Jim Lore asked me yesterday to post some pics of my car and progress I've been making. Well, the truth is I've been struggling with the thought of pulling the body off the frame as I've never done so before. Well, not wanting to disappoint Jim :Brow: , I decide to face my fears. Actually, it was damn easy. I only needed to pull the rear bumper, pull the emergency brake cable, and unbolt the body mounts. All the mounts came out easy (I hadn't sprayed them) and everything looked pretty good in that department from a rust perspective. I used a cherry picker to lift the front at the firewall and put a 4x4 under the mount locations and up on jack stands. I lifted the rear using the trunk bracket and placed a 4x4 at the mount location just forward of the rear wheels. I was worried about center of gravity, but leaning in the trunk lip with a lot of my weight didn't see-saw the body, so I went with it. The floor pans look awesome and I am continued to be amazed by the lack of rust. I guess sticking in inside coverage in '81 might have helped there. I have a line on a rotisserie to rent for $200 for six months, so if I work that out I'll remont the body to that. It'll give me more flexibility to work on it. Well, here's some pictures, I hope you enjoy them.
Sure, just clean up a few bolts and throw a simonize on her. Here's some more pics (if the board isn't still acting up):
Here's a shot of the trunk. There's just the slightest amount of surface rust from the underside of the vinyl mat. By rights, this should have been worse. My dad had put a piece of carpet on top of the mat that was in there until I pulled it out 2 years ago. Talk about a moisture retainer. :eek2:
Ken, since this is a real GSX, is this the one that is on buickperformance.com? Ver nice car, and glad that you are restoring it! :3gears: :TU: I'm restoring a 73 GS 455. IS your's a 4-speed car? Anthony
Anthony- I think you are probably referring to the Limemist convertible with GSX stripes on buickperformance.com. If so, that car belongs to ChinaMike on this board. My car is a four speed. :3gears: :Brow: Good luck with your resto on the '73!
Aswome car Ken. Thanks and I'll keep you informed with the resto, and keep telling me about your's. My car is a auto on the colomon. :ball: Next GS will have a manual. Thanks! Anthony
Alright Ken! You finally went ahead and took my advice!!!! Remember I told you that you should pull the body off the frame and you're almost there? Well,there you have it! Quite a surprise,isn't it?!!!!!! :eek2: I'm really glad you are doing your car this way. This way,there is no stone left unturned and you can do the things you want to do with your car. I kind of figured you would wait until the Spring to do this,but I guess your curiousity got the best of you. So Ken,how about making your GSX a 4x4? :jd: You're almost there now!!!!!!! :laugh: Your GSX looks real good, Ken. With the better weather coming up I'll be able to visit you and we'll be able to work on it some more. Oh yeah,by the way,nice pictures! :TU:
Actually, Carl, this is all your fault!!!! :laugh: You're a bad influence...... :TU: I'm glad I'm taking this car this far. I know it's a ton of work, but at least the specimen I'm working with is in exceptional shape. There's also a nostalgia with it being my dad's car and my high school car. I want this car done once and right. :Smarty: But you have to admit it is the long way around to fixing a burnt exhaust valve! ou: BTW, when I brought my upper and lower control arms to Center Auto to have bushings and ball joints installed, explaining it was for a Buick, the first question asked was "Do you know Carl Rychlik?". :grin:
frame off Well I had the same basic idea about lifting the body off the frame but was hesitant to do it because I wasnt shure about it working that way, but now you have convinced me that it will, and I am going to go ahead and do it. My car is a 65 skylark GS and is basicly the same set up. I need to replace the rusted out trunk floor and I think it will be easier to do this way.
Go for it Doc. I was pleasantly surprised to find my concerns about doing this were largely unfounded. :TU:
Way to jump into it Ken :TU: A wise old body man once said............\ " The journey of a thousand sanding disk's................ Begins with but a single jackstand" uzzled: or something like that, anyway, nice going there. D.
:eek2: YIKES!!!!! Well NOW you've done it! Heh heh. I'm glad you're tking this route Ken. Will the frame be powdercoated? If not, you MUST epoxy primer it after sand blasting. Looking good bud. But I have to warn you, putting all back together will take at least twice as long as it took to pull it apart. I thrashed for 10 straight hours on Saturday and 6 straight on Sunday to finish my interior. It was a bear, man. I suppose it all comes from having to take your time to make sure everything fits right and looks right, where dissembly is "pull it apart". This weekend I installed the headliner, visors, maplight rear view mirror, seatbelts and console. I'm done my part. Duane comes to get the seats on Thursday. Hopefully I'll have them installed and then I'll driver her by Saturday, March 5th. Let me know if you need any help. I'm looking for a reason to drive the Riv on a long drive before Salem, and a 3 hour march to your place would be right on!
Ken Do not powder coat it. It will look like shiny black acne if there are pits present . If you use urethane primer you can sand and reprime it a few times and the pits will go away. Then epoxy the top coat which will not be as glossy as the powder coat.The factory coat was not glossy either.
Don't you want the epoxy to be right on top of the bare metal? Isn't it supposed to bond to the metal to make like a kind of sealer?
I have no preconceived notion of having this car done anytime soon. Not only will it take twice as long to put together as it took to take it apart, but it'll take twice as long as whatever estimate I have in my head. Looks like me and my truck will be available to tow Carl's GS out to Ohio again in August... I plan to use the viking paint that Jim W recommends. Jim L I believe you used this on your X. According to JW it's almost as tough as powdercoat, but the finish is factory correct. The only issue is UV stability, but hopefully the bottom of the car won't ever be pointing toward the sun! I'm looking for some guidance in using the Viking product here if anyone cares to chime in.
Thanks for sharing the Pic's Ken.....The condition of that car is amazing..Your gonna have a fine one there when your done.
