Machine Gun

Reminds me of the Cross Bronx in the '70s.

Guys, thanx for all your suggestions. I've considered each one of them and have decided to go with a modern aftermarket radio. My reasoning: Conversion of my AM radio: Goofy operation (no FM display, method of selecting AM-FM, etc.) Requires the destruction of a perfectly good AM radio Very pricey compared to other options Modifying the dash: Not a reversible modification unless I buy a second overlay and destroy it (I hate to destroy original parts). Relocating the FM converter: Puts it out of reach for tuning around. Yeah, I'm fussy. I've already removed the FM converter and installed a gauge set in its place. I'm going to have only AM radio until I pick up a new radio. I'll most likely do the installation in the Spring. Driving season is coming to an end this year, so no point in rushing to get it done right now. That'll give me time to decide on make, model, and speaker options.

I'll bet you're right about the radio size. I'm confident that the AM-FM chassis would fit in the available space behind the dash, but there's no way I could bring myself to cut the dash. It's become obvious that there's no single option that will get me everything I want, so I've decided that the best compromise is a modern aftermarket radio that will fit into the dash opening without modification.

This forum is still active: https://www.opelgt.com/forums/forum.php. Despite the name, they deal with all Opel models. If you can provide specific information on the car such as its location and owner contact information, I can post it to the forum since I'm a registered member.

Apart from the color, this is exactly what mine looked like. Boy, what a fun car it was!

Thank you for asking, but I'm not interested. If the car was closer and I was younger I'd probably look into it, but not now. It's a shame, really. A few years ago I tried to find one and eventually gave up. I have no room for another project, nor am I interested in taking one on at this stage of my life. Anything else I buy from now on has to be something that I can drive home, and that needs little more than an oil change and a tune-up. I do hope that someone rescues it. There are a couple of organizations like the Opel Motorsports Club and the Opel Association of North America that would likely have people interested in it.

So sad to see. Manta Rallye models are scarce as hens' teeth. I had a '73 back in college. It was a really fun car to drive.

Good idea, but then station selection becomes an issue. I often travel outside my local area and have to change stations along the way.

Thanx guys for your responses. Now I know why I haven't been able to find any information on a '64 AM/FM for the Skylark. I hadn't thought to check into the '65 radios, it was a good suggestion considering the similarity between the two model years. Based on what I can see from images of the '65 radio, the faceplate is taller on the AM/FM radios so it won't fit into my dash opening. The GM radios of the day had a slide switch above the frequency display for selecting AM and FM, and that seems to be the reason for the taller faceplate. I guess I'll eventually buy one of the modern radios from Custom Autosound or RetroSound. As to which brand to buy, I'll search the forums for opinions and recommendations. I'm sure this topic has been batted around quite a bit, so no need to start a redundant thread. Jim

I want to do away with the unsightly FM converter under the dash of my Skylark. I'm familiar with the Retrosound and similar modern radios that will fit the dash cutout but I don't want to go that route because I don't like their looks, and a radio that provides a four speaker stereo setup is overkill for me. All I want is a plain old mono FM radio, but most of all I want the original look, i.e. a factory stock radio. There are shops out there that will convert the innards of a stock AM radio to operate AM/FM, but they're goofy to operate and they charge a king's ransom for the conversion. Did Buick offer an AM/FM radio option for the Skylark in 1964? I've not been able to find one, or any information for that matter.

@Old-Tank: My wife bought one of these for her car awhile ago: Car seat cushion. I didn't even think of trying it in the Skylark until it showed up in the link you provided. I didn't think it would do anything because it's pretty thin and there's no back support, but it wasn't going to cost me anything to try it. As it turned out, it did the trick. It's just thick enough to get my view where I want it, and surprisingly it seems to have made a slight difference in my lower back comfort (not sure why that would be). I'm going to use it for awhile, and if it works out I'll get one of my own. I'm glad this seems to have worked out. I'd be hard pressed to recommend it though, since there's no way to know what would work for you. I'm hesitant to buy anything online that really needs to be tried, particularly things that involve personal comfort. Sure, Amazon has a good return policy, but it's a PITA to have to deal with that sort of thing. Anyway, thanx for the tip. You helped save me a kilobuck or two.

Finally got the Skylark out for a nice ride with the wife. We traveled from home up to Montgomery, NY where we had lunch. From there up to Walkill to our favorite winery to stock up on some grappa, and then on to visit our oldest son up in Gardiner. We all went to New Paltz for a walk around town before dropping our son back off at his place and heading home. Just a hair under 100 miles for the round trip. There was a short, but heavy rainstorm while we were in New Paltz. The bright side is that not a drop of water got into the car or trunk. It was a great day.

Good point, I never thought about a short guy. But I'd rather think that someone famous like Jabba once owned the car.

Absolutely! That's the approach I plan to take, and thank you for the suggestion. That can solve the lower back discomfort while also sitting me higher up in the sagging driver's seat. Jabba the Hutt must have been one of the prior owners, not only because of the seat sag, but also because I had to swap out the front seat belts for a much smaller set. When the belts that were installed when I bought the car were tightened as much as possible there was enough room to fit a small child in the seat belt with me: no kidding!

The main issue I'm thinking about right now is that the front and rear seat upholstery will no longer match, and I'd probably have to reupholster one or the other. Between the cost of the seats, brackets, possible welding, and a reupholstery job, I think I'm going to table the idea altogether. Thanx for your input.

Thanx for the suggestion Loren. Procar does seem to make some very nice seats that wouldn't break the bank. - Jim

I've had my Skylark for five years now and put a few thousand miles on it in that time. My wife and I have been talking about taking it on extended road trips. It's a four-door sedan with a bench seat that's very uncomfortable for us on trips longer than two hours or so, and we're thinking of replacing the stock seat with modern bucket seats with headrests. Web searches for replacement seats return a dizzying array of products that range from the very cheap to seats that cost more than what I paid for the car. I'd appreciate hearing from anyone who has replaced their stock seats with modern aftermarket ones in their postwar Buick. What brands and suppliers are worth looking into? Any tips or recommendations, positive or negative, on the overall idea of replacing the stock seats? Thanx.

Here's the promised update from back in November. The car is back on the road. I finished it up yesterday, and it's all good. I bought a new brake booster and dual circuit master cylinder from Summit Racing. Got the distribution block and stainless steel lines from Inline Tube. The block is the same type as used on the '67 models with the factory dual MC. I called Summit before I ordered to ensure that the booster and MC were for a drum brake setup. Everything bolted up nicely. The only thing that didn't fit without some careful bending were the pre-formed lines between the MC and distribution block. Inline Tube said they would bolt right up but they didn't, far from it. The new MC is considerably wider than the stock one, and there's very little room between the MC and the inner fender. It took some doing, but I managed to re-form the lines without kinking them. To be fair to IT they didn't sell me the MC, so perhaps a stock GM MC would have fit better. The only issue I had with the road test was the fact that the engine had a miss that wasn't there back when I parked the car last Fall. I had removed the spark plug wire from the cylinder nearest the brake booster because it was in the way when I was fitting the MC lines to the distribution block. I had forgotten to replace it, and quickly learned that it's important to connect all eight spark plug wires on an eight cylinder engine. Thanx again to all for your suggestions.

There was a relationship, but not a good one. They were separate companies. White Castle sued White Tower in the 1920s or 1930s for copying their building design and using a similar name. Don't recall how it was settled, but considering that White Towers were still around in the '60s I guess it didn't go too badly for them. We used to have one of their coffee mugs, seemed like it weighed 10 lbs. Long gone, I wish we still had it.

White Tower??? They can't still be around. Any idea where and when this photo might have been taken? I used to go to a White Tower as a kid with my uncle in my hometown of Paterson, NJ. Brings back pleasant memories.

The dash may not be sexy, but I very much like that style. The instrument cluster is similar to my dad's '69 Le Sabre. I loved everything about that car, and wish I had the room in my garage to have one again.

I certainly will. Be patient though, nothing happens quickly around here. I'm still researching the parts I'll need, and after I finally order them I'll have to find the free time to get the job done. Could be a while. I found a master cylinder-booster assembly that seems to be the proper one based on Summit Racing's application guide (SSBC A28141). I'm a bit skeptical though, since everything else I found with dual reservoirs from multiple sources is designed for disc-drum or disc-disc applications, and there was no dual reservoir MC offered on the Skylark in 1964. I thought perhaps that the parts for a 1967 Skylark would bolt right up to my car, but based on what I can tell from the Buick parts catalog the part numbers for the brake pedal and rod are different, so I'm not so sure. I will contact Summit to confirm the application, hopefully they'll know. I also need a distribution block that's not also a proportioning valve. All the ones I found are a bit pricey, probably because they have the low brake fluid plunger that I won't need. I'm pretty sure that one from a '67 will do the job.

Guys, your replies are very helpful and I thank you for taking the time to offer suggestions. Based on what I've read here, I plan to convert to a dual reservoir system and use the copper alloy lines and form them myself. Not sure if it'll be necessary, but I'll probably also replace the original power booster while I'm at it. Will do some research this evening to find a proper booster and master cylinder setup that will be a direct bolt-on replacement for my stock setup. Need also to get the proper distribution fittings.

I don't know why the sedan would be any different than the hardtop as I presume the frames wold be the same, but everywhere I could find pre-bent lines they listed only convertibles and hardtops. I'll e-mail Inline Tube and see what they have to say. Thanx for the lead. This process started months earlier than I had planned. I was going to do the rebuild in the spring as a preemptive strike, but last Sunday morning I backed the car out of the garage and got sinking feeling. You know, when the brake pedal sinks to the floor. Anyway, as part of my rebuild I was considering a conversion to the later dual circuit master cylinder, but I think I'll stick with the original setup with new parts. Jim

I'm going to rebuild my brake system, front to back. I want to use pre-bent stainless steel lines that several companies offer for sale. My only problem is that I've only been able to find line kits for convertibles and hardtops; no one lists kits for sedans. Does anyone here know if the hardtop lines are the same as the sedans? The Buick parts catalog lists only tubing sold by the foot, so I can't compare part numbers. I'll make my own lines if necessary, but I'd like to go the prefab route if I can. Can anyone help? Jim