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    1. #1
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Mapleton, IL.
      Posts
      250
      Country Flag: United States

      1964 Buick Skylark "Project Angry Bird" budget build

      I have been a member of this site since 2004 but have never posted my projects. I enjoy following the build threads and finally decided with some prodding from a few members that I would post up some pictures of my long term project that has been slowly evolving into a Pro-touring style car. After selling my last project (72' GMC Sierra Grande truck) in 2006 I was ready to start something new. This was going to have to be a budget build since my family comes first and I would have two kids in college before long. I wanted to start with a solid A-body car, but most decent Chevelles were out of my budget.
      I grew up with a Grandfather that always liked Buicks and I had a 65 Special he helped me rebuild as a teenager. Many years later I had a 72 GS cloned to a 455 stage one car. So a Buick made sense and seemed like an affordable option.

      My build plan changed along the way. Starting with the stock engine (300 V-8 ), to plans of a turbo V6 to eventually swapping to a LS3.
      Bear with me as I try to build this thread in a chronological order starting back in time. I purchased this car in March of 2007 out of California from a V8Buick member. It was a nicely optioned early build car with back-up lights, AM radio, all the exterior trim, bucket seats, ironing board console, and a original aluminum headed 300 4bbl / automatic. My orginal intention was to purchase a nice stock car and transplant a Grand National drivetrain but this would change. Shortly after the purchase I began to collect the parts and aquired a 87' GN engine and trans. I promised myself I wouldn't tear the car down until I had the majority of the parts for the conversion. While slowly collecting parts my family and I enjoyed the car with the stock drivetrain. We did weekend cruises and the occasional car show.
      Here is what I started with in 2007.


      The powerhouse 300 V8

      Interior


      The GN engine and Trans.






    2. #2
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Mapleton, IL.
      Posts
      250
      Country Flag: United States
      The car was suffering from a lot of oil leaks and horrible 4 wheel drum brakes that meant you better think about stopping long before you needed too.
      The first things I addressed was The passenger inner fender and heater box. Apparently someone changed the heater core at some point with out removing the inner fender and had bent up both of them. There was also some battery corrosion issues to address.





    3. #3
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Mapleton, IL.
      Posts
      250
      Country Flag: United States
      Before starting any drive train conversions I needed to get the look I wanted for the car. The car was suffering from sagging coils that also looked as if they had been heated with a torch at one time. The first time I took it off the road in late 2007 I added Hotchkis 1" drop coils to all four corners, KYB gas shocks, some new bushings and lots of cleaning and detailing of the engine compartment. After lots of measuring and hours of looking at wheel designs I selected 17" Intro Vista Wheels and Nitto tires. I thought the wheels accented the side trim on the car with their unique finish on the spokes. This change greatly improved the handling and looks of the car but this was just the beginning.



      My family and I continued to enjoy the car on the occasional weekend drive and I had come to enjoy how reliable the Lil' 300 V-8 was but the 2 speed automatic was terrible. I decided to convert the car to a four speed so I sold off the GN drivetrain and began collecting all of the original four speed parts for the car. My family and I made a few road trips to collect parts and had some good times along the way.
      1964 Buick four speed Skylark parts are very hard to locate. There were only 2764 cars built. If you want to learn more about them you can use this link to learn about all the hard to find parts.
      http://v8buick.com/index.php?threads...mation.164721/

      Original 1964 four speed shifter made for Buick by Hurst.


      Rare consolette


      1964 Borg Warner T-10 wide ratio


      Original hump unique to Buick’s


      Bell housing cover. Most got tossed.

    4. #4
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Mapleton, IL.
      Posts
      250
      Country Flag: United States
      In the fall of 2009 I took the car out to take pictures to submit to PHR magazine for their annual readers photo contest issue. On the way home the brake booster went out. I managed to limp it home and it went into the garage for the beginning of a long hibernation to improve every mechanical part of the car. The pictures I took that day didn't win but did manage to make it into the magazine. See the Jan. 2010 issue. Ironically this same issue kicked off a magazine project car called project Olds. This was editor and photographer Robert McGaffins 65' Olds Cutlass. I would later follow a similar build on my car.

      The brake booster turned out to be a tough fix. Being an early 64' car it was equipped with the Kelsey Hayes booster. After trying multiple rebuilders I could never find the correct parts to rebuild. The drum brakes had always made me nervous driving the car as you had to plan in advance to stop and leave much more distance between yourself and other cars. So I made the decision to upgrade the braking system to the Delco booster and front disc brakes.








      While I was into the brakes I decided to clean and paint the entire underside of the car. In hindsight I should have done a frame off but after all this was a budget build. We all know how one thing can lead to another and before I knew it I had stripped the car to a shell on the frame.
      I started by moving the car out into the driveway and pressure washing it. Over the years the engine and transmission had both acquired leaks and it seems most of it coated the bottom of the car. Under that was a coat of undercoating then paint and finally the sheetmetal. Pressure washing in December can get a bit chilly laying on a creeper under the car. Once I cleaned as much as the pressure washer would remove I spent the next few weeks scraping, sanding, using scotchbrite pads and wire wheels to remove everything to the bare metal. I treated any corrosion with a phosphoric acid cleaner. While using the acid I wore gloves, goggles and a respirator while laying on a creeper. This stuff works great but will cause skin burns. I found out the hard way my gloves didnt go high enough and ended up with some pretty good burns around my wrist for Christmas.









      Once everything was cleaned I applied two coats of POR-15 and one top coat of POR-15 Blackcoat. This is great paint but don't get it on your skin as you will have to wear it off.





      My youngest helper Chase helping on the brakes




      Birthday surprise from my wonderful wife

    5. #5
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Mapleton, IL.
      Posts
      250
      Country Flag: United States
      As is the case in most builds I did find a few rust repairs to make. Each rear inner fender had a small area by the rear body mount and I found one small place in the floor. I borrowed a friends mig and patched them up.

      One of the more humorous events I had envolved sandblasting. I purchased a cheap portable pot style blaster to do parts outside as needed. I had a few places on the underside of the car I just couldn't get to with conventional tools so I thought sandblasting might just be the trick. I bought a roll of plastic and a few bags of sand and carefully planned the event. I was going to have to do this inside the garage so I planned to do this when my wife was going to be gone for the better part of the day. You have to understand my garage is in the basement and any time I use chemicals or paints my wife notices right away. As she pulled out of the drive I made a bee-line for the garage and set up a make shift booth around the car with the plastic. I proceeded to spend the next few hours blasting away at my trouble spots and anything else I could find that needed blasting. After that I tore down my booth, cleaned and swept up all of my evidence. A short while later my lovely bride arrived back home, so I ran upstairs to greet her. She asked what I had been doing and I quickly replied the usual working on the Buick. Her eyes began to pan the kitchen and she picked up some mail on the counter and when she did you could see a dusty outline of where the mail had laid. She went from room to room and each time she picked up an object the outline remained. My gig was up and I spent that evening and the next day cleaning and vacuuming the whole house. You dont realize how fine that dust becomes. Never sandblast in a closed garage no matter how well you think you have sealed it off. Sandblasting is banned to the great outdoors!

      I continued to remove parts and strip, clean, repair, and paint. One by one I picked off items such as the wiper motor, heater controls, core support, bumper brackets, heater boxes, steering column, etc.


      I also used a hydraulic punch to reduce weight in various parts of the car. I haves dies in multiple sizes from 1/2” to 3”. I wish I had the dimple dies as well but maybe in the future.













    6. #6
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Mapleton, IL.
      Posts
      250
      Country Flag: United States
      Next thing to address was the rear axle. The orginal rear had a open type carrier 2.78 gear which was great for gas mileage but was not what I wanted for more spirtited driving. I debated about rebuilding the orginal rear but stumbled across a 64' GTO rear on this site that was identical and had been upgraded to a Eaton Posi and a Richmond 3.55 ring gear and pinon. The 64' axle housings are unique in that the top cast ears for the upper control arm mounts have smaller diameter bushings. I tore it down inspected it, cleaned, powdercoated the backing plates, rear cover and painted the main housing. I used ARP stainless bolts for the rear cover.




      At this time in the build I was still headed for a resto-mod type build. In May of (2012) my brother and I attended an All GM event in Commerce, Ga. at the Atlanta Dragstrip. My car was still on jackstands waiting for time and money to replace and paint suspension parts so I rode with him in his Camaro. Once there we enjoyed the show, the vendors and drag racing, but we had more fun at the autocross event than anything. This was probably the third autocross event I had attended in my life. This one was different in that there was no import cars and it was all GM stuff. My brothers car is mostly stock but he entered the event and loved it. Everyone at the event was friendly and welcoming. He left with a plaque and his car appeared in a couple magazines shortly after.
      The highlight of the event for me was meeting Kyle Tucker and riding with him on the course. I had the pleasure of talking with him before and after the run and I have to say the experience of riding in the DSE 1963 Chevy II was unreal. The car handles unbelievably and the power is nothing short of crazy. The thrill from that day changed my thinking for the car. I enjoy going to car shows but I am not crazy about sitting in a chair in the hot sun for hours behind the car. I enjoy driving it the most.
      Project Angry Bird begins!

      http://s984.photobucket.com/user/The...4ce8a.mp4.html

      Click on the Video above to see a short video of the run with Kyle taken by my 10 year old son.

    7. #7
      Join Date
      Feb 2011
      Location
      Mid-Michigan
      Posts
      136
      Country Flag: United States
      VERY nice Buick Mark. Thanks for sharing, I can see why Tom has been hounding you.
      What happened to the Turbo Buick motor? that would be pretty cool too!
      Aaron
      65 Chevelle, LS1 with a T56
      Project G-Velle

    8. #8
      Join Date
      Jan 2013
      Location
      Cypress, California
      Posts
      381
      Country Flag: United States
      Nice build. I have just about finished up a 65 Skylark that looks very similair to your build. Mine has a 6.2L L92 motor and a 6L80 transmission. Here is a picture to show how much they look alike. Looking forward to more reports on your car.


    9. #9
      Join Date
      May 2007
      Location
      Mooresville, Indiana
      Posts
      1,878
      Country Flag: United States
      Excellent Mark! I can't wait to follow along!

    10. #10
      Join Date
      Mar 2014
      Location
      Greenville, NC
      Posts
      64
      Country Flag: United States
      Sweet ride. I passed up the opportunity to buy a 64 Skylark quite a few years back but had often thought it was a mistake to not have purchased it. It was a 300 car as well but it was cat turd green so that was the main reason I let it pass. Love the stories as well.

    11. #11
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Mapleton, IL.
      Posts
      250
      Country Flag: United States
      Thanks Aaron, Tom, 1989GTA, and Austin97C1500

      Aaron, I sold the GN Turbo motor and 200R4 trans. It would have been fun in a straight line but the V6 doesn't play well with a manual trans. and that is what I wanted. The Buick engines are expensive to build and the oiling system is the weak link with the external oil pump.

      Nice looking Skylark 1989GTA.

      All of your cars are inspiration for me. Cant tell you how many times I have followed Tom and Aarons build threads.

    12. #12
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Mapleton, IL.
      Posts
      250
      Country Flag: United States
      The Pro touring bug had taken hold so I started by addressing the sleepy steering gear. I replaced the original 800 unit with a Delphi 600. This will give me the 12.7:1 ratio I like while also losing a little over 6 lbs of weight off the front end. This is a direct bolt in with the exception of changing the rag joint and some adapters for the hoses.
      I spent some time talking with members here, at Lateral G and the vendors themselves before I determined what suspension components to purchase. I wanted to use tall spindles for the improved geometry so this narrowed the field down to a handful. I also wanted to gain some articulation for the rear control arms. Ultimately I kept coming back to Detroit Speed so that is what I used for the majority of the components. I was most impressed with their patented design for the rear swivel link control arms. I think these are superior in ride, noise and wear compared with helm style or Johnny joints used in other brands. Here is the run down on my current set-up.

      Front

      Detroit Speed 1 ½” taller forged spindles with 2”drop
      Detroit Speed upper and lower tubular control arms with delrin bushings
      Hotchkis 1” drop coil springs
      Viking aluminum body double adjustable shocks
      Pro Forged tie rods, idler arm, center link and billet adjusters
      Ride Tech Muscle bar 1.5” tubular sway bar.
      Rear
      Detroit Speed swivel link upper and lower rear control arms
      Detroit Speed chassis brace kit.
      Hotchkis 1” drop coil springs
      Viking aluminum body double adjustable shocks
      Detroit Speed 1 1/8” tubular sway bar















      11” front disc brakes


    13. #13
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Mapleton, IL.
      Posts
      250
      Country Flag: United States
      Attended the Chevy Nationals again in Commerce Ga. on 6/1/2013 to watch the autocross and keep the motivation going. Took a couple laps with Brian Finch this year in his Camaro. He drives harder than anyone I have ever rode with on an autocross track. The braking and acceleration is over the top. Of course having 14" rotors on all four corners and 750 HP on tap helps. I dont think I will ever be able to have a car that performs at the level of him or Kyle but I would be happy to be on the road again and make a few autocross events.


      Click on video above to watch a short video of the ride with Brian a little shaky taken by Chase my 10 year old.

    14. #14
      Join Date
      Oct 2012
      Location
      Kennewick, WA
      Posts
      259
      Country Flag: United States
      Beautiful car! There is a 65 sitting about 1/2 mile away that I have been eye balling for the past few years.


    15. #15
      Join Date
      Jul 2013
      Location
      Grayslake IL
      Posts
      311
      Country Flag: United States

      1964 Buick Skylark "Project Angry Bird" budget build

      Subscribed! Love the stories and the build. I owned a 71' Skylark about 6 months ago that would always put a smile on my face
      I always tell others to take the high road, that way there's more room for me on the low road

      Erik Peterson
      1986 Monte Carlo SS Build Thread: https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/...6-Nascarlo-2-0

    16. #16
      Join Date
      Feb 2005
      Location
      Metro Detroit
      Posts
      865
      Great reading. Continue the excellent work. This project is something special!

    17. #17
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Mapleton, IL.
      Posts
      250
      Country Flag: United States
      Thanks epeterson, RMMiller, and Roger. Appreciate the comments.

      Not much happened for a few months because I was struggling to determine the direction to go with the engine and transmission. I had spent a lot of time collecting original Buick 4 speed parts and now had everything I needed to put the car back together. While I had dreams of LS motors I went ahead and installed the original engine back in the car along with a T-10 4 speed transmission for the time being. I also continued to work on lots of odds and ends. Replaced all the brake lines and fuel lines cleaned and painted the underside of the hood, etc.



      Centerforce clutch upgrade





      My Oldest Son Cade helping with prepping the hood for paint.




    18. #18
      Join Date
      May 2007
      Location
      Mooresville, Indiana
      Posts
      1,878
      Country Flag: United States
      [QUOTE
      My Oldest Son helping with prepping the hood for paint.

      [/QUOTE]

      Man, I know that is a lot of work by itself!

    19. #19
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Mapleton, IL.
      Posts
      250
      Country Flag: United States
      On 10/25-26/2013 Attended the DSE open house and the Goodguys event in Charlotte. It was at this event that Chase and I got to meet Tom and Sam Farrington in person and finally see his beautiful 66' Chevelle. Tom and Sam are great people and we had a fun time. Both of them can drive the wheels off of that car. Tom was kind enough to answer lots of questions and take me for a run.



      Toms Farrington's 1966 Chevelle at Charlotte Goodguys event 10/26/2013




      In car video of the run with Tom.

    20. #20
      Join Date
      Aug 2004
      Location
      Mapleton, IL.
      Posts
      250
      Country Flag: United States
      Your not kidding Tom. I think I spent about a full week in the evenings sanding and trying to get in all the nooks and corners. Then no matter how much you blow it off and go over it with tack cloths every time you move it or go to spray primer or paint, dust or dirt comes out of some hidden place!

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