Newly acquired 69 Skylark Convertible

Hello all. I just inherited a 1969 Skylark convertible from my aunt that passed away. I've had my eye on the car since I was a kid. While I'm saddened by my aunt's passing I'm also happy to own a classic car (my daily driver is a 2006 Mustang GT). The car is being shipped from IN to AZ this week. I'm looking forward to getting to work on it and becoming a regular in these forums.

I wanted to post a pic, but I've learned that I must have 10 posts before I can do so. You can check out a few pics of the car in my V8 garage if you're interested.

 

69SkylarkConv:



Please put your first name in your signature, we are all here on a friendly first name base :TU:

Photos of the convertible:

 

sorry for your families loss. the car looks to be in good condition. you should have a fun time cruzin around in the warm weather here.

buickbert

 

Thanks for posting the pics in the thread Erik.

Robert, does anyone in Tucson get together for meets/shows?

-Jim

 

Welcome! Sorry for your loss, she must have been pretty cool to have had the flames on her ride! I hope you'll keep it and become part of the Buick community! BTW, Mustangs ain't bad, either!

 

She was. I'm not a huge fan of loud flames, but I like these because they are understated. What's funny is that she had a 69 Skylark convertible that she bought in the 70's. The main difference was that it had black interior. I fell in love with the car and she kept in until the mid 90's. By then it was a rust-heap and she bought this car. It's now in worse shape than it was in the old pics in the post, but I'll get it back on track once it gets to AZ. It mostly needs a good interior cleaning, a replacement door panel and some of the upholstery stitching is coming on undone on the driver seat.

-Jim

 

But, its a KEEPER without a doubt and I'm sure you'll get it up and in tip top shape before to long. Will be looking for photos to be posted in the near future. Would guess that it will remind you of your aunt every so often too when you are either working on it or just cruising around Arizona with your hair blowing in the breeze. :Brow: Will be looking for it and you too at some of the shows throughout our dry desert state. Till then, stay cool & have fun. Jim

 

Looks vaguely familiar:TU:

 

Welcome....I just got here too. This is a great forum!

Sweet Lark, there used to be one in my town growing up and I thought it was cool then too.

Nice photos.

 

Hi
Congrats with a nice car.

I also have a 69 , but the front fenders on our car have different moldings.
Why is that, were there different moldings on different models or?

 

Dunno Pontchief. Can anyone assist?

 

I am not any expert, but it looks like special de luxe had those fenders.

 

Here is a picture of 1968 Buick Custom Deluxe

 

Welcome 69SkylarkConv. Our condolences on the passing of your aunt. She had good taste in cars.:TU: Yes, your car does seem to have Special Deluxe trim at the top of the front fenders, and seems to be missing the three trim pieces on the lower part of the fender, or gills, as I call them.

Most of the '69 Skylark Customs that I've seen have a stainless steel sweep spear moulding running down the side of the car. I don't know if this was an option, or all Customs had this to help differentiate it from the standard Skylark. Also, a vertical piece with the tri shield emblem was added to the center of the grille surround.

Hope you decide to keep it.

 

The car is being delivered today. I feel like a kid on Christmas morning. LOL I Can't wait to get started on cleaning it up.

-Jim

 

Jim, please keep us posted.:TU:

 

I got off of work and couldn't wait to get started. The first thing that I did was pull the radio. The carpet was in terrible shape, so I decided to take out the seats and pull out the carpet rather than sampooing it until I order a replacement. I figured this would also allow me to start wiring for some amps and crossovers in the trunk. Much to my dismay, the front floorboards are rusted through. Doh! This car may turn into more work than I imagined.

My dilemma is that I'm not sure where to turn next. I'm going to search the site for info on removing the door panels. I've never done them with a manual window crank before. After that, perhaps general cleaning for now.

-Jim

 

IIRC you'll need a special tool to pop off the clip that holds the window handle on. You can get it at Sears, Checker, Autozone, etc.

 

Thanks Patrick. I was able to get them off using flathead screwdrivers, but it sure would have been easier with the proper tool. I'll pick one up during my next stop at the auto parts store.

-Jim

 

not sure if and buick guys really get together here. i know of a couple and ill see if we could get some of them together sometime. i know for sure that there is a all buick car show at royal buick on the first saturday in november. im putting my 455 back into my car this weekend and maybe next weekend but after that i would be glad to try to get some of the buick guys together, maybe at like they chuys on speedway or something. how bad does the rust look? any pics?

buickbert