New Buick Owner from CA!

[Sky#1965]

Hello all,
I’m new to the world of Buicks I’m the owner of a Flame Red,1965 Buick Skylark convertible. The Skylark is numbers matching with its original 310 Wildcat engine and ST300 auto transmission. It’s an original California car and is a solid driver but still is in need of some TLC and minor restoration. Just wanted to drop in and introduce myself. Looking forward to reading any tips or suggestions on my restoration journey.

 

[GL03]

Welcome. The founders, past and current members have created this site into a treasure trove of technical information. There are articles, DIYs, library and some of the archived posts have information you won't find anywhere else. Familiarizing yourself with the site will help your experience to be more enjoyable.

 

[bob k. mando]

Hello all,
I’m new to the world of Buicks I’m the owner of a Flame Red,1965 Buick Skylark convertible. The Skylark is numbers matching with its original 310 Wildcat engine and ST300 auto transmission. It’s an original California car and is a solid driver but still is in need of some TLC and minor restoration. Just wanted to drop in and introduce myself. Looking forward to reading any tips or suggestions on my restoration journey.

in that era, Buick named engines by torque rating. so your "310 Wildcat" has little to do with the size, as it's a 300 cubic inch engine in the Buick small block / v6 / Rover 3.5L to 4.6L family. all of these designs spring from the 1961-63 215ci aluminum v8.

 

[Nato1966]

Hello all,
I’m new to the world of Buicks I’m the owner of a Flame Red,1965 Buick Skylark convertible. The Skylark is numbers matching with its original 310 Wildcat engine and ST300 auto transmission. It’s an original California car and is a solid driver but still is in need of some TLC and minor restoration. Just wanted to drop in and introduce myself. Looking forward to reading any tips or suggestions on my restoration journey.

Congrats on the '65! Awesome that you're is still numbers matching. I'm in SoCal and I've only had my '66 Skylark for a little over a year. Here's a few tips that I have learned in my 14 months:
* not a lot of folks left that want to do classic restoration work. Those that do are $$$!
* These car's are relatively easy to learn to wrench on. Give it a shot! I was intimidated by drum brakes and it ended up being not complicated at all.
* build a library of links to research parts and "how to's".
* RENT TOOLS FOR FREE WHEN YOU CAN
* Have a plan and a realistic goal in mind. Do you have the money to do a frame-off restore or are you happy with a good looking driver?
* Stick to your plan. I almost started buying premium restored chrome trims because it was really cool to imagine it on. I had to check myself and re-focus on critical systems like the rear suspension first. What good is it to look pretty if it can't make it out the driveway?

So far it's been mostly great. Yeah I've been frustrated at times (wrenching or waiting for a rare part to show up at a not crazy cost), but driving it always makes it feel worth it. I know a helluva lot more about cars now too! Good luck!