The day I drove a Stage 2 - briefly :o)

Discovering the 71 GS 455.... Back in 82 while based in Altus Oklahoma was riding shot-gun with a buddy in a borrowed car as neither of us had our own rides at the time. We were on Highway 62 that runs through Altus and while scanning over one of the local dealerships spotted what I thought was red Skylark. Told my buddy "Hey - hey - quick - pull a u-turn" and back we went. Low and behold a 71 GS 455! The car was traded in on a new buy. Walked in right then and there and cut a deal. It's been too long now, but I don't think I paid but somewhere around $500-$700 for the car. The old gal was a bit tired at 11 years of age but that didn't matter - it was a GS!. So off we went and the adventures began. I'd later meet the original owner at a car show (I was the second owner). He spoke of trips from Oklahoma to Las Vegas in the GS and how he would bury the speedometer going across New Mexico! I was running the car on the street hard with this new found power and ended up spinning the #7 rod bearing. That led to pulling the motor for a rebuild which I'll post picts of next round. Those white wall bias ply tires were hilarious - it'd spin em about as long as you wanted them to!

UPDATE: Re-scanned photo's to higher resolution. Enjoy!

 

I discovered Maria's Prime Time Bakery at the corner of McDade Blvd & Morton. Duane told me a story or two about racing his Mustang up and down McDade and stopping into the bakery for a snack every now and then - when he was a little younger.

 

Yes Matt . That Bakery IS Very Very Good . When I was younger it was Chestnut and Walnut Streets in West Philly .

 

From 87 to 96. I ran the missile field as an MMT'er (started out as a "cage-man") on the Minuteman III side (mostly). Small world indeed...
-MIG

 

Wow - small indeed. My wife works civil service and was the CC secretary in FMMS's while we were there. I ended up selling the GS while in Great Falls as it basically sat in storage just outside the base and little to no car activity there at the time.

 

Funny, I'm from Conrad just north of Great Falls (live in Missoula now). Probably Gabe's Auto you sold the GS to, they always had the "hot rods" and still do....Haven't heard a sonic boom in years, but they were common when I was a kid in the 80s and 90s.

 

Ha! Yes - Gabes sounds right! Small office and one stall garage as I recall.

Ok, a bit of a disclaimer/reminder.... In the early 80's the vast majority of "motor heads" were not thinking about rarity, low production numbers etc. For myself it was simply about wanting to build a "Street Machine" that is to say a fast "Street Car" and the GS was really my first opportunity to do so. As mentioned previously, at the time I was a young airman, living in the dormitories on base and renting a garage near the base. I'd simply walk to/from the storage unit and bum rides when I could. The fun part about that is that there were several other airman doing the same so it became a bit of a hangout to bench race, drink some beers and have a few laughs. No oversized garages, lifts, etc. like we see today. Hydraulic Jack, Motor Stand and limited tools. We'd borrow from one another that were renting there and all would be quick to lend a hand when needed.

Picts of the initial tear down following the spun rod bearing.... P.S. a 10' x 20' storage unit back then was around $25-$35 a month.

 

Hopefully the mods are ok with telling this story here....promise to bring it full circle and talk street racing again soon )

The build was relatively stock with .030 over on the pistons, Kenne Bell Buick blue printed Stage 1 Cam & High Pressure Oil Pump kit, Offy 360 degree intake, Hooker Headers, 3,000 stall converter and B&M transpack. Rear had 3.42 gears and added Lakewood Ladder Traction Bars. Hush Thrush mufflers.

Does anyone remember "The Buick Book". Black cover; that tied with the Kenne Bell catalog had ya covered!

More to come .....hope you are enjoying this look back in time.

 

Looks like you disconnected the power steering?
How fast was it spinning when you spun the rod bearing?

 

Good eyes! Yes, simply looped the hose fitting to fitting so fluid could circulate. Was still easy steering when on the move and a little strenuous when sitting idle. As you can see by the heads, the motor was tired and as I recall probably around 80K on the odometer. The machinist I took the heads, block and bottom end to said the #7 rod had stretched so that one had to be replaced. I pushed the Buick to very top of 5500 - 5700 at shift points. And when you get to know a motor you can hear it peak.

 

A couple of pictures on first crank after the rebuild. A couple of friends there to help.

Martin on the far side had a 75 Firebird Formula 400 with 4-speed. We were coming back from Lawton Oklahoma one night around 1AM and there's nothing between Lawton and Altus with a 50 mile spread. He was on the divided center line (right down the middle) of highway 62 doing 140mph plus due West. The speedo was bouncing off the 140 MPH limit peg so we were probably closer to 150 MPH. As we rolled out of that and got down to about 70-80 the cops bagged us and wrote him a ticket (speed limit was 55 mph). In all regards we lucked out by mere minutes..

On the near side is Jessie, he had one of those Kawasaki GPZ 550's - one of the hottest sport bikes back then. When Jessie pulled in he said the cops were sitting around the corner of the storage units (two of them). The GS was open headers at the start up so suspect they could easily hear the GS and the throttle wacks. Wanted bad to take it out like that but had to hold off.

The shifter was a B&M Star Shifter that I already had and mounted it on an angle to keep the console (yes I cut the console up). While in Park it was way forward but L1, L2, and D it stood straight up. Also a picture where you have a glimpse of the Lakewood Ladder Bars

And lastly my then girl friend and now wife of 36 years was in charge of the camera so I apologize for the butt shot - she said she couldn't help herself LOL...

 

LOL! Nice booty
Well the Accel coil in the power steering pump area helped
Yes though the stupid stuff we do in are youth is unbelievable

 

A little bit about salvage yards in Oklahoma back in the early 80's. It was a gold mine!! Almost a Saturday ritual we'd hop in the pickup and make a day of it. Locally in Altus there was a handful of yards; then northeast to Roosevelt Oklahoma. Some weekends we'd head West into the Texas panhandle to Wellington, South to Hollis Ok and Vernon Texas, East to Lawton. It was a blast; great camaraderie, and adventurous. Roosevelt Oklahoma is still alive and well today - Called Parts World (see attached picture). Roosevelt was our primary stop the vast majority of times. Plenty of muscle cars then and lots of Skylarks to pick from. We had the inside scoop on new arrivals and the owner (George) would give us great deals. However by the late 80's crushing was becoming too lucrative and much of what was there went to the way of recycled metal. Latest Google Maps satellite views of Roosevelt and Lawton OK and Wellington TX attached. Owens in Wellington was or probably still is world renowned for 20's and 30's era parts. Only thing I recall from our trip there was cutting through waste high saw grass to see a 69 Charger and realizing a day later the visit included a ton of chigger bites LOL.

The salvage yard is Roosevelt - it's what makes the entire town. The buildings on main street were and probably still are filled with parts. One building was full of hoods, the second floor consoles, etc. It was a part pickers paradise and probably still is but with newer cars and trucks.

While in one yard in the Texas panhandle we came upon a N-25 rear bumper laying on a rack behind an outbuilding in great shape. But since the GS had the option already we kept on walking (left the gold behind). And in Altus there was a 100% in tact 70 GS Stage 1 in one of the yards. To this day I never understood that. The yard owner new what he had and would not let us pick any parts off of it. Fortunately in the late 80's the car was sold and new owner made a GSX clone out of it. Was so glad to leave Altus about that same time knowing the car saw the light of day again.

On a creepy note it was about this time I saw the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie for the first time and realized these little towns we were exploring were right smack in the middle of the movie's setting - yikes!

 

Could of been Leather Face was hiding in that 70 Stage 1
I thought you were going to say that's where your N-25 bumper came from. Wow that even hurts me that you didn't take it but we never knew back then to what they would become.

We had a few yards out here in MA but nothing ever as large.
Seeing your car reminds me of a exact or very close red 72 GS 350 in yard that was in great shape but had a blown motor. Also had a N-25 bumper and still had the tips on it! This was around 1980 to 1983.
I didn't have the need for any parts as I was driving a 66 GS but I did take the rear sway bar. The owner even took it off for me and only charged me $25
I saw a few good salvageable GS's in the day and other muscle cars.
If you have more pics please post them..

 

Yes, still have more picts to share.... scanning, posting and writing while off this week.

 

Merry Christmas to all!! A few more picts and more to come! We are now in the 1984-1985 window. Car is up and running and new vinyl top is on. Recent score from one of the salvage yards outings noted by the 3-Spoke Steering wheel. And yes, eventually captured and installed a horn button for it too.

I wish there were pictures of the burnouts or the aftermath... That porch shot walking towards the rental apartment (what a pit @$200 month - but hey there was car parts to buy!). Now out of the Dorm and married awaiting for next available base housing to come available. When leaving there was a group of people on their porch across the street begging for a show and I delivered LOL with a nice long burnout on departure..

Another great deal was that 73 Buick Century purchased for $900 from a fellow airman in the dorm. Had great A/C, cruise control, the works - a great daily driver.

If the exhaust tips don't look quite right - they were hand-made out of sheet metal.

The tag "1BASGS" I still have and it hangs in our garage. Wish I still had the Montana tag "MADE2GO" but it went with the car - sad.

IMHO the stock stance of a GS looks best. Raising the back end of these cars takes away from it.

 

The exhaust tips came out great..
Was this a original AC car?

 

Yes - Sure was. Southwest Oklahoma car.

 

I noticed something in the first post pic. Is that a red plastic inner fender liner?

 

I had painted the inner fender wells red. You'll see that more clearly in pictures still forthcoming.. Taking a break as we had the Grand Son (GS for short LOL) over today.