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Modified 54 Skylark


Guest 54fins

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Guest 54fins

good point Willie, but the forum keeps me going as odd as that might sound!

I anticipate it driving this week, but my goal of driving it all the way is risky on a new build without some time to wring it out. So, the plan now is to take a trailer. It might not do the whole run under it's own power, but the thought of a broken down Skylark in the middle of Idaho is a concern. Then there is mission creep, Bumper boys finished the bumpers and I scored a re-chromed mustache, so now there is the added problem of new bling that may as well be gold. I am flying out my paint/body man, he wants to see the car nice at the nationals before I ruin it. I wanted to go in black primer and life would have been much easier. no more photos till the front clip is on. Pretty sure it will run and drive but the windows and top are going to be down to the wire

And a trailer has the added benefit of dragging parts home.

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Guest 54fins

front clip goes on today. New black cloth top and windows this weekend. Bumpers should arrive Friday. Next week should be last minute touch ups. Just bought an enclosed trailer. I never wanted a trailer queen, but I got a virtually unused trailer for 5K. Better locked up in a trailer than vandalized in a parking lot, so it's going to Portland done or not.

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Well, wishing you the very best. Be SAFE!

I pulled a 1/4 million car to Pebble Beach in 2001, insurance company told me that from Dallas to Ca was a long trip, and at gas station/rest stops etc. tell anyone that asked, WHAT YA HAULING, SAY, OH, THE TRAILER IS EMPTY.

Have fun, and looking forward to seeing pic's.

Dale in Indy

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Guest 54fins

front clip on, final assembly weekend. It will run and drive but there will definitely be some things to finish.

Pick up top today (black cloth) and the upholster is doing some nice touches.

As for the tach, I cannot see a brand name but I suspect GM bought out gages from a supplier that had to sell them wherever they could. Each car make probably wanted an individual style, so boats and other types of vehicles would be a logical alternate market. I don't know if that is Faria, but if they were the gage supplier then that would be logical. They also made marine versions of nailheads so it seems to make sense. I just could not use a column mount tach, even an old one just didn't look right.

Stayed with the analog gage cluster, so still have the copper lines but wanted to keep the feel as original as possible. The steering wheel is a modern one, I have plans to Buickize it but don't have the time to chop up the original column and modify the horn ring and emblem. The car is pretty darn stock on the outside, slightly modified in the cab but completely upgraded to 64 technology underneath.

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Guest 54fins

bad news- wrong windshield. Now I have to use a cracked one, and then replace it later. Cracked a side glass too, but flat glass is easy. That's the problem with pushing too fast, there will be a fubar. The up side, I would be talking about finishing the car for the next 5 years, this is the only way to get it done.

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Guest 54fins

as luck would have it, correct windshield and went in without a snap! (that's a good thing)

gotta watch the sides!

A note about the side emblem. An old man walked up to me at a car show and said he had the side emblems (couple sets) I figured he was drunk but nevertheless I went to his trailer to check them out.

they were NOS- in the Buick box

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Edited by 54fins (see edit history)
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Guest 54fins

every day is a whirlwind. some extremely lucky, some not so much. The bumpers are excellent and they even had the Skylark rear bumper guards. But they sent a roadmaster lower front bumper and no time to swap it out. Overall, despite the mistake I have to tip my hat to bumper boyz. Otherwise, I would have to say that we got very lucky on almost everything.

as for window sides, the windshield will snap if you put any pressure on the sides during installation. The old windshields tend to snap when you remove them, we got it in smooth

Top and interior today, load up tomorrow...

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Edited by 54fins (see edit history)
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Guest 54fins

I'm about beat, a 60 day complete restoration of a 1954 Skylark frame off. Actually not complete, but close as I could get. Anybody coming to Portland with a 2 door century driver's side inner door molding (the one the lock sticks through) I will buy it from you! Only 2 54 buicks? come on guys, gotta be more out there!

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Guest 54fins

Wow, now that was a crazy week! I do appreciate the compliments. My goal was to drive it and when my buddies showed me their 10 pound solid brass driven awards I was jealous. The good news- I will drive it to Springfield and get that sucker next year! I just got back from 20 hours in the truck pulling a freaking garage with a car in it and my only complaint is that the car wasn't ready to drive that far, but had it not been for the nationals I would still have a black primer rat rod that wasn't ready to make the drive, so it was a net gain.

As most of you , I'm very into the car hobby. I walk away from the nationals with a lot more friends and a lot more knowledge every time I go. I love seeing them all, from a rusted hunk to a 400 point masterpiece. Having done the 400 point, there is an incredible painstaking effort and it is very important. My passion is more in driving and it is very difficult to do both and it will become very difficult to build and maintain a car to original standard as time goes by. I just want to make it very clear that I do support that and I still have good original parts and some knowledge that I will gladly share. Unfortunately most guy can't drive to Colorado to pick up a dynaflow even if it's free, but I still appreciate those that utilize original parts. I am also fortunate to have an ace paint and body partner and hope to help him get back in the business full time. He sold a very successful Maaco (oops) and a lot of you got to meet Chris. I'm planning on building some 50's Buick custom frames as we all figured out that other GM frames don't fit! I also want to try and make them affordable so you don't have to build another Chevy. This was a test run on a frame that's actually set up for a Buick and I think it just might work.

At any rate, the forum afternoon breakfast was an absolute hoot. It's a blast meeting people you blogged with for years, not knowing who they are until they give their forum name. The 54 forum group is always tight, I call it the Buick tri-5's as there are a lot of 55's that participate, and a few 56's. You can see some natural groupings by eras, this was definitely the year of the Riv. I like the riv drive train so I find them interesting, but more for 50's Buick upgrades than for owning. Then I pictured Father Buick as an 80 year old- now he was a hoot and we had a blast at the banquet. Buick5563 definitely shows you that the younger guys can still get into Buicks so I don't think we will be extinct any time soon. I had a great time and so did my family, I think I can pull off Buick events as family vacations if I don't do the last minute build routine again. We all know that won't happen, don't we?

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  • 1 month later...
never found a 54 or 55 buick tach, but found a 50's boat tach that fit perfect. the 55 redline speedo gives a trip meter. A demon carb- wow, almost as good as fuel injection. Engine runs perfect- this carb was designed by a disgruntled Holley engineer to be the carb that actually works right. Holley rejected his design, and the carb is absolutely perfect. No air leaks, faulty venturis or sticky floats, I would highly recommend it. Looks like a final assembly weekend

I've enjoyed following your build.

Cool looking tacho, it could pass for factory..............question........I assume you are using separate gauges mounted elsewhere to replaced the oil,amps and temp gauges........what about a gas gauge?

Any more update photos?

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Well, 9 month until Springfield. Finally, no more rushing things. I realize it's a way off, but being about dead center in the US I would bet we could get an amazing turnout. Plus, I don't want to drive 20 hours towing a garage.

On the Tach, I came across 2 Fairliner boat tachs in nice shape. I bought them for the bezels, which are identical to the 54 small body gages. The owner was excited, hoping I had a boat but I explained it was a land yacht known as a Buick. It had a mechanical drive, so I put an electric tach in it and it fit right in the gage cluster. The ammeter and fuel are obvious, but temp and oil pressure do appear similar so I may add an identifier. As you can see, I kept the original gages and added a tach. I thought about removing the fairliner logo but for now I'm quite happy with the results. The temp and oil are still mechanical, the lines still go on the cowl and the sensors fit right in the 425.

Lots of details to finish. A 54 just doesn't look right without wide whites, but that's the easy part. I still have to finish the wiring, heat, AC, stereo, convertible top but all the hard stuff is done. The horsepower is essentially doubled and I got the same 10 MPG that the stock 54 got. However, it's not quite an apples comparison. One foot on the brake, one foot on the gas- I can't drive 55. Lets just say no problems passing slow pokes. Nice comfy solid ride, 12 hours to Springfield should be nice.

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For some crazy reason the tranny (400) is tossing up ATF out of the filler tube. runs great and no leaks, just pukes up some atf which makes a mess on the engine. Anyone seen that on a 64 vintage sp400? Might have to pull the tranny if I can't figure it out. Or, I can let the ladies take it to the grand canyon and fly away....

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I like the car. I ran into the puking fluid once before on a '56 Cadillac that needed a brake job. That car also puked out a little coolant after driving it 20 to 30 miles.

Will the car sit and run for half an hour without doing it or must it be driven?

The best test is to put it on a level surface and see if you can push it with your foot out the door and push it in neutral. If you can't I will tell you a story about the Rolls-Royce engine rebuild.

Bernie

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the pukes are baffling. running through all the possibilities that don't involve pulling the tranny, but nothing seems to fit. It's like an episode of house where he has a mysterious disease and he has to figure it out before the patient dies. Makes you want to eat a handful of drugs. It's also somewhat random, so you think it quit and all is good. Then suddenly it coughs up a pint all over the manifold.

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quite a few of them! Can't seem to find anyone that really knows the SP400. The old time tranny guys say that the 400 was so bombproof that they just simply outlived the motors. The common comment is they just plain never had to fix one! When you add Buick switch pitch even the Buick guys don't really have any ideas, other than the filler tube has to be completely free of restriction.

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