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Announcements => New Members / Bio's => Topic started by: shorty on May 22, 2011, 02:39:15 PM

Title: New Member/'65 Skylark convertable owner
Post by: shorty on May 22, 2011, 02:39:15 PM: Hi,
I'm new here. I am the proud owner of a '65 Skylark convertble (not a GS).
I bought the car a few weeks ago, with less than 44k miles. Bone stock.
I added a set of wheels, and have plans for other upgrades.
Dustin
Title: Re: New Member/'65 Skylark convertable owner
Post by: dsags on May 22, 2011, 04:44:52 PM: Welcome Dustin. Skylarks are certainly welcome here and it appears you have a very nice convertible.
Title: Re: New Member/'65 Skylark convertable owner
Post by: Chris on May 23, 2011, 06:57:35 PM: Welcome Dustin.

The vert looks really nice.

A Bodies Rule! :rocker:

Chris
Title: Re: New Member/'65 Skylark convertable owner
Post by: kcombs on May 23, 2011, 07:16:29 PM: Hi Dustin, Very nice ride!
Title: Re: New Member/'65 Skylark convertable owner
Post by: glenn4spgs on May 23, 2011, 08:54:37 PM: Hi Dustin it is A nice nice skylark ! gonna be my screen saver for a while keep your buick all buick we are all here to help! Glenn!
Title: Re: New Member/'65 Skylark convertable owner
Post by: shorty on May 24, 2011, 10:05:34 PM: Thanks for the complements guys!
I plan to keep her mostly stock, for now here are my plans..
Soon-
Disc brake swap (front)
HEI dist swap (it's a 225 odd fire V6)
Stereo system (if I can figure out a decent sounding system that won't require too much modification)
Tailight sequencer- I think the taillights on this car are BEGGING for this mod.

Future-
Sway bars/suspension system upgrades
rear disc brakes (depending on how satisfied I am with the disc/drum setup)
overdrive trans?? (I already have a good 200R4- seems logical that the extra gears will wake up the little V6)
Rearend gears- only if I do the OD trans swap (again to wake up the 6)

Far future- maybe never....?
3.8 Turbo drivetrain out of an '86-'87 Buick Grand National

I love the gas mileage I get with my car, I sold a '71 K5 Blazer (6-8 mpg) to get this car & mpg played a big part in my motivation, so I really don't have any desire to swap in a V8. The GN swap would be amazingly cool and while I love the original condition of my car my true passion in cars is "resto-mods". At least it would still be all Buick :).

Feel free to chime in with advice, opinions, even criticism.
Title: Re: New Member/'65 Skylark convertable owner
Post by: kcombs on May 25, 2011, 03:15:06 PM: Hi Shorty,

Mind sharing what gas mileage you get with the V6, and do you have a one barrel or two on the odd-fire?

Thanks, Kurt

PS, I think you will find that power disk brake will be fine just on the front. I think rear disk brakes are mostly for looks as the fronts do 85% of the stopping. You will have better and wider tires than the car came with originally. It should stop fine with the front disks.
Title: Re: New Member/'65 Skylark convertable owner
Post by: shorty on May 25, 2011, 03:40:24 PM: To be honest I haven't figured it yet. I've only put about 250 miles on the car. I filled it when I got it and stopped again to top it off because I suspected the guage wasn't working properly... and it's working fine! If I had to guess I'd say 20-25 mpg, but that's a guess.
It's a single barrel carb.
I'll never win any races with this car, but it does fine in traffic and cruises right down the highway.
I agree with you on the rear brakes, I'll probably replace them when I do the front conversion and I imagine I'll be happy with that setup.

Something I didn't include in my future plans list is paint & body work. The car looks good but it has lived in the rust belt for 46 years so it has some problem areas. For now I can live with it the way it sits, but I imagine I'll get around to tackling the rusty areas down the road.