1962 Skylark 2-Door Hardtop

Here's a running photo diary of my ongoing '62 project.

As delivered



The mess of an engine compartment

Initial disassembly



A total mess of a rear axle and control arms!



Replacement stuff from another '62

T5 transmission installation. The clutch is the stock pressure plate, and a '94-'98 S10 clutch disc.





New CV-joint driveshaft

New transmission tunnel fab

New ignition system



Dash refinish with new steering wheel and tilt column

'62 Pontiac Tempest door panels





New wheels (Konig Rewind)

Engine and underhood reconditioning







Disc brake conversion, including dual bowl master cylinder conversion



New clutch pressure plate (stock size from D&D) with S10 disc

Some very nice upgrades Tim, keep at it. Who did that driveshaft for you?

StageCat wrote:Some very nice upgrades Tim, keep at it. Who did that driveshaft for you?

Actually, I'm a driveshaft engineer by trade. The CV joints are prototypes of the joints that are now in production on the Chrysler RAM 1500 (t-case joint on the front driveshaft) and the Grand Cherokee (differential joint on that car). The pinion yoke in the car had to be modified to accept the 8-bolt CV joint. A very talented prototype technician built it for me.

This baby will run up to 12 degrees constant running angle, which allowed me to ditch the 2-piece driveshaft. It's got a critical speed that won't allow the car to travel 120mph+ though... I'm pretty sure the car is incapable of that speed anyway!

I took delivery of my exhaust system today. The front y-pipe, intermediate pipe, and over-axle pipe are for a '62 Skylark, and the muffler/tailpipes are for an F85 Jetfire. I wanted the dual outlets. The system came from Waldron in southwest Michigan. I must say, not much of a shop, but very friendly and knowledgeable staff. They tipped me off to order the Jetfire muffler, and make it with the Buick inlet size.

A little rust repair in the engine compartment sheet metal. I have a half dozen or so small areas like this - cut out the old, trim a new piece, weld it in.





I also got a new aluminum radiator. It was bought locally here in Michigan from a small outfit called Superior Radiator (http://wwwsuperiorradiator.com). I left them my old radiator as a template, so they should be able to make others just like mine. They'll charge ~ $375, but they gave me a pretty nice discount for paying cash.

That radiator looks great. Nice job on the welds too. That looks really nice!

The front clip has been totally disassembled for cleaning/sandblasting etc. I'm able to do most of the parts in the blast cabinet at work, but the large items (cradle and sway bar) are being outsourced.

The engine bay has been taken down to original primer (at least) and will be re-done in underhood satin black. The cradle has been disassembled to each individual component. Most parts (a-arms, cradle, drag link, steering box) will be refinished with chassis black, while the cast parts (steering knuckles, steering arms, tie rod ends, a-arm control shafts) getting satin clear. I'll post photos once I get the cradle back from the media blaster.

I hope to have painting done in the next week or so, and re-assembly can begin by the weekend of May 23. With some luck, I'll make my June 1 date I was shooting for.

OK, here are a few photos of the progress. Most refinishing is done, and I've started re-assembly.

That is really looking sharp Tim, what master cylinder did you use....

Tom

StageCat wrote:     That is really looking sharp Tim, what master cylinder did you use....

Tom

That's a '94-up S10 master. The pedal pushrod retainer was the only real difficulty, as the span was the same as the stocker.

Started on engine final assembly last night. I couldn't help but to mock up how it will look



BIG difference from when it came out...

Tim--

It looks like things are progressing nicely for you!!  I'm curious -- you're running an E-brock carb it looks like -- and I noticed you don't have the heat riser piping for the choke ( OEM choke that is ) -- how is this terminated at the pass exhaust manifold -- I'm looking to swap out my 4bl rochester for a 500cfm E-brock myself and wasn't certain how to go about that part.

TIA
Josh

lol

regal81455 wrote:Tim--

It looks like things are progressing nicely for you!!  I'm curious -- you're running an E-brock carb it looks like -- and I noticed you don't have the heat riser piping for the choke ( OEM choke that is ) -- how is this terminated at the pass exhaust manifold -- I'm looking to swap out my 4bl rochester for a 500cfm E-brock myself and wasn't certain how to go about that part.

TIA
Josh

This is interesting. The car had the E-Brock on it when I bought it. The heat riser port on the RH manifold is simply open. When I take a look down the attachment point with the manifol off, it runs clear through unobstructed, and is not capped off in any way. From my eyes, it does not appear that the tube actually taps into the exhaust ports, so I don't believe it needs to be capped. It can (and has been) left open.

Woody1640 wrote:Tim: Is that a double roller timing chain from D&D? I had my rebuilder purchase a double timing chain from D&D when it was rebuilt (only place we found them). Just curious ....

Keith, no, it's a link-style chain from Cloyes, purchased through Summit. I didn't figure I needed the double roller, but I definitely wanted to replace the old nylon cam gear!

This is interesting. The car had the E-Brock on it when I bought it. The heat riser port on the RH manifold is simply open. When I take a look down the attachment point with the manifol off, it runs clear through unobstructed, and is not capped off in any way. From my eyes, it does not appear that the tube actually taps into the exhaust ports, so I don't believe it needs to be capped. It can (and has been) left open.

Interesting indeed but much appreciated input nonetheless!  Tx Tim!

Do you have a list of the rear suspension bushings and what you ended up using (assuming the originals are NLA). I need to do this to mine and would like to start collecting parts.

Keith

keithg wrote:Do you have a list of the rear suspension bushings and what you ended up using (assuming the originals are NLA). I need to do this to mine and would like to start collecting parts.

Keith

I'm using originals, and they are crap. Oldbuickparts.com sells replacements, but they aren't cheap... I'll probably bite the bullet next season.

First, the engine got assembled to the cradle -



Then I scooted the assembly under the car and raised it into position with an engine lift.



I couldn't resist assembling a few items to see what it's gonna look like...





I love this before-during-after sequence.

lol