Hey all, my wife just bought an all original '69 Lesabre (350-4 w/400 tranny). It's a great car and she dearly loves it but I feel like she bought the red headed step child of the classic Buicks. Finding anything more than a small blurb about these cars is extremely tough. Can anyone recommend any books or websites about these cars?? Any help would be great!! Thanks, I'm sure I will be spending a lot of time here in the future.
My first big Buick (or any Buick for that matter) was a 69 LeSabre. It was a four door with the 350 2 bbl and 2 speed automatic (ST-300) that my brother and I bought to drive back and forth to college in the early 90s. We loved that car. It wasn't fast, and had absolutely no options, but it served us very well and made a great cruiser. We drove it hard on the trips to college and could occasionally still get 20+ mpg. It's basically the same body style as the 70 LeSabre, although I personally prefer the 69. Mine had pretty bad frame rot by the time it was all said and done. I had patched the frame up and was in the process of building it up into a drag race car :Brow: when my garage collapsed on it under a lot of snow. Probably a good thing, as my welding skills aren't all that great, but it was a sad day, nonetheless. Other people here have commented on the frame rot on these cars, which may be why there isn't much publicity about them around here. There may not be that many left. Just a theory. I was able to find patch panels for the quarter panels for my car, which is surprising considering more popular Buicks, like boattail Rivs, don't have much to choose from in that department. At least none that I've seen. High-perf Buick parts are typically pricey compared to other makes if you are planning on going that route, and the rear end is an oddball (see the sticky at the top of this forum) I don't know if you have the 9-3/8" 12 bolt or the 10 bolt, like mine had, but they're both oddballs and hard to find parts for. I've got some parts left. Engine, trans, hood, trunklid, misc. trim pieces, fender extensions, etc. The bigger stuff would cost an arm and a leg to ship to Oregon, but if you need any smalled stuff, let me know and I'll see if I have it. I'm not looking to make big money on this stuff, I'd just like to see it to to someone who likes Buicks. Nick
It really depends on what you want to do with the car. All the mechanical stuff is the same as the other Buicks of that year. For performance stuff and engine parts there's Poston Enterprises and TA Performance, both of which have websites and online catalogs (I think.) For interior and exterior, there's www.classicbuicks.com (I hope i get these sites right) and www.oldbuickparts.com. There are others, but I'm in Prague right now and don't have access to all the favorites that I've saved. Those I just remember off the top of my head. There's not too much in the way of replacement sheet metal available...rocker panel patches and lower quarter patches is about it. Now this is not to say you can't adapt sheet metal patches meant for other cars, but it'd be just that, an adaptation and would take more patience. Like Btail said, these cars have a bad habit of rotting out in the back. So check the frame back there and also up front where it turns in toward the engine. The trunk floor rots nicely too, especially around the body mounts. They are good cars, and my favorite, but don't have the following of the a-body's. So that basically just means you have to be a bit more resourceful in finding parts. This site is a good help too.
I have a list of Buick related links at my website, ronruelle.com/riv.html Much it is geared towards Boattail Rivieras, but many of the sources might be relevant for you. Enjoy! Ron
Thanks for the response!! It's nice to know that I can find some help with this. Lucky for us the car is very, very straight (1 owner, old lady) but we do have the trunk rot problem due to a leaky trunk seal. The other areas that you mention look solid, southern Oregon is a great place to find rust free or near rust free cars.....we don't get the rain here that everyone thinks we do, we are high desert. I think that we are going to try to leave this car pretty stock...it is my wifes and she doesn't appreciate horsepower like I do :grin: .....she just wants a fun cruiser and this fits the bill, plus the thing runs like a top. Thanks again!!!!
