General Information
I originally bought it as a doner car for my wb(other car on list) as it was a 304 efi manual.
Dad and i were just going to sell the remaining shell for either scrap or as a rolling shell but as it had a very straight body the idea of a p plate get around sounded better and i would learn to just "fix it up" and at the time i was 15 and dad was just driving to work in it for a bit of fun until the rego ran out.A vr doner car had popped up dirt cheap with a buick v6 manual t5. So decided to clean it up and use it on my p's
January 2013 the rego ran out and the car was stored for 4-6 months roughly and then we eventually brought it home and i started having a go with it.I started paint stripping the whole car which was a very long and painful process. It had no body filler at all and i started to see more potential in the car the more i went.
soon enough i found out i was moving from southern nsw to brisbane qld and i was luckily aloud to keep both of my cars. Within 3 weeks of moving we coated the ute in etch primer to seal it and had the v6 running only with extractors on it.
From november 2013 to current (jan 2016) the car had its biggest changes . It was a struggle finding all the scattered parts and getting used to a new place but it slowly came together . I got my p's october 2014 and had a massive urge to get it on the road and had enough of borrowing cars . Febuary 2015 i had it painted And the week or 2 after regestered and finally on the road . Aswell as just painting it i kept getting ideas and cheap little mods that made it unique so a few more $$ went into it and i lowered it with 20's, wired in central locking and made a custom electric window harness with relays and made it a new car !!
It was great to finally drive my own car it was so nice even though it was still rough the feeling couldnt be beaten. unfortunantly i got about 4-5000km on it before the motor ceased a good 80km from home. So after alot of thinking about selling etc all the usual thoughts that run through your head i decided to practise building a motor before doing the v8. So the next weekend out came the buick and the new built begins
I bought an ecotec for $100 and built it from the ground up and with some help from 2 good mates of mine i added a cam, some headwork, bigger throttlebody and built the motor with new rings, bearings for about $1500. I am lucky enough to be an apprentice mechanic with a boss who let me use the workshop over the 2015 christmas break . I spent every minute there early morning starts and late nights and i custom wired the vr harness to work with the ecotec motor aswell as bolting the t5 manual that i already had upto it instead of a getrag . Plenty of issues with bell housing and exhaust etc but i overcome all of them on my own.
Now being 2-3 weeks back to work i finally got it running .. I have just run the new cam in and i have to fix a few things that i found once i got it running aswell as getting my exhaust mounted properly around the gearbox . It only has extractors currently and it is crazy loud. I plan on getting it tuned next few months after i run it in and make sure it all works well then its time to enjoy it
More mods to come yet . I have interior to finish that involves everything being cleaned and modified and series 2 vs caprice door cards and centre console , i have audio do to aswell with a fold out pioneer head unit and a 4000w comp sub , then do the little engine bay tidying up , monaro bonet, wagon rear bumper etc .. Its been a long journey however im very proud of it
