Hi all, I came across this site looking for pictures of finished 64 buick special wagons. I'm going to buy one in the morning. It's not that I'm a buick nut but for some reason they keep falling into my lap I bought a 71 Skylark 20 years ago for $600. I twas a runner driver. It's been sitting for the last 15 years but it will get restored one of these days. Last year my buddy who runs a hot rod shop had a 64 Skylark in his shop for paint and refurb. I found another one for sale nearby that we bought for him that was a lot closer to done. It was already painted black and ran and drove. We put on disk brakes, put in a 70 Chevelle engine and a new tranny to get him where he wanted it. He gave us his car and a bunch of money. I paid off my buddy and ended up with this the white one (or what used to be white. It was an original 4 speed car but now has a turbo 350 and GAG a 307 in it. The cool thing is it was an Idaho car and has no rust. None at all. I'm going to restore it this winter. Dipping everything but the body. Then today I found this 64 buick special wagon. Add that one to the collection I have a 64 parts car too. To be honest, I like the lines of the 64 skylark better than the 64 chevelle. Chevelles look like that have fat buts if you ask me I'll be lurking around as I build these cars Chass ct
Dear Chass, Fred, Derek, and V-8 Buick fans of more mature Buicks, Welcome Chass to V-8 Buick! . . . . Take extra special care of that Special wagon. You'll find they don't get any more Special than that! . . . . Cheers, Edouard
elagache, I'm finding that these Special wagons are really special . . . particularly if you need anything behind the the front fenders! Not many of these around and parts are almost non existent. I'm glad some of the chevelle and vista cruiser wagon parts cross over. We took that sucker from sitting 10 years and missing all kinds of parts to a driver in two afternoons. Had a lot of fun getting her going. Now the hard stuff begins like getting her dried out, gutted, sealed up and interior back in it. Hard stuff to find or make. Found some 1970 Camaro rally wheels for it. Looks better already. Chass
I see you're going for that distressed look. My first car was a 64 post coupe 3 on the tree. Welcome aboard!!!
Dear Chass, 2011ws6, philbquick, and V-8 Buick long- roof fans, Yes brother I have felt your pain! Fortunately, my Special wagon was part of the family since 1968 and most of her life was spent in a garage. So she is in much better shape than her 1964 sister that you have. Still, it was a desperate struggle to get some parts to keep the tailgate window working. However, if you are willing to keep looking, good things come to those to seek! Cheers, Edouard
Luckily my back window is working good. Although my understanding is that this tailgate didn't come off a buick . . . I can't get my tailgate open or the passenger rear door open! Ugh. It's just a matter of getting to them though. Tonight I pulled the leaky heater core out. A new one goes in tomorrow. I have admired your wagon. She is a gem. This poor girl that I have has been used and abused. I am amazed how well it drives though. PO put a lot of new parts on the front end as well as shocks all the way around 10 years ago before it was parked. Apparently he thought he had blown up the tranny. All I did was add 6 quarts of fluid and it drives great. It does have a leak but that should be easy to track down and fix. I think he just ran it out of fluid . . . Chass ct
Although I do like the distressed look, we really didn't have a choice with this one . . . not yet anyway The Skylark in the pics above was sanded by some tweaker before we got it. Luckily he was really careful not to damage the trim. I have a distressed vehicles intentionally before. The GMC in the picture above was very poorly painted white over various colors of primer and old paint. It was well aged and thin. It didn't take much to sand through it to expose some of the primer. I did that on all the body lines varying the amount of exposure. It came out good . . . at least good enough to sell a $500 truck at the swap meet for $3800. It went to Sweden in a container. Chass ct
Dear Chass, Jerry, and V-8 Buick long-roof fans, As far as I know most of the 1964-67 A-body wagon tailgate parts are interchangeable across all the GM division. There is a fellow who specializes in GM wagons of this period: http://einstyn.com/ It is a good resource for those hard to find wagon rubber seals and stuff like that. Thanks! She is definitely the family heirloom. She needed a new transmission in the late 1980s which I paid for. That's how a "bought" her! She has been kept inside except for a period in the late 1990s when I lived in San Diego. Even then she spent most of the time under a car cover and was only driven once a week. All that has prolonged her life. Glad you have had so much success with these vehicles. However, I can't go for the distressed look. Obviously I have feelings for a car that grew up in! At least most the emblems are available as reproductions I believe. Alas the one that I don't think is reproduced is the tailgate lettering. You might be in for one of those "wagon searches" to come up with one of those since your tailgate isn't original. Cheers, Edouard
