65GS.com - Buick Gran Sport Enthusiasts!
Projects & Restorations => Projects & Restorations => Topic started by: JimL65 on February 17, 2020, 07:10:13 PM
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Hey All
I purchased my Gran Sport in 2015 with the intend of eventually doing a body off restoration. Well I finally began about a month ago and I've been having so much fun I hardly get to sit down at the computer nowadays! Taking it apart is the easy part, I am sure I'll have many question when trying to piece it back together again. I've taken pictures of just about everything in the disassembly, bagged and tagged and cataloged all the nut bolts etc etc. Some pictures of my progress.
JimL
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Convertible top
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Bumpers & gas tank
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Need a new trunk pan???
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Motor & Frame
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Just Frame
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Body Off
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Couldn't find the VIN # on the frame below the drivers seat but found it on the rear left side above where the tailpipe hanger would be.
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Next step...power wash the frame
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Great progress, thanks for sharing!
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Very nice Jim. Great progress, keep it coming!
:cheers2:
Chuck
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Thanks Jim for sharing! :hello2:
Overall the car looks in very good shape for all the years. You have excellent bones for your restoration!
Cheers, Edouard :occasion14:
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Great photos! Good luck with restore. Mine has some filler in the tail light corner section too.
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Getting ready to assemble the frame and suspension back together. Looking back at my pictures, does it appear that my right bottom control arm was installed by someone incorrectly??? Never paid much attention when I was pulling things apart!
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OK I also own a 1965 Skylark and just checked out the control arms on that. Its completely opposite than the Gran Sport. On the Skylark the shouldered side of the control arm bushing faces the differential. On the Gran Sport the shouldered side of the control arm bushing faced the frame. Now I'm really confused (doesn't take much). I was planning on adding a rear sway bar and I've already boxed the control arms. I just assumed that both larger holes in the arms faced the rear. Does anyone have any opinion on this?
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I don't think it matters. There even appears to be an offset.... looking from the top, one side of the arm is offset or indented a little. However, when installed, the offset sides face the same direction.... either both left or both out.
I believe there are least 2 different lower arms used on our 65-66's, the difference only being the holes. One has an 'O' stamped on the top surface.
FWIW, my '66 has the oblong holes (on top) towards the rear axle, round holes towards frame.
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Thanks Walt I was coming to the same conclusion, that it just doesn't matter. The Gran Sport right lower arm had the oblong hole facing forward but on the left side the oblong hole is facing to the rear. The Skylark was the opposite. Like I said I've already boxed the lower arms and just assumed that the larger holes on the side of the arms were for a sway bar. So when I install them one arm will be opposite of the way it came out but both offsets will then be facing the same way. I do have an O stamped on one of my top control arms. I plan on working to get the suspension back together next week and want to make sure I have all my ducks in a row.
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Does anyone know or have a part number for the correct front sway bar bushings. The Moog K5241 that I ordered are nowhere near correct. I've done a search on the forum and see others have had problems as well (some boring out 3/4"bushings) but cannot find the correct part number for the .94in bar
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Ok Cowl tag guru's. Can anyone help me decipher my cowl tag???
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The gurus will check in with the details but I can see you have 1965 Skylark Gran Sport Convertible built in Baltimore.
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I think I have most of it:
06D = built in the fourth week of June
65 = 1965
44467 = Buick Skylark V-8 two door convertible
BAL = Baltimore assembly plant
154 = ivory vinyl bucket seat interior
C2 = artic white lower body color and black convertible top
S = Gran Sport Trim Package (as assessed on this site)
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Does anyone know if the numbers 752 on the first row and 2587 on the second has any significance?
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2587 is the production number. No idea what the 752 means...
A great weekend to all!!
:cheers2:
Chuck
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752 means it's the 752nd 44467 (V8 Skylark convertible) built at the Baltimore plant.
Mine is #859 and built in 3rd week of August.
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Progress!
Frame before...and now
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Very nice progress Jim. Feels good, doesn't it?? :hello2:
:cheers2:
Chuck
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Very nice progress Jim. Feels good, doesn't it?? :hello2:
Yeah, yeah! Just what da' man said! . . . . . :sunny:
Cheers, Edouard :occasion14:
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Right rear floor repair and center floor brace replaced.
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Does anyone have any wheel well arch sheet metal on they're parts car they could spare??? Right side
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Left side
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My cart makes it so much easier to move the shell in and out of the barn/shop!
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I am going to be using the Wolf Steel lower rear repair panels for the rear quarters.
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Thanks Jim for the update and the fresh pics! . . . :hello2:
Cheers, Edouard :occasion14:
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Nice progress Jim! Thank you for the update.
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Good Inspiration, thank you!
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Does anyone have any wheel well arch sheet metal on they're parts car they could spare??? Right side
You may be able to splice in repair sections from a front fender...
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Walt is correct.
My friend who did my body on my car spliced in some front fender sections on my car with good results. There are photos on my restoration thread on this site from about ten years ago which is titled "Restoring my Rusty 65 4spd convert from start (and hopefully) to finish". If you scroll through the posts on that thread you will see photos of an unpainted section of a front fender which was spliced in. I would move the image to this thread but that is a bit over my head from a technology standpoint.
Good luck with the project. It looks great.
Rob K
http://65gs.com/board/index.php/topic,312.15.html (http://65gs.com/board/index.php/topic,312.15.html)
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Thanks Walt and RobK
I do remember seeing your photo's Rob. I actual made a template of the rear wheel arch and compared it to the front fender and with a little tweaking looks pretty darn close. But I will still need the sheet metal to do this as I do not have extra fenders...yet
Thanks for your help guys
JimL
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I have a 4-door parts car that has decent wheel well arches. I think they are the same as the 2-doors, but not sure. I'll send pictures later today.
Chuck
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I have a 4-door parts car that has decent wheel well arches. I think they are the same as the 2-doors, but not sure. I'll send pictures later today.
Chuck
Yes they are the same.
Loren
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Trunk coming out reveals a Pandora's box of other problems...UGH
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Wheel wells. My plan is to replace the bottoms of the wheel wells
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Trunk Drop Offs
I have a friend who has just done a 1965 Chevy Chevelle. Looking at his drop offs looks pretty close. I'm going to try a set of those. With a little cutting ,bending, grinding, cussing, etc it will be better than what is there. Any advise, suggestion, insults, welcome from those who have "been there done that" are welcome
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Inside of lower right tail light panel.
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Wowsers Jim, You certainly have opened Pandora's box there. Best of luck with the metal work.
Loren
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'UGH!' describes my 66 GS vert project too! It's a metal working challenge but it's coming along piece by piece.
I did the inner fender repair too. Made templates from cereal boxes, made the metal parts, and TIG welded in place. The tig is nice as it leaves a fine bead that is easy to finish off.
I went with the one piece trunk for this job. Cost more but it's a very nice piece.
I bought a 66-7 Chevelle trunk drop off to try, but it's way off. Olds and Pontiac are also much different. I have a pair of decent used ones, or may try to duplicate them.... a $100 bead roller is a handy tool for fabbing parts, as is the shrinker/stretcher set.
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Dear Jim, Loren, Walt, and mid-60s Buick restorers,
Wow is right! (http://www.canebas.org/WeatherCat/Forum_support_documents/Custom_emoticons/eek-sign.gif) Best of luck Jim, you sure have a mountain of metal fabrication to do.
Cheers, Edouard
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Wow Jim! If not already, you will be highly skilled at metal fab and welding by the time this restoration is through. Best of luck and enjoy!
:cheers2:
Chuck
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I would second Walts advice , instead of wasting money on drop downs that aren't going to work spend the money on a shrinker / stretcher and a bead roller . A sheet metal brake will come in handy also .
I did exactly what your doing , repaired the lower wheel wells and also rebuilt my original drop downs . page 16 of my restoration page shows some of the work i did .
The only thing i did different was the order of events . Before i cut anything out I simply placed a couple rows of 2 inch wide masking tape over the areas that were rusty and trimmed the tape to match the oem contours and then transferred the tape to a new piece of sheet metal .
With a shrinker/stretcher it actually went pretty smooth .
Good Luck . hope that helps .
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Wheel houses are done!!! Next step for the GS is trying to figures out the Trunk drop offs :BangHead:
Also ISO drivers side door lower door hinge.
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Nice work Jim!!
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Looking good! Nice job!
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Wheel houses are done!!! Next step for the GS is trying to figures out the Trunk drop offs :BangHead:
Also ISO drivers side door lower door hinge.
Jim,
I may have a pair of those. I'll take a look if you are interested.
Loren
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Nice to see the progress!! :hello2:
Cheers, Edouard :occasion14:
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All set for a door hinge. I had purchased one years ago for my Skylark from someone on this forum or V8 Buick :dontknow: which was never installed. Just forgot what side it was for and where I had put it ;-(
Loren, yes take a look let me know what you find.
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Jim,
Door hinges are reproduced now. I have some used hinges here. I will get picture of the extension pieces.
Loren
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Dear Jim,
All set for a door hinge. . . . .
Door hinges are reproduced now. . . . .
FYI, . . . Back in 2010, I purchased the OPGI reproduction of the upper driver's side door hinge for my trusty wagon. The stops had broken on that hinge decades earlier and I worried about the door slamming on someone and hurting them. I can't comment on how close their are, but they work just fine. I certainly appreciate that now the driver's side door stays open!
Cheers, Edouard :occasion14:
P.S. I also don't know who actually manufactures the hinge, so there might be better prices available out there than OPGI.
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Jim,
I posted pictures of the extensions I have over on v8Buick, under your wanted ad.
Loren
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The one piece trunk test fit went very well! Pleased with the fit.
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Nice work Jim!
Loren
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Jim,
That one piece looks amazing. looking forward to seeing it welded in.
Marcus
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Power washing the undercarriage
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Test fitting the right rear lower quarter patch panel
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Trunk drop offs...Thanks to Loren!
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One piece trunk floor is spot welded in. Pleased with the fit.
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Great progress! Looking good!
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Looks great. Thanks for those detailed photos. I'm putting in a one piece as well so having good photos helps.
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Jim,
It's looking really good. Glad those trunk extensions worked out for you. I noticed in your pictures of the extensions that the driver side appears to have a flat spot in the middle section. Maybe it is an optical allusion in the picture, but it should have a slight belly down. The passenger side looks correct. I've attached a screen grab of your picture and marked the area I'm talking about.
Loren
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Thanks for the advice Loren. Any help is appreciated. I’m basically a one man show, still bending , tweaking and massaging. Just feels good to finally make some progress to show off! It’s a long long road.
JimL
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Great work and progress Jim. Keep it up!
Chuck
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It looks great Jim. Those of us that have spent time in that trunk know how much is done that never shows and the hours spent laying on your back and standing on your head.
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Thanks Jim for the update and all the detailed photos! :hello2:
Cheers, Edouard :occasion14:
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Been quite busy with my project just haven't had time to sit down at the computer to give y'all updated pictures of the progress. I do have lots of photo's to upload, its a long long road. I'll get to it "one of these days" Today I took my vent windows apart. Mine are in decent shape however the right side horizontal channel under the vent window is pretty much rusted. these are basically riveted in. If anyone has anything that could help me out let me know.
JimL
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Jim, if the part is beyond repair, Chicago Muscle Car Parts lists several vent window components. Including the vertical channel and horizontal brace.
Hope it helps.
https://www.chicagomusclecarparts.com/collections/1965-chevelle-gto-cutlass-skylark-door-parts (https://www.chicagomusclecarparts.com/collections/1965-chevelle-gto-cutlass-skylark-door-parts)
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Dear Jim, Kevin, and mid-60s Buick restorers,
Been quite busy with my project just haven't had time to sit down at the computer to give y'all updated pictures of the progress. I do have lots of photo's to upload, its a long long road. I'll get to it "one of these days"
. . . . .
Thanks for the update! Do look forward to seeing some of those pictures when you can spare some computer time!
Cheers, Edouard :occasion14:
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UPDATE!!! What I've been up to the last year+
Right wheel well repair with parts from a front fender donated by RobK, Thanks Rob.
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Undercarriage Painted with new right rear floor pan and center support installed
Firewall painted
Dash painted
Floor in primer
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Motor back from machine shop
Tom T's mini starter! Thanks Tom
Setting up for cam break-in
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Jim,
Thanks for the inspiration. Nice work there. I'm picking up a parts car this weekend so I can move forward on metal work myself.
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Looking good, Jim. Thanks for sharing and keep the progress coming!
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Body parts in epoxy primer, yes there is an extra trunk lid and fender(my practice pieces-first time painter)
Body parts in Arctic White BC/CC. Body yet to be finished.
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Nice job!
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Great progress Jim! :thumbsup:
(http://www.canebas.org/WeatherCat/Forum_support_documents/Custom_emoticons/wink_smile_triangle.gif) . . . . Just one thing . . . . I dunno' about the gauges on the stepping stool. Ya' think that's going to be very practical once you start driving the car? . . . . . . (http://www.canebas.org/WeatherCat/Forum_support_documents/Custom_emoticons/Laughing_LOL.gif)
Cheers, Edouard :occasion14:
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JimL,
Glad I was able to help & you are a satisfied customer.
Tom T.
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Looks very nice?.it?s always downhill once the body goes back on the frame. Dan
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Body finally painted!
Body back on the frame. It's all downhill from here, right Dan??
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Very nice progress Jim. Enjoy the rest of the ride!
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Good to see it starting to take shape! Nice job!
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Dear Jim, Chuck, Jim, and mid-60s Buick caregivers,
Body finally painted!
Body back on the frame. It's all downhill from here, right Dan??
Congratulations! :hello2: I don't know if downhill is exactly the right word, but most certainly, putting the car back together brings so much more satisfaction than the dismantling and cleaning.
The end of the tunnel is in sight!
Cheers, Edouard
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That is coming along very well since you sat it back on the frame. You don?t have to get too fussy on adjusting the windows yet. Once the top bows are installed you can fine tune the adjustments to them . I found it easier to install all new weatherstripping on the bows and fasten it down to the header before adjusting glass. It was fit doors to body,adjust strikers so door shut nicely,then top,then glass when I did mine. Convertibles save a little time on paint work,but make up for it on adjustments.
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Help, could someone post a picture of they're throttle linkage from the micro switch to the carburetor. Having a hard time locating my original in the twenty plus totes I have in storage! Might have to locate another one.
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Hi Jim,
If interested in the microswitch end, here are a few pictures from a parts car. If you need more, let me know.
:cheers2:
Chuck
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thanks for the pictures Chuck.
I was able to locate at the bottom of one of the 20+ totes in storage my missing pieces. Does anyone know at what point in the throttle rod travel the micro switch should be activated?
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It's all explained in the chassis manual.
Tom T.
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Making Progress,
But I seem to have gremlin's in my left front signal light. Works sometimes and then not. I think it might be in the turn signal switch, haven't researched it yet!
Hopefully the interior and wheel and tires next week.
Convertible top appointment first week of July. ;-)
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Hi didn't think the manual explained the switch to well only on at idle as soon .as the linkage moves converter locks up the edelbrock carb switch would be better (easier to set) jim
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The Gran Sport is back in service!
Thanks to all those that helped through this process with advice, suggestions, parts offered and received.
Feels great to be "Cruising "again. Plus, it's a lot of fun!
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Good going ,always better on the road.jim
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Looks great, Jim. Nice job! Enjoy cruising the best part of summer!
:cheers2:
Chuck
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Is that a cloth top? I have a 66 GS and want to go that route. I just have no idea if they already exist or if it is a custom job.
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Jim, your GS looks awesome! Folks here know, understand and appreciate the hours of work that go into getting the car to this point. Well done!
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Congratulations! The car looks great, happy to hear you are out enjoying it!
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Congratulations Jim!
The Gran Sport is back in service!
. . . . .
(http://www.canebas.org/WeatherCat/Forum_support_documents/Custom_emoticons/wink_smile_triangle.gif) . . . . So what's your next project? After a drop-top perhaps you should be thinking about a . . . . . . l o n g r o o f ! ! ! . . . . (http://www.canebas.org/WeatherCat/Forum_support_documents/Custom_emoticons/Laughing_LOL.gif)
Cheers, Edouard :occasion14:
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The Gran Sport was a big hit at its first cruise night this year.
And yes Dr. F that is a cloth top, installer purchased it from Electron Top.
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Looks great Jim. Great to see it out in the wild!
Chuck