For sale, my 1965 Buick Skylark, $7,500, reasonable offers considered. My wife and I have moved from Pittsburgh to Brooklyn, New York, for her job, and the car is in my Father-in-Law’s garage, there, with a float charger on it. My personal circumstance is such that I need to sell the car, but is not so dire that unreasonable offers will be considered. The car is white with a black top (painted, not vinyl). I bought the car in April of 2013 from the second owner. He said he bought it from an old lady in West Chester, PA, who had bought it new. He said she got old, had banged up the front and back bumpers, which he’d replaced. It had 47,000 miles on it when I bought it. It was my daily driver the whole time until I moved to Brooklyn last summer. I can’t find my folder of receipts. Joe Valenti in Pittsburgh has copies of them all, if you need them. I’ve named all the maintenance people who worked on the car below, and you can talk with them, should you desire. The car’s got about 100K on the odometer at this time. I’m going to call Joe tomorrow and get the actual number. I’ve put about $20K into the car in the last four or five years. Most of the paint is original. The front clip was done prior to the 2nd owner buying it. I think that, when they did the front clip, they did the roof in black, a la the GS. But it’s not a GS; there’s no chrome between the black on the sail panel and the white on the quarter. I think they copied the GS style at that time. My plan was to repaint the car in its original white with black inside the halo chrome. The interior is all original, including the headliner, and the carpet. The front mat is original to the car. The two rear floor mats are Correct. The original steering wheel has a couple of small cracks, but is nicer than many or most that I’ve seen. The original dash pad is uncracked. The car does not come with the Pioneer SuperTuner, and the Marantz amplifier added since that pic was taken. I've also since added a set of mechanical Stewart Warner “coffin needle” gauges (one of them was NOS) in an early bezel; oil pressure, oil temperature, water temperature. I recently replaced the rear package tray mesh. Blows no smoke. The starter, and a Correct 1965-date alternator were recently rebuilt by Mark Stellar in Pittsburgh, who is a member, here. The original radiator was recored in copper with a three-row by Huzeker Radiator in Pittsburgh. The Correct 1965 AM radio is installed but not hooked up; I have no idea if it works or not. I pulled the modern stereo the previous owner had in it and replaced it with an original. The timing chain went last Summer, and Bob Slade of Slade’s Mechanical Service in Grantville, PA, fixed it all up. He said two of the 8 cylinders were a little weak, not an emergency, but heading for a top-end rebuild, not surprising at the car’s age and mileage. Bob did the transmission filter, while he was at it. No complaints with the trans, shifts nice, doesn’t slip. Joe Valenti in Pittsburgh did most of the work on the car. We cleaned out the never-changed fluid in the rear end, and, boy, did the car drive better after that! He did all four wheel cylinders. He replaced the power steering pump. He replaced the fuel pump with an NOS unit. He replaced the Master Cylinder with an NOS unit. Note: it’s still the Correct single master cylinder. Replace one of the rear axle half-shafts. Did the wheel bearings. New Bilsteins up front. NOS “Pleasurizer” shocks on the back. New springs, front and rear. Recent Cooper tires. Car is running incorrect 14” Buick Rally wheels that were original to a ’71 Skylark GS; I got those out near Danville, PA. The car comes with its original steel wheels, with a new set of snow tires on them. It also comes with its original wheel covers, which are in fair but restorable condition. The car also comes with a set of Correct dog-dish hubcaps in excellent condition. The period alloy rims (and real bias-plies!) that are in some of the pictures are no longer on the car. When I ran the bias-plies, my Brother-in-Law said “you’re fully committed.” In retrospect, I should have been committed to an institution. “Tramlining” is not fun or relaxing. “Mad” Mike D’Allesandro in Pittsburgh hung two 20 inch Dynomax Super Turbo mufflers, with chrome pencil tips on the dual exhaust that was on the car when I bought it. The exhaust is rust free. Original paint on the block, original air cleaner. Last year, Jim Boyd of Boyd Automotive in Pittsburgh repaired the rusted rear window channel. The rear glass is still original. It’s now leak-free. We also did a new front windshield, at that time. Beyond surface rust, the only rust on the car is the trunk pan, which doesn’t have holes through it, but should be replaced. Jim and I concluded that the remaining leakage is coming in through the mounting holes of the “halo” chrome on the roof. No rust on the frame, or in the rockers. Since I got the car, Joe would spray used motor oil on the frame each winter, like they used to do with trucks. Works like a charm. I’m putting what pictures I have on here. The car is very accurately described. The engine bay is pretty detailed. I cleaned and waxed the firewall and the underside of the hood, for instance. You could drive it home to California. Please contact me at jeffreymiller64@hotmail.com, or call me on 808-221-8069.
Correction, two gauges, oil pressure and water temp. And I had the area around the rear lights cleaned up and primed, it's in primer, now, since these pics were taken. That work was done at Toole Automotive in Pittsburgh.
any motor pics ? did you rebuild the motor? wondering if that was included in the 20 k you spent over 5 years ?
"two of the 8 cylinders were a little weak, not an emergency, but heading for a top-end rebuild, not surprising at the car’s age and mileage. " With "Heading for" meaning, no, I have not rebuilt the motor. Just had the timing chain redone. No engine damage when the chain went. I don't have any motor pics, I will see what I can do on that front, but the car is accurately described. If you have questions or concerns about the engine, you can call Joe Valenti at Valenti Auto Repair in Pittsburgh, PA or Bob Slade in Grantville, PA at Slade's Mechanical Service.
I just asked my father in law to take an engine bay pic, and will post it here when I get it. I have a spreadsheet I kept through 2014 with $10K plus itemized on it. The later rear window work was $2,500. The later timing chain job close to $3K. The later radiator job was $500. All the repairs above are post-spreadsheet. On the spreadsheet I found an item I'd forgotten, lower ball joints. Paintwork around the tail lights, post-spreadsheet, was $600.
Engine bay pic now attached. I recall we did the brake booster, also. Also replaced one of the rear axle half-shafts, the passenger side, I think it was. Replaced the rear brake drums.
