1971 Skylark Convertible

Same seat, different pattern, as my old goat had.....

miss that car...it was a cool ride in it's day.....

NO, miss the kids being young and the grins it generated.....and some of the back seat comments....

shame I wasn't military and could maybe take them up in a Navy jet....

oh well.....

:clobbered::goodevil:
 
Another update

Well.... my mechanic is now my EX-mechanic. After several weeks of his friend at the machine shop not doing anything with the car I finally ran out of patience and got the local police involved. I had to DEMAND that my car be returned without further delay or excuses. I got tired of the apathetic B.S. my mechanic was handing me and on top of that him telling me that there was no profit left in it for him as he was now doing it the second time "on his dime". What a load of crap.....
I finally got the car back and asked him if it was OK to drive home - he said yes but the bastard didn't have the courtesy to look me in the eye, I guess I had insulted him by getting the police involved.

A day or two later the missus and I take the car out for an evening spin. We get on the highway and are cruising through a construction zone when the car completely shuts off, lights, motor, everything.... then there is a sizeable explosion and the car comes back to life. I drive home and put the car in the garage. A day or two later I discover that the wiring harness melted to the inatke manifold and shorted out. Nice job my EX- mechanic asshole did....
Over the next few days I replaced the engine harness and went over the engine compartment, all of the nuts and bolts were just about hand tight, no more. On top of all of this I still have the lifter tap that I took the motor back after the rebuild for.:crap:

Long story short - my missus is a LAWYER (OK Gene - shut up for just a minute or two longer) and she is pissed that the mechanic did me dirty - so we sue his butt in small claims court and recover some money for the lame ass job that he and his machine shop buddy did. The asswipe from the machine shop didn't even want to tell me what parts were in my motor or what cam I have - supposedly his trade secrets - we all said BULLSHIT and the judge agreed.

After all of this settled down I took it upon myself to rebuild the oil pump, check the oil pressure with a hand held gauge, install the correct oil pressure sending unit and confirm that the dash gauge was reading properly. I also drained the 20w-50 that the machine shop had in the motor and refilled with 10w-30. Bye bye lifter tap!

So here's some pics - but nothing from the engine build.

Here's the old oil pump plate - badly worn. I installed a new set of high volume gears and a booster plate. Now oil pressure is 75 psi at start up and 35-40 psi at cruise, 20 psi at hot idle.
100_1118.jpg

Here's the shorted engine wiring harness.
100_1123.jpg
 
Wow...what a load of BS! Ya, it is a load of greif you had to go through, but I am happy that it turned out in your favor.

And all the shit work they did.....jeeezzze.
 
the 10w30 fixed it ? wow..... great mechanic, great shop...... good to hear you can now finally drive and enjoy the car....
 
That burnt harness looks SO familiar from God knows what car in my past...if not my Goat, my '72 Lemans, if not that a friend's Buick Skylark vert....

dejavu all over again....

Hate to say it, but that's a classic as why I do all my own work, and so do my old circle of friends from years ago....

:thumbs:
 
If I had the time, space, equipment and skills...... I would do it all myself. Unfortunately space and equipment restrictions will not change any time soon so I have to pay so called "professionals" to do a lot of my work.

More updates coming soon. I have the Strato-bucket seats installed, the interior finally looks right.

I took the Buick to the track about 2 or 3 weekends ago - it's a slug. First - I can't plant the wheel (singular), I have a 3:08 open rear and it won't hook up, all I do is sit and spin. My first pass was 18.5 seconds, after that all of my passes were around 17.5 seconds. I was able to shave a tenth off of each pass when I got into the 17's. I have come to the speedy conclucion that the Buick is my boulevard cruiser and the 'Vette is for going fast and cruising too.
 
DeeVeeEight said:
If I had the time, space, equipment and skills...... I would do it all myself. Unfortunately space and equipment restrictions will not change any time soon so I have to pay so called "professionals" to do a lot of my work.

More updates coming soon. I have the Strato-bucket seats installed, the interior finally looks right.

I took the Buick to the track about 2 or 3 weekends ago - it's a slug. First - I can't plant the wheel (singular), I have a 3:08 open rear and it won't hook up, all I do is sit and spin. My first pass was 18.5 seconds, after that all of my passes were around 17.5 seconds. I was able to shave a tenth off of each pass when I got into the 17's. I have come to the speedy conclucion that the Buick is my boulevard cruiser and the 'Vette is for going fast and cruising too.
Click to expand...

Sounds familiar....I came across a 12 bolt Chevelle posi rear for like 300 bux, years ago, needed work, fixed it, and so 321 ratio for many years....

the mods I had on that tow car Goat were extensive, actually the final mod was the DPFI in installed in '91.....jeesch, still have that induction too...

looks like hell, but runs like a raped ape....

:lol::smash: If you lived closer, I wouldn't mind working on it with you....

:thumbs:
 
MYBAD79 said:
the 10w30 fixed it ? wow..... great mechanic, great shop...... good to hear you can now finally drive and enjoy the car....
Click to expand...

Yes, the oil was too thick. I agree, great mechanic, great shop. Now they are in the history books. I'll only put up with so much shit before I run out of patience. In the meantime I have found another local garage for auto maintenance, they are professional, friendly and efficient.
 
not all are crooks.... unfortunately it's easier to find the bad shops..... that grill looks sweet, any pics of it on the car ?
 
MYBAD79 said:
not all are crooks.... unfortunately it's easier to find the bad shops..... that grill looks sweet, any pics of it on the car ?
Click to expand...

Not yet. I am still waiting for it.

It's sad really, about the old repair shop I worked with. I was with them for over 5 years, I never questioned their prices or procedures. They were more or less efficient with our newer cars although they blew smoke up my missus' ass one day about a power door lock repair on her Mountaineer. I went back and gave them a loud and unpleasant raft of shit for that one. When it came to repowering first the 'Vette, then the Buick, is when the trouble started. It seems that their machine shop pretty much fell on it's face which is surprising because they have a terrific reputation for doing race engines. I guess that they don't give a crap about the low end work and let the night watchman do the job. In the end it cost them a good customer.
 
It's been a while since I have posted but I have some pictures to share.

I swapped out the 2 barrel carb and manifold for a 4 barrel. I converted the hot air spring choke to an electric one, and in this picture you can see the new engine wiring harness under the electric choke. The next picture still shows the old harness after I cut and spliced the ugly parts.
100_1680_zpsb571fe8d.jpg


It wasn't easy but I was able to find the right idle solenoid for to compensate for the drag of the A/C compressor
get-attachment.jpg

All stock appearing. New A/C hoses too.
get-attachment3.jpg

Bat wing sport wheel courtesy of a mid 80's Cutlass. Tilt column, factory gauges and factory style aftermarket in dash tach. Deleted the Joe Dirt gas pedal cover. 6" Sony's in some aftermarket kick panels.
100_1244.jpg


100_1307.jpg
 
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Looks just like a neighbor kid's ride.....back in the mid 90's......been a while, and I had the Lemans/GTO vert equivalent ride....being a kid, he was just able to keep it on the road.....and never asked for much help that I recall, NICE CAR!!! LOVE them A body convertibles.....drop a 455 in it and haul ASS.....


:drink::drink:
 
mrvette said:
Looks just like a neighbor kid's ride.....back in the mid 90's......been a while, and I had the Lemans/GTO vert equivalent ride....being a kid, he was just able to keep it on the road.....and never asked for much help that I recall, NICE CAR!!! LOVE them A body convertibles.....drop a 455 in it and haul ASS.....


:drink::drink:
Click to expand...

A 455 would be FUN ! ! ! I just don't have the FUNDS ! ! ! Besides, the 'Vette is for going fast, the Buick is my cruiser.
 
DeeVeeEight said:
mrvette said:
Looks just like a neighbor kid's ride.....back in the mid 90's......been a while, and I had the Lemans/GTO vert equivalent ride....being a kid, he was just able to keep it on the road.....and never asked for much help that I recall, NICE CAR!!! LOVE them A body convertibles.....drop a 455 in it and haul ASS.....


:drink::drink:
Click to expand...

A 455 would be FUN ! ! ! I just don't have the FUNDS ! ! ! Besides, the 'Vette is for going fast, the Buick is my cruiser.
Click to expand...

Late 80's early 90's I had a 20' Bayliner with 4 cyl Volvo engine I put DPFI on and ran it with a GM computer from a similar size 4 cyl engine....2 liter...used to take the 455 YH code '70 lemans/GTO convertible up over the mountains past Fredrick Md, on I 70 hit South Mountain at 80, and open that thing up to topping 100 mph at the Appalachian Trail arches....I had that thing set up with all the tricks available....the boat gained 3 props sizes for the FI install....clocking 100 mph with top down, and kids in back sort of blew them away.....:eek:
 
Kid Vette said:
Looks nice! But why the ground wire going to the choke? Doesn't it ground through the carb?
Click to expand...

It does ground through the carb, but not directly through the body, it goes through the choke linkage. I was watching it make little sparks through the linkage one day and thought it might be a good idea to install the ground wire.
 
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