Price reduced to $15,000 Car is Sold. I have made a decision to sell the 72 Stage 1 4 speed that I acquired about 18 months ago. At this point in my life I am just not interested in doing a complete restoration involving a serious commitment of money, time, and parts. I'm getting too old(almost72) to tackle the restoration that this car needs. I'd like to see it done but someone else is going to have to do it. I am selling it for exactly what I paid for it. $16,500. I want to see it go to a Buick person that appreciates what it is, a rare Stage 1. I have done very little to it since getting it. Mostly took some things apart under the hood such as removing the radiator, fan shroud, a few brackets, etc. I have bought some parts for it that will be available separately to the buyer. These include a core support, passenger inner fender, and a passenger full rear quarter panel. These are all AMD reproductions. I also have a pair of 1970 front fenders that I recently had a professional restorer repair and prepare for installation. They have been primed, sanded, blocked, etc and are ready to bolt on for paint. It cost me a lot of money($2,000) to have them repaired and ready to use. I also picked up a few minor parts, NOS EGR valve, correct shifter knob. In addition I picked up a set of 15 x 7 steel wheels with a set of dog dish hubcaps. I have 7 hubcaps of which 3 are pretty good. The others need a lot of work. The wheels that are on the car are 15 x 7 Chevy rally wheels. I'm probably forgetting something but if I remember anything, I'll update the thread. Here is the link to the original post I made in February 2018 regarding the car. http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/new-toy-1-of-101.330455/ The car is located in central Ohio. Thanks, Larry
Good luck Larry. I remember when you found the car. I hope someone can give it the love that it deserves.
The '72 455 cars sold in California got a different intake manifold, an EGR valve, and a carburetor with a different calibration (and therefore a different part #). The order form shows it as option E5 Exhaust Emission System (req in Calif. only). This required option for California cars cost $15.00 by the end of the year (there was a price change during the year and it was a slightly different cost earlier in the year). It's pretty rare since only 33 of the 728 Stage 1 hardtops got this option (4.5%) and only 5 of the 81 Stage 1 convertibles got the emissions system (6.2%). Some people confuse this with the smog pump but the smog pump was standard on the 455 regardless of where the car was built or sold. A car sold in California would have both a smog pump and an EGR valve.
I can see them. I too rememember when you got this. Wish I was in a position to consider it. I love strippers and want another '72 someday. Silver might not be my first choice, but for this particular car I'd make the exception. Maybe @alain will take this one on since he's selling the '71.
It definitely has an EGR valve as shown on the attached picture. Poor picture but if I remember correctly, it still has a code on the valve. I'll have to look at it again. It is stored in an enclosed car trailer right now but I'll take another look and picture. The Sloan documentation doesn't show the E5 option marked on the report.
Must sell 1971 stage 1 to make room.Nice car. Last year for that body style.Looking at different options Alain
Where was the car sold new? Cars sold in California required the EGR valve, if sold in one of the other 49 states it was not required and therefore would not have E5 on the Sloan documents.
According to the Sloan paperwork, it was delivered to Dealer 07-464 Maxton Motors, Inc. Butler, Indiana. It was invoiced on April 11, 1972.
I may be wrong but I do believe if it was built at the Fremont plant in California it got the EGR valve and the different intake to accept the EGR valve. I don't think it matters where they ended up. The 72 I have was built at Fremont and was sold to a dealership in Colorado. It had the EGR valve.
Of the 728 Stage 1 hardtops built in 1972, 118 were built at the Fremont plant. Only 33 Stage 1 hardtops were built with the E5 Exhaust Emissions System. Larry's car was built at the Flint assembly plant.
After the discussion regarding the EGR valve, I decided to take another look at it and made a couple of interesting discoveries. Took some pictures of the intake and EGR valve plus looked at the 1972 Buick Chassis Service Manual which added some verification to the presence of the valve. The intake casting # is 1238323-1, with a C-17 casing date which matches the 04A build date of the car. Attached are the pictures and a picture of page 67-9 from the service manual which states that all 1972 Buicks with manual ,transmission and all California cars were equipped with an EGR valve. Larry
Larry that is great info! Thanks for posting it as I think this puts to rest any question about it being correct for not only your car, but for ALL 4-speeds. Notice that Richie posted above that his car was sold new in Colorado, not California, and yet it also has an EGR valve. His signature says it's a 4-speed as well. I just took a look through the assembly manual but I couldn't find any mention of the applications for the EGR. It just shows how to route the line. So it would appear that a 4-speed car gets the EGR included at no cost as part of the 4-speed and will not have E5 on the window sticker or Sloan documents. But an automatic transmission car built for sale in California would have to pay ~$15 extra. So what if a 4-speed car is built for sale in California? Free EGR or pay $15? Which also makes me wonder, why does a 4-speed car need an EGR valve and an automatic doesn't? We will probably never know why. I bet that the GS455 4-speed carb is also original to your car since all else appears to be unmodified under the hood and the date code lines up correctly. Sorry to get your ad off track but I learned some good info from your car and research today. Thanks. Good luck with the sale. It will be interesting to see what the buyer of your car decides to do with it, just make it run & drive or restore. Either way it would be cool to see it. I know I'd like to have it.