Karl Kustoms Restores A 1970 GSX
At Karl Kustoms, we adore the 1970 Buick GSX. It’s a rare car you don’t see very often. We always jump at the opportunity to restore one.
In the winter of 2020/2021, we started restoring a 1970 GSX brought in by a customer of ours named Tracey Lambert. We thoroughly enjoyed this project and the end result is pictured above. Looks brand new, doesn’t it? It took a lot to get the 51-year-old car to this point. It touched every part of our shop to bring it back to factory condition. Jake explains in detail what we did to restore this beautiful one-of-a-kind muscle car:
The 1970 Buick GSX Is Very Rare
Let’s talk about why this car is so special. Before 1970, no one thought Buick would have a muscle car in its lineup. That changed when Buick rolled out the GSX in 1970. The company wanted to “throw its hat in the ring” during the height of muscle cars’ popularity. The GSX was in production in 1970, 1971, and 1972. Tracey points out that the 1970 model was the best one because it’s a pre-emissions vehicle. Tracey took some time to explain why the 1970 Buick GSX is a rare collectible, and why it was worth every penny to restore his car:
Tracey shares an interesting fact with us. “Outside of the 1954 Skylark, [the 1970 GSX] is the most collected car that Buick has built,” he says. “About 600 of them were yellow. 178 were white. There are 60 survivors of the white ones.”
He goes on to proudly state that his 1970 Buick GSX is the only one with a stage three engine conversion. We can safely say that this is the most powerful 1970 GSX prowling the street these days!
When Tracey was a senior in college, he snapped up this car for only $2,600. Talk about quite a deal! This car isn’t only a rare collectible, but it has some sentimental value to him and his wife. It was the first car they had. They actually had their first date in that car.
Tracey has big plans for this car. He wants to show it off at car shows, including the GS Nationals in Bowling Green, Kentucky. We have no doubt that it will garner some positive attention!
How Karl Kustoms Brought This Car Back To Its Former Glory
At Karl Kustoms, we went all out on this car. We understood how much Tracey cherishes this car, so we gave it nothing but the best upgrades. We:
- Painted the body
- Painted the headlight assemblies
- Had the wheels rechromed and then painted the black insets
- Installed a new stock grille
- Cleaned up the original Stage 3 decals
- Redid the front GSX emblem on the grille
- Completely rebuilt the motor, which now produces a little over 500 hp
- We found problems that the original engine builder had missed and we corrected them
- We installed a new camshaft in the engine
- We redid the heads and installed new pistons and bearings
- Installed a new exhaust system
We did everything we could to restore this GSX to the shape it was in when it rolled off the assembly line 51 years ago. Tracey helped a lot because he had the original manuals. We were able to pull the original factory information from these manuals.
We – as well as Tracey – were quite pleased with the end result. The car is now in pristine shape, and it looks just like it did in 1970.