“Pro Touring Tuesdays” is all about bring you guys and gals the best of the Pro Touring builds and videos that we uncover while on our endless search for all things Bangshifty. Some are more traditional than others, but trust me, they’re all 100% BangShift Approved.
Much as I like to write about builds that are on the edge of what is normally considered Pro Touring, after the off the wall Drift Camaro featured two weeks back and last week’s Home Brewed Falcon, being the dead of winter here at BS East with 3+ feet of snow still on the ground and more on the way I was in the mood for something more traditional this time around, namely a GM A-body with a tried and true LS swap and T56.
Call it Pro Touring comfort food, if you will.
Keep in mind, what makes Mark’s ’64 Buick Skylark engaging is that it’s more about family than it is about a high dollar checkbook build that would normally come to mind when you think of a Pro Touring A-body.
As Mark puts it, he was smitten by Buicks thanks to some quality time spent with his grandfather and a ’65 Special back in the day, so the Skylark was a perfect fit compared to a Chevelle or other A-body sibling. While he originally planned to keep his Buick all Buick with a LC2 and 2004R swap from a Grand National, one thing that stood out to me was how Mark noted that conscious effort was made to keep the car intact for family cruises until he had all of his parts and ducks lined up in a row, including the 300ci V8.
I’ve seen way too many builds where the car was torn down immediately after purchase, only to sit, disassembled for months and years before the owner finally gets behind the wheel for the first time, so this was especially cool to read about.
As not so subtly hinted at earlier, the Turbo Buick plans were scrapped in favor of a tried and true LS and T56 combination. For all you purists, take some comfort in Mark’s choice of Buick Green for the powerplant.
Drivetrain choices aside, what really makes this a BangShift approved project is the amount of time spent not only with the car, but with his family as well.
Whether it’s disassembling the motor:
Prepping the hood:
Or just enjoying that moment of success when dropping the motor into the car (Even if only for mockup purposes):
It’s all quality time spent in the garage.
Much as we all like to bust each other’s chops on here, Brian and Chad always involve their families in their BangShifty activities, and while I don’t have kids yet I’m planning on doing the same when the time comes. In the meantime I convince my less-than-mechanically inclined dad to lend a hand every chance I get. This hobby is more fun when you’re sharing the experience with other people, especially if it’s people you care about.
Mark’s build is still being updated as we speak, with the latest update from last week showing the Buick out enjoying some sun, even if only partially constructed. Check out his build thread on Pro-Touring.com to check out more including his T56 install and DSE suspension upgrades. CLICK HERE FOR THE BUILD OF MARK’S 1964 BUICK SKYLARK
This is super cool. I agree – it takes plenty of thought to design a project plan around “up time” for family cruising. My hat is off to him. Having a turn-key cruiser on hand sure helps cement the value of the hobby with the rest of the family.
As a former 1964 Buick Skylark owner, I fully endorse this project. Thanks for reminding me how much I miss mine. Mine had the “Fireball” 225 V6, and I wanted to swap in a Grand National 3.8 Turbo engine. I still want to do that to one!
My first car was 64 Skylark. Dad bought it for me when I turned 14 and we finished putting it together about the time I turned 16. I’m 42 now and that car still sits in my garage today. I’m in the middle of giving the car its 3rd re-do since I got it all those years ago. Those memories of my father and I putting my car together are some of my absolute best.
I was brought home from the hospital at birth in my parents ’64 Buick Sportwagon. We had that car until I was 9 years old. Lots of fond memories riding in the back seat of that car.
That “buick green” looks more like Detroit Diesel green
This is an excellent reason to have a car to work on or to build. I did the same with my son building a V-8 Ford Maverick. After all the great time we had together doing that project, he won the High School eliminator at Terre Haute Action dragway many years ago. God, family, country. All of it is good.