Junkyard GSX Clone

[93bandit]

Howdy folks, new member. If you saw my introduction thread you'll have a little more of the story on this car. Long story short I've always wanted to own a 1970 GSX since I was a kid, but adulthood has proven that to be cost prohibitive. After 23yrs of saving and dreaming I finally purchased a 71 Skylark custom. It started out as a 350 automatic AC car but has changed hands several times since then, and has changed form along the way. It now has a rebuilt 455 (unknown specs other than intake, headers, HEI and a holley) 4spd autogear M22Z, and a ford 9in. Its pretty clean but has many colors and some dents. It also has the typical rust around the rear glass I plan to have repaired this year.

My goal is to build somewhat of a GSX clone, with most focus being all the external GSX design themes. It has a spoiler, GS hood and I haphazardly painted the side stripes on in a moment of boredom one fateful weekend. I call it the "Junkyard" GSX because I scored a 70 front end and rear bumper from a junkyard last year, exactly 1 week after I purchased the car. The grill is busted up, front bumper dented, cracked, pitted and rusty. The headlight bezels are decent but pitted as well, and the rear bumper is in similar condition. Ideally I'd like to restore the exterior of the car, and maybe someday I will, but the cost of rechroming the bumpers plus bodywork and paint is financially unrealistic at this point in my life. For now, the goal is a reliable driver that I can drive anywhere and as often as I like, without fear of door dings or occasional rain. I bought the car to drive, not be a garage queen!

When I purchased it, it had a combination of aftermarket "race car" interior pieces as well as chevelle interior parts. I've been working on getting the interior back to stockish, using the deluxe waffle pattern interior and GS sport wheel. Fortunately I became friends with a generous gentleman I met at the junkyard last year who's given me many of the interior pieces. Other parts I've been able to purchase very affordably due to dumb luck. Everything is used and it shows, but overall matches the "junkyard" theme of the car. Some interior pieces I've made myself such as the shifter consolette and a shorty center console.

The car has a fiberglass GS hood and edelbrock intake, thus a GS ram air cleaner doesn't fit, even if I could afford one, so I made one to fit my car. Big thanks to my friend for lending me real parts to get dimensions from. I tried to keep all my homemade parts as close to OEM style as possible, with modifications that fit my car and my needs.

I'll post pictures and more details of each project later. I hope you guys enjoy following along as my dream of over 23yrs actively unfolds.

 

[93bandit]

I'll attempt to tell the story of my progress in the order it happened. The first thing I did was work on getting the interior back to mostly stock in appearance, by removing the "race car" aluminum door panels and removeable steering wheel. I found what appear to be recovered 71-ish Cutlass bucket seats. The interior is black but the buckets are white. Not ideal, but the tuxedo-ish look is starting to grow on me. Eventually I plan to reupholster with 70 Buick waffle pattern covers as my budget allows, but the covers are in great shape so I plan to rock them as-is for the foreseeable future.

My new buddy graciously gave me used 70 deluxe waffle pattern door panels with long arm rests, and I must say they cleaned up pretty well. The drivers panel had a hole cut for a speaker at one point, so I 3D printed a Buick tri-shield to plug the hole. Another friend gave me the rear quarter trim panels to match the doors (The PO put chevelle panels in the car) but they were brown. I died them black to match. Unfortunately I chose the wrong black, it's too glossy. Doesn't match exactly, but at least the pattern is the same. Oh well.

I found a 70 sport wheel and threw that in with a repop buick horn button.

First picture is how the interior was when I bought the car. The rest are how it sits today.

 

[bittmann]

Nice improvement!

 

[93bandit]

Next, I wanted to install a shifter consolette. Unfortunately my car has a centered shifter which doesn't work with a Buick consolette. At first I wanted to install the correct trans hump and install the correct off center Buick shifter so that I could use a Buick consolette, but that's a lot of work and I discovered what a Buick consolette costs, IF you can find one for sale. Outside my budget to say the least!!! I decided to make my own that would fit the centered shifter. My buddy let me borrow an original Buick consolette to get measurements from and I went from there. The original consolette had a single gauge pod that housed an optional tach in previous years, but in 70 moving forward, it housed a Buick emblem. I have a 3 gauge pod that was mounted where the radio would be, but I wanted it on the console, so I designed a 3 gauge pod in place of the single pod. I modeled the console in CAD and 3D printed it. Overall I'm happy with out it turned out. I'd like to make a few more tweaks to the design, then print a final version, but for now it's good enough. Here are a few pictures of the various stages of development, I started with a quick-n-dirty prototype as proof of concept, then gave it OEM dimensions for the 2 version that you see installed in the car now.

You may note the 3 gauge pod where the radio would go. The PO installed the gauges there on the sheet metal bracket that comes with the gauges. It worked fine, but I wanted it better integrated into the dash, so I modeled a radio bezel with 3 gauge pod to bolt in place of the universal bracket. I much preferred that look, but as I mentioned before, I wanted them on the consolette eventually. I made progress on the consolette faster than expected, so the radio gauge pod only housed the gauges for a few months. I think the gauges in the consolette is much better.

 

[93bandit]

Next I wanted a shorty console between the seats for a few reasons. First of all, I didn't like the gaping space between the seats. Secondly, I wanted more storage for my wallet, phone and sunglasses. I'm lazy and don't like reaching to the glove box, and I don't like setting things on the dash. Lastly, I wanted cupholders. I spilled my coffee in my lap twice last year driving the car to work and had enough of that!

For the shorty console, I referenced pictures of a Buick console and did my best guess at dimensions. I made it about 2 inches taller in hopes it would serve as an arm rest as well, while retaining the OEM style. Modeled the console in CAD and 3D printed. Unfortunately it's still too short for an arm rest, but that's OK. My first lid design housed the cupholders, but I quickly discovered that wasn't practical. My arm/elbow constantly hit my mug while shifting so I made a cupholder that would attached to the lower front of the console out of the way of the shifter and somewhat unseen when walking by the car. This forced me to move the console reward in car more than I'd like, but a compromise I'm happy with. Like with the shifter consolette, this is my first attempt and the design needs some tweaks before printing the final version. I also experimented with a rubber filament to make a rubber pad on the lid. I added the tri-shield for good measure, and experimented with a setting on the printer in hopes it would mimic the OEM texture of the console. I must say it turned out better than I expected. More design tweaks to come, but for now, good enough!

 

[93bandit]

Nice improvement!

Thank you Sir!

 

[93bandit]

Lastly on the interior, I moved the gauges from the radio location to the consolette. Obviously this left the radio hole open which was an eye sore. I plan to put a radio back in the car someday, but everything was removed so I have to decide what I want and wire everything and install. In the mean time, I modeled a fake radio face as close to OEM as I could and 3D printed that to plug the hole. Even though the radio is fake, it plays one song: 455 exhaust! Here's a picture of the "complete" interior (for now) with the gauges relocated and the radio blank.

 

[93bandit]

Moving under the hood, I wanted a the proper GS air cleaner but as I mentioned before, I have a fiberglass hood and the standard engine mods that when combined, prevent a GS air cleaner from fitting. This project took the most time and design iterations, but I think it's to the point now that it's ready for serious road tests. It took about 9 months to develop this air cleaner and get the fitment right. It's not perfect, but from what I can tell by looking at countless GS pictures online, neither were the OEM air cleaners. I started with an OEM GS air cleaner base that had the snorkels cut off. Again, my buddy let me borrow a real GS air cleaner to reference for dimensions. First I modeled the snorkels, then the what I call snorkel scoops, then started working on the hood scoop vents. The air cleaner was the easiest, but the hood scoops took some time to figure out the best way to design them. The fiberglass hood doesn't have the support provisions for installing OEM scoops, so I essentially made a hood scoop that sandwiches the hood skin between the scoop grille and the face plate that seals against the air cleaner. Cutting the holes in the hood for this was nerve wracking, but it worked out! As with all the homemade parts, this one still needs a few more design tweaks, but I pan to run it all summer to validate the design as is by subjecting it to thermal cycles, high summer heat and sustained vibrations etc. I've put about 300 miles on it so far with this design with no signs of degradation or failure. Once the design is validated and any necessary modifications made, I'll paint and apply the appropriate GS stickers. Lastly, the foam seals are on backorder so I experimented by modeling and printing rubber seals. They work surprisingly well.

 

[93bandit]

Moving to the exterior of the car, I installed a GSX hood tach, sport mirrors and as I mentioned before, did a terrible job of painting the side stripes on the car. Additionally, I found a set of 15" rally's for dirt cheap locally. They are pitted, some worse than others, but they cleaned up well and look much better than the Jegs star wheels that were on the car. I bought 70 center caps from another Buick friend and finished the wheels with those, icing on the cake I must say!

I also installed the 70 front bumper, grille and headlight bezels and the 70 rear bumper. The bumpers and grille are in REALLY rough shape, but for the price I paid at the local pick-n-pull I'm happy. My buddy also gave me a GS emblem so I threw that on the grille for good measure. A before and after shot of the car.

 

[93bandit]

This pretty much catches you up with where the car is today. I bought it late August of last year and was able to get all of done this since then. The wheels were the last install, and that was done last week.

A HUGE thanks owed to my Buick friends. I don't know how they feel about being named online so to respect them I will keep them anonymous, but aside from the seats and home made parts, the car wouldn't be nearly as far as it is today without their generosity and expertise. I've loved these cars for many years, but only started learning the subtle differences between the 70 and 71/72 cars after purchasing this skylark. It's many steps closer to my 70 GSX-ish clone, and I couldn't be more thrilled. It's been truly humbling meeting those folks and I hope to be able to repay them someday as they've been instrumental in making my dream a reality.

My main goal in 2026 is to get the rust around the rear glass repaired, catch up on some maintenance (fluids) and DRIVE the wheels off!

The next things on the list are a mix of mechanical and other repairs. The clutch has some chatter and should be replaced, but it works well enough for cruising. I'd like to clean up the engine bay, fix some wiring and other odds and ends. The HVAC was also removed by a previous owner, so I plan to install heat at some point. Again, my buddy graciously sold me almost all the parts I need to install heat at a very reasonable price. I don't know how much of that I'll get to this year as I have several big house projects that will take priority, so I'll likely address the issues when they prevent me from driving.

 

[BaCo]

It all looks great.

 

[Rob cook]

I can’t thank you enough for sharing your posts on your journey and projects for your GSX tribute! It’s amazing what you can do with today’s technology! Fascinating, how you were able to make things with 3-D etc.
I have a four speed 455GS (x) tribute car for 25 years now, it’s a beautiful thing and I’ve enjoyed it immensely. I don’t have the console between the seats, just for giggles. What would you charge to supply one? Or are you willing?

 

[93bandit]

I can’t thank you enough for sharing your posts on your journey and projects for your GSX tribute! It’s amazing what you can do with today’s technology! Fascinating, how you were able to make things with 3-D etc.
I have a four speed 455GS (x) tribute car for 25 years now, it’s a beautiful thing and I’ve enjoyed it immensely. I don’t have the console between the seats, just for giggles. What would you charge to supply one? Or are you willing?

Howdy Sir, thank you for the kind words. Modern technology is quite impressive, even for a novice like me.

Do you have pictures of your car? I'd love to see them!

Funny you should ask about the console, as I've been prototyping all these 3D printed parts, I wondered if there would be any interest. I figured there probably wouldn't be since (in my experience) buick guys are generally sticklers for OEM. I would be willing to make you one, but I have no idea what a fair price would be. I'll point out I'm not fully satisfied with the design as it is today, it needs more refinement so I'm not at the point i would be willing to sell one as I fear it would disappoint the buyer. I hope to finalize the design this year as time permits. Once I'm happy, I'll share more pictures and would appreciate feedback and would discuss making them if people are interested. It's been a pashion project, not necessarily something I intend to make a buck on but I'm more than happy to contribute to the community if there's interest.