1964 Buick Skylark Convertible mild custom project

LowFlyLark · Feb 4, 2015

Sorry, this is a little wordy but I wanted to start from the beginning and give all the needed details before I get into the actual project.

I purchased this car on eBay in 2004 from the Southern Cal area, I hit the Buy it now for $5000 with an email explaining I would fly in with the money and inspect the car. If the car was everything he said it was then the money would change hands and I would drive it home. I looked to <!--?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comSouthern Cal</st1lace> area with the hopes of getting a rust free car that I could drive as is. (The photos are from the original eBay listing.) The car looked great in photos but in person it was a nice driver that looked great from about 10 feet away. The owner of the car claimed no knowledge of any rust or body damage (of course) but he did not seam to have much actual car knowledge so he may have been telling the truth. He had receipts for an engine overhaul, transmission rebuild, new tires and new top. He listed the car with a Buy-it-now of $5000 and at the time that was reasonable. In our conversations we agreed that if I was to purchase the car I would fly to pick it up. (He said the car could be trusted to drive the 500 miles back home.) If the car was not as listed, I would take the money and run. (Never buy on line without an inspection from someone with car knowledge)

As I inspected the car I could see that it had fiberglass over rust in the trunk by the wheel wells. This is a typical A body trouble spots so I was not to surprised (except for the fiberglass). The rear quarters had filler around the lip and bubbles in the paint but it could not be seen from inside the trunk so rust was minimal on the rear. The floors looked good from under the car. The frame was solid and straight and I couldn’t find any damaged areas that had been repaired other than a few small filler areas and a big filler area over the left rear wheel well.

I decided it was what I wanted so we exchanged cash and title and I hit the road.

Soon after I left his driveway the turn signals stopped working, then come night fall I found the car had only one high beam headlight (so much for being road worthy). I spent the night in Southern Utah and the next morning I headed out in a lite rain only to find that the wipers did not work and the top seal on the windshield leaked on my lap.

When I finally got home and checked the lights three out of the 4 headlights were burned out, the turn signal parts in the steering column were busted and the windshield wiper motor was froze solid with rust. The seller had to have known these little problems and could have told me. Shame on me, I should have checked before I hit the road.

LowFlyLark · Feb 4, 2015

I have always liked to work on GM cars of the 60’s and I wanted something different from all the cars I see in the shows and meets. I like the 1964 Skylarks for the lines and the grille and I haven’t seen one in Utah for years. I had hopes for a car that would cruise with plenty of power but not suck loads of fuel. I also wanted one to stop and handle like the newer cars and there are loads of upgrades for the A bodies.
<!--?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-comI didn’t know much about the 1964 Skylark when I went searching and I lucked into this well equipped car. It was built with the 355 Wildcat. I have sense found that means 355 foot pounds of torque with 250 horse power out of 300 cubic inches. I’m told the motor was only made for one year in this configuration. It was built by GM with 11 to 1 compression, aluminum heads, aluminum 4 barrel intake and aluminum water pump, timing chain cover, and drive accessory brackets. This light weight power plant was used in the big Buicks and a select few Skylarks.<o></o>
The 355 is backed by the ST300 Switch Pitch transmission. Again very unusual for GM. It was used in both small Buick and Oldsmobile. I know many guys like this transmission but I don’t, the first gear is slow of the start, the extra switch pitch shifts are nice but I want lower first gear and an overdrive for cruiseing.

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The rear end, to my surprise, had the stainless steel Suretrack tag hanging on it. The rear gears turn just over 3 to one so I’m guessing 308 range.

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The car has A/C, power top, power brakes, power steering and dual remote door mirrors. Oh, let’s not forget the AM radio.

LowFlyLark · Feb 4, 2015

Looking through the papers that came with the car I was surprised to find that it was originally from the Great Salt <!--?xml:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com<st1lacename w:st=" /><st1laceType w:st=" on"="">Lake area. I hope someone will recognize the car and I can get some history.</st1lacename></st1lace>

It was an older amateur restoration. The paint was starting to peal and the seats started to split. It was originally white, and then light blue, then white again.

I got lots of ribbing from people about the dated wheels and the tall stance. The front springs had been replaced and they must have used big block springs.

One day I drove it to a small car show and the brakes failed. I narrowly slipped past a beautiful 62 Chevy Bubble top so it was time to make some changes.

I typically lower my cars with wide tires that tuck into the wheel wells and give them the muscle car look and stance.

Not far from my home is a shop that started Coy's wheels. I took the car to them and they set me up with tires and wheels that could lay the frame on the pavement if I wanted (And I wanted). The guys gave me a fantastic price with the agreement that I would tell everyone about them. They are fantastic, so please look up Coy's wheels. They are selling all over the West and you will find them on eBay as well.

Next, I talked to Universal Air Suspension in Arizona and I purchased a full set of air bags, shock relocation parts, valves, tank, and a Dakota Digital controller. The controller is self leveling with leveling sensors at each wheel. The control panel has full settings for all four corners or three settings for full dump, ride height or full up.

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LowFlyLark · Feb 4, 2015

While I was under the car installing the air suspension I noticed a few trouble spots. The fuel lines and brake line were rusted to the frame and the fuel was starting to weep through the rust. Also, the cross member that the seat and seat belts bolted to looked a bit thin and weak.

On the last few drives I was also starting to hear some moaning from the right rear axle so it was time to do some safety updates as well as tackle some rust issues.
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I lifted the car and took a hammer to some questionable areas and found more than I bargained for. The fuel line and brake line shattered with a tap of the hammer and the body mounts turned to dust. I am surprised I never blew out the brake line.
So, to do this car right the body was going to have to be pulled from the frame

LowFlyLark · Feb 4, 2015

As I mentioned, looking under the car the cross member that the seat and seat belts mounted to looked weak. When I pulled the carpet I could see that someone had cut away the floor pan to expose the brace. They cleaned out the brace and filled it with fiberglass. The fiberglass held moisture and the brace had turned to tissue paper. The rear floor had also turned to swiss cheese over the undercoating. It was amazing that none of this could be seen from under the car, the undercoating covered it all very well.

LowFlyLark · Nov 29, 2010

Since the body had to come off to replace the rear mounts and the cross member under the seats, (and the fact that this is a convertible) the body needed to be braced very well. I decided to do the rear quarters and inner fenders before I pulled the body. I wanted to make sure everything was aligned before the braces went on.

I aligned the doors, fenders and hood. I then proceeded to cut up the rear to see how much metal I would need to replace. The rockers and inner fenders looked good but the trunk floor was bad. The trunk floor was solid every where except the body mounts. The trunk floor looked like someone dropped the car off from a jack stand and pushed the stand up through the trunk floor then pushed it back down. The trunk floor was too stretched and twisted so it needed to be replaced.

I lucked out and found a quarter on a 4 door 65 in Arizona. The new quarter in the photo has the inner fender lip and the trunk trop off.

LowFlyLark · Nov 29, 2010

After lots of measurements. I trimmed the new quarter to fit and set it into place on top of the original. I checked, and rechecked to make sure everything fit. I marked the cut areas on the car and cut off all the old parts I didnt need.

As I was prepping the new panel to weld I noticed the body line that followed the trim looked like it dropped off more than I remembered (I didn't think to check the body line, it looked the same). I set the original stainless trim in place to make sure the holes lined up and .. Lots of 4 letter words started to flow from my mouth. :rant:

Take note. If you use 65 4 door quarters. The body line drops off gradually about an inch below the 64 Convertible lines. I thought I would cut close to the top of the fender to be able to hide the butt weld easier, but I had to turn this fender into a total hack job and piece it back together. OUCH. I am glad I used a thin die grinder to remove the old metal. Any heavy cutters and I would have ruined this quarter.
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I had to weld up lots of long temperary braces to follow the body lines and hold the parts flat. Then many hours of bumping and grinding and this side was finally done.

LowFlyLark · Nov 29, 2010

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LowFlyLark · Nov 29, 2010

After finishing up the disastrous right rear I started stripping the left rear. The fender lip had some minor rust that was repaired once but wasnt bad. The chrome trim was missing on this side so I found a trim piece to check the shape and WOW. The lip was so far off from the trim I couldn't imagine how it got that way. The quarter had filler from the lip to the top of the fender and it looked like a wash board. This fender was going to be harder to repair than the other one.

After removing all the filler (and there was tons) I could see that I needed another quarter and to my surprise the other quarter was still available in Arizona.

This quarter ended up pretty easy after that last one.

buickjunkie · Sep 29, 2010

Hi,

Welcome to V8Buick, Looks like you've taken the bull by the horns and making great progress. Keep the pictures coming.

Bruce

LowFlyLark · Nov 29, 2010

I Then brace the hell out of the topless shell and pull it apart. It was the frames turn for some needed attention.

scott kerns · Sep 29, 2010

DUDE YOU ROCK!!!! Welcome! Come down to south Florida and help me with my ride! How long did all this take? From your posts you either have time travel down or you did alot of work prior to your posts....:laugh:

Scott

LowFlyLark · Sep 29, 2010

hi Scott,

I would love to drive the Hot Rod power tour and head on down to Florida and help a fellow Buick lover.

Yep, I am in a little time warp with this post. I get questions from people wanting to follow my car build so rather than start from today I need to travel back in time to open the history book as well as follow the bouncing Buick.

I hope to get up-to-date in a few days of posts. Then it will slow down as I work a little each week to get this ride in paint and on the road again.

m.kozlowski · Sep 30, 2010

Great story! I'm waiting for more posts and pics. Keep up the good work

Sincecrazy · Sep 30, 2010

Its amazing the difference the tires/wheels, and stance make to your car. Looking good!

buickjunkie · Sep 30, 2010

the whole project is inspirational :TU:

LowFlyLark · Nov 29, 2010

This was the point of a major thought process. What do I want from the car and how major a build? Of course we all want to go over the top but I dont have 6 figures to through at a car. So what is going to be the biggest bang for my Low Budget?
I really didnt plan on going all out on this car. I wanted to be able to put the top down, hit a few car meets and maybe thrash the car through the curves at the local track. I would love a big block but then I would have to put a roll cage in to keep from killing myself.

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Final decision; keep it all Buick (as much as possible), get the best handling from wrecking yard parts, and modify all the little areas of the car that just dont look the way they should.

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I set the body aside and started into the frame. After making sure the frame was straight and solid I went after the cosmetics first. The sides of the frame can be seen and there are holes that are bothersome and not needed. So, I welded over and smoothed out. Someone towed something with a chain wrapped around the rear cross member and messed it up. I had to cut it off and smooth it out. I wire wheeled the frame and hit some areas with a grinder. I then treated the metal with rust wash from POR 15 and then two coats of POR 15 semi gloss black.

LowFlyLark · Nov 29, 2010

The right rear wheel was moaning the last time I drove the car so I stripped down the rear axle and the bearing was toast. I replaced all the bearings and seals, inspected the posi parts and gears and put it back together. I then painted it with POR 15 to match the frame.

While I had the control arms off I welded them up with plates to box them in and then filled them with Prothane bushings.

The shocks were new but blue in color so I painted them to match the brake pads and Prothane bushings.

I wanted to add rear discs but I didn't want the high cost so I searched the wrecking yards and found a full set off from a 96 Camaro. These work great with only a little bit of modification and hand made brake lines.

Sincecrazy · Sep 30, 2010

What kind of cost did the bag set up run? Id love to bag my 65 wagon.

LowFlyLark · Nov 29, 2010

The front suspension would not pass local safety inspection last time I drove it. They told me that the steering wheel had to much play. All the parts seamed tight except the box but I figured I may as well replace them. I purchase all new Moog tie rod ends, upper and lower ball joints and more Prothane stuff to finish it off. I put in a full rebuild kit on the power steering box as well. Nice and tight now.

I had a set of brake calipers from a Nova so I rebuilt them like new. I purchase a set of new spindles, rotors, pads, bearings, seals, mounting plates and splash shields from Summit racing. Notice the brake bleeder valve on the bottom, the braded brake lines bind up on the shock so I had to mount them upside down. I found out later that they will never bleed the air out this way.ou: I waisted many hours before the light bulb on my forhead came on. I flipped it over to bleed and then flipped it back to install.

When I put the air bags in the first time I welding in a mounting plate on the top of the lower control arms. The original spring and shock pocket area in the arms made it very hard to bolt down the bags so I cut that area off flush with the bottom of the arms. To make sure I didnt weaken the arms I boxed in the full underside. The shocks are relocated to the outside of the arm and frame. The upper control arms of these cars are unique to the Buick and Oldsmobile. These control arms dont have rubber bushings to flex. They are mounted solid with a steel slip style nut that is packed with grease to pivot on. These arms should almost be as solid as the expensive aftermarket stuff.