Hi all, This week I had another opportunity to look at another 70 GS 455 from the Kansas City Leeds plant. I looked at the 70 Skylark/ GS Rubber Bumper Cushions. This is the fourth car I have looked at and have collected the rubber cushions for. All the Leeds Built cars were built before December 69. All of them had the referenced 71/72 style rubber bumpers but all had 70 rear bumpers attached. 1970 GS 455 Built 9A (will look) 1970 Skylark Built 11A 87k 1970 GS 350 built 11c (dont remember) 1970 GS 455 4spd 11d 44k I know that there is information going around that the 70 style is different than the 71/72. Is this published anywhere because my knowledge from leeds cars are not matching up. I know about different locations and manufactures and leeds was a GMAD facility. Do other GM makes use the same cushions as Buick. This is intended not to be a debate just curious what others have found or additional thoughts on this topic.
No I could be wrong. The notes I used for this were from when I first started with the Buicks. I will be interested to see what everyone has. Duane
I have it reversed. This is from my 70 GSX complete with yellow overspray when someone did a paint job. I used a set I didn’t have to clean paint off.
Thanks guys for the great conversation, I am trying to put my car back to near factory shape. But I was struggling with this topic as I was suggested that mine were wrong. I can see where a car may need one later bumper cushion due to collision damage or the like. Again I am not blaming anyone or saying anyone is wrong. I just had more than one occurrence with this issue.
It’s a shame GM didn’t see fit to put raised up part numbers on these like they did the radiator rubbers. Best bet is knowing a car is untouched and that’s what you use.
Dave, I agree. One of the problems I have with my 70 455 4spd is it is a leeds car. Leeds was a GMAD plant that made more than one make and model on their lines. As a results sometimes parts were not available for certain cars so they would grab parts from other makes. An example of this is my clutch pedal pad. My clutch petal pad was installed with a chevy style clutch pedal with disk brakes. However the manuals say it should have a solid black pad. I have also heard of a chevy stamping on body bushings on some cars. I am going to look at mine once I pull it off the frame. Most of this is redundant as we cannot see them once installed but it is also good to reference what is correct so that people do not mistake parts that may be correct. Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
There were two different clutch/brake pedals that were assembly line optional so maybe they are not wrong? One style has all horizontal lines and I am pretty sure the other style has a cross pattern of lines. The second type is what was in My GSX. Is that what you have? If it had a disc brake marking on it then that is wrong if that’s what you mean? I’m pretty sure mine were original. They had plenty of wear. As far as the rear bumper fillers. I think it would be tough to fit the 71 style on the 70 number. They have more of a lump on top. I don’t think they would have made them available on 70 model run for this reason. Curious to see what you find.
Dave, mine is Definitely wrong but it is what the car came with from leeds. I have multiple references that it was on the car as early as 81.
Despite the fact the parts book shows only 2 part #'s, I'm aware of a 3rd type. You can see the hole is like teardrop shaped on one and not the other.
I'm really can't help much on this Phil. The ones with the GS emblem were sold on ebay some time ago and the seller said they were 70 only. My car is a Fremont (GMAD) 1970 GS455. It was supposedly "restored" when I bought it, but there were countless things wrong or missing on it. One thing I noticed is the rubber flap where those bumpers are was held on with screws. All of the cars I know of have staples. A few years ago, somebody finally said their car had screws also (Fremont). So, clearly there were differences depending on where the car was built. All you here is Flint...Flint...Flint The bumpers? The upper 2 pics are supposed to be 70-72, but we know there's a difference. Here's another interesting pic:
My 72 is a Fremont car. I bought it while in service in California. Thanks for your input on your experience with Fremont Cars.
Dave, I am not suprised to see it. I actually saw another one from the kansas plant as well. I think it was what they had in stock or new guy. my car was also an 11D car (Thanksgiving). Maybe tryptophan poisoning.