Gauging interest in 1965-7 Skylark LONG armrest bases in aluminum! See the pics!

No offense taken! I love the part you have created and greatly appreciate your efforts. I think the closer you are to OEM appearance, the more interest and greater appeal you will have. I know how the reproduction Buick parts business goes (anyone in need of '65 Skylark lenses? lol). You should post a thread at 65gs.com, as these arm rest bases fit 65-67...

Keep us posted! Great work!

 

How much do they weigh?

 

They weigh about 2 lbs each. About 4 lbs for the pair. I did look at machining pockets on the back side facing the door panel, but in actuality, it really wouldn't remove that much weight, I would guess at most another 1/4 lb each. The hand hold pocket and the pad mounting pockets get in the way of removing material without breaking through.

 

They look great! Maybe you can offer them as is with an extra cost option for the grooves of those who want them.

 

I think you did an outstanding job as they are. For me to purchase them they would have to look a little more like OEM. By that I mean the grooves and reflector pocket would have to be there as well as the corners being rounded like the originals. The inner areas are unseen and not important to me anyway. I think the deciding factor for most will be the cost. Again, I think you did a great job trying to come up with a part that NOBODY reproduces, that I know of. Good luck!

 

Nice work. Yet, I'm confused. Is there something that makes them long? Was there a short and long version?

 

Two different styles of armrests, one short, one long.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but the Sport Coupe and the Convertible got the long armrests with the paddle style handle. I'm not sure which other cars got them.

 

I am only concerned about the appearance of the base as installed. I don't care about the unseen parts.

 

I did a test run of cutting grooves in a sample piece.

Let me know what you all think.

 

That looks great to me, but I also thought your original ones were great!

Doug

 

As already stated, making a workable part for something that is a high failure item over 50 years and most difficult to find, is a good thing.

You may be able to prototype this and get the reflector pocket, the grooves and the radius areas very close to OEM, then have that used as a master to either scan-to-CNC or be used as a mold master for plastic repops.

And that may be your better path to make better ROI, and also have a lower cost part.

Cutting one off sets in aluminum might be pricy and a lot of effort.

But, no matter what direction, you have my respect for your efforts.

Machinists were big in my family, and machinist are often true artisans and should be recognized.

 

Hi Jim,

The piece looks very nice. Great work!:TU:

 

I'm in for a set if you produce them for sale.

 

Awesome.

 

The long bases were used on '64 Skylarks also. As mentioned earlier, this is a part that is often cracked and hard to find nice replacements. If they can be made at an affordable price should sell quite a few sets.

Somebody correct me if not correct, but I think the short bases were used on the Specials, and possibly some post models with a more plain door panel.

 

I believe the shorter bases were used only on the 4dr. cars. I'm not sure that the Specials even used this style of armrest. Didn't they have skinny bar kind of door handles?

BTW.... The groove experiment looks great!

 

I had a 1964 Special Deluxe pillar 2 door and it had "traditional" style arm rest base and pad, where the pad sets on top of the base.

It had the thin lever handle.

 

yep my 65 special 2 door post has the shorter version . mounts on top , screws underneath . i need a light blue pad if anyone has a good one . one side ok , other is just the foam .
i like these bases - but mine are ok .

 

OK. The shape of the hand hold pocket on the originals is wider towards the door and narrower towards the pad. These bases that I am making are not. It is just a pocket with a radius on each end. My thought on the grooves is to groove them on the one side, so that it would be your choice to install them grooved side up or smooth side up.

The pocket edges and the other edges will be rounded off as well.

Now to those of you that said you would consider purchasing these if they were grooved, would that be acceptable? Would the shape of the hand hold pocket matter to you?

The picture below is looking down at the grooved sample piece to show the shape of the pocket. This sample part is also slightly different in that the pocket is cut down into a tapered or angled surface instead of the curved surface like the original. It was made to give the same general shape of the opening to cut the test grooves.

I don't have a price figured yet on these. Once the general features of the part are finalized, I will machine another set from start to finish to nail down the correct amount of time and cost involved.

 

Is there a reason that the machined pieces can't have the same shaped pockets as the originals? Is it just a design prerogative or a matter of machining set up time?

I'm liking the mods you're making as we go along here. Especially this.... "The pocket edges and the other edges will be rounded off as well." :TU: