Ok, as the title says, I just bought a 1972 Buick GS 350. It is in terrible shape, but I am planning on trying to restore it. It is from Michigan, so it is a complete rust bucket, and I am going to have to replace several body panels, as well as a small part of the floor panel, and most of the trunk floor panel. And probably the rear wheel wells as well. Here are some pictures: (nevermind, gotta have 10 posts. I'll post pictures later, but rest assured, the rust is pretty bad. Mostly in the quarter panels) I know you all will probably think I'm an idiot, but I paid 2000 dollars for this vehicle. Everybody and their dog has told me I got screwed, and it is a bit discouraging, but I didn't buy this car for the resale value. I bought it because I'm 17, and I like muscle cars. I am an intermediate mechanic, as well as an intermediate welder, so this car is going to be a huge project. I am looking forward to working on it, but I'll admit I'm probably in over my head, but I learn fast. Anyway, I can get replacement panels for all this stuff I need right? I know it will be expensive, but I'm not on a deadline, I'll earn money slowly, and work on the car slowly. Also, I know it will hurt the value, but I'm thinking about switching out the TH350 transmission in the car for a TH200-R4, 4 speed. (An overdrive would be extremely helpful). Oh, also, the guy I bought it from drag raced with it, so it's got a 4.11 gear ratio, would putting larger tires help the top end cruising speeds that much? My dad says I should raise the rear end, and put larger tires under it, and my auto tech teacher thought it would work too. How large is the right size? I know nothing about tires. Also, someday, i might consider the idea of throwing a 455 in the car. But the guy I bought it from kept it al original, so I dont know if that's a good idea. Even if i did, I would keep all the original parts so I could put them back in if i wanted...What do you all think? I know there are a few other parts that have to be switched along with the motors. Oh, and how can I go about removing rust from the frame? I really don't have the resources to strip the car down to nothing but the frame. Can I just get under it, and use something to strip the rust off? Anyway, that's about all I can come up with off the top of my head. You can be sure I will be asking a lot more questions in the future. Right now I'm kind of in denial that I might have lost 2000 dollars that weren't worth it. I wanted to ask you guys about it before I bought the car, but my account didn't get approved for a week or so. Remember, i have little money, but a lot of time and patience, and if I need a part, I will just save the money until I get it.
Congratulations on the new [to you] vehicle purchase! Only you see the real value in this car. It is a huge project for a teenager, hope you have some other wheels to drive. This car could be a big project that turns out to be pretty sweet in the end. I'd put in that 4 speed or even a five speed if you can fit it. Why not just swap out the rear gears for some lower ones like 3.55 or even 3.00 if you want fuel economy. You can find them at auto swap meets in rebuildable condition. Wish you luck and welcome to the forums!
Thanks! You are a bit more reassuring than everyone else so far. Sadly, I do not have another vehicle...Well..I do have a 53 GMC pickup...but that is in worse shape than the Buick....I still have to put an engine, transmission, and axles in it. along with everything else except the body and the frame. The Buick is driveable though, so I am going to try and drive it as much as possible, while working on it. Although, I know at times, it will be out of service. I know the 4 speed th200 will just swap into the place of a 350 trans, but I don't know much about 5 speeds....I'll have to search the internet. I kind of like the 4.11 gears, because, being a stupid teenager(I realize I'm one of the younger ones on this site, and I embrace that), I like the acceleration. But I would like a little better top cruising speeds. That, and I have been told that swapping out gears is extremely hard. if I could, i'd probably put either a 3.55, or a 3.73 back there. Big rear tires is kind of a muscle car thing that you see a lot, so it sounds kinda fun...but Ill see what happens. Again, thanks for the encouragement!
Wow, two projects! Nice! I've never swapped gears on a GM axle but on a Ford 9" it's relatively easy [I have a '67 Mustang project car too]. The muscle car stance can be yours with some big tires! I don't know what size to get but I'd take it to a tire shop and let them know what you want. They'll get you going! But in order to save some bucks, wait until you need tires. You got a big project ahead of you, just take it one step at a time and pretty soon you'll be done. Anytime you need words of encouragement or advise, forums are a good place. We are car people and there is a lot of knowledge here. I'm new too.
Welcome to the board! Im sure you'll find others on here that have brought back a seemingly dead car and made a beautiful ride out of it. Stick to it, save you're money, sounds like you can do the labor The good thing is, is that all the parts you need are available new if you cant find used. with a frame and motor you can practically build a 72 with new parts. Get that post count up so we can see pictures. Or upload them to a free site like www.photobucket.com and post the links here inside of IMG tags and we'll see them.
I'm not that good with computers. All I know is the previous owner put a lot of pictures up on a flickr account, and I will be able to link to it shortly.
Don't worry about the rust you can see, it the rust you can't see that is going to be the problem. Things are ALWAYS worse than they look when it comes to rust.:Smarty:
I know. I''m gettting started on the frame as soon as possible. The body comes after ward. The frame is in ok condition though, I didn't find any weak spots that were visible. Oh, and my post count is finally up, so here are the pictures: www.flickr.com/photos/stork21 It's pretty ugly now, but I love it.
Your right its ugly... but I would rather spend 2000 on something I enjoy than spend 2000 on something like a geo metro! I recently spent 1k on a 54 buick 4 door, couple buddies said why not a 2 door or a better looking year? I just tell them wait an see! good luck!
That bench seat has to hurt! I really wish I had my Buick when I was 17 and in auto shop back in high school. It will be something to be very proud of when you finish. Best of luck :TU:
it's ugly but i can make it beautiful, right? This IS a project that I'm capable of finishing, isn't it?
She is pretty rotten! But anything can be fixed, if it needs floors, trunk, doors, fenders and A pillar repair like yours, that's a lot of work! I would definitely take a step back and assess the whole project and see how much it might cost you 1st. I've seen worse that were brought back to life.
hurts my eyes to look at it. I sure hope you have alot of money to throw at it. Sorry to say it but that looks like at least a 20k resto project to me. Not including labor. Not concours either. You may want to consider parting it out... Some panels are available, many are not. The ones that are available are not cheap. Buicks are tough to find parts for. If it were a one of one 70 GSX stage 1 4spd, then it might be worth the resto, but not a 72 GS 350.
I don't think so. You are probably used to paying other people to restore your stuff for you. I am going to be doing the labor myself, thus it will be free. And parts aren't that hard to find if you aren't too picky, and you know how to look through a junkyard. I will have to buy some things brand new, but I don't think it will cost me that much. The main expense I'm thinking is going to be the quarter panel replacement. I already found a website that sells just about every panel I need. Also, I'm probably never going to sell this if I can help it, so resale value doesn't mean much to me. I'm sure most everybody who loves cars has put more into a car than what it is worth at least once in their lives. This is my present to myself, so I am ok with putting money into it. It will just take longer, because I come by money very slowly.
I am a lifelong career mechanic/ shop owner giving you some needed advise. I have restored many cars myself before. I know what the costs are.
Costs are relative to where you buy them, the quality of the parts, and who you buy them from. i know a junkyard near where I live that has several Buick Skylarks in it. I'm not all that worried about finding parts, I know where to get them. My main concern is learning how to use the new parts, and put them on my car. I really don't want to part this car out.
I have to disagree with the lifelong mechanic above. I bought my 72' Skylark Custom in arguably worse condition than yours a few years ago. Hell, I didn't even have a floor in my trunk, it was just one big, nasty hole. I took my time, did most of the work myself and restored it to what it looks like today, which is this, a 72' GSX tribute car. Restoring it to this condition, including building two high performance 455's, buying a 12bolt rearend and a new 3.73 gearing to it, and putting a shiftkit in the TH400, it has cost me $8600 overall. And I also have a ton of shipping costs seeing as I live in Sweden and bought most of my stuff over in the US. Don't give up and make it what you want it to be. Oh and with my 3.73 gearing, I'm running with 295/15/50 rear tires. Great for cruising, won't have ridiculous rev at 70mph, and it's pulling quite hard.
1. I bought a 72 Skylark that is about the same shape as yours is in last month. 2. I can tell you that you can do this, restoring a Buick is like eating a elephant , you take one bit at a time. 3. This is my 3rd full restoration on a muscle car, 70 Skylark, 71 Chevelle, and now a 72 Skylark. I spent a lot of time in junk yards and online but the parts are still out there. At one point I had 4 rotten old parts cars in the yard, (wife went crazy). Once I stripped out all the parts and stashed the stuff I wanted, I sold the rest of the parts, one at a time. Then put the money back into my car. Sold the scraped rotten body to the recycler for $100 a piece. 4. Don't focus on the things you can't do right now, focus on what you can do to move forward. A lot of things you can do, are not going to cost a lot of money, if you do it yourself. Just a lot of your time. Randy I didn't listen to people telling me what they thought I should do to get MY car on the road. You can do this and have fun, cause it is fun.
