MikeS' Beautiful '72 Stage1 Convertible

[Marco]

Looks GREAT Mike :beer

<DROOL>

[Marco]

..

[buicklawyer]

Mike it looks great and you know I like the color. John

[MikeS]

Thanks John, Red and Black are my favorites also. This one really came out nice. Bottom and engine bay are pretty much done. Have new foams and touch up the wiper motor and I will be done. Engine came out really nice. Used the original red correct Krylon paint. Dave Durkee who did his stage 1 conv had some extra cans and I bought them. Laid a base coat with the current Duplicolor and then put on the right color. There is a difference.

Have some nice rallye wheels, but not concours. Would you go repo's and from where? G60's on the way from the group order so it will have the right look.

Mike

[3shields]

Car really looks good.......and wow, nice fan-shroud too!!!

It's great to see it together Mike, NICE CAR! Reminds me of my long gone 72 Stage 1 convertible.....

John

[boucher-racing]

man, i wish mine was that far along.


drive it hard and drive it proud

[bill van steen]

Looks like it turned out real nice Mike and you know how much I like 72's, I agree g-60's will really finish it off nice. congrats on the completion,to bad its winter and the hot summer days aren't closer Bill

[smokenm]

Mike,

That's a humdinger! You getting any driving time with such a mild winter?

[G String]

Mike,
You should have all 5 of the Goodyears by now. Show us some pics once you get them installed. The car looks great!!!!!

[MikeS]

Thanks for all the nice comments. If someone notices something I should change to make it better, speak up. I am looking for the best critique I can get.

I have not really driven it much yet. Front end was just aligned and I have some exhaust stuff to fix. Then top down and let her rip. I did get it out the other day and had a chance to feel the engine. It smoked those small 14" tires almost completely through 2nd gear. I really felt the difference between the original 8.5 compression and the new 70 spec 9.5 compression.

I put an H-pipe on it. It sure sounds smooth but wonder if I should change it back to original. Any suggestions.

All 5 tires are here, now waiting for the new rims. Just think it will jump out having new chrome.

Mike

[StratoBlue72]

Mike,
Your car is looking nice.
Too bad you missed out on the group purchase for the rallye wheels at the end of November. I wish I had known you were in the market, I would have given you a heads up.
I have 2 sets coming shortly from that purchase, one set of 15x7 and one set of 15x8.
If you are in a hurry to have some maybe you can take the ones I'm getting and replace them for me when Specialty has some more ready to go. It will probably be 10 years before I need them anyway as slow as I am on these cars.
It would be fun to see your car in person, but I rarely leave N.E. Wyoming, maybe once every 2 or 3 years. It's been nearly 6 years since I have been down around the Denver area.

[MikeS]

Hi Tim,

Thanks for the compliment. Do you see anything that could be improved? The pictures are not the best as the underside is pretty much flawless and I used all new/NOS stuff. The engine bay needs the air cleaner redone and windshield wiper motor to be almost perfect. Remember, I have some NOS foams, one from you!!

I would be very interested in the rallye wheels. Probably go with the 15X7 since I did not go with the T/A's and need the extra width, but would be open to your recommendations. Let me know what you need.

Mike

[StratoBlue72]

Hi Mike,
When I get notified of the wheels being ready to ship I will get back with you on them. The group purchase was made through Then & Now Auto Restorations (David Walker & Mark Reeves). The wheels are getting shipped to them from Specialty, then they will ship them to the individual buyers. So it should be any day.
I guess it's tough from pictures sometimes to tell a whole lot on a car, and I don't want to sound like I'm picking it apart. A few little items I saw that are easily changed : missing foam insulator on the heater control valve, alternator adjusting brace should be like a gray phosphate color, alternator pulley should be gold cad., no black nylon cable ties on the heater hoses, throttle cable bracket and throttle spring bracket should be red.

[bill van steen]

Hi Mike I can only see one thing wrong , its in your garage and not mine, i think the look of G-60's will really finish it off. Best year of the three series in my eyes, I may be biased Bill

[MikeS]

Tim,

Thanks for the feedback. The alternator pulley should be black. It is the over sized one and I did check with Duane before having it done. 72 is different from 70 on this. I am not sure I understand the insulator on the heater control valve, so please explain further. I also thought the brace was black like the rest of the brackets, but I am not sure about this. I will dig further. Truly appreciate the time and info.

Let me know about the wheels. Maybe I can pay you and they can ship them directly to me. Nice to save the shipping costs.

Mike

[StratoBlue72]

Hi Mike,
I was using a picture (black & white) of an original engine compartment shot of a 72 Stage 1 magazine test car to go by. That one has a cad. pulley, and also a gray colored alt. bracket. I have a nos alt. bracket and it's also gray like that.

That round vacuum operated heater control valve should have a black foam insulator that goes around the largest diameter portion. I think somebody has a repro available, and it may be CARS. It's been so long since I came across it I can't say for sure. I'm sure Duane would know which supplier has them.
It keeps the valve from laying on the A/C bracket.

The inner heater hose also should have a thick foam insulator with an aluminum tie strap holding the inner and outer hoses together.

I know alot of people don't do it, but actually the bypass hose and the distributor housing should be painted red as they were on the engine when it was sprayed.

I had the same thoughts on shipping the wheels. Then I could just have you order a set from Specialty when they are available and drop ship them to me.

[MikeS]

Tim,

I am pretty sure the info on the alternator is correct. The guy who did it is somewhat of an expert and said exactly the same thing. The pulley was oversized because of the Stage 1 engine and it should be black. It might be A/C cars only. I do recall the insulator on the heater control valve. Will check cars.

Does anyone reproduce the insulators for the heater hoses and the aluminum ties?

I can send you a check for the wheels whenever you want.

Thanks again,
Mike

[JEFF STRUBE]

Very Nice Car Mike looks like you have alot of time into it. Job well done looks like it is close to a 100% right. I am shure you will get it to that 100%.Thats what i here about you. Allways was a Sucker for Red GS cars. Mybe that's you my 70 GS Race Car is Red :TU:

[MikeS]

Hey fellow Coloradan!!

Thanks for the compliments. I do have a problem of wanting stuff exactly right. This one is getting very close. Larry Conologue has been helpful in tracking down some of the little parts as has Philip Nearing. Wait till you see his car, what a beauty!

Mike

[JEFF STRUBE]

Hey fellow Coloradan!!

Thanks for the compliments. I do have a problem of wanting stuff exactly right. This one is getting very close. Larry Conologue has been helpful in tracking down some of the little parts as has Philip Nearing. Wait till you see his car, what a beauty!

Mike I no Philip Nearing very well for a long time he has been work on the 70 GS Stage 1 off and on for about 15 years or better. I have seen his car Many times it is going to be to nice to Drive. You may never see him drive it. You guys are in to 100% numbers matching Buick's and i am into going Fast with Buick's.It can not be all Bad they are Buick GS Car's. Just a different way's of staying in the Buick Muscle Car world. Let me no what Part's you are looking for i my have some. Are you going to get that Nice Stage 1 Conv out to are Buick event's these year Like are Car Show or are Race in Douglas, Wyoming? What about the 70 GSX what happen to it did you sell it?

[StratoBlue72]

Tim,

I am pretty sure the info on the alternator is correct. The guy who did it is somewhat of an expert and said exactly the same thing. The pulley was oversized because of the Stage 1 engine and it should be black. It might be A/C cars only. I do recall the insulator on the heater control valve. Will check cars.

Does anyone reproduce the insulators for the heater hoses and the aluminum ties?

I can send you a check for the wheels whenever you want.

Thanks again,
Mike

It would be interesting to find out for certain on those alternator pulleys. I have a few different engine compartment shots from 2 different magazines that did road tests. Both are Stage 1's with a/c and both have cad pulleys.
But maybe they were pre-production cars that had minor differences ?
I knew that the Stage 1 had a specific a/c compressor pulley, but never realized the alternator pulley was special for them.

I'm not sure on the heater hose insulators if anybody sells them. There may be a chance a person could buy a piece of black pipe insulation the correct diameter at a hardware store.

On the aluminum tie strap, I would think it would be available. I have never checked to see if GM sells them, but it may be worth a shot. Somebody would probably have a decent used one from a parts car. I may even have an extra one here that you could at least use until you found a nicer one.

I did notice you located one of those tubular braces for the smog pump. :TU:
Did you buy that with a complete smog pump assembly off of e-bay recently ?
I forgot to bid on the auction, but it had everything there. It only ended up going for $25 or so. That's the only one I have ever seen. If you find any extras I would sure like to have one for our Stage 1 conv.

I will have to check replacement cost on the wheels and let you know. The group purchase was at a discounted price; $135 for the 15x7's and $145 for the 15x8's, which was about $20 less.

[MikeS]

Jeff,

Yup, sold the GSX to John Bernardi, who sold it to another person. You and the Conologues are certainly into the go fast part! John and Larry have been a help in this project. Very good people.

Tim,

Send me an email and we can get this worked out. 15 X 7 is the way I will go and need just 4 as I will put an OEM wheel as the spare.

On the pulley, I am very sure I am correct. Kliener did a car out West and it was Black. Now, that is not an absolute, but pretty close in my mind. Duane, Kliener, and the restoration shop in NY all came back with the same answer for the 72. Not so sure on the adjustment bars for both the alternator and air pump. I went black, but that very well could be wrong.

[MikeS]

By the way, I do have some extra parts for the air pump. They are yours if you want them. Brace, pump, valve, hose, but only one connector to the manifold, and I used that one. Tumble the air pump in a walnut shell media and it will come out looking just like the alternator. Remove the vanes and it will spin, but not pull air or horsepower. Works very well.

Mike

[derek244]

Wow! Mike, that is an incredible looking car. The color combo is beautiful. I hope to see it in person one day! :beer