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Another 1971 LeSabre Custom 4 Door Sedan


Smartin

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I sold my tiwlight turquoise 71 LeSabre sedan in early 2003, and I have been regretting every minute since then. About a year ago, I started looking casually for another car to replace it. The ideal vehicle was another twilight car, but I know how often THOSE pop up. So I began the search...

I have found numerous leads and most of them have been 72's and 73's. I'm not very "hip" to the 73 style, and since I seem to be setting a personal trend with the 71's, I thought I should continue looking for the right car.

In early November, a friend of mine alerted me to a car on eBay that appeared to be everything I was looking for. It was a fairly vague auction, so I took it upon myself to ask more questions about it. I also had a friend in Massachusetts look at the car in person for me. Thanks Johnno!! His review of the car was excellent, so I decided to contact the seller with a private offer. I was quickly on the phone with him, and made an offer for the reserve price of $2000. He obliged and ended the auction early! Cool, the deal is almost sealed!

Money was sent, and a shipping company was contracted to transport the car. It took about 2 weeks for Specialty Mobile to find a carrier for it, so I was quite anxious by the time they called with a taker. The car was picked up on time and was en route the next day. Unfortunately, I was scheduled to be in Las Vegas during the prospected arrival date, so I had a friend of mine accept the car this past Thursday.

I got a call at 3pm Vegas time (5pm Central) telling me that the car had arrived....

BUT

The hydraulic pump on the truck died, so he could not get the car off the trailer. The driver elected to drive another 250 miles to his home and repair it there!!! tongue.gif

He finally made it back up here this morning, and dropped it off at a jobsite I was working on. Upon unloading the cars behind it, he blew a hydraulic hose that powers the ramp for my car. smirk.gifsmirk.giftongue.gif I then walked away and told him to come get me when he was done repairing it. I offered him help if he needed to pick up any fittings or anything, since I was ITCHING to get the car!!

Hose got fixed, Voila - it rolled off the trailer!

Here's a shot of it during the repair:

arriving001.jpg

in my shop and DIRRRRRTY!!!!

arriving002.jpg

Engine - purrs like a kitten, but will die if I hammer it. Carb needs a rebuild.

arriving003.jpg

arriving004.jpg

Ready for a washing::::

arriving006.jpg

After!!!

arriving007.jpg

Ok - details:

42k miles, and it shows

One repaint with the body color

Original Engine with nothing replaced except the typical stuff

Owner decided to take another paint brush and paint the core support black

Like I said, MINT interior

Power windows

Power seat

Deluxe color-match seat belts

Door window frame molding

Sandpiper Beige paint

Dark brown vinyl top - excellent shape

Air conditioning - needs recharge

Remote mirror

HD suspension

Map light

Speed alert

Trip odometer

Trunk light

Courtesy light

Electric clock

AM sonomatic radio (does not work)

History on the car:

Sold in New Hampshire to the CEO of a large? company in Maine. Gentleman died in 2001 and it was sold at auction to the last owner in Quincy, Massachusetts. He drove it 200 miles in 4 years. Wife needed garage space, so the Buick left.

I'm the proud new owner of this car!! It's finally here... (I think I said that last time with the convertible grin.gif )

If I elect to bring this to Rochester, then I have a LOT of work ahead of me.

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Guest my3buicks

Finally, was beginning to wonder if it was ever going to make it to your home. It looks great Adam, especially after the bath. It reminds me of my parents 72 Catalina that was in the same color combo.

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Guest imported_MrEarl

Wow, that's what I call a LOT of car for the money. Great catch Adam. Hopefully you'll post your restoration efforts on here as before. The Beige bottom and dark brown top is a nice color I think. One of my 54's is a Casino Beige with a black top and I love it.

Well I guess I need to get my Christmas list into Santa. Looks like you and Pete have been good boys this year.

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Guest imported_Thriller

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Well I guess I need to get my Christmas list into Santa. Looks like you and Pete have been good boys this year. </div></div>

That reminds me...there was a 4 door '54 available locally - advertised in the local club magazine...hmmm.

Nice car Adam. It is amazing what a cleaning can do for a car. I hope you enjoy it.

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Chrome plated wheels and trunk lip molding....would look nice on this car grin.gif

I have a couple sets of bumper guards, too (NOS!) NOS headlight bezels and emblems...

I still can't believe how nice the interior on this car is...it's really unbelievable.

It has the original spiral shocks on all four corners.

I'm thinking this car will get a full treatment, starting in the Spring. If everything goes as planned, anyway. Unfortunately, it is NOT a candidate for an archival class entry, so I have no problem digging into the car. I was taking come sloser looks at the car today. It has had one repaint, and it appears as if it had some very minor rust in the doglegs prior. The rear window leaks, so there is probably something back there. Now that I know the car has been repainted, I am looking at the top as if it has been replaced, too. I'm curious to know if it's hiding anything.

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[color:\\"blue\\"] It is terrific to see the LeSabre finally made it home, Adam. I think you really got a lot of car for your investment and if some things need tlc, the car is in the right hands to see it all happen. Rear deck lid moldings sound like a great addition but I hope you stick with the standard wheel covers. It is nice to see cars like this basically stay as they were delivered. At any rate, congratulations on a great acquisition. If you ever decide to repaint, will Twilight Turquoise entice you? - - - B o b

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Bob!

Glad to see you've joined the forums...

Yes, the twilight would entice me....very much so. I think I'll stick to the original color on this though........unless I get a wild hair and go crazy on it. I would have to eliminate the vinyl top if I did. I also might have to transplant a 455 if I go that far, too grin.gif I could get used to this color scheme....I don't know. Time will tell.

It's still sitting in my shop right now, so I have no access to it. All the plow trucks are blocking it in. I have a chance to grab it this weekend, but the fact that I have to play musical trucks to get it out is making that a hard decision to go grab it.

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Guest my3buicks

Adam, don't you have a spare set of Wires laying around : ) ? I know 72Guru will love that comment, he hates wires smile.gif unlike me, who think they are all that and a bag of chips

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I have a fairly substantial leak that gets into the trunk somehow. The other day, I pulled the stainless off the back window and cleaned out the whole channel. I found no holes, but I did find just a bit of surface rust under one spot of the vinyl top. Does anyone know how the trim around the top is held in place?

I had the car inspected today, and it passed with flying colors....but they left it outside in the rain all day, and had about an inch of water in the drops of the trunk. I can see that it is coming from the window area, but cannot pinpoint it.

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Guest my3buicks

Adam, that is a common problem with those cars, check with BuickGuru, he just had his back window resealed last summer before nationals.

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Adam: My LeSabre also just showed; pictures forthcoming....

Wouldn't you know it, I have the very same rear-window leak/water-in-the-trunk syndrome.

If you hear anything special about fixing that, give me a shout, would you?

Best regards,

Steve.

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It's a great day when you can find an older car in this condition smile.gifand a greater day laugh.gifwhen it ends up in the hand of someone that is going to keep it and preserve it. ( Like not drive it in the winter in salt, Kringe mad.gif Kringe.) I had a 71-225 Electra in my yard about 25 years ago. It had a 455. I still have the motor, trans and rear end. I hate to tell you what happend to the rest of it. frown.gif Mabey that's better kept a secret.

Good Luck with it, Dave!

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Thanks:)

I finished buffing and polishing the spots tonight just as the sun was setting. The paint is a hair thin on the quarter, but it's 100% better than it was. So I am satisfied with this fix. It's nearly impossible to touch up paint that is over 15 years old...or more. I have no idea how old this paint is. I plan on wetsanding the entire car with 2000 grit and buffing to smooth everything out. It has some orange peel that I'm not real happy with on the sides of the car. The hood and trunk both have some good surface scratches and swirl marks that I'd like to try to hide, also.

Heck, this car may end up in Rochester anyway! Hank'll have to drive the 60 himself. He was able to drive it to the local cruise on Sunday, and loved it! He said it drives better than his 62 cool.gif I have just a couple things to figure out before I can let it go, but they are easy.

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Located an NOS front bumper to replace the kinked up bumper on it now. I do need to find the grille inserts for it, though. I remember seeing aa couple NOS ones on ebay a couple months back.....DOH!!!! If only I could see into the future...

also trying to grab Pete Phillips' 2nd piece of hood stainless on ebay. I missed the other one by just over $1.

I have a line on a set of 4 note horns...hopefully, it pans out.

Oh, and I got an AM/FM Stereo out of a 73 Electra. I am getting the wiring harness soon for it, but I hooked it up tonight and it works really well. I can't wait to get some tunes in this car!! It's a boring ride when I'm by myself.

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Whoda thunk the paint could shine like this???

I took the whole car down with 2000 grit paper and machine buffed it with 3M Perfect-it 3000 ....absolutely amazing!! Even better in person.. The paint on this car appears to be better than the paint on the convertible tongue.gif I removed some of the emblems for cleanup and paint...and to help in ease of buffing. I hate plucking letters off the car with a buffing wheel shocked.gif

wet_sanding003.jpg

wet_sanding004.jpg

wet_sanding005.jpg

This is what it was looking like before I sanded it....it was really orange-peely

wet_sanding002.jpg

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Guest 63riviera

WOW!!! That's gorgeous! And I'll bet it was a tone of work to do all that wett sanding and polishing. I had my '63 Riv painted Mercedes Astral Silver and, although it looks OK from 10 feet, it has some orange peel that I'd like to work on without erasing the clear coat. What do you suggest? Wet-sand with 1500/2000 grit and use Meguiars NO.7 Pro Show car Glaze polish?

But I stillmust say what remarkable job you did with your '71 LeSabre.

BTW: I have a'76 Riv with a 455. Does it have the same length of spark plug wires as the 350 (except for the '76's HEI ends0?

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If you plan on using 1500 or 2000 grit, you will need something a lot stronger than Meguiar's #7 show car glaze. I used 3M Perfect-it 3000 rubbing compound on a wool buffing wheel with my 9" grinder. (high speed)

I started to rub it out by hand, but quickly wised up and bought a wheel and the 3M stuff. You can use the 3M stuff by hand, but it is a major pain. THe results are good, though.

I assume the 455 wires are longer, due to the phyiscal size of the block, but I have no proof. Interchangeability, as long as the wires reach, should be ok.

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<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Quote:</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Can the power buffing wheel cause permanent swirl marks, even if used carefully? </div></div>

I would not recommend using a grinder for power buffing. In general the speed of a grinder is much too high. If I remember correctly, in the neighborhood of about 5000 rpm. An electric buffer runs somehwere around 1700 or maybe a little higher. If you are not familiar with a buffer, it is very easy to buff through the finish, especially on edges. They will leave swirl marks, but a progressively milder compound will reduce those and a final polish by hand with the proper material should eliminate swirl marks completely.

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Bored on a Saturday..

New speakers installed in the dash and stereo wired up. Works great!!!

And "while I'm at it," I removed all the dash bezels and cleaned them up. I also pulled the clock out and replaced the clouded face with some nice new clear plexiglass and lubed up the gears inside. It fired right up when I reinstalled it!! I polished the speedo lens and it's nice and shiny now. I cleaned out all the little crevices around the bezels and just did a general detail job on the whole cluster. It looks dynamite now.....I didn't think it could get any better than what it was before grin.gif

I've also been going over the car with a towel and spot-polishing places where I missed with the buffer. Also threw on a coat of wax where I'm finished up. It continues to boggle my mind how pretty the paint is turning out on this.

I had taken off the fender emblems to make it easier to work and get a cleaner job. Well, it paid off to take the time to slice my arms up trying to get the emblems off, because it is a really big difference. Check it out:

Before - no way to get the dirt out from inbetween the scripting, and the black paint has chipped and rubbed off the edges of the emblems. There is also body color paint on the edges of the emblems all around.

emblem_painted001.jpg

emblem_painted002.jpg

When I pulled the emblems off, I decided it would be stupid to reinstall them dirty. I cleaned them up and ringed the letters with an acrylic black paint pen, and scraped the excess paint off the face of the letters. These emblems POP out now!! Totally different look.....Buick could've just left the whole emblem chrome, but that black outline really makes the difference. I still have to do the insides of the "CUSTOM" emblem, but those are easy.

After::::

emblem_painted004.jpg

emblem_painted003.jpg

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Guest 63riviera

Another fine accomplishment from the resident Buick restoration guru!!!

If only I had his skills to work on my '63 Riv and '76 Riv (which could use a some under-the-hood detailing), things would take on a completely appearance.

What speakers did you use? As a auto audiophile, I know that some higher-end speakers can fit in the stock locations. And as any audiophile knows, investing in better speakers is the most cost-effective way to improve sound.

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I bought a set of the Infinity 4x6 speakers - 6412cfp

I had wired each one to a different wire on the harness, and one of them was blasting loud, and the other was quiet and clear. I checked the balance and fade, and they were cool. Soooo, I tried wiring them both on the loud wire, and they were both loud and distorting! So I ended up swapping wires, and now they are clear as a bell, but not that loud. So I think I may have to get a set of 6 1/2" or 6x9's and find a spot for them. I like to have good sound, and the blasty wire had a good low end on it, so I need to find a way to get that sound going. I guess I can only do so much with a factory stereo.

The Infinitys went under the dash, but I just stashed them up there in secure spots. They are very audible, though. I couldn't reach the stock locations, so I found spots that they would fit, and I secured them there.

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Guest 63riviera

It could be the phase of the speakers. If the phase of both speakers is not coherent there will be canellations (i.e., one cone moves in, while the other moves out; thereby cancelling each other out and play other weird psychoacoustic effects). make sure the "+" wire is connected to the "+"" terminal, although sometimes this does not guarantee abolute polarity. Radio Shack sells a cheap speaker polarity checker if your wires aren't marked.

many imbalances and strange psychoacoustics are caused by polarity discoherence

819663RivStereo2-med.jpg

Reduced size of picture to help readability. RWB

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Yeah, I was very conscientious(sp?) when I wired them, because I know the importance of polarity. I am going to buy some larger speakers, probably 6x9's for the back ,and hook them up to the "meatier" wire and see how they sound. If they sound like crap, then I guess I'm SOL unless I find another radio.

BTW, is there any way you can reduce the size of that picture to like 640x480? or something similar? It really distorts the way the thread looks when you have to scroll left to right to read all the posts. grin.gif

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Guest Shaffer

That is a stunning car Adam! I had no idea you had bought another LeSabre. I had not been here in a while obviously. Looks like you have latched onto a nice one there! I wish I had the motivation to do little work on my car (73' Grand Ville) like you have on this 71' LeSabre. Its amazing how those little details (such as cleaning around emblems) really spiffies up a car. Any recent photos of the interior since you cleaned that up?

I know how you feel- I still regret selling my 72' Electra. What a fool I was. I am glad to now have my 73' Grand Ville now. Like you, I wanted another car to replace it and this was the closest thing I could find. The styling and color really reminds me of my Electra, because it is so similar- even the color scheme is the same. I really would have preferred a 71 or 72 Pontiac over the 73, because I am not all that wild about the huge bumpers on the 73+ GM cars (any car really beyond 72'), but I have gotten past that and do not really notice them. I do know that I will not be so quick to sell it. I actually have no plans of ever selling it.

Congratulations again!

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Thanks Shaffer!

I don't have any current pictures of the interior since the cleanup, but it doesn't look much different than the nearly untouched interior photos at the beginning of this thread smile.gif

I gotta get my convertible back so I can drive it while I tear into the engine compartment on the LeSabre!

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  • 1 month later...

I'm getting close to the time when I can start ripping into this car to make it look from good to great.

I just bought a rechromed rear bumper this weekend. It was a little more than I wasnted to spend (or even planned to spend at all) but it'll make me feel better to know that I have a nice backside grin.gifgrin.gifgrin.gif

I've been stumped with the 60 steering problem lately, I haven't had a chance to really think this car over in a while. It really drives nicely. One of the quietest old Buicks I've ever driven...

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  • 3 weeks later...

It's official - Easter Sunday has come, and is on its way out.....which means I can start on this car.

First and foremost, the engine compartment. I plan on doing exactly as I did with Hank's 60 in the previous thread with his car. After the engine work is done, I will go over the body of the car and fix any of the big blemishes still left over from the previous owners' "handy work." If I have time before Rochester, I will get some underbody work done. It's not really bad, but it sure would look nice cleaned up.

Now for the obligatory picture posting grin.gif I'm gonna have fun with this one..

getting_started001.jpg

getting_started002.jpg

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