Well, here I am, finally with a great running 370 horse 1970 455-4 powering my 72 skylark custom. I bought the car a year ago from a farmer who had stored her indoors for over 20 years after an unnoticed oil leak had led to his wife killing the original 350-2bbl. I started by going through the chassis, and by then I was running low on cash. So, I scabbed together a 1980 350 obtained cheaply from a wrecker. It went ok, but the engine was tired, so in June I started contemplating rebuilding the original one. However, being a buick engine, it soon became apparent that rebuilding it properly was going to get expensive. Instead, I ended up buying a 455 with 60K original miles on it that had originally been in a 1970 electra 225. A little about the Skylark, it is a 1972 4-door sedan with a dark green interior (absolutely imacculate) with the original Champagne gold paint on it. What to me is unusual about the car (and was the selling feature for me) was the fact that this old gramma car had factory disc brakes. The suspension was sagged out, and it sat pretty low on the original little 14 inch wheels. I went through the suspension, steering, brakes, electrical and gave the car a good detailing soon after I purchased it. I have had other A-body cars from the era and knew how well they drove, but this is my first 4-door and I must say it generally drives much better than the 2-doors I have owned. That extra 4 inches of wheelbase and 300 lbs of weight makes a huge difference to the overall stability of the chassis. Anyway, the paint is imperfect, but I get compliments on the car all the time. My first challenge on doing the conversion was to find the parts. I got motor mounts and the frame mounts from Year One, and discovered that the frame mounts are totally brutal to install due to the crossmember being boxed in, but after some struggling I managed to get them bolted on. The next challenge was finding a fan shroud and fan with a clutch, which I managed to aquire at a wrecker for next to nothing after several hours of digging through piles of them with a tape measure. The same source also provided me with some original 15 inch buick rally wheels and some center caps for them. Of the 7 I found 4 were straight enough to use. They aren't new, but they sure look better than the little 14s and hub caps that were on it. I regasketted the 455, and since I had to get some of the exhaust bolts removed from the exhaust manifolds I port-matched the heads while they were off. I did this with a pencil-grinder and an assortment of dies. I thought about putting in a 400 transmission, but as cash was getting short, I decided to just service the stock 350 and replace the tranny mount as well. So far, so good. The starter on the 455 only had two poles, and the one on the 350 had 3, so I took the starter to the local shop and had a 3 pole solenoid put on it. Otherwise the 455's starter was mint. Knowing the 350's exhaust pipes wouldn't fit, I removed them and had new 2 1/2 inch exhaust pipes installed after the engine went in. I also put in the 350's HEI distributor after cleaning it up and installing the 455 gear on it. I had to drill the 455 gear out a little so that the pin would fit, but it went without a hitch. So, I drove the car from Edmonton, Alberta out to the BC coast, and all was well. The 455 is an incredibly powerful engine, both off the line and on the highway. Does the old car justice for sure! The car only has a ten bolt rear end, but it is limited slip, which is nice. Two days ago my grief began. I parked the car on a hill for an hour or so, came back, and it was hard to start and blew a lot of unburnt fuel smoke. I was puzzled to say the least. I knew the carburator had issues, so I ordered a new one from NAPA. When it came I installed it and nothing changed. WTF??? I checked the oil, and the crankcase was completely full of gasoline. I thought about it for a while and realized that as the carb had been changed, it may be the fault of the fuel pump. I removed it and sure enough, the diaphragm was leaking. I changed it out, drained the crankcase, let it air out for a few hours, and put in fresh oil. I ran the engine for a few minutes, and then changed the oil and filter again. Now all is well and I am thanking my lucky stars that I didn't destroy that beautiful and rare high-compression 455. The car goes hard and is wonderful on the highway. As a couple of red-light drag racers can probably attest to, it's definitely a sleeper! Good luck with your Buick endeavors, and have fun. Thanks for reading! Edit: First two pics are of the car as it is now, the third one is the old gramma car I first looked at! Gotta love what some suspension work and wheels can do! :eek2:
Donovan, that is one kool ride, man. It certainly is amazing what stance and wheels will do to a four door -- or any car for that matter, really! :TU: Glad to see it comes in handy for utilitarian purposes, as well! :laugh: Unfortunately, four doors don't get the attention that I think they should!
Thanks! It is a great car to drive... I actually appreciate the fact that the 4-doors don't get much attention as they probably don't get stolen as often! :TU: Also, as I mentioned in the story, they are in fact a better car to drive. This is my fourth A-body car (two chevelles and a beaumont) and the others were all two-doors. Let me tell you, on an wet or icy road the 4-door is infinitely better! The project is not yet complete though, as I still have to get the HEI recurved and everything all dialed-in. I've been stalling a bit though because I am afraid to hurt the rest of the drive-train! lol
Thats an awesome 4 door. I dont normally like the high up stance like that, but it really fits your car. Oh, and the photo with the Kayak on the top of it, thats awesome :TU: I've often thought about strapping ours on top of my GS, but I'm afraid of losing the boat without a rack or anything.
Fabulous! A BEAUTY!!!!I have a 70, identicle paint, factory original 100%, picked it up from the orignal owner 350/350 car. A rolling museum. I have been trying to resist the urge to drop the big block drivetrain and suspension it it but I think you just pushed me over the top. After the vert is done next summer, the 4 door is going to get the treatment. how about a shot of the interior and the engine room? :beer :TU: :3gears: in the 4 door!
Thanks! Here's a few more pics, the first is the way the stock 350 looked the first time I saw the car. The guy's wife ran it low on oil, and it had a loud knock, which everyone assumed was a rod bearing. Upon tearing it down however, I went to pull the cam and it went "knock" every time I turned it, and so it should when the cam bearings are completely gone! I found them in the oil pan!!! I still have the engine, and figure I may rebuild it one day as it is a 1970 engine. I was puzzled about that at first until someone pointed out that a few 71, 72 cars got 70 engines in some weird logistical blessing! Second is of the dash, minto deluxo other than the two cracks in the wheel, and the grime on that lovely disc brake pedal (which was ultimately my reason for buying the car in the first place!). I had just watched a friend drop $2500 doing the discs on his chevelle, and the car was mine for $1500! Third is a shot of the 455 (sky opens up and choir goes AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!) ready to go into the car. It's never been rebuilt, has 60K original miles on it, and came from a 1970 electra 225 that had a smashed in fender and grass and trees growing up through the car somewhere in Saskatchewan! It's an SF motor, and is rated at 370HP, but I doubt it is really 10HP more than the stage one of the same year. However, it is tight and chugs real nice, but it really hates regular gas, and even todays premium is iffy! Definitely no lack of passing power in the rockys though! The drive from Edmonton to Vancouver is the true test of any powerplant... it got an A-, but needs some dialing in! :3gears: Fourth is a shot of the engine compartment just after the 455 ran for the first time. I realized I don't have a shot of the motor bay with the air cleaner on, and all cleaned up, but I'll grab a shot in the next day or two. Anyway, it fits in there pretty nice... Also, in keeping with the sleeper spirit, I rebuilt all the brakes, top to bottom, put on an oversize anti-sway bar from a late 70s camaro, boxed in the rear control arms, and installed a heavy duty rear sway bar as well. The car drives better than new! As you can tell, I'm pretty happy with the results of my blood, sweat, tears, and of course money! Not including my time, I think I am into this car for close to $10,000 canadian. I suppose I could have bought a used Neon with that money, what was I thinking!!!!!!
I have a set of racks that fit the car nicely, and my sea kayak is 22 feet long, which is almost exactly the same length as the car. Fortunately for me, the 455 doesn't seem to care about the extra drag! :TU: For me the stance is just right as I sometimes find myself driving 30 miles of logging roads to find the right beach! :grin:
Nice car and pictures and I sure heard the angels on the engine picture :TU: .I also agree on the stance,makes it look too mean for granny now :laugh: .
Gotta love that BBB eh! A few weeks ago I was in the Queen Charlotte islands and a friend of mine, who recently became a grandmother, had car troubles. So I lent her the car for a few days, and all the young fellas in the little town she lives in were drooling on her! I almost had to beat her to get the keys back!!!! :grin:
For sure, I don't think there are many 4-doors the survived the crush of the 80s! I pass through there from time to time as I have a good friend on Lasqueti island...
That's one 4-door I wouldn't mind driving. The dash really is mint, and the original engine looked pretty damn clean too. Just how many miles were on that thing? (Sorry if I missed it). I wouldn't doubt if it was really low original. Good score. :TU:
Well, the odometer read 71,000 miles, but since the numbers didn't line up, I'm sure it was wrapped once. The interior is beautiful because it was garaged its whole life. The front seat has a bit of wear, and a small rip on the drivers side backrest, but otherwise it is all good. Even the original floormats are fine. I removed it, but there was even a GM space heater under the dash, so you could plug that in with the block heater on a cold morning and it'd warm the interior up! I also removed the AM radio and put in a nice MP3 deck. Had to enlarge the holes in the package tray a bit to fit in some nice speakers, but didn't have to mess with the rear-defogger or anything. The original engine looked ok from above, but it was a huge mess underneath because there were multiple oil leaks. Mostly oil pan, but also some from the timing cover and rear main. Rope seals, what were they thinking?!!!
That thing sure didn't look like it traveled 170K. :shock: Question about your new deck, how did you install it? What did you use to mount it and cover the gaps? I removed the radio bezel and was looking for mounting kits that could work for a DIN but haven't found any yet.
I cheated and found another bezel that fit and chopped it! The steering in the car was worn out, ie centerlink, idler arm, etc.. so I am sure the car had more than 70K miles on it. It was just well taken care of insofar as I can tell...
My father has a 18 ft cedar strip double Kayak and a plastic one as well. Nice place to enjoy the Pacific Ocean!! I'm going out with him and my younger brother tomorow!!! I'm curious what you did to make the car sit so high? Stiffer springs? Air shocks?
Enjoy the ocean tomorrow, let's see a pic of that kayak! I put station wagon springs in the rear because a set had landed in my lap and the original ones had the rear end dragging on the ground! I think the rear is a little higher than stock, maybe an inch or so, but there is probably that much height again from upsizing the wheels and tires from 14s to 15s... The front springs on the other hand I haven't touched, even with the additional weight of the big block they seem fine. The suspension is firm, but not uncomfortable when doing many hours on the highway in a day. I finally got around to playing with my distributor today. It is a transplanted HEI from a late 70s smogger 350, so the curve and vacuum advance were totally wrong for the engine. It isn't quite bang on yet, but I'm getting closer. I put in lighter springs and an adjustable vacuum advance. I hope I don't destroy something in my driveline while fine tuning it! The 455 is a monster, and god bless the lady who checked the disc brake box when she ordered the car!!!! :beer
I have two. One is a 1970 2bbl which to my knowledge has never been rebuilt, although it was run low on oil and was missing its cam bearings when it came into my hands. The cam is in decent shape although I would have it resurfaced if I was to run it. But it, and the heads, etc, are in good shape and the engine is complete, from fan to air cleaner to starter. The other is a 1980 4bbl that needs a rebuild. I would be hesitant to sell the 1970 engine though because it is the original motor for my car...
