Buick Skyhawk - Page 2 - First Generation Forum

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Re: Buick Skyhawk
Saturday, October 04, 2014 11:05 AM
having trouble uploading at the moment. any recommendations on how to compress the file size of the pics? most are over the size limit for some reason. gonna try resizing them and see if that works

Re: Buick Skyhawk
Saturday, October 04, 2014 11:33 AM
here we go
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Re: Buick Skyhawk
Saturday, October 04, 2014 11:36 AM
and the last of them
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Re: Buick Skyhawk
Saturday, October 04, 2014 11:47 AM
just as a summary of things, I will be switching the instrument clusters, rh fender, steering wheel horns, 1 wheel stud, and after the motor and tranny are rebuilt/inspected in the 88, they will be going into the 84.

P.S. does anyone know if the engine blocks are aluminum or cast iron in a 88 k code skyhawk with a 2.0l ohc motor. also the motor does not have many miles on it as the last time the car was registered was 2011 and according to the odometer reading it was just a little over 43k and the next service was at 47k. obviously the motor more likely has 147k-247k miles on it as my 84 has 230k. the 5 spd was free moving in all 5 gears so I suspect it will be fine but the motor without a doubt will have to be rebuilt. unfortunately the junkyard pulled the spark plugs out so the pistons are definitely frozen. any thoughts, comments, or advice on the project so far will be greatly appreciated.
Re: Buick Skyhawk
Monday, October 06, 2014 6:09 AM
Engine blocks are iron.








Re: Buick Skyhawk
Monday, October 06, 2014 10:52 PM
On the rebuild I suggest replacing every single engine sensor.And NOTE do not use the gaskets from a oil pan set on the crank end and soley use the rubber seal at the trans end.The short is just use some permatex the right stuff(this is the real name) and run two rows on the crank end of the oil pan and put some on the rubber seal on the trans end and then install and add one bead over top of that.The sides of the oil pan you will have to run a thin bead on the pan,add the gasket and then apply a thin bead on the bottom of the block where it will mush together just even coverage not over kill.In short these oil pans will push out the felpro or any gasket on the crank end once tightened down and leak and making sure the pan is sand blasted is a good idea and then paint leaving the metal bare on the gasket side for pan to block of course.I hand tighten my bolts as they will snap if over tightened and go side to side until snug then double check going back over the same start to end point tightening.This will make the pan seal even and not leak.Do a new oil pump too.



Re: Buick Skyhawk
Wednesday, October 08, 2014 9:18 PM
Since your doing so much work I might suggest dropping your fuel tank and do a full ON restoration at this time.Keep in mind the age of the car and rebuilding a engine you do not want a gummed up fuel system to pour goo into your engine.If it were me do new everything and the list ain't short either.I spent about 266.00 total for my parts alone.In short new fuel pump,strainer,fuel sending unit,new fuel hoses to the neck and the overflow hose.You will have several smaller hoses that connect to the hardlines and new clamps.I figure if you want it problem free I would devote the time to refurbish this area especially and clean out the tank!Btw USE ONLY a AC delco fuel pump!!!!!!!!!!! Reason the other brands will not last as long cost is not much difference for a better part.You wanted suggestions and by golly this step is well worth the time and cost.OK



Re: Buick Skyhawk
Thursday, October 09, 2014 7:29 AM
well the good news is , on the 84 the fuel tank is less than 2 years old as we had to replace it when the electrical system got fried. the friend i bought the car from jumped it wrong when he owned it. we spent a lot of time trying to get it running again after it was rewired. the fuel pump and filter were one of the first things to get replaced. it ended up being one of the pressure relays. anyways that is the plan im working on repairing the body on my 84 for now. the major problem now is that since it is on jacks to remve the fenders. I found out the hard way that the side rails are pretty much gone. when the car rested on them all it did was fold over going crunch. i pray to god the fuel and brake lines are ok. new england is the worst place to own a car. we dont use salt on the roads, its some chemical even more corrosive. practically eats through metal like acid. after straightening the metal i will weld angle iron down the length of the car to reinforce the rails. you would cry if you saw my rear struts. half of the upper housing has completely rotted off both sides. im reluctant to put the new ones on until i can get boots for them. im kepping the ohv and auto trans in until i can get the ohc rebuilt I can only work on the cars on saturdays for now until I can move into my new place. before my daughter was born i forsaw me having to quit my job and stay home to care for her, so back at tax return time i bought $700 worth of parts and materials for the car. my girlfriend works 90% of the time so getting out of the house is a little tricky for now.
Re: Buick Skyhawk
Sunday, December 14, 2014 5:33 PM
a little update on the car. I drove the 84 back to my house. we don't have a garage here and we have to park on the street since the house is on a hill. I had a lot of trouble getting the car up the hill through the woods, but half a tank of premium gas and racing fuel additive to it boosting the octane up to 108 and the car made it up the hill. so now the car lies 30 feet from the door. I won't be able to get anymore parts until tax return time and I can dump 2k into it. I did some more research and im still putting the carb on it. I will put the 82's computer into the car so it will function properly. also the 84 ohv did have the 5 spd as an option and the flywheels are the same for the ohv and ohc. I still really wont know until I take it out and attempt to put it in. when I do get my tax money im prepping the whole body and sending it to the local dealership to get the dents fixed, rot spots re welded with new steel, and to get re under coated. so far though I have to wait out winter until spring. I have removed the hood and fenders ( should have seen the looks driving it back from my fathers house.).
Re: Buick Skyhawk
Thursday, January 01, 2015 10:47 AM
life really knows when to kick you in the balls. The blight inspector is giving my father hell about the 88 so I have to move it this weekend. I'm going to try to put it in storage. maybe at least there I can get the motor and tranny pulled. Who here has any welding experience? I have never welded before and need advice on what welder to get and any techniques on welding the sheet metal. the local gm dealership is quite reluctant to do the work, despite me telling them I've got a $2,300 repair budget as well any real work on the car. quite a shame really, I have already found a guy to redo the seats in a new fabric. I really do hate playing the waiting game on money. hopefully Mohegan sun casino will call me, and I can start working again. also on the side note me and my girlfriend got married over the last weekend. I'm 21 and she's 20 and we have a 14 month old daughter together. haven't been really able to do anything new other then starting the car up about once a week. I get to play stay at home dad. I don't really mind it though once the weather gets a little better at least I could bring my daughter while I work on the car. Ideally the place is only right up the street, so at least it's not far. back on topic, the only good thing the dealership is doing is re under coating the car for at most $250, so at least I can't complain too much. I case you can't tell I have very much enjoyed the skyhawk, This has really been quite the learning experience, an as I go kinda thing. my father would never let me touch a car unless I paid for it, so I guess I'm making up for lost time. also as a laugh I got my property taxes in on the car. A whopping $27 (and I'm rounding up to). About a month and a half to go until tax returns, can't wait.
Re: Buick Skyhawk
Thursday, January 01, 2015 11:23 AM
You're paying a dealership to do resto work?




Re: Buick Skyhawk
Thursday, January 01, 2015 12:07 PM
the cheapest in the area believe it or not. I do not know how to weld. and I do need a few new panels welded into the car.
Re: Buick Skyhawk
Saturday, January 03, 2015 7:51 PM
I would get a few estimates for the work from some reputable shops in your area. Most body shops don't like resto work. But when you are there start picking their brains on who might do this kind of work. Try to find someone who is just starting out. I did this back in the eighties when I was restoring a 71 Lemans convertible. Found a guy who just opened a shop and he did great work. Took him a year to replace two rear quarters and paint the car. That was my only complaint, so try to get a quote with start and end dates.
If you want to do the work yourself just take your time. I used a mig welder that I borrowed back when I had the Lemans to put new rear quarters on my winter car, a 77 Nova. Did an amateur restoration on the Nova. It was a good 30 footer and I spent a lot on welding gas, cut off wheels, replacement quarters, paint, primer, paint gun and misc supplies. My brothers friend helped me spray it with the original GM chocolate brown single stage enamel. The paint came out great but the quarters looked wavy. Welded too fast and warped them. Used a hand held electric sander to sand the bondo, should have invested in a long air powered body-shop sander to finish the long seam on the quarters.
You also NEED a garage to do the work or you will spend hours setting up and cleaning up.

Good Luck and keep us up to date with pictures.






Re: Buick Skyhawk
Sunday, January 04, 2015 4:55 AM
I gave up on the dealership, as I haven't heard anything from them in the while. aside from the doors. I would say about 96% of the original undercoating is still intact. my 65 mustang is still in a hell of a lot worse condition as far as body is concerned. my step nephew has a 68 mustang coupe and he did all the work himself. me and him have agreed that I would pay for materials and give him $200 to do all the work. the worst of the rot is on the passenger side rails. when I jacked up the car last time the whole thing folded over and luckily did not crush the fuel and brake lines. I wanted to get all the rust off and then weld some angle iron to the rails to reinforce them. I got a source for a 84 ohv 5 spd tranny, from a junkyard in tolland for $50. so im still gonna use the 88 for spare parts. i don't know what I will do with the ohc though, as I don't have a need for it. so if anyone wants it just shoot me a message or email. my email is thornchabot@yahoo.com and we can work something out. I would hate to give it to the junkyard if anyone wants it. I live in norwich ct. the ohc has about 65k miles on it, but it came from the junkyard with bad motor written on the car. I know for a fact that the pistons are stuck, but a lot of marvel mystery oil will fix that. I'd imagine $50 bucks and the motor could be yours for whoever wants it. I'll pull it and everything that would also include the wiring harness and the ecm plus the tbi, etc. except any parts I can use and the tranny. I pretty uch have evrything figured out about both cars right now. just waiting for tax returns now. I already got an upholstery guy to do the work on the seats. I have been meaning to ask as a lot of you guys have prob dealt with this. any reccomendations on the headliner? as far as puttuing a new one in, I have fabric and glue is not an issue as I live down the road from a joanns fabric store which surprisingly carries high strength and high heat headliner glue. I also found an nice hood ornament of an eagle/ hawk which very closely resembles the skyhawk emblem I am putting on the car, Im glad it attaches with adhesive instead of bolts as the last one I was looking at I was worried about how it would bolt on at the end of the hood without interfering with the hood latch. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Car-Chrome-ABS-Hood-Ornament-Badge-Emblem-Jeep-Eagle-Sliver-NEW-/191102777246?hash=item2c7e9cf79e&vxp=mtr
Re: Buick Skyhawk
Thursday, January 22, 2015 10:07 AM
much to my dismay. gm did not make a 5 spd for the ohv motor. it was exclusive for the sohc. so I will be rebuilding the sohc after all. i have been pulling parts off the 88 now that it is in storage. working on getting the fenders off but only got as far as the cowl off for now. since I cannot not get the 5 spd onto the ohv at all I will keep the tbi unit. only a couple of more weeks to go until I get my money. I really do not have any idea what i'm walking into with this motor. just praying the block isnt cracked. the body issues will be the first to get fixed.
Re: Buick Skyhawk
Friday, January 23, 2015 8:36 PM
You should be fine with the block imo.I think the tbi is wayyyyy better in all aspects over any carb period.Even if the block is not with in specs which I seriously doubt blocks can be bought as NOS at VERY reasonable cost and I have sourced blocks.These cars tend not to have block issue's but the mechanical stuff inside wears out over time.It is a cast iron block so I would not fret about that.Just to humor you the last ohv 2.0 block I sourced was only like 250.00 plus shpg on recall.I constantly research jbody stuff and that is why never forget things I learn to share when I can.The block was NOS btw.



Re: Buick Skyhawk
Sunday, February 01, 2015 5:39 AM
its the sohc im worried about as i have still to pull it. me and the wife just filed our taxes and we are getting a whopping 6k and we are splitting it right down the middle, well except i still owe her 400 for the sohc in the first place. so now the budget has been increased to 2600. once and for all it has been decided that despite the bolting issues between ohv and sohc. the ohv can only go up to a 4 speed tranny, sooo. the sohc will be rebuilt after all, and since i will be running the sohc after it is rebuilt. i will rebuild the tbi on that since I wont even begin to bother with the carb. the ohv had the option due to the can models still running the carb in 84, but I digress. the only real debate with the sohc i have is weather to run just a straight pipe for the exhaust or put a glasspack on. I am cutting all emissions, except for the charcoal canister and just as a friendly reminder ct does not require emissions testing for vehicles 25 years or older to be registered.. the sohc will prob have to be built from the ground up mostly stock except for a few improvements here and there. i will try to post some more recent pics soon as i will be hammering the car out soon since we filed electronically and should be getting the money within a few days. I have never welded before and will be picking up a small 120v welder to patch some minor areas plus the drivers door. anyone know where to get new window felt for the doors? mine is dry rotted and i want it replaced before I put speakers in the doors and reweld the bottoms closed. the 84 is still running like a champ with 103 gas in it. I havent been able to do anything with either car since we had a blizzard and norwich got 22 inches of snow plus we are supposed to get about another 8-10 tonight into tomorrow.
Re: Buick Skyhawk
Monday, February 09, 2015 8:27 PM
taxes are coming on the 11th-16th so im very excited to get started finally. im taking care of the body first before i tackle the sohc. when i do get the engine and tranny out and back to the house I will be posting lots of pics. i have never rebuilt let alone taken apart an engine before and need lots of advice on what i should keep and what i should replace. i know right off the bat i need an alt for it but beyond that i need to buy only what i need to prevent going over budget. reg and insurance is gonna cost about $700. so i got $1900 to cover engine, interior, paint, tools, undercoating, and misc. specifics that I already have everything for are suspension, brakes, fuel pump, gas/brake lines, headliner, carpets, insulation, sound system, tires, lights, seats, and dash. still a lot to go though.

P.S.
Any advice on breaking in an engine?
Re: Buick Skyhawk
Monday, March 16, 2015 5:57 PM
well winter is almost over. i have put any idea about the ohc off for now until i get a job and the body on the 84 is finished. I rebuilt the tbi on the 84 and for @!#$s and giggles, replaced the fuel injector as well. since I did that, the ohv runs a 1,000 times better. in another month or two I will begin tearing down the 84 for clean and repainting. I got all the paint and tools ready to go. due to budget and skill constraints. I will be fiberglassing the rotted spots. while I have the front end apart I am powder coating my control arms and linkage. also tempted to do the rest of the car as well.
Re: Buick Skyhawk
Tuesday, April 28, 2015 5:29 PM
Hey guys. just letting you know I have been a very busy bee working on the skyhawk. the whole car is getting repainted right now. it's just the primer coat for now, because I miss read the paint and thought it was black when it is pure white. the paint is a rust stop oil based enamel. I will say the paint is going on beautifully, despite being brushed on. before you guys harp on the whole brush thing. I am still painting the car black and I have a brand new paint gun kit with a regulator tank. i will use it for the finsih coat. that paint is very thick and I don't want gunk up the new gun until i get the black paint. I have also begun patching the holes and rot spots with fiberglass and I am mostly done with that but need to get more resin to finish. unfortunately I have to semi redo the tbi and by that I mean pull it off and reseal it with permatex since it leaks when it runs. other than that I am taking things one at a time and as I go. I still have to tweak my left fender a little since the 88 was unwilling to part with it. I will probably post some pics tomorrow, or you can see them on my facebook.
Re: Buick Skyhawk
Tuesday, April 28, 2015 7:03 PM
If going with the brush, why not roll it on with a super fine foam roller? Probably would be easier to sand when you need that ultra smooth surface for the spray finish.
Hopefully the paints will be compatible.




















Re: Buick Skyhawk
Tuesday, April 28, 2015 10:57 PM
The tbi does NOT require any gasket sealer!I would remove the tbi and use a cordless drill with a 1/4 inch shank brush like the kobalt (FINE) brushes sold at lowes home improvement.Check the packages as they sell both coarse and fine side by side close to the drill bits.Just make sure the intake mount point is super stupid clean with one the brushes I recommended I use smaller and bigger sizes that are golf ball sized.Once cordless brushed spray brake cleaner on a shop towel and wipe clean.Just do the same for the bottom of the tbi and NO residue of gasket material on this or the intake is imperative.Install a new gasket and tighten each bolt or screw in a clockwise motion until hand tight and just snug.These units from the factory came mounted soley with gaskets and NO sealer is required and the gasket should seat up to fill any variation of the metal unless something is wayyyy out of trueness.Btw the brushes are gold colored and under $5.00 each and do great to clean the metal surface and luster up like new!!!!! Use a NEW gasket as the old one is now toast being compressed once marks the material



Re: Buick Skyhawk
Wednesday, April 29, 2015 7:39 AM
i will keep that in mind im working on the paint and body for now. it is a small priority since i dont drive it yet. my real major concern is the cv joints but i have to wait till it is registered to do them. i live right behind autozone and i will take advantage of the tool borrowing program to do them. the car is on a dirt hill which isnt really flat. last time i tried it when the weather warmed up the jack stands gave out and the whole front end went into the ground. since them i wont attempt them where it is and i refuse to do it on the street, people drive like assholes on my road. it's gonna be in the 70's today and i would like to all the primer coats on. i have found that 4 coats of the paint go on nice. since it is being put on by brush, i put 2 coats on in the same direction. then i run fine steel wool over it then put the last 2 on alternating directions. before i put the black on with the spray gun. i will fine wet sand it all.
Re: Buick Skyhawk
Friday, May 01, 2015 8:24 PM
here are some pics. i have put on a few coats since these pics were taken and it has really covered the red quite well but i still have much to do. i found that the right amount of coats is 4 but weather has prevented me from finishing so far.
Attachments
skyhawk 4.jpg (390k)
skyhawk 3.jpg (412k)
skyhawk 1.jpg (274k)
skyhawk 2.jpg (279k)

Re: Buick Skyhawk
Friday, May 01, 2015 8:26 PM
also if you notice the jagged open edges on the bottom of the drivers door i have sinced patched it with fiberglass.
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