2017 LaCrosse Build thread (GS tribute)

[richardnewton]

New Chevelle from transamworldwide.com

 

[Ghosthawk]

Its amazing what those guys at TransAm Worldwide can do with a Camaro! That green/gold color scheme works!

 

[Ghosthawk]

Sgaile is finally back home from the body shop and she looks great!

Let the work continue! 😎 😍

 

[Ghosthawk]

So happy to have her back home I just had to drive her to work today 😎




They did a great job on the repair! I installed the new wing mirror decals.


Now I gotta get to work on the window moldings...

 

[Ghosthawk]

It's really strange how hyped I was about installing the Corvette C8 steering wheel, and after mock-fitting it once I really liked the look. Now that course of action has been ruled out, I thought about going with exclusivesteering.com and having my existing wheel modified with a flat bottom and tu-tone leather. I did this picture chop to get an idea of how it might look and despite the fact its very hard to get colors to look right, I'm surprised how much I'm NOT really excited about it. Maybe its just my poor quality render?


Who knows? Maybe I just wind up putting a Wheelskins lace-up cover on it?

 

[Ghosthawk]

I decided to go with the Wheelskins cover for now. Black with perforated leather sides for a better feel.

I'm also moving forward with the exhaust mods. I settled on the staggered, resonated rectangular dual tips.
These are 8 inches wide and should fit in the modified openings.


I'm also going to remove the heat sleeve outlets in the rear bumper and have them modified. The fabrication shop will cut out the bottom and back while retaining the mounting points. Then they'll be powder coated a semi-gloss black so to look more like a trim piece. Plus the dark color will accent the new exhaust tips.


I don't think this will change the sound at all but I think it will look more like a muscle car 😎

 

[Ghosthawk]

Years ago I read a short poem on another forum...

"Give me a car that can handle the curves
The occasional drink that calms my nerves
And a woman that loves me
More than I deserve"

That bit of prose has stuck with me and every day I thank Heaven for my wife. She has never given me a hard time in any way about my car hobby, and I distinctly remember tell me before we got married, "You earn your money, and you do what you like. Just as long as you don't tell me one day...Hunny I can't pay the mortgage because I spent it on cars." I have dutifully kept that promise, and she smiles at me when I act like a small child about my cars.

Tonight, after dinner, we took a walk around a local park to enjoy the first day of Spring and a lovely sunset. After we get home, she sends me this gorgeous picture she shot in the parking lot. I love being married to a photographer! She is such a gift 😍

 

[Ghosthawk]

I was at work tonight but another sunset was too nice to pass up!



Tomorrow I have the Wheelskins cover to install and maybe get started on wrapping the window trim.

 

[Ghosthawk]

Wheelskins cover is on and the exhaust sleeves are at the metal shop for modification. The new staggered tips arrived and I have high hopes this new set up will look great!

 

[Ghosthawk]

Should get the modified exhaust trim pieces back from powdercoat tomorrow, then I can get to the exhaust shop Monday morning. "Gran Sport" decals are in transit and should be here this week.

I've also been looking hard at the window molding and considering taking some ScotchBrite to create a brushed finish that would more closely mimic the wheel lips. I may try this to see how it looks. If it doesn't work out I'll move forward with blackout wrap.

 

[Ghosthawk]

Big SHOUT-OUT to Innovative Powderz for the powdercoat work on the modified factory exhaust outlets, Ron's Muffler Shop for the muffler/tips install, and EU-Decals for the custom "Gran Sport" badges! Sgaile is shaping up beautifully!

 

[Ghosthawk]

After a week of travel to and around Staten Island NY, and then the Simsbury CT area to visit family, Sgaile brought us safe home in style.
She wrapped the trip with some very impressive stats…
1138 total miles round trip with an amazing 28.2 average mpg!
The highway leg up to NY she peaked at 30.4 mpg.
All done with 2-3 people on board and a trunk full of luggage.

What a machine!!

 

[Ghosthawk]

The weather was lovely yesterday so I was able to get both my "Birds of Prey" outside for a little TLC


After several tries at vinyl wrap that refuse to stay put for some reason, I tackled the chrome trim strip between the exhaust outlets with some satin black Plastidip/Hyperdip
The results came out good so we see how long it holds up.

 

[Ghosthawk]

Not crazy about the reflection of the building but I like the angle 😎

 

[Ghosthawk]

Going forward, I'm still holding out hope I can get the C8 steering wheel installed. The guy in NC is busy and hard to get ahold of most times. He wants me to leave the car with him for a couple weeks, which I can do but it is about a 4hr drive to his location so transport will take some planning. I just think it will add a great look to the interior. Ever since I mock-fitted the wheel on there one time I can't get the image out of my head.


I've also been trying to think about adding some color to the interior. My only regret in choosing this car was it didn't have the Brandy interior. But that's okay because this affords me a signature chance to change things up. I do adore a tu-tone interior like this one pictured in the Dodge Charger called black/pearl


In my youth, I owned a 1976 Volare Roadrunner with a similar white/black interior and I loved it. I'm thinking I could get some upholstery work done using this theme with tan piping/stitching to throw in a splash of the gold color (this would also match the detail on the C8 wheel) It would also be very cool to have the "GS by Buick" logo either embroidered or embossed on the seat backs.

Looking forward to making Sgaile the complete package inside and out!

 

[richardnewton]

From time to time, a local junk yard may have a nice LaCrosse interior for a low price. Keep your eyes peeled.

 

[Ghosthawk]

I actually found one online with the Brandy interior, and I was tempted to jump on it but when i asked about a package price for all the Brandy trim he hit me with a $2500 number. If I'm gonna pay that kind of money I'd just as soon have the white/black tu-tone! LOL

 

[Ghosthawk]

I registered to visit the GM Nats in Carlisle on June 23-24 😎

I'm also looking at fabricating an airbox to replace the stock unit under the hood. I'd like to do some green-tone dress-up of the engine bay. My hydro-dipping guy does a great job on engine covers and other plastic parts. I'm sure he can come up with a green carbon fiber look design. He did a great job on the underhood parts on my convertible!

 

[Ghosthawk]

I've also been playing in PaintShopPro again with some exterior design. I think I've pretty much ruled out the gold pinstripes I originally planned. Mostly because trying get double stripes along curved lines without any wrinkles is difficult at best...plus making then uniform and symmetrical on both sides. Straight line stripes are much easier and I don't want it to look sloppy.
The two curved areas on the hood is a place I'd like to add a graphic but it can't look like its trying to be a Trans Am. I played with a bunch of different hawk wing designs but none looked right. Then I ran across this art deco-style, reversed the direction so it was like when a hawk pulls in its wings for a stoop hunt dive. I took the opacity down to about 30% so the design is more subtle. Ghost paint would be ideal here but probably pricey, so I may look into vinyl print. This design echoes the decals on the grille and mirrors.

 

[Ghosthawk]

Took a photo of my interior and did a little PaintShop action...(I like it!)

A bit of tu-tone with the tan piping to set each color off along with some custom embroidery work. No idea how much this would cost but at least this gives me a visual.