Our Newest Addition..Daily Driver..'61 Skylark..60's Custom?

Well we just got a daily driver for Heather. We needed something smaller, v8, air, power steering and brakes. We found it all in this.
A '61 Buick Skylark. 215 Aluminum V8, 4 barrel carb, Dynaflow transmission, newer paint, newer roof, new interior, no rust what-so-ever.
So far we really like the car alot. Has tons of potential. We have a few bugs to work out. Rides nice and has good power.
I've done some research on the 215 and have found that there is pretty heavy aftermarket support. I have found a 2x2 Offy intake that I may consider.

The biggest thing we would like to do is modify it in true 60's style cl***ic mild custom. We will keep it clean and smooth. It will stay black with the vinyl top. Would like to lower it a bunch, add some nice wheels or caps, medium whites, possibly some Bellflower tips, Possibly some lace paintwork on the hood peak.

We would like some opinions on wheels and hubcaps or general style for the whole car.
Anyone want to Photochop it please do.
We are pretty excited;








******Knuckles

 

My Gawd thats clean. Nice ride man.


BUT, don't ever let her get hot, those little engines hate the heat.

 

You have no idea how much I tried to talk my wife into your car. I absolutley love your car, I think it's perfect. This is a smaller version of yours so all is not lost. I hope to gain the at***ude in our car when complete that yours just oozes.
Thanks for checking it out man and the nice comments.


******Knuckles

 

This is the "client car" eh?

Your wifey ever go look for some material for the desoto?

What the bolt pattern, spiders w/mini trim rings would look rad. Get me a shot of the hood so I can figure out something like we talked about on the phone.

 

THAT IS A BAD *** LARK. CONGRATS ON YOUR SCORE....





RAFA.

 

my buddy has a green sedan on air-ride and a blue convertible too. cool little cars. i'd never seen one before but the place he works for has six of them or so. cool cars.

they're four lug cars, so wheel choice is a little limited.

 

Another one for sure! Will the material you have work in size?
The bolt pattern is 4 lug. I have considered redrilling for 5 lug. We'll see.


******Knuckles

 

I did this with the paint program. Fenderskirts, chopped top, wheels.

 

Man, what a GREAT ride. I would ***ume there might be hub/fit/adapter issues, but I would slap a set of 53 Buick wires with 1" whitewalls on it and call it DONE!!!!

 

Thanks, that's pretty neat.


******Knuckles

 

Just tried to call you....gimme a call back if ya can.

 

Here is mine so far, I got the 2 deuce intake and carbs ready to go on. also lake pipes caddy taillights and corvette grill. I have lowered it about 3" so far. They have a lot of potentail.

 

Who'd a-thought we'd get excited about a little ol Buick Skylark? That one is sure a good looking ride. Someone must have taken excellent care of it all these years. Nowadays it's interesting just for being what it is, and in such good shape. Maybe some wheels and tires.......

 

You do know that that little 215CI Aluminum V8 that is in your car is what is in present day Range Rovers. GM sold that motor to them in the late 60's and they have been using it ever since.

 

Yea, great little motor!

 

Looks good so far. Would love to see it done. Is your intake the Offy one?

******Knuckles

 

Oh yeah. I've know that for a long time. Thanks for the heads up.


******Knuckles

 

sweet ride - very clean. check out Streetrodder this month - they have an article on 2 piece drive shafts.

lets see a shot of the engine - you'll probably want to drop in a small block and th350 - make it do wheelies

 

wow amazing car...congratulations...

 

Cool cruiser, my humble opinions, small caps and trim rings, slight lowering. dual exhaust out the back, I think the car is a little small for bellflower tips, some cool white pinstriping following those swooping body lines, portholes, hood peak, taillights etc., simplicity would be the key in my opinion, the car has a lot going on with orig. trim and body lines. Good luck on a sweet ride.-Don't know nuthin from nuthin but offering an opinion since you asked!!-Sololobo

 

Have a set of OEM steel wheels reversed and chromed, paired up with med whitewalls.

Lower it.

Call it done.


I've owned a Ford Falcon for about 10 years. It was a nice little 1-owner stocker. I have mine on airbags and it will be getting chrome wheels, but the longer I own it, the more appealing it is in "mild" form. Your car doesn't need anything, so live with it a while before doing anything big.

 

I know this is prolly a dumb question, but are those the STOCK taillights for that car? They just sorta break up the flow of the bodylines to me. The car is an absolute beauty, though. It'd look nice in my driveway.

 

Yeah they're the stock lights. If you can combine the '61 Olds F85 Cutl*** rear with the Skylark front you would have a nice flowing car.

Thanks for the nice words and opinions gents.


******Knuckles

 

Great looking car. It looks super clean. If it where me I'd just put some different tires and wheels on the car and lower it a bit. Airbags would be nice.

 

o my god.... that thing is cool!!!

we have been looking for something like that for Erin! Hows that little 215 run out? Hope to see it at the show in june.....

 

Just curious, but did the F-85/Skylark platforms share suspension components with the '62-'65 Chevy II/Nova?

Seem to be the same size cars, could be a source for 5-lug stuff.

That thing's a beauty, I would adjust the rolling stock to your taste and lower it a bit...maaaaybe some mild striping. What a nice find. Really like the silver bucket seat interior.

 

Look's NEW! I second harring's mod's. It need's so very little to look mild custom. A sweet, sweet ride. Enjoy. And harring, that chopper Honda you 'ave is one of the best looking I've seen in the last 30 yrs.

 

my semi-solicited opinion:

keep it mild.
paint or chrome the stock rims, thin or medium whites.
lower it a little; just get it sitting right, don't put it on the ground.
don't scallop/stripe/panel/flake/flame anything.
give the engine a good tune-up and leave it alone.

if this were a fortune cookie, it would read,"restraint will pay off in big dividends."


ed

 

no relation at all-nothing will i/c. working on a 63 right now and I'm pretty sure it's the same setup although a couple of the component parts #s are different. front suspension is on a removable subframe. rear axle flanges have big access holes between studs preventing redrilling-we used custom made Mosers. Price was pretty reasonable around $350 for the pair if I remember right. Had disc brakes put on at a place in Orange Ca- VERY expensive and not a real great improvment-couldn't fit a power booster so manual with a very hard pedal. This is what I know from working on this one I am ***uming the 61 would be similar. ( please don't ask me about the color combination-it's not my car I swear!)

 

Sounds like a 5-lug swap is more trouble than it's worth for the kind of driving it's going to get.

My taste would dictate a set of Moon saturn-type wheel covers or some attractive flipper caps with painted wheels and medium whites.

Your car is gonna get a lot of looks...