Hilarious! You could have just sent them a link to this thread. You guys are amazing. The energy and know how to pull this off, and THEN to document it here as a bonus? Too much! Thank you!
Duane, Thought ya might be interested: https://www.facebook.com/1772283356339534/posts/2905444726356719/ Motion Tees...... Jim
Hi Duane - I was just going through this terrific thread for some references and several questions came to mind. Did Nick ever go back and run the engine with stock rockers for a comparison to the rollers or were you folks so delighted with the results you left things alone? Did you eventually decide to tally your investment in the '69? Now that you've had the car a while, has it grown on you much like step children often do? Is it safe to say a Motion Equipped car is essentially a very special day two car? Thanks for all you've shared and might share in the future.
We ran the motor with the rollers only. I am not that knowledgeable with motors but Nick said it needed the rollers for the build. Also we were on a serious deadline. There was barely enough time to get it done the first time. No, I never added up the total investment, and really don’t want to know. I know the amount I exceeded but that’s it. Maybe if I decide to sell it I will total everything up. To be honest this car filled a few of my needs. My friend Bill and I wanted to complete the car for Jimmy, plus I personally missed buying two other “Motion” cars and didn’t want to do that again if at all possible. It really didn’t have anything to do with money. I don’t dislike the Stepchildren, although I really like the 69’s much more then the 68’s. I like the 69 interiors and the 69 hoods. This particular car also has the first 69 interior I ever made, and I installed the covers on the seats myself, so there is history there. The funny thing is I like the 68’s made into race cars. There was a 68 I saw at the Nats for years. It was tubbed and if you looked at the back of the car it looked like wall to wall “sneakers”. I really liked the look of that car. The color scheme of my car is unique and makes it look very different then other 69’s. This one has “grown” on me. I think Buick “missed the boat” by not accenting the 69 raised hood section. I used to say if I was having a bad day that 20 minutes in the X-Camino was all I needed, well this one does it in under 10. (Of course the price of the gas is about the same.) As far as it being special, in the Buick World it is rare and special, and the Buicks get a lot more respect now then they ever did, but if you’re a Mopar guy, or a Ford guy, do you really think they care. I mean they like the rarity, but what do you think a Mopar guy would want, a Hemi car or this??? That’s what makes the hobby fun, there is something here for everyone. Duane
Great read , Hope you contacted the original owner before she passed in the fall of 2020, at 99 . Sounds like a great lady . https://issuu.com/pallamedia/docs/kerrisdale_20insider_20-_20nov_202020_20_online_/s/11397863
Wait, what. I think there is a misunderstanding as Girlie Koo just happens to be the name on the paperwork sent to Duane. Those documents would be similar to the paperwork originally furnished with Duane's beautiful '69 car. Is that correct?
Yes, That is true Cole sent me the Canadian info packets for my car as it was made in Canada and shipped to the US. We believe my car was either purchased by George Segal, the Movie production company, or the other gentleman that owned the production company with George. Duane
I see , a previous post said Mrs Koo was the original owner , and the p-o-p was posted . I guess she bought a different 69 Buick new . Still cool lady . Wonder why/ how her p-o-p came to be here .
Cole had a pristine Canadian Owners Manual and POP from another car and sent it to me, as my car had none of it. I believe my buddy Gene Hill, who passed away last year, got the items from Cole. Besides this Gene helped me with quite a few parts and loaned me his NOS front bumper so I could finish the car and make the photo shoot and events that I had scheduled. If it wasn’t for him and quite a few other people it might still not be done. I think about Gene all the time. Duane
I'm new here. Just spent about two hours going through this entire thread. In conclusion; absolutely beautiful 69. Wow. The Buick community is small and tight knit. Super talented people. Super gracious and kind people. I should have been born thirty years earlier. What a thread.
Duane, I met you and your car at MCACN in 2019 and I absolutely loved it. It was awesome to see in person as well as the row of 69 GS's that year. It was great meeting you even if you told me I'm nuts for wanting to restore my pile of step child GS400.
Yeah, It certainly is hard to restore a 68-69 Buick A-body to a very high level, you really have to want to do it. The/us 70-72 guys are really spoiled with the amount of repro parts available, and then when you start on a Stepchild it’s like hitting a brick wall. Now I have built up a huge network of people over the years that help me find parts, but even with that, I was really nervous about doing the 69 car. I knew the level of restoration I was looking for and was afraid I would not find everything needed to get it there. Eventually, with every model vehicle, we will get to a point of diminishing returns, where there will be at least 1 or 2 parts that cannot be found for that model. At that point, it will either take tons of money to restore that part, or we will have to do without it. Either way the restorations will suffer, and as the costs escalate, the number of restorations goes down. For the 69 car, I compensated by keeping busy and aggressively searching out parts until I found everything. Some compromises had to be made but that is true with any project. All in all, thanks to the knowledge level of Nick and a bunch of other 69 guys, the car turned out very nice. Duane
