Fly's LeSabre

[Sixty8panther]

Just about six months ago I fell in love with a tripple Brown Buick.

It was a 455 powered BiCentenial LeSabre four door hardtop.

The car was on craigslist for $1300 O.B.O.

Today while looking through my 47 gigs of car photos I found the

photographs the kid posted on craig's of the LeSabre. I thought

since the car is now Fly's I'd post them for his & your viewing

pleasure. After I got the car I painted (rustoleum rattle can) the

lower 1/4s that were primered, put hubcaps on it & installed the

stainless steel trim that had at one point been held on by drywall

screws... I used non-corrosive ones and followed suit.

And here's the after:

http://www.cheersandgears.com/forums/index...ic=17490&hl=

Edited September 27, 2007 by Sixty8panther

[Flybrian]

Haha. Wow.

And here's it today, totally not looking like a homeless guy peed on it.

I have no idea what the hypothetical next owner's intentions were, but I have a feeling it would've had a less dignified life.

No new underhood pics yet. You guys also haven't seen many pictures of the underhood of the Bonneville or the Aurora in general for a little bit. Those are surprises for the coming weeks. :AH-HA_wink:

[Flybrian]

V7

[knightfan26917]

V7

Heh ... that's what my '79 MC Landau had the first year or so I owned it ... before I had the 350 V8 installed.

*pauses*

It was a V7 because the #1 cylinder wasn't compressing ... heh. Didn't notice it at higher speeds, but at idle ... holy crapola.

Sweet LeSabre, Fly .

Cort:34swm."Mr Monte Carlo.Mr Road Trip".pig valve.pacemaker

WRMNshowcase.lego.HO.model.MCs.RT.CHD = http://www.chevyasylum.com/cort

"Take a drive along the beach" ... England Dan & John Ford Coley ... 'I'd Really Love To See You Tonight'

[K.C.]

I shoulda had a V7.

[vonVeezelsnider]

I shoulda had a V7.

I still think that they should have called the low sodium V8 Drink a V6.

[daves87rs]

Lookin Good!

[Intrepidation]

Haha. Wow.

And here's it today, totally not looking like a homeless guy peed on it.

I have no idea what the hypothetical next owner's intentions were, but I have a feeling it would've had a less dignified life.

No new underhood pics yet. You guys also haven't seen many pictures of the underhood of the Bonneville or the Aurora in general for a little bit. Those are surprises for the coming weeks. :AH-HA_wink:

Well she's a damn sight prettier and happier now than she was when Sixty8 found her!

Edited September 27, 2007 by Dodgefan

[Ravenfreak13]

That car was painted with a rattle can>?>!!>

[Sixty8panther]

I personally loved the fact that the passanger fender was off an Electra.

[Flybrian]

Buick LeLectra. But if anyone asks, I'm going to just say this was a strike car from the '70s and the UAW folks in St. Louis thought it would be a riot.

Ravenfreak - approximately the bottom six inches of the rear quarters appear to have been Krylon'd. I'll get better pics later.

[Intrepidation]

Buick LeLectra. But if anyone asks, I'm going to just say this was a strike car from the '70s and the UAW folks in St. Louis thought it would be a riot.

Ravenfreak - approximately the bottom six inches of the rear quarters appear to have been Krylon'd. I'll get better pics later.

So do you plan to get it a real paint job? How's the A/C these days?

[Nick]

wow...it's very...brown..

[vonVeezelsnider]

wow...it's very...brown..

and 30 Years later, brown is again the 'in' Buick colour.... Don't you love it when things come full circle?

[Flybrian]

So do you plan to get it a real paint job? How's the A/C these days?

As you can see from the photos, the paint is actually in great shape elsewhere. I think its been repainted (at least parts) professionally once before and its actually a nice metallic brown. The cost of what I would consider to be a good paintjob makes no economic sense to me. If I were to do that, then I'd want to straighten out the rear bumper, buy new fiberglass fillers for the rear, replace the grille, find proper chrome molding for the sides, and of course get an accurate passenger fender. After spending several thousand dollars, it would be factory-perfect, undiscernable to the average Joe, and still be a brown LeSabre with crank windows. Oh, and I'd also feel like a 'tard for spending that much on cosmetics. So, negative to the paint job.

Lots of mechanical work is taking place now - fluid flushes, replacement of expendable parts, new blankity-blanks. You all will see it shortly as hinted at above . A/C will wait until early next year as the mild winters don't necessitate any sort of climate control for the next few months. I want to get the damn clock to work, though.

[Intrepidation]

As you can see from the photos, the paint is actually in great shape elsewhere. I think its been repainted (at least parts) professionally once before and its actually a nice metallic brown. The cost of what I would consider to be a good paintjob makes no economic sense to me. If I were to do that, then I'd want to straighten out the rear bumper, buy new fiberglass fillers for the rear, replace the grille, find proper chrome molding for the sides, and of course get an accurate passenger fender. After spending several thousand dollars, it would be factory-perfect, undiscernable to the average Joe, and still be a brown LeSabre with crank windows. Oh, and I'd also feel like a 'tard for spending that much on cosmetics. So, negative to the paint job.

Lots of mechanical work is taking place now - fluid flushes, replacement of expendable parts, new blankity-blanks. You all will see it shortly as hinted at above . A/C will wait until early next year as the mild winters don't necessitate any sort of climate control for the next few months. I want to get the damn clock to work, though.

True enough, the paint isn't in bad shape at all...have you tried waxing/buffing it to make it shine a bit more though?

[Sixty8panther]

PLenty more photos from old thread...

My personal favorite:

Hardtops are SO addictive, nothing like the lack of a B-pillar to make you feel one with the road.

[Flybrian]

True enough, the paint isn't in bad shape at all...have you tried waxing/buffing it to make it shine a bit more though?

Hard to tell from some of those photos, but she shines up very well. We've already gone over it with several stages of Poorboys products and its now probably the best it'll be without a repaint. Still have some exterior detailing to do (like all the chrome), but that may wait until after I get my ___ __ ______ ______ for the Olds.

[Drew Dowdell]

Hard to tell from some of those photos, but she shines up very well. We've already gone over it with several stages of Poorboys products and its now probably the best it'll be without a repaint. Still have some exterior detailing to do (like all the chrome), but that may wait until after I get my Presidential Executive Carriage Roof for the Olds.

[Drew Dowdell]

Hard to tell from some of those photos, but she shines up very well. We've already gone over it with several stages of Poorboys products and its now probably the best it'll be without a repaint. Still have some exterior detailing to do (like all the chrome), but that may wait until after I get my four new vogue tyres for the Olds.

[Drew Dowdell]

Hard to tell from some of those photos, but she shines up very well. We've already gone over it with several stages of Poorboys products and its now probably the best it'll be without a repaint. Still have some exterior detailing to do (like all the chrome), but that may wait until after I get my sun coast continental kit for the Olds.

[Flybrian]

Hard to tell from some of those photos, but she shines up very well. We've already gone over it with several stages of Poorboys products and its now probably the best it'll be without a repaint. Still have some exterior detailing to do (like all the chrome), but that may wait until after I get my all of the above for the Olds.

[Drew Dowdell]

thing is, I think I know the real answer, but I don't want to give it away on him.

[Sixty8panther]

If I win the lottery, I mean like aa 300 million powerball, I'll buy FlyBrain

a mint final 500 Aurora & install a carriage top on it with a staple gun!

[Robert Hall]

Wow...the car looks very solid. The '71-76 B/Cs I remember seeing in Ohio & Michigan in the '80s-90s were invariably really rough, rusted out, battered...likewise most of the ones I remember from S. Florida (salt air rust). A buddy in high school had a pretty clean '76 Electra coupe, but it had been repainted...

I've seen very few of these cars around here in the last decade, the occasional Impala/Caprice lowrider, and that's about it.

[Sixty8panther]

I've seen very few of these cars around here in the last decade, the occasional Impala/Caprice lowrider, and that's about it.

Yup.... which is why I HAD to have it, it spoke to me.

This car was supposed to be my keeper, my winter beater here in the New England states.

I would have give it routine high-pressure undercarriage washes to keep it rust free and

just driven the wheels off it.

The trouble is my '59 Buick gets about 11 mpg and I was hoping to get just about that with

this '76 Buick but as it turns out the 1974-77s B-bodys weigh about 5000lbs. so they get

even worse economy than my '59, 455 power aside. Well once I was driving the car, after I

had decided to keep it, I realised I was getting about 8-9 mpg & it prefered premium, so on

craigslist it got posted and the rest is history.