65GS.com - Buick Gran Sport Enthusiasts!
Projects & Restorations => Projects & Restorations => Topic started by: kcombs on January 04, 2021, 05:09:46 PM
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I am finally back working in my garage, creating a Bucamino. The frame is 65 GS, four speed, factory original. The body is a 1965 El Camino that I bought in Utah for the frame and drive train. Several years ago I added rear sway bars, front disc brakes, did a valve job and repaired the rusty window channels and floor boards. I was going to sell the Elky body and use one I bought that is stripped. Recently decided to use the body that is on the chassis and getting moving on this project again. This last weekend by son in law and I bolted the modified doors and front end on the Elky, so it is now a Bucamino! Things left to do besides a body restoration: Cut out dashboard and weld in a Skylark version, a direct replacement. Weld on window channels from an Elky on Skylark sedan doors and change glass. Then the fun begins. I must replace the front third of the Elky quarter panels with those from the two door sedan. Then the back portion with wagon quarter panels. The Elky tailgate will remain, they are the same as a wagon. Then I must reassemble, after painting, the whole vehicle including converting to bucket seats. I have almost everything to make this happen. A two door sedan, three Ekly bodies, and a rusted out station wagon. I also have a drivers side NOS wagon quarter panel that I bought years ago. I have bumpers, taillights and bucket seats. Now all I need is stamina to stick with the project. BTW, this is going to be a driver for my summer months in Lakeport, California, maybe even a few parades! Pictures to come later......
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I am still learning how to post pictures on this site. I will have more soon. Here is a side photo of my project:
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Hi,
Neat little project, is that a 65 Special in the background?
Regards,
Jim
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I am still learning how to post pictures on this site. I will have more soon. Here is a side photo of my project:
Neat project! I've often thought about doing the same thing.
Loren
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Hi,
Neat little project, is that a 65 Special in the background?
Regards,
Jim
Yes Jim, that is the donor car for the front end, doors and front of the quarter panel. The wagon right behind the Bucamino will be contributing quarter panels and rear bumper.
Kurt
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Thanks Kurt for starting this thread!
Looking forward to following your progress!
Cheers, Edouard :occasion14:
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I couldn't resist enlarging your picture, Kurt.
Loren
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Looking forward to more pictures,sounds like a real fun project.Jim
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Kurt, That's a great fun project that you started, and I see by the photo that you have plenty of room to keep the parts cars too. Good luck and please post the photos of your progress.
Tony :thumbsup:
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Update:
I am now fully retired and in decent health. In April I will turn 75 and have too many projects to complete. We have 2.4 acres in rural Lakport, CA that demands lots of my time and I have too many cars. I have a 2008 Chevy Colorado (Little Red) with only 70,000 miles that is my favorite to drive car. Unfortunately, or fortunately, my daughter wrecked her car so I loaned her Little Red. It is at least out of the California sun and spending this winter in Bozeman, MT. Little Red will probably be there into the fall and maybe longer. One less to deal with here. In my garage is my 1965 Skylark convertible. Very nice original yellow with black upholstery. Right now the carburetor is visiting Tom T. I will probably change the steering column and install a quick ratio power steering box before it is back on the road. Seriously considering sell the convertible. Also in my shop I have a 1972 Ford F-250 (Bruce). Had it going on twenty years. Rebuilt engine (460), transmission (C6) and rear end. New tires and it is a good looking truck for its age. Bruce is my driver now, but may go on the auction block too. Now the fun stuff.
On the other side of my shop is my 1965 El Camino that is setting on a 1965 GS frame and running gear (four speed) I am currently fixing a leak in the cross over manifold between the heads and hope to have that resolved as soon as the parts arrive from Bestoffercounts which include gaskets, hose nipple, and the thermostat housing. I don't want to have to do any rework, so I am changing everything that might have been leaking. All flat surfaces for gaskets and cleaned and have been lapped with a bastard mill file. I almost chalked the file before doing the flat scrape, but decided that was too old school. I have decided to put this ride back together and get it on the road as a driver revenge car. Chevy with a Buick powerplant! All window channels, front and back, and floorboards have been repaired, just need paint. Another reason to put it together is I have all of the glass, upholstery and most parts to put it on the road as a Chevy. I am going to have a 1965 Chevelle four row 396 radiator modified for the 401 inlet and outlet locations because the radiator install was a problem with the Elky when I bought it over 15 years ago. There is more to this story, but I won't bore you with the details. Oh, the paint job is nice.
Then comes my major project that will take years. I keep going back and forth with building a 1965 Bucamino or a two door wagon. I have most of the body parts to make either. At this point I am leaning towards driving my existing Bucamino and making the wagon. It will have El Camino door frames and one long side glass. Will decide later if it is going to be another 401 stick shift, or a 300 with a inexpensive 5 speed. AC is also a big issue as it gets a little hot around here. Still thinking about that issue. When it is completed I plan to only have the Bucamino and the wagon. I will drive on half the year and then switch. This will give me time to make modifications and repairs if needed. Neither vehicle will be a show car, just nice drivers.
That is my update for my projects. What I don't understand is how I had time to work 40 hours a week.....
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Those sound like fun projects, Kurt. Your plan sounds well thought out and should satisfy your wrenching needs for quite awhile. Please bring us along on both though build threads!
:cheers2:
Chuck
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Cool projects, thank you for the update!
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Looks good...Are the elky quarters as good as they look? I am curious how much you have to do to get the Buick lines in place. Do you plan on removing quarter or rebuilding those with Buick stamp lines? It should be pretty unique one you get it together. The dash is easier than it sounds because the top can be left in place if the metal is clean and just use the buick lower. My upper dash is out of a chevelle when I was doing my Buick because I found a clean lower windshield area and spliced it in. This will be a nice one to watch going together.
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Thanks Kurt for sharing with us your current plans!
Edouard
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Big thumbs up. Jim
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Looks good...Are the elky quarters as good as they look? I am curious how much you have to do to get the Buick lines in place. Do you plan on removing quarter or rebuilding those with Buick stamp lines? It should be pretty unique one you get it together. The dash is easier than it sounds because the top can be left in place if the metal is clean and just use the buick lower. My upper dash is out of a chevelle when I was doing my Buick because I found a clean lower windshield area and spliced it in. This will be a nice one to watch going together.
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Hi Schlepcar,
At this point I am going to remove the Buick front end and doors and put the Elky back together as a Chevy sitting on a Skylark GS frame and drivetrain. The Elky was painted and all parts still look good so I am going to drive it that way. Today I took a 1965 Chevelle 396 radiator to a shop in Ukiah to have it converted to work with a 401 nailhead. The previous owner did a poor job of installing a cross flow radiator in the Elky. I bought the interior materials years ago when I was going to put the Elky back on a El Camino frame that would have had a small block Chevy engine. My daughter was going to drive it to school. Family friend was in a bad accident and permanently disabled her daughter and at that time we decided our daughter should drive my F250 instead. So for now it is reassembly time. It will be a nice looking driver with a nailhead 401 and a five speed. Now I just have to figure out how to upholster bucket seats and install a headliner. Oh, and glass.