Looks awesome Jason!:cheers:
Good job. (Now you can sleep easier!);)

We've had some late nights at Jared's shop and it's getting right down to the wire but Phase One is all coming together like we planned.

Look what the UPS man dropped off to wrap around the wheels! BF Goodrich G-Force T/A KDWs! in 235/40/18 for the front and 245/40/19s for the rear. I know the widths are a little conservative compared to some of the monster tires a lot of guys are running but mini-tubbing would require moving the framerails and it just wasn't in the summer time-frame and these will hold plenty of gs!

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/100_0667.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/100_0665.jpg
There's no mistaking that tread pattern on the BF/Gs! Love the snakeskin/flame pattern on these tires that just adds to the whole style of the car!
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/100_0677.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/100_0671.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/100_0675.jpg

http://www.good-guys.com/news/newsSt...px?newsid=1336

:thumbsup:

wow love the wheels! Cant wait to see those babies mounted up on the car

Very nice Jason. Should look killer!:thumbsup:

Sweet man sweet!! What kind of wheels are those? :P
See ya friday!! :captain:

Anthony ---

Those are some newfangled TT's I think aren't they?? :lol:

Jason --

Nobody makes a better looking tire than those!

See you guys Friday!
:lateral: :hail:

OOPS --- I meant to compliment the WHEELS TOO!!! WOW!! They're killer.

I dig the rendering Jason.
What vendor did you buy the wheels from, I hope you got a good deal!
LOL

Sorry for the delay, Guys! We were slamming on the car doing very late nights and then catching up on work by day.

I'm flattered by everyone watch this project come together!

Here's what happened since the last post.

Did I mention the Hotchkis kit is COMPLETE! It even come with Bilstein shocks made to their specs to perfectly compliment the suspension.
If you know shock technology, you know Bilsteins set up specifically for your car are about as good as it gets!
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...100_0689-1.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...100_0688-1.jpg

Got it on the ground with all the new parts and took some careful measurements all the way around to determine what it would take to nail the stance.
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...100_0730-1.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...23_face0-1.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...100_0725-1.jpg
Once we determined how much I wanted it to come down, we pulled the springs and started carefully cutting a little at a time using Hotchkis' formula; one inch of spring height equals two inches of drop.
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...100_0727-1.jpg
After cutting and reinstalling them a few times, this is what ended up on the floor. 1.25" coils.
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...100_0731-1.jpg
I dig these little stamped factory spring holders. A quick coat of semi-gloss black and some new hardware and they're right back where they were placed 45 years ago.
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...100_0732-1.jpg

Check the cool tie-rod connectors that come with the kit. These are a little more confidence inspiring than the crappy originals!
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/100_0743.jpg
There's Howard hard at work
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/100_0744.jpg

Very cool Jason. We need some killer pics when she's all done.:cheers:

Remember how original this car was when I bought it a few months ago?

Look what came with it! The original Owner's Manual and "Owner's Protection Plan" booklet complete with the Protect-O-Plate still in it with the original owner's name and address still there and they lived about a half mile from my front door!

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/100_0737.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/100_0738.jpg
Dig the cool artwork in the Owner's Manual
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/100_0739.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/100_0740.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/100_0741.jpg

In all the thrashing, I almost forgot to photograph and mention the Lee quick-ratio steering box from Mark at SC&C. I would be a bit numb to all the suspension upgrades done without this key part!

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...100_0733-1.jpg

And one month later with the help from my friends, Jared, Howard, Chris and Dave in our spare time with basic tools, here's what you can do with a clean craigslist find and parts available from the amazing aftermarket we have at our fingertips.
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...100_0683-1.jpg

The target completion date of this exercise was last weekend to have a cool car to drive at the local Good Guys show in Puyallup that I've gone to every year on foot because my cars were too new for the cut off year that used to be 64 and then recently bumped to 72. That all changed this year and I rocked the Buick all weekend!
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...100_0794-1.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/100_0810.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/100_0803.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/100_0823.jpg
http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/h...s/100_0792.jpg

Driving it feels familiar because of the seating, pedals and steering wheel location but EVERYTHING else feels so different from the cornering prowess, the ride quality, the stopping distance, driving hard with confidence and no body lean. I'm still getting used to it and feeling it out and this project is far from over but it's going to be getting driven a lot this summer and any mod that takes place between now and October is only going to take a day or less because I'm not missing any more fun!

I'll keep the thread going with driving reviews, action shots, updates, parts swaps, etc so stay tuned and look for me in Western, WA this summer!

Very cool Jason.:thumbsup:
We need a high res pic of your car with Wade's GTO and what looks like Speed-Tech's '69 Camaro!!:cheers:

All three of those cars a sweet....all differant and all kick ass!!

Looks great Jason, makes a huge difference by just adding the wheels and what youve done so far. Do you plan on keeping the body as stock as possible with some added suspension upgrades. IMO keep the body color just like it is.
Dave

Jason car looks SWEET! Nice write up on the progress looks like you guys had ALOT of fun...:yes:

Thanks Dave! I'm definitely not a purist as evidenced by all the cut up cars in my career wake but this is one of my all-time favorite color combos and if/when the interior gets upgraded, it's staying white leather. I love the portholes but not wild about the sidetrim so there's some foreshadowing for you.

Thanks to everyone who has watched and/or commented on this thread. If you go back to the first post barely a month ago, it has come a long way and will hopefully serve as an example of what's possible with an open minded vehicle search and the great products available from the aftermarket. This is far from the last wrench turned on this car or the last post on this thread so watch when it pops back to the top of the page! For now, I'm going to be driving it in the sun with all 4 windows down!

Enjoy your summer Jason. Looking forward to seeing the updates later in the year.:cheers:

Excellent job ! A beautiful ride and still love that blue and white combo.

Cruze on !!