Hi All- Just signed up. I've got a '71 GSX sitting in storage that's been in the family since my dad bought it in '71 when it was six months old. I got it in High School, but college drained my money wise and it's been sitting since 1981! (I know, it's a shame) I suppose that's good and bad news. It's only got 70kmi on it, and there's no rust, but mechanically it's been untouched for all those years. I finally moved to a place with a decent sized garage and I'll be bringing the car here shortly to begin getting her going again. I think initially I'm going to go through the motor, drivetrain, brakes, etc to get it road-worthy again. I'm going to need a ton of advice and I'm happy to have found this board!
awesome car!!! do you have pics of the beast? we all would love to see it...and drive it. Is it for sale??? :Brow: Adam
Kewl news.. Welcome to the board.. 2 things..actually 3 things 1) Join the Buick Performance Group immediately 2) Join the N.E. GS/GN Club in your backyard 3) Identify yourself when you post, so we's all knows who's ya be !! :Smarty: Welcome, Jim Haas:beer
TO 71GSX455-4SPD, A Big Welcome to the board !! This is the best place for any buick lover to come and share infomation with !!! Whats your name ? we would like to know... :TU:
Hope this picture attaches ok... As you can see, my car was the victim of some thieves long ago. You can see the hole in the hood where the tach WAS (they cut the wiring harness :af: ) and the grill is missing the GSX emblem. They also made off with the ram air filter assembly. Jim, I'd like to join those groups. Please steer me in the direction of how to go about doing that. I appreciate the heads up. I also plan to join the GSCA. And yes, I will sign my name from now on- starting right now! Ken Lisk
Does it run? I'm drooling. I wish I had that sight when I opened up my garage door. Adam At least I have a buick...that's a start:grin:
Ken, Great car! Looks like it needs some TLC. Take your time and do it right. There are people here to help!
Kewl ride.. Ken, I'm sure your thankful at this point, that whomever stole the emblem...didn't steal the grille too... I have a serious disdain for thieves...:stmad: Jim
Thanks Adam. The car has not been run since 1981. I'm guessing it probably would be a mistake to even try to turn it over. Gotta be some rust in the bores. What do you guys think? Should I even try to turn it over? Or will I just make matters worse? BTW, it's not for sale because I just could never sell it. I'm sure you know what I mean! Carl, I am definitely counting on help! And I do plan to do it right! The first time I waxed it was in 1971 when I was nine years old. It's like a long lost friend that needs a helping hand... Jim, I just did paypal for the Buick Performance Group. Thanks for the link. And yes, I gather the grill wouldn't be too cheap to replace. I've seen broken ones on ebay for ungodly amounts of money! What about a hood tach? Are there any originals to be had? I see Pontiac tachs on ebay all the time, but I don't think I've ever seen a Buick hood tach. Thanks, Ken
Welp.. Ken, put a notice herein in the Parts Wanted section for the hood tach...they ARE out there lurking... I'm sure you'll get a hit soon. You might be surprised how easily it will get back running again. Rebuild the carb, clean the fuel tank, new rubber fuel hoses, new battery, new fuel filter, new spark plugs....... and let it rip !! J
Hood Tach Ken, the original tachs don't come up for sale that often, but there are some reproduction ones available from several vendors. By the way, have you checked out Mark's site? He run's the GSX registry. It's got a lot of good information. GSX Registry Welcome to the group!!! Jeff
Beautiful car, Jeff! I've resisted buying a repro as I recall reading something about the way the lighting works (reflected vs direct or something like that) looks different than stock. Is there any truth to this? I did join that registry a while back, yes. I think it's great that someone is taking the time to attempt to gather up information on whatever cars are still remaining. Ken
Ken, I've heard that about the lighting as well. Something about it being back lit on one, and not on the other. Other than that, they seem to look correct. I think I have a post of someone upgrading the lighting on one. I'll see if I can find it. Keep us posted on the progress of your car. I always liked the lime mist cars personally. A neat, different color combination. Jeff
Welcome aboard Ken, I have a 71 GSX clone and an original 70 GSX that was also missing the hood tach.The repro hood tach from Poston I used for the 70 is indeed wired differently. Our cars originally had a 3 wire plug for the hood tach, one wire from the neg. side of the coil,one from the instrument light curcuit so it lights when the lights are activated and a ground wire. The newer type of tachometer used in the repros also need a 12 volt power wire to run the tach, so what they did was tap into the light curcuit for power to run the tach.If you simply plug the repro tach into your plug,you'll only have an operational tach when you turn your lights on.( you can guess how I found all this out). ou: I ended up running an additional power wire to power the tach and removing the connection to the light curcuit at the plug so I have a tach during daytime use. By the way,is your car a 350 or a 455 ?
Cars in Barns Wasn't this picture posted on Cars in Barns.com? I drool every time I see it. I covet thy grille Good Luck!
Hey Al, thanks for the response on the Poston tach. I wonder if the Year One works the same way? Geez, and I thought that it would be plug and play! p It's a 455 car, non-stage. StagedCoach71, as far as that car being on Cars in Barns, it is one and the same! In fact, that is the same pic! I also have a '96 Impala SS and had posted the GSX pic to our local forum as there was a thread on older muscle we have/had. A few months later a guy my wife works with showed it to her on the cars in barns site! Needless to say, one of my 'friends' in the Impala community submitted it. Come to think of it, I still owe that guy! :spank: Anyway, I have more pics of it if you think I might have heisted that one... There is a story about the grill as it was replaced once in the late 70's. The front bumper, passenger fender and grill took on a VW bug. The bug lost. Anyway, the body shop put on the grill you see and I noted it was different than the one that was there before. Now my father bought the car six months old from a family friend, and we don't think the grill was replaced before? uzzled: I'm pretty sure it's a correct GS grill now, so what the heck was on there before? Anyone hear of '71 cars coming thru with '70 grills? I can't remember exactly what the old one looked like, but remember thinking it looked 'meaner'. Ken
Ken: A '70 grille is completely different as are the headlight doors and hood lip molding. 1971 grilles are extremly hard pieces to find even in repairable shape. Crummy ones sell for 300+ on Ebay. Be VERY careful with that one! Other than Mr. Conleys '71 GSX, yours is probably the one I would pick of any Buick. Very cool ride. I would like to see more Pix if you have any. :TU:
