New to the forum, thought I'd post up about the car I just had passed down to me by my 98 year old great-grandmother.
1984 Buick Skyhawk Limited 2 Door Coupe
1.8 L LH8 TBI SOHC I4
3-speed Turbo-Hydramatic 125
When I received the Skyhawk, it had 36,696 miles on it. Car is in very good condition, due to it being garage kept and only driven maybe once every other week to the local grocery store. Since then, I have been daily driving it around which it now has a few miles over 45,000. Car still runs like a champ. Along with general maintenance and tune-ups, I've done a few other things to the car as well.
I had to put a new muffler on, which I got a Walker SoundFX Direct Fit Muffler (B.T.W. yes it still has the OEM catalytic converter).
I upgraded the radio, all 4 speakers, and put my two 12" subwoofers in the trunk
Up until last week, the car had all the original "Guide" headlights, until the one finally decided to quit. I replaced all 4 with new high end halogen bulbs.
Car still needs some work done to it. At some point my great-grandmother decided the car wanted to cuddle with the side of the garage opening so the front bumper has some small damage to it. The car is missing the factory antenna and has the base for an aftermarket one on it, which also has the mast broken too. The hood needs repainted because it is starting to show "crows feet". The passenger side of the car needs the chip-guard repainted. There is only a few minor rust spots which need to be attended to, the bottom of the driver door, the driver door jam in the right corner, and the passenger side edge of the trunk lid near the corner. Of the rust spots, they are all just starting to show surface rust. The two rims on the passenger side need to be sent out and repaired (they have minor scratches on them). The headliner needs replaced/refinished. And finally the speedometer cable needs to be looked at, should only need re-lubricated.
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Welcome Aboard!!
Wonderful Photos and Super Nice "Hawk! I'd say Super Rare for age/condition.
As per / Ron Loves Experience I can give you a heads up - - access to the Speedo Cable from the inside will be a MAJOR PIA. Best solution is to disconnect from Transaxle and re-lube from there as removal of IC involves removal of entire dash as well.
FYI the 1.8 OHC is NOT an interference design and the Transaxles will not swap with their OHV cousins. Starter replacement is about as difficult as the IC.
Keep photo-ing and posting
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This shows the PAIN I suffered just to get a cluster OUT of a 86.I literally had to remove the whole dash.I have the cluster and pics of it refurbished.I want swear that the 84 you have will be the same however Gm kept things about the same on the dash design and lubing the speedometer cable I feel might be a migraine.A touch tired after being at the junkyard all afternoon.I have pics but am waiting till thurs to show ALL of my parts and the bigger job I have yet to finish.This pic was from outside the car looking into the windshield as the dash is pulled out just to release the cluster itself!!!!!!
Figured I would show the re-vamped cluster I saved and it is a working unit.
Beautiful Hawk! So nice to see another one around here.
I'm on the other side of the state, but after I get my new rims/tires, maybe we can find a way for me to give you another set of those 5-star rims if you want, although mine aren't in as nice condition.
that is quite a beautiful car. wish mine was in such good shape. mine is the 84 2.0l ohv custom and i also have an 88 std with the 2.0 sohc and 5 spd tranny. take a look at my thread. but really nice with everything.
Very nice!
http://www.autorentalandsales.com/images/2004Cavalier005.JPG
Thanks to everyone for the replies and the advice. I will be getting some more pictures here soon to post up. Not too worried about doing the dash removal and speedo cable stuff. Thankfully, my dad is the service manager at an auto body shop and he's been doing stuff more intense than this for his entire life. However, I'm not going to work on some of the bigger tasks till at least spring because its just too cold
out of curiosity what state you out of. im right here in eastern ct specifically norwich. we just had 22 inches of snow plus another 8-10 tomorrow. I will be getting my taxes within a few days now and will be hammering out my 84 custom. im putting my 88's sohc into the car and i will be putting the 88's 5 spd manual tranny in as well as cluster gauges plus the horn button ( also p.s. I had to borrow the doors as well ). I have completely gutted the interior except the dash I have new carpets going as well as headliner and seat covers. Im fixing the body issues and getting the bird re undercoated so the chemicals wont harm it too much in the winters here in new england. right now the 84 is fire engine red ( which I hate!!!) but soon it will be jet black with the pin stripe changed to red and a gloss coat. Im keeping all the shiny chrome as well as some new chrome here and there plus this awesome hood ornament
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Car-Chrome-ABS-Hood-Ornament-Badge-Emblem-Jeep-Eagle-Sliver-NEW-/191102777246?hash=item2c7e9cf79e&vxp=mtr. and mostly wood trim through out the car. sorry to ramble on. also fun fact of the day. the 1984 buick skyhawk is the offical sponsor car of the 1984 american olympics ( we boycotted the olympics that year since it was being held in commie russia and the cold war was still going on.) keep up with the good work.
Buick was the sponsor of the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, not just the SkyHawk; so all 1984 Buick models have that sticker with the star logo. Some models even had Olympic specific packages.
We boycotted the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, so USSR didn't show up to play in LA in 1984. The 1984 Winter Olympics were in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia.
so you google "Grandma Fresh" and this is what should pop up!
Amazing Car Austin!
Of course, when something breaks, its always the things you don't expect. I guess the interior door handle said it was done being attached to the hinge rod and broke out of the hole the rod goes through. Luckily, I found a junkyard handle online and replaced it for under $20 including shipping.
I live in Pittsburgh, PA. We have had some good amount of snow, not sure how much. It's just the temperatures here that are a bust. Average of 10 degrees gets really old really quick.
Don't worry too much, those handles always go. The hole where the rod goes through is made of plastic and breaks eventually. You'd be surprised how many handles are the same size; back in the day, I took one from a 1976 Trans Am and it was the same size, and since the hole wasn't made of plastic, it never broke again.
