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1972 Buick Skylark

Those particular bolts thread into u-nuts so I need them to match. I'm hoping I can just get them from the hardware store. Don't want to pay for shipping to get $12 OE type bolts from one of the parts companies.
Check True Value or Ace hardware. I have seen Hillman supply them with lots of surprising hardware.
 
#14 sheet metal screws did the trick.

Sometimes my son does things and I wonder if I did the same when I was his age. I've had him working on polishing the chrome wheels. I told him to try and not get the polish on anything other than the wheels. I noticed this:

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I guess now he can clean tires too. :doah: At least the chrome is looking really good.

He's just sloppy with this kind of stuff in general. That's when I wonder if it's the impatience of youth or what.
 
About the worst thing on the Skylark appearance wise was the rear bumper:

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On an off chance I posted a wanted ad on the V8buick forum and I got a response in a couple of days. A guy traveling from Salt Lake City to within 30 minutes of me had a bumper he would sell. He was really worried I wouldn't like it because it wasn't perfect, but I told him as long as it still has intact chrome, I'm not picky given this is a first car and a 4 door. The bumper is exactly what I was looking for in price and condition and it turns out the guy has been a member of CK5!

We started out by painting the back of the bumper black. Figured we might as well do a little extra rust prevention.

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The new bumper just needed some polishing. It had these rust spots that the polish didn't clean up.

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I read about a trick to use aluminum foil like you cook with and white vinegar. That stuff worked awesome!

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Grandma even sprung for some new taillight lenses and the bumper looks great!

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One of my favorite things is this bumper doesn't have the stupid black rubber bumpers around the tail lights.

One question for you all. What should I do about this crack. Would drilling a little hole in the end help? I don't even understand how it has developed. You can see it right at the left edge of the picture.

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Drilling a hole should stop it from going further. I would mig it from behind. Not super hot to destroy the chrome but enough to put some weld on it.
 
Drilling a hole should stop it from going further. I would mig it from behind. Not super hot to destroy the chrome but enough to put some weld on it.
Yeah, I was a little worried welding might mess up the chrome.
 
Bumper looks great!
have you tried “neverdull” or similar metal polish? Works on chrome, aluminum, raw or polished, and can polish raw aluminum given enough elbow grease.
I agree with hitting the crack with some heavy tacks. Don't try to run a bead though.
 
Haven't heard of neverdull. We used Brasso, but I wasn't terribly impress as far as its ability to remove the little rust spots.

The worst part of the interior was the package tray. I was going to try and make my own because it's basically just thin press cardboard, but I decided to order one since it was only about $40. It didn't fit. Maybe I misunderstood something in the models and body types, but I had to trim about an inch off the middle. It was curved out, but really should have been curved in along the back below the window. Maybe it's more of a universal fit and trimming is to be expected. Anyway, it looks way nicer!

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We've been using black for the new interior stuff we install. I told Patrick he can slowly change it all over to black as things get changed. Otherwise it's hard to justify changing out perfectly good pieces just to get black.
 
Patrick was interested in a floor shifter so we put a Quicksilver ratchet shifter in. He seems to enjoy using it.

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It was a good anchor for cup holders. I had bought new cup holders for the Tuffy console in the crew cab, but I figured they would work well in the Skylark.

Yesterday I took Patrick for his first mountain drive in the Buick. The new socks are a huge improvement. We drove about 120 miles and the car ran great. The Buick 350 pulls strong from any point even in the steep climbs. Give it a little throttle and it will pick up and go.

Fuel mileage worked out to about 14mpg. That's pretty good considering it was mountain driving and also a fair bit of stop and go traffic getting to and from the mountains.
 
Yeah the people over on V8buick.com are saying it's for fuel tank venting. Like @Capt Ron said, kinda crazy.

Couple of other items. I rewired the rear speakers because they were punched thru the package tray and draped over the rear seat. I ran mine up behind the insulation panel thru the big holes in the bulkhead. You can see mine over in the bottom right side of the picture.

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I don't remember if I had posted, we replaced the factory steering wheel because it was in bad shape. It was an old Grant wheel that was in my K5. I had to make a sticker for the horn button so it would look at least a little more fitting.

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A Buick Skylark dash brings back a lot of memories. Since my 1970 Buick Skylark GS 455 was my daily driver back in the early 80's I spent a lot of time staring at a Buick Skylark dash board from the driver seat. Can you imagine a 1970 Buick GS Skylark 455 was a daily driver, but back in the day it was common.
 
A Buick Skylark dash brings back a lot of memories. Since my 1970 Buick Skylark GS 455 was my daily driver back in the early 80's I spent a lot of time staring at a Buick Skylark dash board from the driver seat. Can you imagine a 1970 Buick GS Skylark 455 was a daily driver, but back in the day it was common.
If you're talking about a big block boat being a daily driver, my daily is a 3/4 ton gmt400 suburban with the 454
 
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