68 BUICK GS Build

[Sebambam]

Hi guys Im a newbie so i wanted to introduce myself and my project.
its a 68' BUICK GS California 350/350 combo
i bought the car like 1,5 years ago in stock condition and started a rebuild .






most of the time i was active on the V8Buick board to learn about my A-Body and edjucate myself.

I wanted to do a PRO TOURING style build and obviously this isnt the way .. true BUICK guys do... but i dont give a damn..
its my Car and i build it the way i want it.. sooo

Since then i did a lot of work.
i stripped the car down.. painted it cheapo which turned out horrible... more to that later


further i decided to rebuild the buick 350 motor and beefed it up with buick performance parts and a lot of work
so i ended up with a 9:21 compression very good running motor..
(single plane intake, ported heads with bigger valves and springs , race adjusted Quadrajet, hooker headers, 3" x-pipe, custom performance cam etc) before i dropped it back in i fixed the frame rails that where bent.










Further i worked on the suspension and rebuild the BOP (splines NO C clip 8.5 Rearend) and put a POSI and 3.73 gears in

the rear suspension got new springs (MOOG cargo coil) new KYB gas a shock (all arround), UMI upper and lowers, sway bar & new drums in the back while the front got BMR 2" lowering springs.

[Sebambam]

Now its time to get deeper into the build

1st of all i stripped the car again since the cheapo Paintjob lifted an was totally BS..thats what i get for beeing cheap!!!
So i prepped the car for REAL PAINT




i am planing on running 19x10 ET 15 wheels that equal a BS of 6.09.. in the BACK
Not to easy on the 68-69 A bodies.. and especially not easy on the Buicks with there straight quarter panel lip..
had to cut , grind and rol the inner fenders to create space..
.im pretty lucky that they fit... just need longer studs




now will be the tire question.. i thought about 305/30/19 but i think they will bulge to much .. i dont have the necessary space on the outter lip (maybe 0.5 inch)
would also prefer a bit more meat and so a 35 tall tire sounds good.. 40 is probably to much ..

[Sebambam]

Long time since i was able to upate..
well my car was in Paint the whole time... you know how that is.. 4-6 weeks planned ...5 month later...


i have my lil side project which is a LSx Mustang build , well just something to keep me busy, but the BUICK IS MY MAIN PROJECT
so i decided to twin turbo my beefed up Buick 350, and i got some turbo manifolds from MARK BURTON , i decided to keep it simpel with some T4 60 trim turbos, they spool fast , create more than enough power and they are reliable.
i plan on 8 psi daily and 14-16 top end





further i got a good deal on 295/30/19 Bridgestone potenza, i saw them on a Forum members Olds with 19s they looked good so i went for the deal and im happy with the look, they should clear as well




front tires are ordered as well 255/35/19 Contis

[wyattroa]

what wheels are those? car is looking good!

[CampbellshotrodsAZ]

Looking good! Can't wait to see it all together!

[Yukon Cornelius]

Nice project.

[Shawn01754]

Very cool! I like it.

[redsixty9]

It's nice to see another guy that's crazy as me.

[64G-lark]

Nice to see another Buick! I am surprised you can get that wide a rear wheel in there. What brand of wheel is that? Keep up the good work.

[DualQuadDave]

I'm on v8buick also, you are doing a great job! That forum is kinda limited for next gen stuff, you found a good home. Stay in contact, i did a 72 protouring Skylark 455 build, will help you out as much as i can.

[nekkidhillbilly]

love it

[Motown 454]

wheels and tires look nice.

[Sebambam]

this are CCW style wheels from XXR

[Sebambam]

Soooo 1st of all the car is back from paint after 4 month ..
the next step will be the vinyl top and interior.

the interior will be a all new Buick GS panels from Legendary + headliner
and 2004 GTO seats front and back
i thought about doing it all myself 1st but decided to get some help of a interior buddy who will charge me but will stay very reasonable.
im stoked

when i brought the car back home i had issues starting it.... gas, carb timing etc .. i made it and it runs good but that headache convinced me once more to go
with EFI . As of now it will be a FITECH 1200 hp Power adder unit since i will BOOST the GS. i was looking in steve Morrisons HOLLEY SNIPER EFI for Boost, but Holley will obviously not release the thing until the end of the year so Steve Morris.
I assume that it will have issues in the begining as well such as the Fitech but at least at the fitech there will be reviews, experiences and system updates already.

wheels are XXR 531 they are a knockoff CCW style 19x10 with 6 Bs in the rear with 295/30 Bridgestone , 19x 8.5 in the Front with 255/35 ContiSports

the rears are on already and they fit well without spacers/adapters. Only think needed where longer Studs (1-3/4) and Tuner Lug nuts for the wheels.

the car still has some Spring spacers in the back (2") on top of the Coil springs, i ll wait until the car is fully assembled with the interior, bumpers etc that will add some more weight and make it squad down even more before i possibly remove them.
i wanna see the stance 1st. and i would like to have the car pretty leveled.

The Front assembly is based on OEM setup with BMR 2" lowering springs but i kept the horseshoes since there is nothing wrong with it.
the wheel fitment will require 1.5" adapters.
this adapters (S10 adapters) require some machining to fit the rotor hub in the front so i have to update on that later.

here are the rears

[Sebambam]

Thanks

[Sebambam]

thats good to know.. you already know about V8 as you said, its a great forum for Buick enthusiasts and all the knowledge is amazing but new Gen stuff isnt much supported as of now..
It will change i guess, we just have to show them good builds with quality , cuase a good car is a good car.

i will PM you

[Sebambam]

Got the fronts on as well had to machine down the. Adapter bore .50,
To make them fit

[Sebambam]

I took off the hood latch bracket and installed hood pins to gain enough space for the IC.
Mock up looks good i just need to build brackets and cut the lower bumper a bit to clear the piping and BOVs.

[Sebambam]

So i looked into my fuel system and decided to sell my a1000 setup and go with a ROBB MC Powersurge 1000 which is working with carb or efi using the existing fuel lines and has a psi up to 75.
Very convinient setup.

Further i replaced all front suspension ball joints as well as tie rods and center link. All oem GM stuff.
I have 2" lowering springs from bmr and they didnt lower really as you can see in the previous pics.
So i took the risk and cut them.... 1" cut should lower 2" apparently lol.

Well.. It worked.. It looks awesome but is a bit to low i guess.
I have spacers on top of the rear coils.. I ll take them out to get the carto level hopefully.. Otherwise i will get some front coil spacers from global west 0.5 " to raise the ftont 1". Again.
Coilovers are sooo convinient.. Lol but i need the $ for the nterior and turbo setup.

[DualQuadDave]

That was a good move swapping the A1000. They work, but are noisy as hell. It was louder than the 3in Spintechs on my 69 Fastback, lol. Car looks fantastic!