65GS.com - Buick Gran Sport Enthusiasts!
Projects & Restorations => Projects & Restorations => Topic started by: option B9 on August 15, 2024, 05:55:10 PM
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Yes, I'm back again ! Having talked with many people in this hobby, from hobby purists to custom car builders. The consensus is that I (& my Sons) should repair the damage and keep this GS alive ! So far I've had 3 well respected people in the old car hobby look at the damage on the GS and 1 mechanical engineer. They all say cut out the ugly and rebuild the GS, So that's the plan. So today we turned the GS around and put it nose in the garage. Tomorrow we will start removing the damage and I will post photos as we rebuild this GS again. I took several photos today so you can see what we are up against and the parts that we will need to get this GS ready for the BCA meet in Albany NY in 2026.
It's only 2 years away..... Tony
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Next photo
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another photo
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If anyone can fix that its you. Best wishes. Sorry I missed you at the Nats.
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You will make it great again!
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Tony, I'm really happy to hear this plan. Saving a Shuman car again. And I'm sure that some of us might have some parts you'll need to do the repairs. Keep us posted and good luck!
:cheers2:
Chuck
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Best of luck Tony! Certainly as happy an ending as can be given the circumstances. This car deserves to live!
Edouard
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Hey Tony, we gotta talk. lol
Loren
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Hi Everyone, thanks for the encouragement. When I returned from Ohio I was not going to rebuild it, but after my friends found out what happened and they said "why are you not going to repair it ?" And I just did not have a good enough reason not to ...My sons also want me rebuild it... Even my 85 year old street rodder friend Jimmy looked at me and said "do it for me, please" So here we go, again !!
Today was day #1 the boys helped remove some of the damage. See attached photos.
Michael is operating the cut off wheel we also removed the gas tank, rear bumper & trunk lid. More cutting tomorrow,
I'm looking for a donor parts car within the NY metro area. OR separate parts to rebuild the GS. I have less than 2 years until the 2026 BCA meet..
Tony :thumbsup:
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Hey Anthony,
I have the trunk lid, taillight panel, bumper and taillights available. Might know where a quarter is. I will check on that.
Loren
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I wouldn?t take it much farther apart without taking it to a real frame shop. That damage is mostly cosmetic with a professional frame tech at the wheel. Someone who does this for a living will save you a lot of grief. I am not talking about a guy who says he can fix it,but a professional certified tech with a least 10 years of experience can repair that without buying a lot of unnecessary pieces?.just my thoughts.
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Hi Loren, I just left you a PM. Yes, If you can supply those parts and you willing to take the time to pack & ship them that would be great. Give me a call & we can work out the details...
So all I would need then is a left rear chassis rail, (if its not boxed I can fabricate a plate & weld it in) a rear crossbar part #12.986. A rear pan assembly part # 12.981 . And a left rear bumper bracket.
This afternoon I removed all the useable parts from the trunk lid and the rear bumper then cut them up for scrap. The left taillight has a few useable parts, otherwise its scrap. The right taillight & the center emblem look fine and are useable. Then I bagged & tagged the parts for future use. More cutting starting Monday.
Tomorrow I will be working on a small automotive/Buick related project that I started over a week ago. When it's completed I will post the results.
Tony :wave:
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Tony, if Loren doesn't have those remaining parts you need I think I do in an old Skylark parts car that's sitting around. I'll check it out later today. Stay tuned....
Chuck
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The frame rails are only boxed between the tires?that is why I suggested a frame tech. It is a fairly easy pull and not much strength back there. If you can get these guys to find the trim pieces your well on the way.
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Hey Tony,
Good to hear you have a new plan.
Best of luck, keep the photos coming.
Marcus
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You GO brother..! :rocker:
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Tony, keep up your current pace of car repair and you’ll be driving the GS before the snow flys.
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Hi everyone, Had to clean up the shop today to make room so when I do start working I'm not tripping over things. Having a clean safe work area is very important to me, clutter can get you seriously injured or cause a fire. And at this point lets not ruin a good thing....
Loren & I did speak a few days ago, and he is going to send me some needed parts and I did send an email out to a member that may have a driver side quarter panel, I'm waiting for his reply. There is another part that I will be needing It's the drivers side rocker molding. It was not damaged from the accident, but damaged by the flatbed driver that a used a trolly jack that only had three wheels. He was attempting to raise the GS so I could put the left rear tire back on. The jack slipped and crushed the molding. You would think that authorized tow would at least have a working jack! I was already having a bad day and that sure didn't help.. So if anyone has one in really good condition that they are willing to sell please send me a PM..
schlepcar suggested getting a Frame Tech to look at this GS. The body shops in my area (NYC) DO NOT want to work on vintage cars ! They claim that there is no money in it for them.. All they want to do insurance repair work. It took me over 2 years to find a shop that would take on my paint job. Then after 19 months I came 1 day away from loosing the car because the shop went out of business and the doors were chained by the county Marshall. And I lost $12,000. This GS and I have been thru the wringer the last 21 years, so I'm going to do my best in getting it back together and returning to my roots by painting it myself and be proud of my work and post photos so everyone can enjoy the ride.. Looking forward to Albany NY in 2026.
More cutting tomorrow.
Tony :wave:
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Hey Tony, I'll look through the bunch of rocker moldings here and see what I have. I had five of them repaired where the screw hole is on the bottom front edge. That turned out to be an expensive day.
Loren
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I forgot you were in the BIG town. I am not sure it is much different elsewhere as far as shops because of the insurance industry and the fact that modern cars cost what we paid for houses. You are likely more qualified to repair that frame than the guy paid to replace parts on new Teslas. Find a good Porta power and just push or pull until that whole rear section is square to itself again. Sometimes I bolt the bent bumper bracket back in place to pull from so you don?t distort the rail. I don?t think there is any reason to cut and weld on the frame once you see how and where to straighten it. They are a lot stronger in the front than they are in the back. A good flatbed tow driver would have been very handy by a large tree if you know such a character. It is not the way a shop would do it but results are what matters?.you don?t need a laser measurement system?.tape measures don?t lie??.lol.
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Hi,glad to see yout back at it .I believe the factory spec is plus minus 1/8 " so a quarter " to play with I'd put the car on a couple of 2x4 Sq tubing and block and jack from that don't put the quarter solid until trunk lid is onyou probably know all that already good luck .jim
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Hi everyone,
Loren, Steve answered my email, and he has a new rocker panel molding. He already sold the quarter panels so that stays on the wanted list.
schlepcar, my friend is coming over on Thursday, and we are going to take chassis measurements just to make sure the chassis is square.
Jim, Thanks for the info about the 1/8 of an inch. I'm going to take the trunk opening dimensions from the hardtop and go from there. I will be using Clecos & clamps to hold everything together. I probably will weld in a few temporary braces too, until it's time to mig it all together.
Chuck, It looks like the left rear road wheel can be used again. I'm going to have it high speed balanced just to be sure. The tire is scuffed up but I'm going to give it a good cleaning and I will see, If not I will purchase another.
Tony :icon_thumright:
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Hi everyone,
Loren, Steve answered my email, and he has a new rocker panel molding. He already sold the quarter panels so that stays on the wanted list.
Tony :icon_thumright:
Bummer on the quarter panel. Steve has been trying to sell those for a long time and suddenly someone comes along to pick them up. I've been trying to buy that rocker panel for years.
I will put those items away for you that we talked about.
Loren
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Hi everyone, due to another project I did get a late start on the Red GS. As of 6PM I finished cutting out the
accident damage, I'm not cutting any more sheet metal off until I can find a left rear quarter panel.
See attached photos.
Tony :thumbsup: