Body Alterations

 

The process of filling holes created by the 9C1 option and some subtle modifications to personalize our Caprice SS

 

Besides the SS trim that can be added to the caprice, there are a few things that were left off the SS Impala to give it a sleeker, sportier look. I went a few steps further and deleted a few other items to set our Caprice apart from the masses.

Hood ornament delete

Starting from the front, The SS Impala does not have a hood ornament. The bowtie was relocated to the grille on the SS.There are a couple of ways to go here. Since I was repainting the car, I chose to just weld the hole up and paint over it like a SS. Early Caprices were offered to the public with the "LTZ option" package, which included the 5.7 litre L05, sport suspension and external coolers. The LTZ came with a flush mounted hood "badge" that was much more pleasing to the eye. It is a direct bolt on for those of you who don't have a paint job planned any time soon. Buick also made one for the Roadmaster that fits similarly with the buick badge.

 

 

Most cars have had push bars mounted on the front but since my front bumper cover had been replaced, I didn't have any holes in my front bumper to fill. If you do, you need to make sure your body shop uses a flexible filler or it will come loose. You may also want to consider changing the bumper cover out to a aftermarket unit. There are a few nice looking units out there to choose from. I hope to have them listed under the links page some day.

Spotlights delete

Next up are the Spotlight reliefs in the front doors. Most 9C1's have dual spots, although there are variations. The CHP's equip their cars with duals, however I believe they remove them prior to sale. Mine were off the car already, which was OK since the wife was pretty adament about not having a spotlight on her car. A lot of the guys on the 9C1 list prefer to have at least one spot left on.

With my cars spare parts were two pieces from a donor car's doors that had been cut and ground to fit perfectly in the half circle cut-out made for the spotlights. I just had to weld them in place and grind flush. You could also use sheet metal and then fill as needed, but this left a perfect finish both outside as well as inside the door jamb. You cannot tell there was once a cut-out there. The door rubber also has holes to allow the spotlight stem to go through the door post into the interior of the car. The door post will also need the hole welded shut. I reused the door rubber since the holes are filled there is not a problem with the holes in the rubber.

SS rear quarter windows

Probably the most noticable modification is the addition of the SS rear quarter windows. In '94 when they made the first SS, they modified the shape of the rear quarter windows without retooling the rear quarter panel. It was a pretty cheesy way of going about it but it gave us guys that can't afford a '95 or '96 Caprice the option of adding the newer style windows. Basically all it consists of is the new window shape with a tab attached where the rest of the window would have been to accept a plastic cover (they call it a applique) that fits semi flush.

I had originally planned on shaving the two ears off of the cover and then attaching it with black urathane to the stock window. I have seen pictures of this and it looks good but I haven't seen one in person. Anyway, when I was removing the windows in preperation for paint, I got the first one out OK, but pushed a little too hard, too soon and broke it. So I decided to just bite the bullet and order the windows. To get the windows out, after removing the plastic trim inside the car and removing the 6 or so nuts holding the window in place, I cut into the black urathane between the body and the window. It is very difficult and time consuming. You need to cut into it at least 3/4 to 1 inch deep all the way around. Then, while laying across the back seat, I pushed against the window with my foot until it began to break loose. Then you can grab and pull it out he rest of the way.

Once the windows are out, you will need to remove most of the remaining urathane from the body so that the new window will go as flush as possible. Next I attached the applique to the new window and test fit it. It needed a lot of tweaking at the trailing edge to get the whole assembly to fit tightly. Once I was satisfied with the fit, I applied the black urathene that I got from a glass shop to the grooves in the new window and slapped it in place. The nuts hold the glass in place until the urathane dries. You don't want to be slamming the doors shut with the windows up for a day or so until the urathane bonds completely.

Antennea holes

Next was the roof of the car. Most 9C1's have at least a few antennea holes and light bar mounting holes left behind and this CHP car was no exception. Our car had a few small holes along the edge of the door sills to mount the light bar and two antennea holes. One in the roof and one large one in the passenger side rear quarter panel for a whip antennea. All of these holes were welded shut before they were smoothed with body filler.

Side body molding delete

Another feature left off of the SS is the side body molding running from bumper-to-bumper and then continuing around the bumpers. In it's place are two nice looking pieces that go only on the doors and are color matched. Most 9C1's have no side molding on the front doors to accommodate the department badging. This molding is not fun to remove. The molding itself comes off OK. It's the adhesive left behind that is difficult to remove. 3M makes a tool that attaches to a drill and can remove the adhesive without harming the paint. I didn't know about this until after I had finished mine. It can be removed by hand but this description may not make sense to you. If you start at an end and with the ball of your thumb starting before the adhesive, roll your thumb along the adhesive, pressing VERY FIRMLY. The adhesive will begin to roll off, leaving the paint in perfect condition. It may not make sense until you try it. It's kinda like removing a price tag or label from something. Your thumb WILL be sore when your done! If you plan on replacing the trim on the bumpers, you'll need to do the same thing with them, however I don't think the 3M tool will get in between the grooves of the bumpers.

Trunk key delete

 

 

Lastly, is the trunk key hole. The Caprice has a big Bowtie (usually worn out and hanging crooked) that covers the trunk key hole. The SS has a deer emblem that goes around the keyhole. Since I did not plan on having any Impala emblems on the car, I needed another option. During my research prior to purchasing the car, I came across Steve Walkers web page and saw how he had relocated the trunk key from the back of the deck lid to under the back lip of the deck lid. I don't have a remote entry system yet but I have the trunk release on the dash so I rarely use a key anyway. Once the key was relocated, the opening was filled using a piece of sheet metal cut to fif the egg-shaped opening left behind. His instructions were very complete and everything worked out just as he said it would, so rather than steal the directions from him, I'd rather direct you to his page and you can see what he's done with his car. Him and Alex (one of the links from his page) gave me a lot of inspiration while I was shopping for my 9C1.

Follow this link to his page:

Steve Walkers 1991 Caprice Classic Project

 

Chrome trim delete

I also removed the chrome strip that runs along the bottom lip of the trunk lid. Once it was removed, I realized why GM put it there. It is to grip the lid to close it! Without the trim, you're likely to place your hand on the back of the lid to close it, leaving behind a nice hand print (black paint). I've got my household trained to pull the lid from the electric lock mechanism inside the trunk. A quick tug from this location is plenty of pressure to shut the lid without slamming it thus avoiding hand prints and ring scratches. It is held on with 4 studs going through the lid and adhesive tape like that on the body moldings. Those holes also needed to be welded closed.

 

Please note that ALL holes that were filled were first welded or filled with metal and then welded BEFORE filling with any body filler. DON'T let your body shop fill your holes without first welding them. IT WILL NOT LAST!! One of the reasons I removed the headliner from my car prior to dropping it off was so I could visually check every hole that was to be filled before they painted.

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