'73 GS 455 Stage 1

Discussion in 'Ebay Parts and Cars' started by V8Sky, Nov 19, 2010.

  1. Mike Sobotka

    Mike Sobotka Founders Club Member

    More than I was prepared to bid, but forgot about it and missed it. If it is as dry as it should be for that part of California it was worth the money. Got 4 73's anyways, dont need another one!!:TU: :TU:
     
  2. Bigpig455

    Bigpig455 Fastest of the slow....

    Glad you forgot!

    I've got someone headed out there to look it over this weekend, but I talked to the owner's daughter for a long time... the car spent all of it's life in the desert, with an occasional trip down to LA. I'm surprised the interior, paint and top arent baked worse than they are. The rear seat and package shelf dont look to bad, and she tells me just the paint on the trunk is checked.

    Since you seem to be pretty familiar with these cars, please give me your take on production numbers for Stage 1 4spds - I've heard everything from 8 to 100.

    Thanks,
     
  3. Eric B

    Eric B John 3:16

    92.
    I don't think it's a lot of money. Think about it, people are gladly paying $10,000 for a 7 year old minivan right now.
    http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=123153&highlight=73+stage
     
  4. Timonator

    Timonator Silver Level contributor

    I think it's worth every penny. Where are you going to find another one like that. I just wish I has the means to do it.
     
  5. Brian Albrecht

    Brian Albrecht Classic Reflections

    HellOOOOOOO Eric,
    How are you? I've purchased a minivan in my past and paid roughly 3 times 10k for it. The word "gladly" wouldn't describe it's purchase in any way. It was about as exciting as picking up a gallon of milk at the slurpie shop.
    :Dou: :beers2:
    Very cool car - hope the new owner lives in the USA!
     
  6. Bigpig455

    Bigpig455 Fastest of the slow....

    Update 4-8-11:

    Car arrived today via enclosed trailer to the east coast. I was very pleased that is is exactly as described.

    The prior owner just basically put on 100,000 miles and put it away...inside, in the California desert. I cant believe the condition!

    The paint is thin, sandblasted on front surfaces and checked on the decklid but all original and will buff out relatively well. No rust anywhere, especially around the quarter glass or under the vinyl top (which is also in very good shape). The bumper cushions are missing some lengths of the white insert here and there, but are uncut and straight. Ive never seen original quarter glass trim like this before, it has shrunk some, but is intact and not crazed or cracked.

    The interior needs a front carpet, but the package shelf is beautiful , as is all that hard plastic that is dry and chalky in every other car I've had or seen. (!) The steering wheel isnt even cracked.

    Every part ever taken off the car came with it (except the carb) - air pump, manifolds, shifter, transmission, etc..even the a set of seat track covers that he took off at some point.

    It runs and moves under it's own power - no small accomplishment for a car that sat so long all the brake fluid evaporated - 26 years near as I can figure, and the owner was hazy on it. Doesnt idle great and cranks like it may have jumped time, but has good oil pressure. I'll dive into all that later this month.

    It also has a ton of aftermarket accesories cleanly installed - a vacuum drive air compressor (that I cant figure out how to use), a PA system which my daughters think is hysterical, the obvious speed parts and side pipes and toggle switches that do things I havent figured out yet (One is for the Kenne Bell SP trans , I got that) - an easter egg every where you look.

    I tried to ask the owner why he had made all these modifications.. he's not young and hazy on the details, but his response was "I wanted to go faster"..

    As I get his car cleaned up I'll post more pictures, but it is truly a time capsule..It's nice not to get burned every once in a while!
     

    Attached Files:

  7. Tom Miller

    Tom Miller Old car enthusiast

    Congrats, nice car:TU:

    The 73's are great cars, and very unique.
    They grow on you, and after a while, you won't even look at boring 70-72's.
     
  8. Bigpig455

    Bigpig455 Fastest of the slow....

    Thanks Tom, and I have to admit while I waited for this to arrive I spent alot of time re-reading the article on yours and daydreaming. Your ETs were pretty impressive for a 4200 lb car on 3.42s.

    It may not be this year, but I'll have this one up at Lebanon Valley. This year I'll be running the 65, but I'm going to miss the first pure stock this month as I'm out on vacation.

    Are you going to run the Olds this year?
     
  9. Bigpig455

    Bigpig455 Fastest of the slow....

    More questions for everyone...

    This car appears to be completely original, an the owner confirms that he never made any cosmetic changes or had any collision work done. Yet, the car has a Chrome grill, chrome headlight trim, no "Gransport" grill badge and is badged as a 455 when it is a Stage 1 car. The engine badging has been discussed here already, but has anyone else seen one configured this way? and if you look at the build sheet (which came withthe car) it specifies the TL1 GS grille and mono(gram?) and the T83 GS headlight doors

    Also, this car has argent painted rally wheels with chrome trim rings. I assume they're part of the WA8 radial tire package ("highly styled" 15 inch rims?) Are they fairly common?

    Eric B. gave me some feedback on the options some time ago, but we never discussed those.....

    Attached is a copy of the build sheet - according to Eric it's one of one. I dont know if you can truly claim that if something like California Emmisions becomes the deciding factor.

    Thanks again for everyone's feedback
     

    Attached Files:

  10. Rich Johns

    Rich Johns Platinum Level Contributor

    Rhett
    Congrats on this Gran Sport, very unique special piece ,glad you are giving it a good home.
     
  11. Bigpig455

    Bigpig455 Fastest of the slow....

    Thanks very much Rich, I'm pretty excited about this one...

    And as a correction - the steering wheel has the usual cracks, I was just looking under that crappy wrap in all the wrong spots. I remember the comment that the car is begging for a sport wheel, and i have a really nice black 78 "turbo sport coupe" wheel that may go on for a while, but I'm a sucker for the base wheel. My first car was a 71 Skylark Custom with the same wheel, and it just feels good. Has anyone had any success with the usual methods of restoring these wheels?

    I really should probably move this thread out of the e-bay section.
     
  12. nitrousfish

    nitrousfish Dave Fisher

    Great find,I dig the sidepipes...far out man!
     
  13. gabe

    gabe "GOOSE"

    Congrats!! Great car, love those '73-'77 regal/Century's!! Good luck!
     
  14. 73BuickGS455

    73BuickGS455 A Long Restoration

     
  15. Bigpig455

    Bigpig455 Fastest of the slow....

    Thanks again to all -

    The 4 speed will be going back in, but first I want to get it running right and get the A/C working.

    Amazingly, the previous owner saved everything - every last nut , bolt and clip from the 4 speed conversion came with the car. At some point he started driving the car to Los Angeles alot, so he put in a Kenne Bell switch pitch Turbo 400 with a 3k hi-stall converter and a B&M ratchet shifter.

    Also, he saved all the clamps, pipes and hangars from the original factory exhaust, and you should see the papers - every pre-delivery knob hang tag, all the financing paperwork, the window sticker (stickered for 5556.42, he paid 4900.00)
    build sheet and every reciept for every dime spent on the car. And handwritten notes on every modiifcation he made - electric fuel pump, cam choice, distributor curve... even information on stuff he tried on the car and replaced - a Thermoquad carb (replaced with a Holley 4165 for 195.00 in 4/86) and Hays electronic ignition..I've spent hours going through this stuff....Incredible.

    The only things the owner ever got rid of was the original mufflers and strangely, the original Q-Jet. I asked him about it and he thought he gave it up for a core at some point....
     
  16. Rich Johns

    Rich Johns Platinum Level Contributor

    Rhett
    The fact that your car has incorrect grill ,no Gran Sport grill emblem is probably when car was coming down the line, no GS grill was available so car just received regular grill and no emblem.The frequency of these cars being built was low so it is understandable that this car was built with regular Century pieces to keep the line moving.
    Same with Stage 1 fender emblem.
    Your car should have these items as noted on your buildsheet.

    If it were my car, I would gather the items and replace them to correct the factory woes.
     
  17. Bigpig455

    Bigpig455 Fastest of the slow....

    I'm torn on that one....correct it or leave it as built...???

    I probably will grab the correct parts along the way, but truth is I was never a big fan of the whole 73 blackout look. I kinda like the way the chrome stuff looks, and as long as we've got the "fake/clone" thing out of the way, I might just keep it that way.

    Now to make up my mind on the sidepipes. They sure do sound cool though.
     
  18. Hawken

    Hawken Hawken

    Either way you go - correcting the factory line mistakes or keeping it as built with the "errors" - you have a highly documented & rare '73 GS Stg1 4-spd, so any questions asked by others (from the "keep it", "correct it" or "is that real" crowds) will be resolved and it only comes down to your preference.
     
  19. bignastyGS

    bignastyGS Maggot pilot

    Of all of the 73 GS's I have seen,have info on and researched, Not one has had a regular Century grille installed unless it was replaced by the previous owner. I am not saying the man you purchased it from or you are lying,but you did say he was hazy on some things. It would look a whole lot better in my opinion to replace the grille to a stock piece. But,it's not my car and suggest you do as you would like.
     
  20. staged70

    staged70 RIP

    How about some pics with all that desert dust washed off and some elbow grease added to that paint. As to the grille I say add the stage 1 callouts and find a GS grille. You do not have to install it isf you like the one you have . But if you decide to sell I would want the GS emblems and grille :)
     

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