Making do with what I have!

[rixtrix1]

Thanks for checking in Ric,

Here are a couple of my favourite photos of 63 Skylarks:

Isn't the top pic of a '64? Bottom one is definitely a '63. When I had mine painted, I couldn't believe all the chrome trim was so heavy. Most of it was cast metal! I scanned a photo of mine last year to post somewhere I don't remember. Will try to find the print again to post it here( Couldn't find the scan tonight).

 

[sean Buick 76]

A few more pics!

Thanks for all the support guys!!!

Yes Shane Buick loves the sound of the car... I will post video with audio tmrw!!

 

[1/2 Cup]

Yeahh Done well....

 

[ADSR]

LOL, looks like a steamroller out back!!

 

[rixtrix1]

Nice new car, Sean!

 

[RivennHewn]

Looks like a fun car in the snow and ice!

 

[safetymachine]

Sean since you're a Buick guy - you need one of these to hang up! A 430-4 with Stage 1 heads that only weighs 25 pounds!

 

[ADSR]

Sean since you're a Buick guy - you need one of these to hang up! A 430-4 with Stage 1 heads that only weighs 25 pounds!

That's cool!

 

[ADSR]

Looks like a fun car in the snow and ice!

With those twins under the hood, i bet driving on the dry pavement feels the same

 

[sean Buick 76]

This is Bellis Alberta, a Hamlet of about 60 people! My little house is right in the center:


I have a key and my best friend expects me to stop by every time I am out… I still have the outbuildings for engine, ATV, Sled, etc storage:














We have a drive through access to the back alley, and it is always kept cleared by my best friend and tenant Josh:



View down the back alley:




There are thousand of trails and ATV areas right at my little house, its a huge motorized vehicle park!

A railroad that shut down is now converted to a groomed and maintained fun park! This is the entrance just 20 seconds away from my little house:




























A video of me on the ATV

And after dinner Shane came out to help me clean the engine bay!

 

[rixtrix1]

Sean, what is the difference between the car you sold and the new one?

 

[millwight.mike]

Do you have a video of the car running. I would love to hear it.

 

[rixtrix1]

Nice winter pics. Really pretty with all the huge pine trees. What's the elevation there? Shane is such a happy boy, always smiling. Sign of good parenting!

 

[sean Buick 76]

Sean, what is the difference between the car you sold and the new one?

The new one is almost 1000 pounds lighter... And complete instead of in a million pieces.

Do you have a video of the car running. I would love to hear it.

Video:

http://vidmg.photobucket.com/albums/v732/seanbuick76/Mark Burtons Skylark/My Movie_zpsecz5q1vt.mp4

Nice winter pics. Really pretty with all the huge pine trees. What's the elevation there? Shane is such a happy boy, always smiling. Sign of good parenting!

Thanks!! 2200 feet

 

[Bob Heine]

Do you have a video of the car running. I would love to hear it.

Do you mean this one:

 

[sean Buick 76]

Do you mean this one:

That is my car as well... I think i fixed the link, the new video is at the end of the link i posted above.

Here is another good one from the previous owner. At 1.35 he gets into it:

Here are some more pics from yesterday:

An old vintage sled we put a new track on:



Some of Roy's vehicles in the back yard. He also has a few barns full of cars and trucks but they do not all fit so some live outside. Roy owns the tractor shop where we work on our vehicles on the weekends... Some of his nicer vehicles are a 71 455 vette with 4 speed, Dodge warlock pickup, some Camaros, and Mustangs.

















My old Vega that I never did complete:

 

[longlivepunk]

Uh-oh... My girlfriend saw the station-wagon in the second last picture. You may have made a new friend! Haha! She loves her hatch-backs.

I love the rivet and strapping job holding that 'doo hood together! Haha! Looks tough. Looks like quite the oasis you have out in the sticks there, Sean! Tell your buddy to buy a tarp for that 'Vette.

 

[sean Buick 76]

I guess when you have 5 corvettes its easy to call one a beater...

The hatchback is an all wheel drive AMC Eagle and man does tgat thing haul *** around the yard in the snow!!!

Yes its a cool little slice of heaven out there... We dont need mufflers or things like that, the louder the better!!!

 

[millwight.mike]

Sounds great thanks

THis post helped me keep my crazy in check

 

[sean Buick 76]

Some video for you guys!

http://vidmg.photobucket.com/albums/v732/seanbuick76/Mobile Uploads/IMG_18411_zps25f36104.mp4

This video does have the car in it but not till 1:10 into it.

http://vidmg.photobucket.com/albums/v732/seanbuick76/Mark Burtons Skylark/My Movie_zpsecz5q1vt.mp4

http://vidmg.photobucket.com/albums/v732/seanbuick76/Mobile Uploads/IMG_17721_zps10c23d71.mp4

http://vidmg.photobucket.com/albums/v732/seanbuick76/Mobile Uploads/IMG_18421_zpscef00865.mp4

http://vidmg.photobucket.com/albums/v732/seanbuick76/Mobile Uploads/IMG_18421_zpscef00865.mp4

 

[BBChevro]

Great pics Sean.

I don't know anything about the effects of snow on and around cars and trucks, but I can't imagine it being very good for them (particularly "catchment" places like pick-up beds) - does it stay there very long or run-off quickly?

 

[BuickFarmer]

Man those pictures dropped the temperature in my house by 20 degrees. Looks like it could be fun though once you're "used to it". I am in awe at how fast Shane Buick is growing. He'll be snatching gears before you know it.

 

[Ripcurl]

Wow, wicked Buick.

 

[1/2 Cup]

Thanks for sharing Sean, young Shane is really sprouting up.

 

[sean Buick 76]

Great pics Sean.

I don't know anything about the effects of snow on and around cars and trucks, but I can't imagine it being very good for them (particularly "catchment" places like pick-up beds) - does it stay there very long or run-off quickly?

The snow normally stays around from oct to may without meting... The snow its self is not too hard on vehicles, they seem to last okay outside... The summers here are pretty dry and the vehicles seem to last well compared to areas wit more rain and mild winters...

 

[msh-r]

Any plans to sell any of those mustangs and corvettes?

 

[Squankum]

If anybody wants to buy an AMC Eagle wagon, here's one whose auction ends soon:

http://bringatrailer.com/listing/1981-amc-eagle-wagon/



.

 

[sean Buick 76]

I just came across this old picture and it dawned on me that since 7 years ago when this pic was taken we have came a long way... This was everything we owned back then in the truck and trailer.

I also noticed that I started this thread about 1 year ago and a lot has happened!!! I hope to get even more done in 2015, so stay tuned!

 

[kjdhawkhill]

Other than your lady friend… the best thing in that picture is the no-nonsense truck. I hate the rising price of luxury trucks. And I have used and abused some U-Hauls, and hated those experiences.

I've thought many times about selling my sedan and SUV in order to get the only slightly newer version of the 4x4 Chevy 1/2 ton or 3/4. What did you end up doing with that truck? I've read the thread and remember sum-thingy much newer (and jacked-up) in the driveway.

 

[sean Buick 76]

I ended up having that old 91 gmc 2500 for 10 years and tons of miles... I sold it a few months ago since it never got used after i got the 2005 gmc... Although newer and nicer the old 91 was amazing as far as low cost and reliability... Both are great trucks but the simplicity of the old stuff was awesome!!! Here is another of my old trucks that i enjoyed a lot... This is the home my dad and i built in the background:

81 chevy 3/4 ton:

 

[kjdhawkhill]

Also a good looking truck. Obviously the black is more timeless, but that early 90s body style is also timeless… the 1990s lines aren't **** or retro (yet). Just scream practical.

"Ifs and buts were candy and nuts" I'd live in a hovel, and drive and ride what I wanted.

 

[sean Buick 76]

Yes there is no doubt that the 91 was way better on fuel, drove smoother, and was more reliable than the 81.... I was going to keep the 91 and fix it up (by the end i had re done everything except paint) but i just got used to the newer interiors and i have too many vehicles already!

 

[kjdhawkhill]

I don't have the mechanical know-how that many here do. And I sure as heck don't invest in any of the electronic tools that some have… but being able to do my own oil change and fiddle-fart with wires, hoses and cables….

I like the early 90s GM platform for a reason. My 99 Nissan Frontier wasn't bad either… but "ifs and buts..."

Current '02 Svede60 and '08 TOY-minivan-for-guy-who-wants-a-truck both have too many things going on for my limited scills.

 

[ADSR]

Love the 81!! I have a factory 81 C&C GMC with a dump bed and a 5.9 cummins. I really like the old trucks.

 

[sean Buick 76]

I just noticed this article that my Carpenters Union wrote about me from 4 years ago when I was getting my Journeyman Scaffolders ticket.

http://www.albertacarpenters.com/members/15minutes/drive-to-learn-paying-off

 

[sean Buick 76]

Some pics of when my car was being hand built by Mark:

He cut the rear frame out and built a new one:










Shortened the original rear end.



The custom one of a kind intake he built a similar one for my old Skylark too:







He cut out the wheel wells, and widened them:








The result:



Custom lathed adjustable vacuum advance:

 

[JoniH]

That thing looks like a beast! My uncle had a few years back a -85 Cutlass with a 462 cid, changed camshaft, aluminium intake, heads and steel manifolds. The sound when you turned the key and it started.. wow. And that was just a "mild-tuned" engine, nothing like this. He got tired of the gasoline prices and sold it to get a motorcycle instead.. 98 oct. costs now about 1.69 USD / liter here.

 

[sean Buick 76]

One last post of the old faithful 91!



This is the house I grew up in... Nanaimo BC

This is the house we built in the back yard of the old house and lived in till I went to post secondary:



One of my first Buick engine builds! I took the 455 out of this, rebuilt it and sold it:







The back yard!

 

[Squankum]

I just came across this old picture and it dawned on me that since 7 years ago when this pic was taken we have came a long way... This was everything we owned back then in the truck and trailer.

Yes, the more space you have, the more stuff you wind up with!

See also, George Carlin, "A Place for My Stuff"

.

 

[Squankum]

Some of Roy's vehicles in the back yard. He also has a few barns full of cars and trucks but they do not all fit so some live outside. Roy owns the tractor shop where we work on our vehicles on the weekends... Some of his nicer vehicles are a 71 455 vette with 4 speed, Dodge warlock pickup, some Camaros, and Mustangs.

All those pictures reminded me of a certain old Rush song, which I must now rewrite:

My uncle has a country place
That no one cares about
He says it used to be a farm
Before the Motor Law
And on Sundays I elude the eyes
And hop the Turbine Freight
To far outside the Wire
Where my white-haired uncle waits

Jump to the ground
As the Turbo slows to cross the borderline
Run like the wind
As excitement shivers up and down my spine
Next to his barn
My uncle preserved for me a score of old machines
For fifty odd years
To let them sit and rust has been his weirdest dream