Duane, here's something that would be a cool find. You may not want the decal on your car but it would be a nice display piece.
Brian, I don't think I have that decal but I might. When I got the car from Jimmy I got a ton of stuff. I got decals that would go on the traction bars, different styles/sizes of the round "Motion" decals that go on the inner fenders, a ton (at least a 1" thick stack) of the "Cure Ride" Shock decals which sell on line for like $29.00 each. I even have 1 or 2 of the Hurst wheel key rings. They look like a baby sized Hurst wheel/tire assembly on a key chain. He even gave me a few copies of a black & white picture in front of Motion Performance that looks like there is a 69 Buick A-body parked along the building. I got all kinds of stuff I haven't even looked thru yet. Duane
Nick is painting the cluster as I never got around to doing it. I do not know what paint he used, maybe he will respond to this later. I have all the pics now of how he taped off and painted the Dash bezel. I will post them tonight. Duane
OK, Here are the pics of Nick painting the Dash Bezel. First I was given a very nice un-distorted bezel from Gene Hill with really nice chrome that only needed painted. The first thing Nick did was to mask off the silver area to spray it first. What you can't see in the pics is how he masked off the thin chrome "lines" inside the silver painted areas. Once the silver was dry he masked the bezel a second time to spray the black and when that was done he hand painted the lettering like it was originally. He hand mixed the silver paint to match the original heater control face plate we are using, so there is no formula for that. He also painted the under steering column piece at the same time. Both pieces came out very nice and I am quite happy with them. He also painted the consolette, dash pad, glove box door, ash tray, and a few other pieces. Enjoy. Duane
Just got these in the mail today an entire set plus extras, of Original Hurst Wheel spring clips for the trim rings. Talk about un-obtainium. Duane
I used SEM interior paint for seats etc . This paint sticks like Mad to anything . Then I used Base coat color I mixed up for the silver pewter color , sprayed white pearl over & blender over entire dash to flatten the sheen .
So much truth here. The perfect example is the guy who checks his front end parts and finds 1 loose tie rod end and orders a PST complete front end rebuild kit with all new tie rods, ball joints etc for a thousand bucks when he should have spent 50 bucks on 1 tie rod end. Not to mention he tossed the far superior GM parts for Chinese stuff.. So many original parts clean up to almost new with readily available cleaners and some elbow grease. Granted not everything is salvageable but a lot is with some simple green and a scrub brush.
Here's some pics of the saddle bags with the codes and the Reproduction Window Sticker that Mike Trommetter made up for me. All the option codes were taken from the GM of Canada info. Thanks Mike. Duane
I am glad the sticker arrived OK. The Oshawa stickers are different than the US versions. Are you going to put the Stainless Door Guards back on?
No, We opted to keep the sides clean and not detract from the stripes. Thanks again Mike. Beautiful job. Duane
Just noticed after reading the window sticker...............So, the Motion Buick wasn't a Stage 1? Did Motion do any drivetrain mods to the standard GS400?
Ray, I think ALL 69 Stage 1 cars were built in Flint. At this time we are not sure exactly what modifications were done at what time. We believe the car was striped, emblems were added, and at least the trans was replaced @ Motion. (The trans is date coded but has no vin number stamped on it, therefore it was a complete "over the counter" trans when it was installed.) Motion was known for replacing units and not rebuilding them when possible. The engine had as a minimum, a chrome dress-up kit, as it was found with chrome valve covers, with "scars" where Motion emblems had been installed. We also think the consolette was added with the 8 Grand tach at that time. (8 grand tachs were a Chevy thing, not Buick) Plus the rear may have been changed to a Posi at that time. I don't see any notation of an optional posi on the GM of Canada info but the car was a posi when found. The wheels may also have been added at that time. They do not have consecutive numbers, therefore I think they were purchased off the shelf of a store and not bought out of one of the "tubes". When Jimmy picked up the car it was being used as a race car, and the owner had started selling some things off the car. (That would have been in the time period of 1978-1979.) The intake was missing, and so was the carb. A rusty original Fly-eye air cleaner was laying there as were a bunch of cracked heads. One set had large valves and Jimmy said the valves looked like they were off a Big Block Chevy rather then a Buick. That may also have been done @ Motion. The block also had an original broken Stage 2 cam in it and a set of dented Mickey Thompson headers painted White. I don't remember about the pistons, but do know that Jimmy went back to the local Speed Shop in the area and asked if they had any Buick Speed parts. The guys there said a local guy ordered a set of 30 over flat top pistons for a Buick 400 and never picked them up. Jimmy figured they were for his car and bought them. They are the ones that went with the car. The car also had a set of Racing shocks, and vintage spring spacers at the front and rear. I understand that was also a "Motion" type of thing. We didn't even know what those parts were until a friend of Nick's that knows and owns 2 Motion cars identified them for us. (I almost threw them away.) The car has the rear sway bar and the frame also had "scars" as in two small dents where Lakewood traction bars, not ladder bars, had been installed. I don't know when they were installed but do not believe they are of the 69-70 vintage. They may have been added later, and I may or may not install them at this time. Again, you have to understand that at the time Jimmy bought the car, it was being used as a race car and the owner was in the process of sanding the car down for a re-paint and was working on putting the motor together again. It's often very hard to figure out what was done to old race cars as things get changed. Like I said before the owner had started to sell parts off the car. The only reason Jimmy got to buy it was because the owner was going out on a "hot date" and needed cash. He had to go get the car right away, and hand the guy the money! Duane
Great to hear even more history on this car. Thanks for the detail. Any idea how fast it was when at the track? Or, was it a street racer?
