31 AND FEB 7 2012

Due to computer problems I have been experiencing, I am combining two work sessions volunteer list as well as two work sessions report to try to get caught up.

VOLUNTEERS FOR January 31, 2012 - Jim Baker, Al Batts, Del Carpenter, Jerry Bush, Connie DeJong, Ryan DeVries, Ron Elzinga, Don Mayton, Art Meidema, Dick Saddler, Chuck Snow.

VOLUNTEERS FOR February 7, 2012 - Jim Baker, Al Batts, Jerry Bush, Del Carpenter, Connie DeJong,

Don Feutz, Don Mayton, Art Meidema, Paul Prinzing, Dick Saddler, Rich Saddler, Chuck Snow .

Al continues to be our faithful photographer. In addition to taking the photographs he prints and catalogs each photograph. Chuck then takes and adds the photographs to our computer and we have an automatic review of the restoration.

TWO NEW FOUND UNIQUE DIFFERENCES ON THIS 56X

Jim Baker has disassembled the rotating seat mechanism for painting. This week he took apart the back of the front bucket seat to start the planning for making the powered head rests. Jim did find adequate steel structure for building the powered head rests. We have one GM Media Archive photo with the head rests in their up position. So Chuck Snow used the computer to magnify this photograph. He discovered two things; 1) The blade used in raising the individual head rests is not one blade but two blades side by side with about a 1/2" gap between them. The two blades on the front bucket seats are not straight but have a slight curve. This allows the head rest as it comes up to curve towards the head and not away from the head. The photograph for the back seat head rests is not clear enough to reveal this curve. We will have to experiment in this area.

Jerry Bush has been helping others with their work. I see him helping so many others that I did not list them separately.

Connie and Art continue to work on individual black metal parts preparing each one by sand blasting, acid etch priming and finally show black. They has also enhanced the two front inner fenders as they did not like the original paint finish.

Foot pads. As I mentioned in an earlier e-mail in front of each of the bucket seats was a foot pad for "MY LADIES FEET". Chuck Snow has been assembling the four foot pads. He and Connie have been working together and as Chuck places the parts in the correct locationand Connie brazes them in place. Don Feutz has been helping do the final sanding and buffing to prepare the foot pads for the chrome plater.

Del continues to work on details on the chassis. He disassembled the heater box today and on the way to lunch took the heat exchanger it to our local radiator shop. Dan, the owner, took one look at it and declared it had been frozen because it was 1/2" larger than it should be. Next he dropped it into his testing tank and declared it "junk". So we are going to locate the extra one we should have in the barn.

The power steering pump that leaked that Del had removed was dropped off at a shop in Grand Rapids this past week.

Paul was one of our helpers today.

Ron worked with Dick S. on the bumper bombs preparing them for the insertion of the driving lights. They have light bezels fitting into these bumper bombs. Ron was not here this week, so Dick mounted the left bumper bomb to the lower bumper section as well as to the frame. He had Del took home one bracket that had to be modified as the bracket was out of spring steel and we did not have a drill that would touch this steel.

Don Mayton