Pancho
04-19-2004, 11:48 PM
Hi, This is my first post to this board. I'm a mechanic by trade and a longtime Pontiac nut. Recently a customer approached me about updating his 57 Buick with a modern drivetrain. We built a Chevy 350 mated to a 700R4. Our final step is to get rid of the torque tube set up and go with an open driveline. The over all wdth (backing plate to backing plate is only 51". That alone has narrowed(no pun intended)our available choices for rears. I'm kicking around several ideas. From looking through a gasket catalog it appears that the 55-57 Buicks share a punkin with the 55-64 Chevys. Am I right? If that's the case I'll swap out chunks and build a bracet to mount the forward swing arms to. If the Chevys don't interchange I guess we'll go with a GM rear out of an 87 Cutlass. That will require swapping the spring perches, track arms, etc. onto the Cutlass rear. Has anyone out there put an open driveline under a Buick but retained the original suspension? I know somebody on this board is familiar with these cars. What I've noticed with the HAMBers is that they are mostly hands-on no bullshit car guys who like the challenge of figgerin' stuff out themselves. Any butthead can pay someone else to do his thinking for him! I'm pumped about finding fellow gearheads who are down and dirty grease-under-their-nails rodders!