All Wheel Drive AWD 71 Buick Skylark

Discussion in 'Members Rides' started by Brent, Dec 4, 2016.

  1. Brent

    Brent Founders Club Member

    I haven't posted for awhile again but here are some updates. I had shoulder surgery in March and was laid up for weeks. I had the frame sand blasted right before the surgery, so it sat for quite awhile. Most of the fab work was done. Check out the killer welds from GM, we welded over the bad spots. Which was actually alot.
     

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    Last edited: May 15, 2018
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  2. Brent

    Brent Founders Club Member

    A good friend of mine, Cory has a CNC plasma table and he cut out some plates for me to box in the frame. He even put dimple die speed holes in them to make it faster. It significantly strengthened the frame, before you could pick up a corner and twist the frame 3 or 4 inches. Now it barely flexes and will be way solid once attached to the body. I also reinforced all the suspension attachments and diff mounting brackets. Today I started painting it with bed liner and will take some pics when finished. Once it's painted I can bolt it back to the body with the polyurethane mounts and start hanging drivetrain and suspension parts on it. I am very excited to make it roller.
     

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  3. Smokey15

    Smokey15 So old that I use AARP bolts.

    Looks very solid now. With new mounts, it'll make the car a lot more rigid. Are you spraying a primer first? Inside the rails coated as well?
     
  4. rkammer

    rkammer Gold Level Contributor

    I've been watching this thread with great interest. Do you have any idea how much this car will weigh when it's complete? Gonna be heavy, I'm thinking. :)
     
  5. Brent

    Brent Founders Club Member

    I am just painting the bed liner straight on, that is great stuff. It sticks very well, has texture, and is pretty thick. I use it all the time and yes I painted as much of the inside as was possible to get too.
    Thanks
    Brent
     
  6. Brent

    Brent Founders Club Member

    I have been removing weight where ever possible, but I have added some as well. The extra frame parts, diff, axles, etc. will add weight. I would really like to use a fiberglass hood and bumpers to drop some weight, but thats not in the budget right now and I have good og parts. I am shooting for under 4,000 pounds, if I can do that I will be happy 3,800 would make me real happy.
    Thanks
    Brent
     
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  7. rkammer

    rkammer Gold Level Contributor

    Lighter than I would have thought. A pair of aluminum heads, aluminum intake, and headers will probably save you about 150 lbs off the front end.
     
  8. Brent

    Brent Founders Club Member

    Aluminum heads aren't in the picture right now, but I will run an aluminum intake and will have to fab a set of headers. I have also removed all the factory hvac stuff and am using a small heat/defrost unit, much lighter. I am toying with cutting the impact braces out of the doors and I will leave out some of the insulation in the interior.
    Thanks
    Brent
     
  9. Julian

    Julian Well-Known Member

    Awesome! Awesome work so far!
     
  10. Brent

    Brent Founders Club Member

    Again, this is work from the last couple of weeks. I painted the frame with bed liner, I love that stuff, and then bolted the frame back to the body. That was a PITA, I should have taken pics of how I lifted the body and got the frame back under it to help people out who might do that later on. I bolted a chain across the front and used an engine hoist to hold the front up, then I used 2 jacks with about 2 feet of cribbing to get the rear high enough to fit every thing. Once the frame was in place and on jack stands I VERY CAREFULLY lowered the body down on the frame. Once it was close and all the body mounts were in place the real work started. It was a pain to get all the bolts lined up and the mounts centered properly. Big pry bars shifting things sideways and front to back till all of the bolts had started, then more shifting to get the mounts lined up.
     

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  11. Brent

    Brent Founders Club Member

    Now that the frame is back in I started bolting parts on. Anyone who has restored a car knows how tedious it is to clean and paint all the little pieces, nuts, and bolts for the car. Front diff is in, all the suspension, axles, knuckles, hubs and coilovers. I am working on the steering parts now and will post pics when it's in.
     

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  12. what an awesome project. for me this is the most interesting thread here on the V8 board.
     
  13. Brent

    Brent Founders Club Member

    Again I haven't posted for awhile. I had a daughter get married last weekend, no joke it filled up the last month and a half of my life. I have the steering parts in and started putting the brakes together. I am using C4 Corvette ZR1 brake rotors, 13 inch, and the stock S10 calipers. The rotors are cheap and easy to get and the calipers are nice 2 piston jobs that are also easy to get. I made brackets to space the caliper out farther to fit the 13 inch rotors.
     

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  14. Brent

    Brent Founders Club Member

    Here are some pics of the caliper mounted to the bracket as well as how it looks through the wheels. I used a vinyl top roof emblem and modified it for the center cap. I think it gives it a nice 3 dimensional look, better than a sticker. Car is moving along very slowly but at least it is moving along, that's what I tell myself anyway.
     

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  15. sean Buick 76

    sean Buick 76 Buick Nut

    This is gonna rock!!
     
  16. Brent

    Brent Founders Club Member

    I haven't posted for awhile again, this work has been done over the last couple of months. When I integrated the front s10 frame with the front core support and bumper brackets for the Buick I had to remove the s10 sway bar mounts. So to install the 1 1/4 front bar I had to make new frame mounts for it.
     

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  17. Brent

    Brent Founders Club Member

    The next thing to build was the crossmember for the transfer case. I decided to make it out of tubing with 1/4 plate on the ends to mount it to the bottom of the frame. This isn't like a regular crossmember, I have to clear a front driveshaft and the transfercase hangs down pretty low. The crossmember follows the down angle of the t-case from the trans over.
     

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  18. Brent

    Brent Founders Club Member

    More pics
     

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  19. Brent

    Brent Founders Club Member

    I finished building the rear end for it, 8.5 ten bolt, bolt in axles, 3.42 gears and a helical gear limited slip. I got it installed with the rear coil overs. Yes I scratched up the paint pretty good.
     

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  20. Brent

    Brent Founders Club Member

    It feels really good to be able to put wheels on it.
     

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