Jim What a great car! Compliments to you for all the hard work finding the correct parts. :beer Harvey
Beauty! Amazing. I guess that project is about as complicated as it gets because of the options and being a Stage vert and all... More pics please, more underhood shots if available. Looking forward to seeing it and I promise not to touch it or allow any drool to drip on it. Congratulations! Bert
Glad to see it made it home in one piece, always a concern. Wish we could have delivered this one to you personally, but this time of year we are scrambling to get folks projects done for spring, and this year is no exception. Now, just a little perspective as to where we have been.. And to where we are now. I believe the rarity of this car is in the fact that it is triple black,(exterior/interior/top) which would have been an uncomfortable car in Miami where it spent a good portion of it's life. We certainly have seen a few black 70 stg converts, but have yet to hear about another triple black one. We know of John Schmidt's 71 car, but have not heard about a 70. Mike, the car for all intents and purposes has been done for 8 months, save for a 3 or 4 potmetal/chrome parts, which did not pass my quality demands the first time around after reconditioning. It has been sitting in the shop, under a cover, since July '06, until we got the parts I could put on this car. That time delay was very frustrating, after countless late nights/early mornings attempting keep this car on schedule, but it is part of the deal. We began this project in earnest, Dec 14, 2005. Jim's GSX was started 3 weeks later. The words "ok for any car but this one" were used over and over again to discribe many, many parts in this project. Lots of cars out there with nice interiors and shiny paint, but this one has a tremendous amout of substance to it, as Jim really spent the time and effort it took to really track down the hard to find parts. And we did tremendous research on this car, in an attempt to get everything "just right". Credit needs to be given where due, and that's to Mr Lore, for stepping up to the plate to bring back this very unique piece of history from the dead. Considering actual work time, parts sourcing and buying and reasearch, it was pretty easily a couple thousand hour investment to bring this one back, but the guys and I at the shop were happy to have the opportunity, and I believe the finished result was well worth the effort.
Very beautiful car. A rare car indeed. Congratulations on a job well done.:beer Will this car be at Norwalk or the Buick Performance/BPG event? I would love to see it in person. I wish my convert would look like that someday...... Lon
Please do NOT think I'm nitpicking, but, my car is still mostly ORIGINAL, and an early pointed lens car. It is far from the condition of yours, with 37 year old chrome, etc..... My AC lines from the condenser are natural, as are the top washers that mount the condenser. Mine also has the "keep your GM car all GM" sticker on the pass. side of the air cleaner. Should the dryer and the ac condenser lines be painted or natural? A friend of mine has a Stage convertible that he restored and put away many years ago, and we argued over whether the dryer was natural or painted. Mine is painted....Also, is the thermo vacuum switch at the front of the intake supposed to be black plastic, or the skinny metal one I've seen on a few cars? Mine was replaced, but the one it replaced was black plastic. Thanks, Dan
Dan, I have seen the AC line issue vary.. all the lines are natural, except the line where it goes past the corner of the radiator, into the dryer, and every one of the "tall style" driers I have seen is black. This is in fact an NOS one, and of course we don't base everything on that. Now, I have in fact seen natural alum driers, and natural lines, but only on the cars that have the later style short dryer. I have seen both on 70 cars, but the parts book indicates the long skinny one for a 70. It is also what was on the car. JW
Is there any other 70 Stage1 convertibles restored to this caliber? This is the BEST 70 Stage1 convertible that I've seen!!! I just want to see it in person at the nats in BG.
We plan to be there with both cars. But I am not a GSCA member and I think that you have to be just to show a car. I expect it would cost 2-3K just to have them transported up and back.
I have never been to Norwalk and it is too close to BG for me to go there and BG this year. At his point it is a tough call for the JC/BPG event. National Trails is my favorite track but the logistics of getting the cars transported makes it difficult to put together.
No cruise or power seats. So most other things like rear defrost. We did the dealer add on electronic trunk release so that is why the trunk latch mechanism is unpainted which is correct for this piece as opposed to the normal body paint painted colored latch.