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71 LeSabre, 2 door convertible


Guest Caribou

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Guest Caribou

Hey! I'm new here, but I just started restoration of a 71 LeSabre, and I thought that some of you might be interested. Here's a few pictures:

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The car spent a few years in a field before coming to me, but with some clean gas and a kick in the pants it started running. The paint is fairly new, but there's bondo cracking under it, so there's no avoiding some body work. Rag top needs to be replaced, and the upholstery has seen better days... but looking at those lines, it would be hard not to take the project on.

It's my first restoration project, so I'm taking one thing at a time, but I'm pretty excited to get this car on the road.

There's a couple more photos in my flickr set, and more to come as I progress.

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Guest Skottern

Hello CARIBOU

I am also new in this forum. I have the same car but a 1972.

I am from Norway and buy all I need from CARS INC.

Do you know any others that sell Buick items?

I am loocking for Headers to my car:

They have headers for this car at CARS INC but they are very expensive.

Congratulations with a nice car.

Regards

Bjørn

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Guest Caribou
Hello CARIBOU

I am also new in this forum. I have the same car but a 1972.

I am from Norway and buy all I need from CARS INC.

Do you know any others that sell Buick items?

I am loocking for Headers to my car:

They have headers for this car at CARS INC but they are very expensive.

Congratulations with a nice car.

Regards

Bjørn

Sorry, wish I could help. Do you have pictures of your car up here? Toss some up if not, I'd love to see similar cars for inspiration.

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Great car Caribou. Love the color combo. Of course you'll find that red is one of the most expensive paints to get, but for a driver quality restoration, you can always use a single stage paint because it is non-metallic.

Skottern, we'd love to see your car too.

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Guest Caribou
Great car Caribou. Love the color combo. Of course you'll find that red is one of the most expensive paints to get, but for a driver quality restoration, you can always use a single stage paint because it is non-metallic.

Skottern, we'd love to see your car too.

I'm getting the feeling that this is not going to be a cheap process, but I can take it one step at a time.

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It can be overwhelming and expensive too. One of the bigger problems is once you have one, you always seem to find another. And another. You always tell yourself these other cars don't need much but in reality, if you are on a limited budget, all the cars will deteriorate faster than you can accomplish restoration to any of them. I finally made the hard choice to thin my rusting collection a few years ago, and while it took me a while to recoop, I now try to do one major job on one car each year, and a few smaller less expensive things on each. I always keep the mantra that collector cars must run and move, turn and stop on their own systems to be in my driveway.

The first step is to seriously review what you have, and make a list of what you need to do. Try to put values to everything and then prioritize what you absolutely need to get done first. For example, if your car needs front end work to keep it safe over the next few years, then that would be a top priority in my book. I'd spend what I needed to to make sure the steering works and tires stay on and then I would continue to drive the car and wait till I had the money to tackle the next big issue. Of course, in between you can always tackle the lesser cost items, such as the headlight door. Just make sure you have the funds to complete the tasks you start so the car does not have to sit unuseable for long periods.

Edited by JohnD1956 (see edit history)
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Guest Caribou
It can be overwhelming and expensive too. One of the bigger problems is once you have one, you always seem to find another. And another. You always tell yourself these other cars don't need much but in reality, if you are on a limited budget, all the cars will deteriorate faster than you can accomplish restoration to any of them. I finally made the hard choice to thin my rusting collection a few years ago, and while it took me a while to recoop, I now try to do one major job on one car each year, and a few smaller less expensive things on each. I always keep the mantra that collector cars must run and move, turn and stop on their own systems to be in my driveway.

The first step is to seriously review what you have, and make a list of what you need to do. Try to put values to everything and then prioritize what you absolutely need to get done first. For example, if your car needs front end work to keep it safe over the next few years, then that would be a top priority in my book. I'd spend what I needed to to make sure the steering works and tires stay on and then I would continue to drive the car and wait till I had the money to tackle the next big issue. Of course, in between you can always tackle the lesser cost items, such as the headlight door. Just make sure you have the funds to complete the tasks you start so the car does not have to sit unuseable for long periods.

Hey thanks for the advice, that really covers where I'm at right now. I've started to compile a list like that... it's intimidating, but a lot of the things on it are minor. I'm starting cleaning out the engine, getting the ragtop back on and fixing the lights and signals, because those are essential.

My ongoing plan had been to get the thing on the road by spring, and then worry about the expensive, overwhelming tasks later - body work, paint, etc. Which still seems doable to me, although there's a small part of me that second guesses myself and thinks that I should have done the body work first, while the whole thing is in pieces anyway.

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Guest Caribou

Hey thanks, I appreciate all the support I get here.

Unfortunately a lot of my expenses right now are going to be in things like replacing carpets, the rag top, and possibly upholstery... that and body work.

I've got most of the trim and bits and pieces I need. There are some electrical issues (the turn signals, 4 way flashers, wipers and stuff don't work) but until I swap some fuses I won't know if I need a new switch, flasher unit or wiper motor. I'm putting my money on fuses for now.

I just posted about the taillights I need though, and I'm sure I'll be posting more here as things move along. This is a great little community.

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Guest Caribou
I have a few surplus headlight bezels, I see you're missing the driver's side....

Hey, thanks for the offer! I'm actually not though. It turns out that the plastic bit the bolt screws into to hold the bezel on is broken (missing?) so the last owner had removed two of them. I'm not sure what happened there, but I've got another full set of bezels that I've been polishing up and planning to put on.

I'll update this thread over the next couple days and share what I've been doing, with a couple more pictures.

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Guest Caribou

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The passenger side mirror was busted. The driver's side was really loose. While tightening it, I busted it too. So now I guess I need to get two mirrors cut. Such is life.

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Here's the first thing that's worried me. I pulled out the carpets, panels, and seats because it had been sitting in a yard with moisture collecting... there's a lot of rust under there, and in a couple parts there are small holes all the way through. I've been cleaning and spraying it down with rust converter. I don't have the time or money for major body work this fall, so I was thinking that I might clean up the rust as best I can and fill the holes to stop it from getting worst until I can actually do some body work. Eventually I'll have to install brand new carpets, but the panels and seats I'll try to clean up as best I can.

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I've been cleaning the seats up a bit. The worst of the staining came out, they're still pretty grungy, but I'm not sure how clean they'll get short of a reupholstering.

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The paint was all scratched off the lower door panels, so I gave them a shot of orange primer (it was the color on hand) and I'll paint them nice and white again when I'm done. I'm not sure if some kind of sealant or lacquer wouldn't be a good idea, but we'll deal with that when the time comes.

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Took me a little while to realize why the back cranks were off and wouldn't go on... they're missing the little clips they need. I'm hoping that those are at least generic to Buick so that I can get a couple more easily, without replacing all of the cranks.

That's it for the last few days. Pretty amateurish compared to what some people are doing here, but I think it'll look great when I'm done.

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Those little clips that go on the window cranks are available in the "Help" section of your auto parts store (Advanced, Auto Zone, etc). It is best to install them on the crank before you install the crank to the window crank mechanism. You then line up the crank handle and tap it home with the heal of you hand. Should slide right on.

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Caribou - the general wisdom I've encountered suggests to look after mechanical before looking at body / interior. The primary exception to that is when taking everything apart for a body off restoration as everything gets done more or less at once.

For the seats have you tried Meguiars Vinyl & Rubber cleaner? It made a huge difference on the white and red seats in my '62...they aren't perfect, but did get quite a bit better. The only thing is that they felt more slippery for a while after cleaning with it.

Good luck.

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Guest Caribou

Thanks, I'll give that a shot.

I'm definitely aiming to get the engine cleaned up, the wiring done and the mirrors fixed before I worry too much about the body... everything I need to get it legal. For now I'm just cleaning it up enough to clear out condensation and stop the rust and mold from doing any more damage than they already have.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest Caribou

So I'm missing the hardware to attach my headlamp bezels.

As far as I can tell, I need to get some kind of snap in nut to attach them to the plastic backing. I pulled a part number from a GM catalog:

280220

Nylon

Nut Headlamp Bezel

GM Cars &

General Purpose

Box Qty. 50

Although I'd rather not buy 50 if I can find an alternative. heh. So two questions:

1) Any idea if you can buy things like that individually, or in small quantities?

2) I need screws/bolts to attach to said nut. I've got one I pulled from an already installed bezel to install it to, but having a devil of a time finding one to match. Can you buy classic GM/Buick exterior/body screws and such?

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest Caribou

I'm thinking about replacing the rusty floor panels before I put new carpet down, but I've never approached this kind of work before.

How feasible is it to find and install something like that?

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Anything can be done, if you can find decent parts. Remember, if your's rusted through, chances are the siblings had the same issue. You need to check the junkyards in the southern USA for solid parts.

Thanks. Sounds like I might be patching it then, huh? It's a reallllly long drive from here to the nearest place that doesn't soak their roads in salt for 9 months of the year. Looks like I should sketch in a spot for a welder while I wire my garage here.

I'm slowly starting to realize how much work I've taken off by adopting this car. (I think the girlfriend is realizing it too, complaining has been noticed.) Luckily I think I'm just stubborn and and obsessive enough to pull it off.

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Guest 72SkylarkCustom

Hey nice car yourself. You've got the convertible, but I like my hubs better. ;) Actually, you have different hubs on the front and back? Which are the original?

Mind you, yours looks like it's in pretty good shape (well, minus the rust) and road-worthy right now, so you've got that on me. I've got a couple relatively big hurdles to clear before I get mine back to that stage.

I'm realizing it's going to be a pretty big project as well, but I think the key will be to take it in small pieces and get used to networking and hunting for parts.

I feel your pain on salting the roads, you a fellow Canadian by any chance?

Best of luck with your project, we may end up with some overlap in parts info since the years are so close. We should stay in touch and drop each other a line if we run across parts the other may have a use for.

Edited by 72SkylarkCustom (see edit history)
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Hey nice car yourself. You've got the convertible, but I like my hubs better. ;) Actually, you have different hubs on the front and back? Which are the original?

Mind you, yours looks like it's in pretty good shape (well, minus the rust) and road-worthy right now, so you've got that on me. I've got a couple relatively big hurdles to clear before I get mine back to that stage.

I'm realizing it's going to be a pretty big project as well, but I think the key will be to take it in small pieces and get used to networking and hunting for parts.

I feel your pain on salting the roads, you a fellow Canadian by any chance?

Best of luck with your project, we may end up with some overlap in parts info since the years are so close. We should stay in touch and drop each other a line if we run across parts the other may have a use for.

Yeah, Northern Alberta, out by Athabasca. 8 months of winter, and plenty of salt the whole time. But hey, it's a convertible, so once it hits the road again I should be able to keep it dry and salt free by only driving it three months out of the year. Ha.

From the spec sheet I saw, it looks like the front hub caps are what the 71 used, but I could be wrong. That's pretty low on the priority list, but I'd like to get those all matched up eventually.

The car does look pretty good. The electrical is a mess and it'll need a new top, carpets, and a few other clips and stuff, which is more than enough to keep me busy all winter. My biggest blessing is that the engine was easy to clean up, and that the car seems to run smoothly.

Anyway once my garage is wired/insulated in a month or so I'll have more updates on the car. Hopefully that's soon, I'm eager to get back at it.

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Thanks. Sounds like I might be patching it then, huh? It's a reallllly long drive from here to the nearest place that doesn't soak their roads in salt for 9 months of the year.

I would do my searching online and then call the yards. I once bought a door for my 2 Dr 69 Electra from Desert Valley Auto parts. That freaking door was almost as tall as me, 5'10". The price was very reasonable! and the door was solid as a rock. Of course, this was before the cost of shipping everything became so expensive, but those Souther USA yards have some very nice stuff and they realize that they have to ship stuff to make the sales. Just beware, you probably have to have convertible parts because often the frame on a convertible is boxed, and this may cause a change to things like floor pans and trunk panels. But your best bet for finding convertibles is in the souther tier of the USA.

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Guest 72SkylarkCustom

That's surprising, I thought in Alberta they didn't salt the roads. My car was originally from Alberta, guy blew the engine driving back east and didn't have the money to fix it. It doesn't have much visible rust at least - and yeah I know need to strip it down to really know. Maybe I'm thinking around Calgary with the no salt thing, or maybe they started salting them more recently?

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  • 1 month later...
Guest Caribou
That's surprising, I thought in Alberta they didn't salt the roads. My car was originally from Alberta, guy blew the engine driving back east and didn't have the money to fix it. It doesn't have much visible rust at least - and yeah I know need to strip it down to really know. Maybe I'm thinking around Calgary with the no salt thing, or maybe they started salting them more recently?

Oh we have plenty of salt, believe me. ;) It gets warmer toward Calgary though, I'm north of Edmonton. Maybe they use less salt down there, but I doubt it. heh.

UPDATE!

I spent the last few weeks getting the garage ready. Cleaned it out. Sketched in the rough wiring.

I figure I'll need heat, power and a maybe even a welder to make this happen, so that's got to be done first. It's already around freezing and we only have daylight between 8 and 6.

If anybody in California wants to trade homes and jobs, just send me a message... ;)

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  • 3 months later...
Guest Caribou

So I was resolved to get the wiring fixed this winter. I replaced all the bulbs and fuses, and still had no lights. So I crawled around the front and rear wiring harnesses, and it turns out that the last owner had replaced most of the sockets by chopping the old ones off and attaching new-used ones. The wires were twisted together and covered in tape (and about 10 years of dirt.)

I put wiring joiners and marettes on instead and had a few more lights, but still not enough. So after a few hours cursing I got as far as the dash, and opened that up.

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Every single wire in the car is like that. It's a miracle that anything electrical works at all.

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Guest Caribou
It's a bigger miracle that the car still exists. Talk about a fire hazzard. How you gonna handle this one?

Heh, for starters I'm hoping that I can start to replace plugs and terminals and install them properly, without just splicing them.

New wires where I need them, proper electrical joiners where I can't replace wires.

I want to do it as close to correct as I can so that it's safe and functional, and continues to be for a long time. I doubt I can find new wiring harnesses at any price I want to pay, but I'm sure I can do better than this.

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WOW oh WOW!! :eek:

I have no idea of the cost, but M&H will build you a new wiring harness. See: Reproduction Wiring Harnesses for America's Muscle Cars .

I wouldn't leave a battery hooked up to that...you may loose the car, the building it's in and everything else! And if the building is an attached garage, well let's not even think of the consequences!

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Guest Caribou
What I can't figure out is why anyone would have cut that connector off to begin with.

That's only the beginning of the questions I'd like to ask the last owner. :)

WOW oh WOW!! :eek:

I have no idea of the cost, but M&H will build you a new wiring harness. See: Reproduction Wiring Harnesses for America's Muscle Cars .

I wouldn't leave a battery hooked up to that...you may loose the car, the building it's in and everything else! And if the building is an attached garage, well let's not even think of the consequences!

Thanks for the link, I was looking for something like that, and couldn't find it. The battery is unhooked for now and nothing is getting any worse.

I just needed to get this off my chest. Oh the surprises we find.

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Guest Caribou

I spoke to the reproduction wiring harness people and they can't help me with the dash harnesses apparently.

Odd, I thought that's what they did!

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Caribou- You might try sending out an SOS to a BCA member in say Arizona where huge junkyards of dry donor gars exist. See if one would be willing to remove a wiring harness on his/hers next visit to find their parts. You might be pleasantly surprised and get your wiring harness relatively cheap including the shipping. It's worked for me and a few others I'm sure. Just a thought. Good luck on your car. Mark

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