Hello from Massachusetts

Hi, my name is Mark Snowdon and I have recently acquired a 74 Chevy Laguna S3.  It sat for the last 4 years and needs work but is mainly all original down to the AM radio.

Ive always loved these cars since my very first car was a 74 Laguna S3. Bought it the same day I got my license.  Ive owned one other 74 about 15 years ago. Other colonnade cars Ive owned include 73 Hurst Olds, 75 Hurst Olds and a 76 Cutlass Salon.

Ive been wanting another Laguna for some time now and my wife actually found it on Facebook marketplace in New Hampshire. She checked it out with a buddy of mine and they took me by complete surprise when it showed up at my house on a flatbed a couple of days later. Surprise is an unserstatement. I was in complete shock. They have a video of my reaction when I first saw it.

The plan was to clean it up, give it a tune up and fix it up slowly while I drove it. That changed after i started going through it. After sitting 4 years, mice made a complete mess of the trunk and interior. The more I cleaned, the more rust I uncovered. The floors are bad, the exhaust is shot needs some TLC.

I started by giving the car a good cleaning with rubbing compound, removed all of the interior trim and carpet and realigned the trunk and hood. Its been repainted once before and looks decent. Even better after the cleaning. I replaced all the interior/exterior bulbs, new headlight switch, rebuilt heater controls and lubricated door locks and mechanisms.

While stocking up on parts Ive removed the rear bumper, gas tank and exhaust. The entire undercarriage and wheel wells are going to get de-greased, repair any rust holes, and then painted. Once the new tank and exhaust are in place I will move to the interior and finally the engine compartment.

Parts are noticeably harder to find this time around. While more reproduction parts are being produced, the cost of NOS parts has risen dramatically. I look forward to sharing my progress, asking questions and providing and help that I can.

Thanks

Mark

The images are of my first and current Lagunas.

Hey. Looks like you and I have some things in common. The S3 logo for your avatar and a big Laguna project. I am almost finished with my 7 year build. Go ahead and start a build thread so we can help you out. Take a look at my build thread and let’s get another Laguna back on the road. Welcome!

https://www.g3gm.com/t10882-where-are-you-at-picture

Thanks REVINKEVIN,

Is there a special category for the "build threads"?

Also I noticed you have a fiberglass nose. I was thinking about getting the 73-74 version for my car. Was it difficult to install a grille & headlights? How does it mount to the existing bumper?

This Laguna and my second one have an issue where it loses it's shape around the headlights. Instead of a square, it starts to widen at the bottom of the headlight opening causing a drooping look. I believe it is caused by the steel structure that it is wrapped in starts to rust and causes the outer shell to deform.

Welcome! My 1975 sat under some pine trees for 10 years when I bought it, on the plus it is a California car so salt did not get to it - minus, the pine trees did what the salt did not!

I drove mine for a couple of years, but the brake system failed as I was putting it up almost a year ago, so now it sits on the lift until I can get to it!

Hey. Under the heading “MEDIA” there is a tab called “G3 PROJECT PICTURES”. Go in there and you can start your build thread. I traded for my fiberglass nose and it already had the headlight buckets installed. All of my trim pieces bolted right up so no issues there. By going with the fiberglass nose, I was able to take over 100 lbs off the front of my car. This way I didn’t have to pay a weight penalty for changing out the small block for an aluminum headed big block. All of the original bumper stuff, weight, is removed. Huge savings in shear tonnage. I still have to weld up a little inner bumper set up but that’s it. If you do go the fiberglass route then you will be getting rid of all that rusting metal issue that you speak of. For me it’s a win win. My car started out as just a body and about 8 huge boxes of parts so I don’t have to worry about originality for my build. The only thing that will match on my car is the gas pedal to the floor board. I am going to push those two together as much as possible.

Welcome to the group! Always love to see another Laguna owner joining our gang! Lots of knowledge to be had from the guys here.
Looking forward to seeing pics of your build.

Sounds like a great project! Welcome!

I have collected some great photos of Lagunas that I would like to add to the gallery but I cant quite figure out how.

Snowy wrote:I have collected some great photos of Lagunas that I would like to add to the gallery but I cant quite figure out how.

Have to Be a Donating Member then that gives you access to that Section