Whoa, Black Betty

She's so close now, close to being finished, that is. Dave Black's '64 Skylark, affectionately called Black Betty should be roadworthy by the end of this week. Bob's been trying to, as he likes to say, drive a stake through the heart of those difficulties that appear during the final stage of a car build. It would be really cool if Dave Black and family could drive her around before they have to put the car in storage for the winter. That's the goal, and so far the weather in Spokane is cooperating. Click here for some detail on the car's LS motor. More pictures to come.

Spokane car builders, LS motor transfer, '64 Buick Skylark

Final Assembly

This week Eric and Bob are both doing final assembly, Eric on Steve McConnell's '46 Chevy pickup and Bob on Dave Black's '64 Buick Sklylark.

Final assembly basically means wiring, plumbing and installing all the remaining components that make a completed, operating vehicle. Watching guys do final assembly is not as fasinating as watching metal work, but it's impressive knowing how much brain power it takes to get it right on a custom car. Rod Builders takes pride in doing a tidy job of wiring. Bob and the guys hide as much of the wiring as they can and any exposed wires are neatly bundled.

'64 Skylark - She's Rock Steady

It's been some time since we showed you the progress on Dave Black's '64 Skylark. Dustin installed a Hotchkis Sport Suspension, front and rear and installed disc brakes all the way around. This past week he finished the MagnaFlow exhaust. He and Bob cut down the oil pan to make everything fit. Then came the soft brake lines, the sway bar etc. Up top he installed the radiator, built hardlines for it, installed a dual pot master cylinder with a 8" booster. He cut out the dash insert, put in the gauges, and did dozens of other assembly-type stuff The skirt has a hard time understanding well enough to write about on this blog, but you get the idea. Most unmistakable to this writer though is the sexy satin black paint Dustin laid down. Some of us around here have decided to call the car Black Betty.

Whoa, Black Betty (Bam-ba-Lam)

She really gets me high

You know that's no lie

She's so rock steady

And she's always ready After much careful consideration the owner decided on wheels and as soon as they mount them we'll post a picture, bam ba lam. We know the owner, Dave, reads this blog, maybe he would be so kind as to add some comments. In case you missed the blog entry on installing the car's LS motor click here.

Update 6/14/10: Dave sent in this photo of his new vanity license plate. Right on!

Spokane Car Builder, Spokane car fabricator, professional vehicle design and fabrication

Alternator relocate for LS motor in A-body cars

We're putting an LS motor from a GTO into a 1964 Buick Skylark. You can do this with a truck motor without having to move the alternator, but it sticks up really high. We opted to design a cool little system that used the factory tensioner to move the alternator to the passenger side. It works really slick so we put some kits together for $129 + shipping, that include all the hardware and instructions.

If you are putting an LS into any 64-72 A-body GM car (Chevelle, Skylark,Cutlass,Tempest,GTO,442,GS), you need this kit. Call us at 509-922-7922 to order.
Spokane Car Builder

Mobile Soda Blasting

Tri-State Soda-Blasting removed the paint on the Skylark yesterday. Everyone was very pleased with the results. They use a specially designed baking soda. It's all 100% water soluble, so we parked the car in back of the building, on the gravel and let it fly. It only took a couple of hours and the car is now clean and ready to paint.

The car is in good shape. The owner is considering having the car painted a flame red. Visualize a deep red-orange with charcoal-colored interior. The skirt thinks that combo sounds bitching.

We were impressed with how the trim turned out. This is delicate chromed pot metal and there is no pitting or warping. The car prior to soda blasting.

As you can see the Skylark is coming together.

Frame-off Restoration of '64 Buick Skylark

New in the shop this month is Dave Black's '64 Skylark. As you can see the "frame is off" and the car has been disassembled. What you can't see is Dustin has started rust repair on the underside of the car and the floor pan. To keep costs down, (that's how it's done these days) he power washed then scraped off the big chunks of rust on the frame then coated it with POR-15 rust inhibitor. Yesterday morning he started installing new brakes. When the time comes Rod Builders will be installing an LS motor. Stayed tuned.

Spokane Car Builder