Is GSX #539 gone or can it still be "restored"?

I am sitting here wondering what people will think of my GSX back half project then.... I have to original frame from the back part of the rear window forward, and a body shell with the floor and trunk cut out but all dat code correct. I have a new replacement floor and sheetmetal to make it a whole body once again. Missing are the engine and trans as well as the rear,but I have a code correct 70 rear that wont be used as it's original frame is backhalved and it now has a back braces ladder bar ford 9 inch rear that will have wheelie bars.. Do I care??? Nope..My car,my build,my money. Others opinions don't and wont matter. I wont pass it off with the wrong intentions..Peope will wonder when they see a cowl tag with QQ on it and huge ass tires on it.

 

I wouldn't lose any sleep how many have chimed in with absolute documented prof of a 100% matching car

 

If you are doing the work to sell it then id say you might be wasting your time. If you do it because you enjoy to process, and then enjoy what you built, then id say you cant buy that kind of enjoyment. In the end it is just a vehicle. It is what you make it.

 

It's a very rusty car with great options. My dad sold the car new here at the local Buick dealer. If I was in it for the money, this was not the right car to start with. Over the years, I've travelled all over the eastern part of the US rounding up parts to finish it. NOS quarters, rust free BW frame, etc. It needs just about everything, but the drivetrain is all there and I'm the 3rd owner. If or when the car gets done, I believe the "soul" will be there. If someone else had ended up with the car, it would have been parted years ago. I understand both sides of the argument, but it's about saving the cars for me.

IMO, the X is gone. If the correct year shell was used and it had the original frame or at least a 70 BB frame, maybe it's a different story. Maybe not.

 

Some of you seem to think that a car body can not be restored back to "as good as" factory and another shell has to be used.

That simply is not true most of the time. I can give you two excellent examples (there are many more) just on this site where some folks might have been tempted to take the easy way out but the bodies were saved:

http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.p...ion-Thread&highlight=restoration+1970+stage+1

http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.p...ect-quot-Kokomo-quot&highlight=project+kokomo

How can anyone knock the quality of work being done in these two threads or question the car's legitimacy even though a lot of metal is being thrown around? Instead, we've offered accolades reflecting our belief that "this is how its done" in reply after reply. The workmanship is better than factory. And these talented men are not alone. This sort of bodywork is going on in shops and garages all across the United States everyday of the week. We tend to focus on failures but there are so many stories to celebrate.

Sometimes it's not the "easy" way, but its the right thing to do when you're restoring and not rebuilding.


IF you lack the skills or funds (or both) to tackle a major project,

1. Don't buy it in the first place

2. If you've already made the mistake, test the waters for a buyer and see if someone else may have the skills or funds

or lastly

3. Part it out

I.E. You found a #'s GSX that is too far gone to realistically save, but hey, the price was right. Now what? Pull the drivetrain and whatever else and drop it in a Skylark and you'll have the coolest Skylark ever! Paint the Skylark Saturn Yellow. Add the stripes. Cool car. Now be proud and enjoy it. But don't commit fraud for whatever justification you can come up with and start switching tags.

To do anything else isn't saving anything. The majority of us understand that. The poll is reflecting that as is a lot of the excellent commentary...

 

I wasn't going to post anything else, but you're elaborating on my earlier post in that where do you cross that line where there's so little of the shell that's salvageable that you are in essence re-bodying the car? I'm more or less agreeing with you here as it sounds like you're saying that because of all the blood, sweat, & tears (or $ if you're paying someone) that has gone into "saving" what little may be left of that shell, that the "soul" of the car has been saved, or in other words (mine, not yours), that as long as that orig. VIN/rivets (or even the firewall) are in tact then the soul of the car had been preserved.

I was thinking about this last night as I look for a hood for a car, and thought, visually, the only real difference (at least 69-72) between a Skylark & a GS is the grille & Hood (& the deck lid on a GSX). Of course they, like everything else they're replaceable (including the shell parts - It's just spot welds instead of bolts) so I could argue (& I'm not, I'm just saying there are many ways too look @ this) that the hood & grille (& GSX decklid) are the soul of a GS (GSX). How many cars out there have their orig. (Date coded) hood & grille? On my old basket case GSX, I was thrilled that the hood & decklid were nearly perfect as other than the firewall & pass floors & basic shell structure, that was about it.

 

Yes. Exactly. Thank you.

 

Sorry but I strongly disagree, I've replaced more panels than I can even remember, be it both on new cars and old stuff, and Im sorry but what we do and what the factory do are two different things, we can get close ,sometimes scary close to OE but we simply don't have a way to dip a car in ECoat or get every last bit of sand out of all the crevices after blasting, or getting the correct type of sealants in every location after acid dipping one etc etc etc. Let alone putting in aftermarket crap or even using NOS stuff which I still say was stuff that was run out of tolerance or etc. You put an aftermarket wheelhouse in and mate that to an aftermarket rocker etc etc and let me know what all has to be done, sure you can cut and modify whatever you need to make work but what about the back side of all the pie cuts, welds etc that simply can't be reached, what happens 10 yrs later....? Moral of the story is I'm very capable and I take the solid original body over the pieced together one ANY DAY AND EVERY DAY. Just one body guys opinion

 

You're not quoting me but I assume your finding fault with my statements and lashing back :blast: (not that it was over reaching or sarcastic in anyway).

I was avoiding a direct response to you so I didn't hurt your head so much. :Smarty:

Then, I thought I owed you a beer because I actually broke it. :beers2:

But you said this and left me uzzled:

You're going to have to do some 'splainin Lucy. Does this mean you voted it is no longer with us? Because of the frame? I read the SAAC definition, and it doesn't look like it fits a production Buick. o No: Apparently you're more familiar with it than I am so I am eager for enlightenment.

 

My bodywork is 10 years old, as is the paint. I wasn't there but I'll bet it looks better than Flint in February 1969. I'm not worried about the next 10 either. I know at least one place where we improved on what was done in 1969, and that's not even taking into account the modern day finishing materials.

I get your point, and it is a valid one if you're going to drive around in bare metal like one of those street rod guys.

Don't you think Bowling Green's concours line up looks pretty tasty?

Most cars 45 plus years need some bodywork. There are very few "day one" bodies out there. We all wish we could start with one, but where would the fun be in that?

Keep on doing what you're doing and don't look back!

 

No apologies necessary dude. Seriously, I want to know what you're trying to convey with the SAAC "air car"...

 

http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.ph...n+1970+stage+1

http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.ph...project+kokomo

I just checked out these threads and I have to agree that almost any vehicle can be restored. Whether you do it depends on your skill levels, if you do it yourself. Or, your wallet level if you farm it out.
Changing both the whole body shell and frame is restoring that body shell and frame, not the vin tag you decide to attach to it.

 

Brian, you're right on there, the restored cars are better than they ever came from the factory. I sometimes look at my 69 and realize how quality control back then was pretty much non existent.
gary

 

Sounds like it has value, if only to you(sounds like a great car to me) I'd definitely be "putting in the effort" if it were mine. Sounds like you have a plan, a vehicle and are well on your way to having the parts to "make it right". All you need now is time and more money. I hope you get to it.
Is there a thread on your doings so far? I love a restoration story.

 

Looks two day old fresh to me ! Like you said modern materials and skilled craftsmen . Better then anything the General made .
DL


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It's not all about the finished product that you see with your eyes guys, much more too it than that, you wouldn't understand till you've done it I suppose. You put most cars that have been redone back into service of the daily grind and you would probably be shocked at how fast things deteriorate. Granted we don't do that with our cars so maybe that is a moot point, but you can't compare the two as if they are put in the same situations.

Another thing to consider is 1 out of 10 auto body guys know what they are doing the rest are butchers so most people are going to only get lipstick put on a pig at best, so if they want something that is going to hold up then an original body is a MUCH more safe bet. I've had to redo cars that looked great but weren't welded correctly, were eat up in film thickness and started basically breaking down, one fella brought me a Chevelle convertible he bought in Charlotte that looked great, straight bodywork, sharp lines,nice gaps etc to bad that after 3mnths of regular driving the doors were trying to eat the 1/4panels and every time it rained your feet would get soaked, and dash would short out due to water running in from the firewall. Car had been thru many hands and left his when I told him it would need 20k in repairs,... Car looked great tho...

Of course redone cars "look" better, when done correctly. We can spend hours and hours making a door and fender gap look like we want not 3min while walking with 100 more to do rite behind it. Materials are better you say? Lead made paint awesome call and talk to any paint rep over 45yrs old and see how they feel about that statement, alot of the stuff that made stuff work so well aren't in material anymore. There are exceptions to the rule but in general but does anyone remember all the clear and white that came off every car manufacturers vehicles back in the 90's-2010ish I still get the occasional white Toyota,Ford,Honda etc around 2006/09 with the white coming off in sheets