Spike TV Muscle Car Show: Blue Collar Buick

[dkn1997]

Has anyone else but me been following this?  I love the concept of building a decent 2 door big block cruiser for 10K.  I agree with about 75% of what they did.  Now I'm about to point out some things I wish they had done differently but again, I applaud them for the concept. 

1.  They probably could have found a better donor, even for the 1500 they paid.  Roof replacement is
     beyond 90% of anyone who's trying to build on this budget.

2.  The bumper mods, door handle mods, and tailight mods were not necessary in my opinion, they
     just don't make that much of an impact on the overall appearance.

3.  Paint:  I hate two tone paint on just about everything.

4.   Wheels:  20's are too big for that car and the style is terrible.  I set of 18's in a nice 5 spoke or
      even black would have been better. 

I also don't see the logic in rebuilding your own starter and dizzy when replacements are pretty cheap.  Maybe if they got a donor with a better body (possible since the model they chose is not a huge $ in demand car)  they could have saved some bucks on interior and roof work... 

I don't want to crap on it, but I was pretty excited to see that they were doing this and was a little disappointed with the end result...and some of the things they did are beyond the average car crafter.  I think with a slightly better donor they could have done it without all the fabricating and had a better result...maybe keep the customizing to simple bolt on part swaps from other models, blacking out trim, etc... 

maybe we could get them to do a blue collar makeover? lol. Still...again...hats off to muscle car for doing this build on a forgotten model. 

[dkn1997]

pic

[Cooter]

Bumper treatment definately makes a difference. At least they don't sit 5" off the car now...Agreed, don't care for the "Chip Foose" wheels and paint job, but I applaude anybody that is a DIY and CHEAP, no matter what it is....The world has enough high dollar, over restored, resto-mod, G machine "Stuff" out there nowadays anyway....

[Charger-Bodie]

Bumper treatment definately makes a difference. At least they don't sit 5" off the car now...Agreed, don't care for the "Chip Foose" wheels and paint job, but I applaude anybody that is a DIY and CHEAP, no matter what it is....The world has enough high dollar, over restored, resto-mod, G machine crap out there nowadays anyway....

Why exactly is the stuff "crap"? I worked very hard to earn the money to spend on my cars. And acording to you you Its crap since I spent more than 10k?

[BigBlockSam]

They probably could have found a better donor

that's my main disappointment with this build . why buy a Buick that needs a roof?  i've had buicks in my life, great cars but not for a hotrod  build.

i did enjoy this build a lot .i like the low buck build idea .

all my builds are low cash builds . only because of the lack of cash . if i had the money , i would like to build a spectacular high dollar  car . 

[dkn1997]

They probably could have found a better donor

that's my main disappointment with this build . why buy a Buick that needs a roof?  i've had buicks in my life, great cars but not for a hotrod  build.

i did enjoy this build a lot .i like the low buck build idea .

all my builds are low cash builds . only because of the lack of cash . if i had the money , i would like to build a spectacular high dollar  car . 

I actually like a buick for a hotrod build.  I'd have loved them to take a clean two door 70-72 skylark, add a spoiler, the right hood and paint it like a GS, but not a total clone.  buick motors are torque monsters too!  a skylark of that vintage could have blown the budget as you aren't going to find a real nice one for under 5k,  upside is that you can find a minty minty mint small block car for around 8-10.  That gets you a nicer starting point but not much room for mods.

look at this one though.  probably about as much bodywork, but would end up with a cooler car in the end.  In the vein of this type of build, you can't go too old because it starts really costing when you have to start changing stuff to bring it up to semi modern standards.  I'd say 65 and up on any make, but that's even pushing it because you still gotta change to dual res MC, electronic ign, etc..

That's the upside of them choosing a 73 for this build, all that modern stuff is pretty standard. 

look at this one though.  probably about as much bodywork, but would end up with a cooler car in the end.  3500 is a steeper ante for this but who says you gotta have a big block? 

[dkn1997]

one thing I gotta say to be fair is that I think their goal was to buy locally too.  that does limit the choices so I can't totally kill them on choosing the car they did. 

[dkn1997]

here's a 73 cutlass, IMHO a slightly better looking car, but in very good shape for 3850.00.  This thingk could be kiiller for 10K.  repaint, ditch vinly top and all chrome trim, put some wheels on it ...

[1BAD68]

I liked the whole Blue Collar Buick thing.
They picked a generic car mainly to show that with some hard work and creativity, anyone can have a nice weekend cruise.
It wont appeal to everyones taste but nothing will. You have to look at it as a general idea and not a "follow these instructions" type of build.

[Cooter]

Bumper treatment definately makes a difference. At least they don't sit 5" off the car now...Agreed, don't care for the "Chip Foose" wheels and paint job, but I applaude anybody that is a DIY and CHEAP, no matter what it is....The world has enough high dollar, over restored, resto-mod, G machine crap out there nowadays anyway....

Why exactly is the stuff "crap"? I worked very hard to earn the money to spend on my cars. And acording to you you Its crap since I spent more than 10k?

No offense and I hope none taken...It's just my opinion on high dollar cars, as I don't play ball on that field....Try not to take the word "Crap" out of context...It's just a figure of speech round here...I could have used the word "Sh*t" I guess, but then again, I could clearly see where that would have been taken the wrong way... I edited it, hope I didn't step on both your feelings....

[WHITE AND RED 69]

I like what they did and the low buck build but when I saw the wheels and the door handles it made me question it. I agree that 18s with a simple design would be alot better for the look of the car. I like the tucking of the bumpers, and while I'm not a huge fan of two tone paint it does look pretty good.

[Charger-Bodie]

Bumper treatment definately makes a difference. At least they don't sit 5" off the car now...Agreed, don't care for the "Chip Foose" wheels and paint job, but I applaude anybody that is a DIY and CHEAP, no matter what it is....The world has enough high dollar, over restored, resto-mod, G machine crap out there nowadays anyway....

Why exactly is the stuff "crap"? I worked very hard to earn the money to spend on my cars. And acording to you you Its crap since I spent more than 10k?

No offense and I hope none taken...It's just my opinion on high dollar cars, as I don't play ball on that field....Try not to take the word "Crap" out of context...It's just a figure of speech round here...I could have used the word "Sh*t" I guess, but then again, I could clearly see where that would have been taken the wrong way... I edited it, hope I didn't step on both your feelings....

Well Im kinda with ya on cars that people just pay out money and do little to zero work. (even those people deserve the respect for something,they just choose not to diy the project due to lack of skills , desire....whatever.)The point is, Yes I spend a lot of money on my Daytona clone, But I will promise you that I did as much or more of the work than the most diy project on this site. I dont see why any of that earns a car to be "crap" sounds like someone wishes they could spend more and holds some anger for those who are at a point where they can. I assure you that I am by no means rich. I have worked very hard for every thing I have.

[charge69]

There are lots of reasons someone chooses or requires another person to finish or do a "build" of an old Charger. I saved for many a year to get the funds necessary to do a complete rebuild of my car and was unlucky enough to have a pretty serious medical condition (stroke) happen to me before we even got the shell painted. Now, a lot later than I hoped, I will try to finish my car knowing that I just physically cannot do most of my planned work and I will have to pay someone to do it for me.

I am a little of a klutz, probably most of us gearheads are, and tend to cut,scrape or gash some part of my anatomy each time I work on my car and now I just cannot afford to get a cut. Life with blood thinners (coumadin) is very frustrating for me and even though it has been 6 months since the stroke, I still have "residuals" and will be on blood thinners the rest of my life as they found the clot was caused by Atrial Fibrillation. Long story short, I just have lost most of my strength and stamina due to the stroke and cannot get cuts anymore (lots of other issues with blood thinners) or I might seriously bleed to death as my blood takes a long while to clot due to the medication. By the way, I went from no medications to 6 medications daily as a normal regimen now and my loving  wife of 34 years now has to make sure of my medications and fight the insurance company from time to time just to get my medications approved.

I have owned this car for a long time and am lucky in that respect but I got WAYYYY more than your cutoff of 10k in the car and I will spend a lot more yet to get it finished, luckily by a good friend, as I just cannot do much work myself anymore. I would love to be able to , but I just cannot. I, too, worked very hard for what I have and am being forced to retire due to my medical condition. Sucks to get old and medically unable to do things you took for granted. Also sucks to not be  rich and just pay someone to  just finish the car!

I respect your knowledge and help on this board very much and hope you look at things from my point of view , not my condition ever. Your contributions are valuable to me and many on this board regardless of how they finished their project.

[charge69]

By the way, I certainly did not mean to hijack the thread and the Buick is just not my cup of tea but they started with a cheaper old musclecar and made it what they like. I would have put a single-color paintjob on it and used different wheels for sure but, ..... it ain't my money and they got what they wanted from it.

I apologize again for the hijack!

[Back N Black]

I watched the complete build, enjoyed it but was disappointed with their choice of colors. Did the 10k include labor? Because not everyone has the skill to take a car to that level, these guy are pro's at what they do.

[SRT-440]

I watched the complete build, enjoyed it but was disappointed with their choice of colors. Did the 10k include labor? Because not everyone has the skill to take a car to that level, these guy are pro's at what they do.

U hit the nail on the head...an average joe couldn't do what they did (for free)...god only knows what a decent shop would charge to do that roof not to mention the bumpers and tail lights.

Overall, I like it...I could live with the paint but the wheels need to go. My biggest thing was they hot rodded it some and it does sound good...but when they were out on their "secret road" to open it up and did the burnout they shoulda had the camara on the wheel that was spinning..LOL. 

I've been wanting a similiar car for a low buck hot rod...I've been wanting a 76-77 Luguna..I think with the right paint/wheels/engine combo those could be great cars...not sure if anyone remembers the Hawaiian Tropic Luguna on the movie "The Cannonball Run"? 

[69 OUR/TEA]

Heres a very similar Buick,73,74 they were called Century,then for 1975 it turned into Regal.Anyway,this  looks like a real nice car for the price to have a cruiser,IMO.Besides that I'm into Buicks,I like this body style,I would'nt mind having it.

            http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1975-Buick-Regal-350ci-4bbl-Dual-Exhaust-/190481791247?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item2c5999790f

[earthquake68]

I've been wanting a similiar car for a low buck hot rod...I've been wanting a 76-77 Luguna..I think with the right paint/wheels/engine combo those could be great cars...not sure if anyone remembers the Hawaiian Tropic Luguna on the movie "The Cannonball Run"? 

I love that movie! "I can't see $#!t, can you?" "No problem!"

[dkn1997]

I've been wanting a similiar car for a low buck hot rod...I've been wanting a 76-77 Luguna..I think with the right paint/wheels/engine combo those could be great cars...not sure if anyone remembers the Hawaiian Tropic Luguna on the movie "The Cannonball Run"? 

I love that movie! "I can't see $#!t, can you?" "No problem!"

Absolutely love the cannonball run car.  I love when they are doing a little parking lot tune and they blow the window out of Mr. ahhhhh "Foyt's" meeting...right after hes talking about a march protesting colored toilet paper due irritation of the rectum (said with a perfectly timed microphone feedback)  honestly, who wrote that stuff?  genius! 

[SRT-440]

I've been wanting a similiar car for a low buck hot rod...I've been wanting a 76-77 Luguna..I think with the right paint/wheels/engine combo those could be great cars...not sure if anyone remembers the Hawaiian Tropic Luguna on the movie "The Cannonball Run"? 

I love that movie! "I can't see $#!t, can you?" "No problem!"

Absolutely love the cannonball run car.  I love when they are doing a little parking lot tune and they blow the window out of Mr. ahhhhh "Foyt's" meeting...right after hes talking about a march protesting colored toilet paper due irritation of the rectum (said with a perfectly timed microphone feedback)  honestly, who wrote that stuff?  genius! 

A Laguna S3 can be had for a real good price these days..a "protouring" Hawaiian Tropic car (cannonball clone) would be a SWEET project!