Help--are my 69 GS400's floor and seats original?

Discussion in 'Chassis restoration' started by 69GS430/TKX, Oct 22, 2020.

  1. 69GS430/TKX

    69GS430/TKX Silver Level contributor

    I need knowledge from you who have worked on floor pans. Mine looks like it's been altered in places. So if you like solving Buick mysteries, here's the story:

    I bought my 69GS in 1978. It was owned by at least 2 other people before me, and it got butchered, er, "altered" along the way. Most of the evidence (the tags, plus the parts that don't seem to have been messed with) shows it was originally a GS400, non-A/C, black interior, made in the Fremont plant in April.

    BUT, by the time I bought it, it had a Skylark hood, a '69 430 engine, a Muncie with Hurst shifter, (no console, just a boot) and factory bucket seats. Most of the interior (headliner, back seat, door panels, dash, shoulder belts) seemed to be original. The carpet had been replaced with shag living room carpet and the front lap seat belts were missing. I found no build sheet on top of the gas tank, nor under the rear seat.

    So I know the hood, engine, and carpet were not what the car had when it was new. What I don't know is whether it originally had the bucket seats, or whether it had bench. I assume it's an original 4-speed car because the dash bezel doesn't have the PRND12 that auto trans car had.

    What makes me suspicious is that I recently pulled the seats and the crap carpet out so I could install repro carpet, and when I did, the floor pan looks funny in places. Some seams seem strange, the seam sealer was like clay, there were signs of welding, there are mystery bolt holes, and the seat mounting pads and hardware seem non-original. The transmission hump cut out for the shifter looks factory to me, but I am no expert.

    What can you tell me from these pics I took? I will post them in my next post. If you need me to take more pic, I can do that. Thanks for your detective skills!
     
  2. 69GS430/TKX

    69GS430/TKX Silver Level contributor

  3. 69GS430/TKX

    69GS430/TKX Silver Level contributor

  4. 69GS430/TKX

    69GS430/TKX Silver Level contributor

  5. 69GS430/TKX

    69GS430/TKX Silver Level contributor

  6. Duane

    Duane Member

    If you look up the trim code number on the ID plate on the firewall, it will tell you what was original for the car.
    Duane
     
  7. 69GS430/TKX

    69GS430/TKX Silver Level contributor

    Thanks for replying, Duane. I did look at my cowl tag a while back, but I don't see the info I am lacking. What can you figure out from it:

    ST 69-44637 BF 00846 BDY
    TR 188 880 (or 689 or 680 or 889--the 1st and 3rd numbers are vague) 77 B PNT
    04A 112902 253

    All I could decipher is that it's a GS400 2-door coupe from Fremont with black interior and top, Antique Gold paint, made in April 1969.

    Is the code designating seats and transmission in there somewhere? I am mostly wondering if my car originally had bench seats which were replaced with buckets, and the dudes who did the swap had to modify the attachment points because buckets mount up in different places than bench seats do. If GM standardized those locations so bench or buckets were interchangeable, then I will need to figure out what trauma caused my attachment hardware to look so cobbled together. I see amateur stick welding in places. E.g., the mounting pads and those rectangles of steel plate near the hump. Any ideas?
     
  8. 69GS430/TKX

    69GS430/TKX Silver Level contributor

    It just occurred to me: Could you even order a GS with big block and 4-speed, and a bench seat? Or were buckets the built-in upgrade with that package?
     
  9. Max Damage

    Max Damage I'm working on it!

    The fact that the car had a skylark hood when it came to you is a good sign that it was wrecked at some point? Maybe it's repair work you are seeing... Just guessing.
     
  10. SpecialWagon65

    SpecialWagon65 Ted Nagel

    Like this: 69 St 1 4-speed :)

    IMG_0267.JPG
     
  11. 69GS430/TKX

    69GS430/TKX Silver Level contributor

    You have a good point, Max, and over the decades I have wondered about previous collisions. But the grille and core support seemed factory original and undamaged. In fact, it was me who destroyed the grille when I T-boned a car in the early 1980s. Plus, I have to wonder about a collision that would rip the seats out of their brackets. That would be a hellacious wreck I imagine. Still, the guys who owned my car before me had a reputation for racing it so it wouldn't surprise me if they wrecked it. The local cops reportedly hated that car because it had evaded them in pursuits. Cops would give me a hard time for years because they didn't realize I was a new owner and I was not the outlaws who they'd been trying to catch.
     
  12. 69GS430/TKX

    69GS430/TKX Silver Level contributor

    Yes! Looking at that picture is like looking at my car through a time portal. This supports the theory that this is why my car has factory buckets NOW, but it didn't come off the Fremont line with them.

    Is that your car, Ted?
     
  13. George D.

    George D. Platinum Level Contributor

    188 = black bucket interior...
     
    woody1640 and 69GS430/TKX like this.
  14. 69GS430/TKX

    69GS430/TKX Silver Level contributor


    Thank you, George! I didn't know that part of the code. I will add that to my notes Now I feel a little better about the authenticity of my car. And I won't meddle too much with the seat attachment pads when I re-install the seats.

    Any chance you can tell me why a previous owner would get rid of the GS hood, and the snorkel intake? Just kidding :)
    Good luck with your non-stepchild ragtop resto!
     
  15. cjp69

    cjp69 Gold Level Contributor

    That is easy, he either saved them for a different car or sold them separately. :>)
     
    69GS430/TKX likes this.
  16. 69GS430/TKX

    69GS430/TKX Silver Level contributor

    That son of a gun! The used hood and air cleaner I had to buy to return the car back to stock-appearing, cost me more than I paid for the entire car!
     
    Doug Hoyle likes this.
  17. SpecialWagon65

    SpecialWagon65 Ted Nagel

    Yep, project #1969
     
    69GS430/TKX likes this.
  18. 2manybuicks

    2manybuicks Founders Club Member

    The 00846 on the trim tag indicates the very rare special-order shag carpet option. You need to put it back.
     
    69GS430/TKX likes this.
  19. 69GS430/TKX

    69GS430/TKX Silver Level contributor

    That made me LOL
     
  20. 446379H

    446379H Well-Known Member

    Not so fast ..
    ALL 68-69 FLOOR Shift cars did Not have PRND12. Auto Or manual trans. That’s because they have a lighted console, and the 70-72 did not .
     
    69GS430/TKX likes this.

Share This Page