Went and looked at a GS for sale with a 4 speed. It had all the 4 speed gear (column, speedo, trans hump, etc) and a bench seat. But, it had a tubing clip in the engine bay for the AT fluid cooler lines. Is there a sure fire way to determine if it was an original 4 speed car?
oddly enough, the automatic trans line clip is supposed to be there on a 4 speed car. Make sure the correct safety switch is mounted on the support with the correct triangular retainer on the pedal. The retainer is tough to find. Should be bolted to the pedal with a sheetmetal screw. If its not there, look for the threaded hole in the side of the pedal. If its the original trans, the VIN should be in the case. I can give you a couple pics. For example, I have a 442 trans that is stamped 3Mxxxxxx. # is Oldsmobile, M is Lansing with the last six of the VIN.
What year model Buick are you asking about? I think we are assuming you are asking about a '70-'72 but just want to be sure.
Yeah it's a 70GS 455. If the wifey lets me take a second look, I will see what I can find. Solid car with rear quarter work and an older paint job and mud work here and there. Were GS air cleaners ever chrome from the factory? Has chrome breather, valve covers, alternator bracket and water pump pulley that seemed larger than usual and had GS stamped on it. Couldn't find the block # to verify if numbers matching but its supposed to be. Also had what looked like a factory Mallory ignition mounted above and behind the power steering pump. Never saw that before.
Having had two original 4 speed cars here is what I'd look for: paperwork; an obviously original hump; many sloppy shifter boot ring reinstall witness marks; an obviously original z-bar frame bracket; the right speedo; the neutral start switch on pedal no. 3; pedal bumper under the dash; a tired firewall rod boot; the original BBB clutch fork is unique to these cars (and rare); a clutch pedal that is spot welded very poorly; no overly strange looking geometry in the linkage (seems that many replacement z-bars have catterwhompas geometry - when I've seen this in pictures I know something is amiss, having looked at, re-bushed, and reinstalled my originals many times). With all that said, mine would stump some were it not for paperwork because it hasn't the original trans, nor the original brand trans. The neutral start switch is in various stages of dismemberment for convenience of the original owner; the back-up light drive rod / column lock interconnect is missing; my pedal is reinforced; my adjuster is a custom. Jason's guidance on the safety switch hardware and A/T tube clips is spot-on.
Underneath the trim codeof 128 is 09C 05263... not sure what that means. The pedal gear looks to have good alignment, some worn bushings and such but seems everything is there, incl. neutral safety switch. Seems to be original as far as I can tell. He's very firm on his price, hopefully I can talk him down at least a little with wifey's go ahead.
Andy maybe that is a Cal plant car. Look on the 4 speed trans on the passenger side just before where the tailshaft mates to the main case. The partial VIN for the car is engraved vertically into the case.
It's a very solid car that needs a light resto to be perfect, guy won't budge on the price though, and he's high, but who wouldn't be, right? I'll give him some time and maybe we'll see if he wants to deal or just be an old stick in the mud. He's so convinced I couldn't find anything like it, but I did in 5 minutes online, so eh, whatever. I'd rather continue the build on making my Skylark Convertible the way I want it anyways than to buy a car I couldn't/wouldn't modify. If the guy would only budge though...
An original 70 GS-455 4 speed for 15 grand only needing a light resto?? Sounds like a screaming deal to me! If your gonna pass on it, let me know
Keep in mind that a 70 GS-455 hardtop 4 speed is one of 510. If its as you say, a solid driver only needing light resto, he's under valued it in my opinion. Is the paint shiny? Minimal rust? Is the interior presentable? Runs, drives, starts and stops? All complete?
Paint not shiny, minimal rust, interior needs love, runs but not good, slow as hell, suspension sucks bad, battery tray rusted out, body bushings shot, column doesn't lock, quarter panel has bondo work, pass door messed up, needs new one. Just saw a gs455 auto in great shape on this board for same price. Other online valuation places put it worth $10-11k in this shape.
