Well everyone it's offical, I just acquired another 73 GS...Stage 1. Car runs great and I'll be getting ready to paint it soon, back to the original color, Midnight Blue. Fairly low option car, Stage 1 package, A/C, AM/FM radio, door moldings, Black bench seat with TH-400. That's pretty much it. Plan to just upgrade the camshaft and intake a little later on, but for now, it's nice having a stock car... wanna see what it will run in the 1/4 stock. After I paint it I'll post some more pictures. More updates to come. Look out Phil, I'm starting to catch up with you with all these 73s.:Brow:
Congrats - thats a very cool car... I'm interested to hear what you run. For context, I ran a 15.0 flat in mine with no tuning, just fresh gas after sitting for 23 years. Not even plugs. (I did change the oil!) Good luck, and please keep us posted.
Rhett, Thanks! I remember I posted a picture of the backing bracket for the gran sport grille emblem on the thread about your car...just wanted to let you know that this Stage 1 didn't have the bracket my 455 car has. Instead the speed nuts just go right up against the grille, so I left it that way and was just careful not to crank down on it too much. Hows your car coming along anyways? Our Stage 1s have the same color, Midnight Blue with Gray Gran Sport decals.:grin:
E-town is August 21 this year. Please make a note of it. Our East Coast regionals at Cecil will be Sept 23 & 24.
Thanks for the info John! Damn, I have to help out at school, welcoming all the new freshmen to college on the 21st....so I guess I'll see you guys at Cecil with it! :TU: :TU: Hopefully it's painted by then! ray:
Anthony - Thanks for the grille bracket info, I just wound up making one out of flat stock. Might not be factory, but you cant tell. And I really dig the color combination, it was what pushed me over the edge on buying it. I havent done much with the 73 yet, I've been staying on the 65 this summer. I want to get running a consistant 14.5 before I dive into the 73. We'll see how it runs next weekend at Lebanon Valley. The 73 doesnt need much...but it's got a intake leak that makes it run like crap and I dont want to run it around all lean so I havent registered it yet. It also needs tires bad (it has mid 70's GR-78-R15 Michelin X's), and I just dont have the cash to pick them up yet. I figure I'll get into it this winter, maybe do the intake sooner. I should have it sorted for next season, at least with the automatic still in it.
Ant, there's no reason the car won't go 14.40's-14.50's well tuned with a good exhaust,possibly quicker. Why don't you take this opportunity to hone your tuning skill's, and make your goal to get the car to run as quick as it can go stock, before modding it. Start with a good 2 1/2" exhaust, and some good mufflers before doing anything. My wife's stone-stock 72 Stage 1 has gone 13.91@98, and this is with low compression,stock GM(WORN OUT WITH CAM BOUNCE)cam,etc. Only deviation from factory stock is a 2 1/2" mandrel bent exhaust. Car runs this on street tires,3.42 gear,weighs over 4100lbs with driver. HOTROD mag road tested a 72 Stage, and the best E.T. they got was a 14.91,ours has gone a full second quicker with tuning/exhaust. Neat 73, have fun with it.
Congrats Ant! I can't wait to get my hands on a '73 some day Next year when I have my car done we should meet up at e-town or anywhere. Buick guys are a rare breed and younger ones are more rare! Louie
Thanks Tom! That's great advice...yea I'm really curious to see what I can get out of this thing stock. A whole second differnce is alot! That's really a smart idea though...I should learn how to tune a car properly first without messing around with aftermarket parts.:beer Thanks Louie, Yeah it is really nice a few of us younger guys can appericate these Buicks....they are gonna have to go to someone else in the future:laugh: We will defiantly have to meet up soon! If you can, come down to Cecil this year!:beer
Anthony - You make a great point about tuning a stock car... I was able to tune about a full second out of my 65 with no aftermarket parts (well, ok - I did go to a pertronix III) It's tough to resist throwing parts at it, but they knew what they were doing when they built them in the first place..
