Skylark and El Camino (Belgium)

[Pro-Buick]

I think i should post here as i was still posting in the introducing section: see thread https://www.pro-touring.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9514&highlight=skylark
as far as my projects go slowly, due to lack of time, and space to work properly. BUT it will soon change as i will move to a new house with more space.

The buick is waiting his rear axle and the engine is out for cleaning:
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The El Camino is half in ground primer:
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A shot of my garage (the beetle, the beach buggy, the 250GTO replica and the Ramcharger -in the foreground- are now gone) you can see the Buick in the background, and the catalina's roof:

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So now : the Skylark is still in the back, then comes the El Camino and then the Catalina...i have a little more room but no easy to work as my garage door is just next to the street (no place to work outside!).

This is the place i will move to (we will sign the presale documents on 7-23-2010) , i hope to get in beginning 2011.

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I will have more room to work, what a pleasure it will be :seizure:
There is no much work on the house (not in the picture) so the shop will get some attention....

[srh3trinity]

Nice work on the El Camino. I am not a fan of that body style, but you are converting me with that stance and those wheels. I like your new hanger, it is a goal of mine to have something of that scale when I build my dream house.

[wicked st]

I to have a 71 El Camino in the works. Very slow works. Nice to see another. What sizes wheels are you going with?

[CruizinKev]

cool projects! good luck :twothumbs

[Pro-Buick]

concerning my future new house: it sucks....

The house and barn are built in an agricultural zone as the actual owner is initially a "farmer" .
Problem is that i'm not working in the agricultural domain so, i legally can't buy it because the house will not be used for its initial purpose (agriculture).

In Belgium, following the law : if you're a farmer, when you get retired you must sell your house to another farmer or destroy it and move to a residential area !!

I'm very disappointed....and i didn't work at all on the Elky today....
We're looking for six years to find a nice house to live in....

[Pro-Buick]

the rusted rear window is repaired;
before;
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left side
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right side
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lower side
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now
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The right rear lower panel
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On his wheels
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[Pro-Buick]

bare to metal (and bondo!)

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now the body and panels are all in wash primer:

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[Pro-Buick]

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i also adapted a Scat steering wheel by removing it from his riveted hub and bolting it to a Sparco hub.

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[Pro-Buick]

the roof and the rear window are done
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the right side panel has been worked and repaired.
before:
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after
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i also received my skin panel from Summit (Goodmark).

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And the quality is not very good ! :rolleyes: the stamping of the fuel door is not straight at all!!!
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it will have to be reworked to suit the trap....
Tomorrow the left rear panel will be replaced ....:unibrow: can't wait to see the result

[Pro-Buick]

Before: the edges were very awfull...
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After some lead job by my friend Laurent:
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he also worked some weld wraping and dents:
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and the right side of the body is almost ready:
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in the paint boot:

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yes, it's green....finally i decided to paint it in a near original color, but i wanted something darker than the lime green, so after a few look around i choose this green (which is much nicer in real world than on pictures!!!)

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for now the car is almost nearly done

i still have the bed to paint with a Protech black textured bed paint, i received some ordered parts like the chrome bed moldings, the dash pad, the door panels, arm rests, headliner,....

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[Pro-Buick]

finally

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[sr73bu]

Nice work! love the color!

[taz]

What is that in the area behind the cab it looks like a tank of some sort .Are those z06 wheels and what size i was looking at a similar wheel in black also what size wheel spacers did you use if any . Sorry for all the questions . Very nice car i like the stance . The belguim law you were speaking of sounds like it is designed to protect agriculture but so much for retireing on the family farm .
Tim

[Pro-Buick]

The tank behind the seat area is a LPG (liquefied petroleum gas) tank. The car was equipped by the previous owner with this system to pay less concerning the gas mileage ( LPG costs half price of the fuel). I removed it because it's not very beautifull !
The wheels are OZ wheels 8.5x18" front and 10x18" rear. There is no spacers as they fit nicely as is. They come from a BMW.
No problem for answering any questions ;-))

[taz]

hmmm hadnt thought of bmw wheels isnt there a small bolt pattern difference 5x120 versus 5x120.7 ? The bmw offset looks a lot better than running spacers.

[neki67]

Yes, there is a small difference. It's actually 0.65 mm in diameter. So approx. 0.3 mm per hole. That equals out to 0.0125" per hole. . . . .

BTW: this difference and it's potential technical issues has been discussed to death. From personal experience I can tell you, it works just fine! One thing though: as with every wheel but the BMW wheels in particular, use hubcentric adapters.

[montessaj]

That El Camino looks mean! Glad to see theres some American muscle in Belgium.

[cobragt]

Love the color on the Elcamino!

[srh3trinity]

I thought I had posted recently, but I love the color and the wheels look great. I would love to find a set of those.

[Pro-Buick]

i have no problems with the bolt pattern, if you have any doubts you can add centering rings between your wheels and your hubs...
i drove it to 100MPH and there were no vibrations or issues.
The backspacing is ET 6 for the front 8.5x18 and ET 19 for the rear 10x18". Tyres width is235/18 and 285/18.

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the El Camino is a little bit dirty, i made these pictures in the hurry (there was sun !!) and i didn't took water to wash it (this road is very dirty!!).

[Pro-Buick]

I found a tilt / floor shift steering column for my Skylark project ( she originally has a column shift but i will go for a B&M shifter).
I bought it for $100. not too expensive...

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[Pro-Buick]

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as well as the engine
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I tried the Procharger on it but found an isssue with the brackets for the steering pump.
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i bought the kit from XS Performance (now out of business) and it seems they didn't used the same pump to create the brackets !

i will have to make some new ones :mad:


I also bought Poston valve covers on E-bay...
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[Pro-Buick]

mocking and cutting....


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time to fit the intercooler with some fabrications...


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I had to cut the tubing and make some beads at the end of the tubes, I used a bead roller.

[Pro-Buick]

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the jauge pod is in place =) fuel and boost pressure


next step , getting rid of the column shifter...
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I had bought a tilt floor shifter column from a monte carlo (dixit seller) and I mixed the two comlumn using the monte housing in place of the Buick one...


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job done....

[Pro-Buick]

with my modified Unimatic shifter,
I built a mounting box to place it under my console..

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the welds are as is as they will be hidden :D

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[Pro-Buick]

Koni shocks are in place as well as the SPC upper arms.....in place of the CPP ones.


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next step the eletricity, MSD and fuel pump.....


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sump tank is welded.....


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I made a plate to bolt the fuel pump between the tank and the rear bumper...




I ordered a sandwich plate to place between the oil filter in order to have more holes to fit the oil pressure and T°....


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[ProTourGSX]

The Buick is looking great, so far!
Just a word of advice, DO NOT USE A FRAM OIL FILTER ON A BUICK ENGINE!

Many Buick owners have experienced engine overheating/damage from using a Fram oil filter on Buick engines, due to the internal bypass valve malfunctioning/sticking closed, and not allowing oil to get through oil passages in block & heads!
I may still have the Fram filter that caused my Buick 350 to overheat; the filter built up so much backpressure, that it swelled up to 2x it's normal size (lucky it didn't grenade in the engine compartment!).

PLEASE!!!, Remove/Replace that Fram filter, and choose ANY other brand that will work! Wix seems to be suggested by many in the Buick community, with no reported issues or failures, that I know of.

Otherwise, love the El Camino, and looking forward to seeing the Buick making progress, too!

[Pro-Buick]

The Buick is looking great, so far!
Just a word of advice, DO NOT USE A FRAM OIL FILTER ON A BUICK ENGINE!

Many Buick owners have experienced engine overheating/damage from using a Fram oil filter on Buick engines, due to the internal bypass valve malfunctioning/sticking closed, and not allowing oil to get through oil passages in block & heads!
I may still have the Fram filter that caused my Buick 350 to overheat; the filter built up so much backpressure, that it swelled up to 2x it's normal size (lucky it didn't grenade in the engine compartment!).

PLEASE!!!, Remove/Replace that Fram filter, and choose ANY other brand that will work! Wix seems to be suggested by many in the Buick community, with no reported issues or failures, that I know of.

Otherwise, love the El Camino, and looking forward to seeing the Buick making progress, too!


Thanks for the advice ! I will not start the engine with that filter and will order another brand .

Your GS will be badass....

[Pro-Buick]

The Buick is looking great, so far!
Just a word of advice, DO NOT USE A FRAM OIL FILTER ON A BUICK ENGINE!

Many Buick owners have experienced engine overheating/damage from using a Fram oil filter on Buick engines, due to the internal bypass valve malfunctioning/sticking closed, and not allowing oil to get through oil passages in block & heads!
I may still have the Fram filter that caused my Buick 350 to overheat; the filter built up so much backpressure, that it swelled up to 2x it's normal size (lucky it didn't grenade in the engine compartment!).

PLEASE!!!, Remove/Replace that Fram filter, and choose ANY other brand that will work! Wix seems to be suggested by many in the Buick community, with no reported issues or failures, that I know of.

Otherwise, love the El Camino, and looking forward to seeing the Buick making progress, too!


Thanks for the advice ! I will not start the engine with that filter and will order another brand .

Your GS will be badass....

[Pro-Buick]

66815


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6_iO8tP504&feature=plcp

how to post direct video!??


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYi6pRlmbNA&feature=plcp