Why are Buick guys cheap

[benoitthegr8]

I would never call myself cheap, maybe thrifty... and no you will not see any Chinese knock off items on either of my Regals. The fact of the matter is that when you end up spending some serious coin on these cars most will not try to cut corners, like I said most. Everybody wants to go fast and to get the most bang for the buck, some people believe you can throw together a sub-11 second car with knock off Ebay stuff, even after the posts on this board will tell you stay away, can you say ebay headers.... good luck... The four things I analyze prior to a major purchase are: Necessity, Quality, Fitment, Price. A majority of the time the lower grade items will not make it past fitment. The only items I have cheaped out on has been headers, they are too much for me to justify the purchase, so my alternative is to run ported stockers and weld em as needed...

 

[DailyDrifter]

I would never call myself cheap, maybe thrifty...

No...your just cheap Ben :biggrin:.







Edit: 3000 post's of useless drivel

 

[Buicksx2]

I usually like to stay with tech topics, but would like to voice an opinion on this subject.

In general, the turbo Buick owners are the BEST group of car people I have ever dealt with over MANY years in the car business. This covers Mopars, Corvettes, Pontiac, Chevy and others, including big-block Buick owners.

What we are now seeing in the turbo Buick community and 2nd, 3rd generation owners now "messing" with these cars, not because of a passion for a turbo Buick, but because it is a cheap car to make fast.

When I first started working on these cars for maintance and modifications, I do not remember one customer asking "how much will this cost"? It was simply "can you do this for me?"

The key factors then were honesty and integrity. Now almost 25 years later, society, in general, does not endorse those values nearly as much.

in the early tears, we only had a few newsletters and Buick events for our means of communication, and we were a rather close knit community for many years. We exchanged LOTS of info, and were happy to help each other.

The common method for an owner was to contact and work with one vendor for his advise AND parts to build his ride to the level desired. Most of us had the same "pattern" for various builds. The one common factor that made them work well was the correct COMBINATION of parts was put together.

One reason that myself, and a few others left like me, have some knowledge is we made lots of "mistakes" in the learning process, and this was passed on to our customers to save them time, money and grief. And believe me, we are all still learning!

So now we come to the time where the key phrase is now "where can I get the cheapest.....?" instead of "who can help me with my build and stay within my budget.......?"

Which customer do you think ends up happy? :biggrin:

I still have many customers, new and old, that call for a part and is is sent at the same time they put a check in the mail to me. I will also tell a customer I do NOT want to sell him a parts because it is not right for his build. The Buick marketplace is a very hard place to make a profit, and without other profit centers, Buick vendors cannot continue to exist.

Because the turbo Buick has become a deep passion with me, I will be always be involved is some fashion to continue enjoying the pride and different special arena we enjoy with our cars in spite of a few that are just "passing through"!

>>> Well said Nick.

 

[Trbo6gn6]

I'm far from cheap and even have the bank account balance to show it lol. I just dropped $2000 yesterday and im sure i'll unload a few thousand more in the next couple months.

 

[benoitthegr8]

No...your just cheap Ben :biggrin:.

Only with the beer that I drink... BTW, I'm in the market for a set of ATR Headers... my DS stock header cracked again when I was home what's more American then thinking that throwing money at problems will fix them...

 

[1 RARE T]

Who is on the other board whining about the price to get in to an auto show?

Cheap azz.

 

[1 in 2000]

It's called Captialism. The vast majority of Americans are inherently free market consumers so we automatically assume that any tradable item can be evaluated and priced.

 

[SS/GN]

Who is on the other board whining about the price to get in to an auto show?

Cheap azz.

LOL :wink:ya but I don't want to pay to see ricers and listen to how much faster they are than my old 87 Brick.But I do like their tight ass girlfriends

Kevin


P.S I spent all my money on the dragsters and a couple of Buicks

 

[DailyDrifter]

Only with the beer that I drink... BTW, I'm in the market for a set of ATR Headers... my DS stock header cracked again when I was home what's more American then thinking that throwing money at problems will fix them...

Yeah you do have bad taste in Beer . Your T-type is nice though Ben, you definatly didnt cheap out on it .

 

[Little6pack]

IN WHICH WAY DO YOU MEAN CHEEP?

BUYING PARTS or WHOLE CAR?

I find selling parts EZ
but trying to sell my Limited is a tough GRIND. Everyone rather spend 4k more for a GN than a T?

Yet our cars attract a lot of kids under 25 who dont have 2 nickles to rub together.

I sold my GN cause I thought it was to flashy & preffered a sleeper T which I am thinking about MOTHBALLING for 5 years or at least until Uncle obama is out of office.:redface:

 

[BuickMike]

I think I'm one of those that most would consider cheap, however I'm not a dick about it. I don't buy cheap knockoff parts and don't bitch at vendors about their prices. I will try an negotiate a little when buying used parts or look for vendors offering free shipping or other small discounts.

Even though I love turbo Buicks, I'm not close with the community because the majority of TB owners do not agree with how I am building my Buick. I think that's because most of them are a bit older than me and have much more disposable income.

My GN is a long way from being finished and I only have a small static budget to get it back together. I don't believe that I am cutting corners with this project, however I am trying to make sure that no money is wasted.

For example:

I removed the frame, sandblasted it, and repainted it myself. I spent alot of hours doing this and it turned out beautiful. I could have just gotten it powdercoated for $250 - $300, but it was worth all the hours and hard word to do it myself for about $30.

I wanted to go SC&C Stage 2, but instead spent months trying to see if there is something else I can do to get decent handling and save a few bucks. I ended up finding a guy who was racing a G body in the Grass Roots motorsports class and HAD to make his car handle for cheap. He created a design for tubular UCA's that allow for up to -3 degrees camber, up to +5 degrees caster, and does it all with shims. It also accepts a 80's Chevy 1/2 ton truck upper balljoint that has the same taper, but is 1/2" longer. UB Machine made me a set. My tall balljoints from PPM ($49 ea) should be in within a month. All in all, I saved almost $400 over my original plan.

Everything else is either junkyard parts or bought used.

I got 2000 S10 front brakes (spindles, rotors, capipers, pads) all in fantastic shape from the local pick a part for $70 on half price day. I got a rear swaybar off a 98 S10 2dr 4WD for $20. Sure, it's no HR bar, bit it will be a big improvement. I got a 2nd hand set of SPC springs. I got a MAF Translator Gen 2 used from a DSM guy for $70 and a good tested LS1 MAF from a junkyard for $35.

Honestly, I really enjoy hunting down parts and making home grown solutions as I go. It's much for fun than pulling out a credit card and ordering parts IMO.

 

[WeSS]

buick guys cheap

I think I'm one of those that most would consider cheap, however I'm not a dick about it. I don't buy cheap knockoff parts and don't bitch at vendors about their prices. I will try an negotiate a little when buying used parts or look for vendors offering free shipping or other small discounts.

Even though I love turbo Buicks, I'm not close with the community because the majority of TB owners do not agree with how I am building my Buick. I think that's because most of them are a bit older than me and have much more disposable income.

My GN is a long way from being finished and I only have a small static budget to get it back together. I don't believe that I am cutting corners with this project, however I am trying to make sure that no money is wasted.

For example:

I removed the frame, sandblasted it, and repainted it myself. I spent alot of hours doing this and it turned out beautiful. I could have just gotten it powdercoated for $250 - $300, but it was worth all the hours and hard word to do it myself for about $30.

I wanted to go SC&C Stage 2, but instead spent months trying to see if there is something else I can do to get decent handling and save a few bucks. I ended up finding a guy who was racing a G body in the Grass Roots motorsports class and HAD to make his car handle for cheap. He created a design for tubular UCA's that allow for up to -3 degrees camber, up to +5 degrees caster, and does it all with shims. It also accepts a 80's Chevy 1/2 ton truck upper balljoint that has the same taper, but is 1/2" longer. UB Machine made me a set. My tall balljoints from PPM ($49 ea) should be in within a month. All in all, I saved almost $400 over my original plan.

Everything else is either junkyard parts or bought used.

I got 2000 S10 front brakes (spindles, rotors, capipers, pads) all in fantastic shape from the local pick a part for $70 on half price day. I got a rear swaybar off a 98 S10 2dr 4WD for $20. Sure, it's no HR bar, bit it will be a big improvement. I got a 2nd hand set of SPC springs. I got a MAF Translator Gen 2 used from a DSM guy for $70 and a good tested LS1 MAF from a junkyard for $35.

Honestly, I really enjoy hunting down parts and making home grown solutions as I go. It's much for fun than pulling out a credit card and ordering parts IMO.

That my friend is far from cheap. It is quite brilliant. You did your homework, found good deals, used smart ideas from yourself as well as others, & made your car what you wanted on a budget. I would actually like to see pictures of your setup when its done.

The cheap we're talking about are dicks that lowball the hell out of people when buying stuff meanwhile buying everything high dollar imaginable. Crying oh poor me in the process about how poor they are and don't have nothing meanwhile living high on the hog. Then selling their own junk for overinflated prices and acting as if their $hit don't stink. The kind of guys that know something is junk, useless, & pedal it to hardworking small time guys who are lucky to even have one of these cars. Much less be able to buy everything in the world for it.

 

[charlief1]

I wanted to go SC&C Stage 2, but instead spent months trying to see if there is something else I can do to get decent handling and save a few bucks. I ended up finding a guy who was racing a G body in the Grass Roots motorsports class and HAD to make his car handle for cheap. He created a design for tubular UCA's that allow for up to -3 degrees camber, up to +5 degrees caster, and does it all with shims. It also accepts a 80's Chevy 1/2 ton truck upper balljoint that has the same taper, but is 1/2" longer. UB Machine made me a set. My tall balljoints from PPM ($49 ea) should be in within a month. All in all, I saved almost $400 over my original plan.

Do you have a part number or job number for these? Sounds like what I've been looking for myself.

 

[alwayscode390]

I think building a Buick is a bit more expensive than a NA v8 ... now THOSE are the cheap guys wanting decent thrills for low cost ---

 

[Little6pack]

I am cheap! But I would call in more like ANGLER. I like to work the angles. You know Sell this to buy that or looking for sales. there is nothing wrong with being cheap.

 

[BuickMike]

That my friend is far from cheap. It is quite brilliant. You did your homework, found good deals, used smart ideas from yourself as well as others, & made your car what you wanted on a budget. I would actually like to see pictures of your setup when its done.

The cheap we're talking about are dicks that lowball the hell out of people when buying stuff meanwhile buying everything high dollar imaginable. Crying oh poor me in the process about how poor they are and don't have nothing meanwhile living high on the hog. Then selling their own junk for overinflated prices and acting as if their $hit don't stink. The kind of guys that know something is junk, useless, & pedal it to hardworking small time guys who are lucky to even have one of these cars. Much less be able to buy everything in the world for it.

Thanks for the compliment. Even though I know there are well engineered products out there that I can buy to accomplish my goals, I prefer to take the McGyver approach. This is how things were done in the early days of hotrodding.

I will get some pics out in a few weeks once I get the brakes and suspension assembled.

 

[BuickMike]

Do you have a part number or job number for these? Sounds like what I've been looking for myself.

If you call UB machine, ask about the G body front UCA's that Michael Crawford developed. He'll know what you're talking about. I had them made to take the 1/2 ton Chevy truck upper balljoints since they are 1/2" taller than ours and have the same taper. BTW, these only come with solid greasable bushings. It shouldn't be a problem though. My '59 LeSabre still has the stock solid steel busings on it at 180k miles and they're still good.

 

[1000MileStylez]

suspension from UMI, engine parts from champion, oliver, je etc. used vender parts from bought on the forum or new from venders. everything else i built myself, headers, exhaust, downpipe. Im a fabricator / machinist. its hard to buy when you know how to build it yourself

 

[charlief1]

If you call UB machine, ask about the G body front UCA's that Michael Crawford developed. He'll know what you're talking about. I had them made to take the 1/2 ton Chevy truck upper balljoints since they are 1/2" taller than ours and have the same taper. BTW, these only come with solid greasable bushings. It shouldn't be a problem though. My '59 LeSabre still has the stock solid steel busings on it at 180k miles and they're still good.

Thanks Mike. I'll be calling them next week to get a price on them.:smile:

 

[Fast4Ward]

calling someone cheap is ignorant.....wtf do you know of one's budget or someone trying to get the best deal possible for whatever reason...not everyone has $$ to burn...i always encourage people to offer what ever they can afford if i'm selling something...i get an offer way too low, i would never turn around and tell them they are cheap or to fuk off....no need to judge people without knowing them