Projects 1955 Buick special 4 door sedan. Series 41. Build thread.

Found axles for the 9" with the Buick wheel bolt pattern.




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I think I would just run ford wheels maybe depending on what kind of wheels or hubcaps you plan on running but then Im just a cheapskate so.......

 

That's not a bad idea. But first problem is I have no axles at all. So I have to buy something.

Second,
I did that on my 55 Chevy when i popped the original rear. I threw in a 44 from a scout 2.

Besides rewelding the spring perches it basically bolted in.

Anyway I got tired of driving around with 2 spares in the trunk.


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Cant find a GM open drive rear with same bolt pattern that would suit your needs?
A lot of big mid 70s thru 90s GM cars and 71 thru 98 GM full size trucks had 5 on 5 bolt pattern
also some 70s (and maybe 80s) lincolns fords etc had it as well

 

Didn't really think to look. Went right to the 9" because the initial build was supposed to be a 12v Cummins.


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It's go time.






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Got myself a rear end ruler on eBay so I could cut my axles just right. Finally got to push the car outside and clean the garage.












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Bad ass man. Love that this is getting a diesel. I want to put a diesel in something someday.

 

Thanks. I'm actually on the fence with the compression ignition.
Came across a 5.3 ls and I figure the noise of the 12v might get old.


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Well I committed to a boosted 5.3/700r4.



eBay $78




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Now I can pop the tub off and wrap up my frame work.
I'm going to start fitting the center take-off rack from a late 80s cavalier.

The image is just from Google. Not my car obviously




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Neat Center punch idea, effective and smart. Will be a neat driver once you get it sorted.

 

Thanks. They actually make those center punches for machinists. I just use a full point set screw or make my own for how often I need them.
So much nicer than measuring for the hole when your not the best on the tape measure.

I can say I think I have her sorted now. It started as soup up the little nailhead then the Cummins. Then the ls. Last month I bought a low mile 1961 Cadillac 390 motor to go for a nostalgia kind of thing.
Then I gave it a lot of thought. I want to drive the hell out of this car and be able to go in Autozone for parts if I'm hours away from home.
So I committed to the ls and we burned the mounts in.


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Driving my dads 55 today.
He bought it for $300 in 74 with the 56 nose on it.
We threw a paint job on it a few years back. She's a good 20 footer.




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Cleaning the shop today.


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Love this thread. Something here for everybody.

My dad isn't a Buick guy, but he's definitely a Farmall nut, though he leans toward the M. Mom, on the other hand, is from a whole family of Buick lovers. She even had a Buick four-door sedan with a diesel . . . from the factory. Remember the GM diesel V8s back in the 1980s? I drove a LeSabre sedan with a diesel through most of high school. At 305,000 miles it was still running strong, when Mom finally wrecked it. Not much power, but 30MPG in a full size sedan was welcome, living in the Rockies, where it is commonly 100 miles between towns.

For my part, I'm headed the opposite direction, swapping a SBC in place of the factory four-banger 2.2 liter diesel in a London Taxi hot rod. Between my engine and your car we could put together a vehicle that fits the mold around here. I've never been a big fan of building what everyone else is building, though.

As for diesel hot rods, there are certainly lots of them out there, even if they are not traditional. I have a buddy with a machine shop in Wyoming who builds diesels for drag racers. Some of them are red hot. The factory Cummins in my Dodge truck would make a smokin' hot rod in something with a lighter body. That truck is so hot off the line that it once jumped right out from under the load of lumber in the bed when I hit the throttle too hard. Oops. Lesson learned.

 

This looks like fun.I`ll ride along.
Good luck.Have fun.Be safe.
Leo

 

You do nice work. I love cummins, but not exactly HAMB friendly. So mums the word.
And keep at it, lad.

 

Thanks. I actually decided that the novelty of the Cummins would wear off. So I decided to go boosted ls 5.3. I pulled the Cummins back out a year ago. Welded in the ls mounts a couple weeks ago.


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Very interesting thread and a cool build. That vintage Buick is one of the cars on my bucket list.

 

Since you mentioned not hamb friendly. I have a terrible time distinguishing what's hamb legal and what's not.

I started a build thread for my first camaro subframe swap on a 58 Edsel. Where better to get help than the hamb?

Everyone was being so negative and It was locked out within a few hours and the admin told me they don't like that stuff around here.

Google stub jobs and frame clips. The results are hamb articles with tons of advice and help.

I got the car done with help from a hamb article about how camaro sub frames are meant to live under late 50s Chevy trucks.
I would have liked to post all the progress on the job I did but oh well.


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HAMB Friendly means

Builds based on American cars build on cores made before 1965/66, European build small cars build in to
Gassers excepted, as long they are build before cut off year.
And is also to be read as ;NO muscle cars!
Build in a style as before cut off, with a few exception of cars build in 60s style, meaning ERE PERFECT, up to an undefined year, (power quoting NASCAR) as long as it's in the spirit of the game! Or to make it more unclear; we know it when we see it!
You should not use parts newer the cut off year, except engines where the first engine was conceived before cut off date. Like the SBC, born in 1955, so any SBC is legal, as long as it looks good/old.
There is a few more exceptions that ain't that popular but so fare been legal newer transmissions (T5 and lenco's) 500 caddy, 3. Gen Chevy stovebolts, later Hemi, and the 351/400m ford should all be legal too. You can use newer parts m, but not in "center view" and it should be hidden to the
naked eye.

But things like 12v Cummins, front clips, frame swaps and RR things of that sort is banned, they was legal at some point, if people didn't talk about it, only showed How-To and then not bring it up again. But when the Traditional "styled" part/area was closed, it became illegal. But not all traces was removed.

There is the a worldwide web filled with pages dedicated to that, so keep it there and do the more traditional on here. If you do some of the no-no on an otherwise traditional builds, don't talk about the "felonys" you committed and keep making progress on your nice 57 build.


I know this might be as clear as mud, there is some sense in there if you re-read it. I hope!!

 

You actually cleared it up pretty good. I appreciate you taking the time.
I really just wanted to post my build for record keeping and to share ideas. I didn't realize how stringent the rules were. Now it makes sense why no one really says anything.
I have threads on other sites where I get feedback on every post. And I like that because it keeps my spirits up and I get new ideas from people who have been there done that.




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I like your car, and I didn't put it up to make you retract, I put it up so that you can focus on the HAMB stuff, and leave trail of bread crumbs (link) to the place where you do "the other stuff".
I love the Binder and I love that you got a Buick build going. You still do good work, and the sheet metal work got some cred along the way.

I know it's possible to make that O/T Motor look more like a say 454, and still behave like it was build for.
So that will also give you less agony around here.

And that the reason I put the "keep at it, lad" at the end, because no need to leave town for that powerplant!
It can still look traditional with the hood closed and that is where it counts the most, except that it has to please you, first and foremost!

 

It's all good rules are rules. Is there a site where my build could be more welcome all around?
I'm used to posting on binder planet and oil burners where you can kind of just do what you want.


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I bet there is very few sites where you would not be welcomed, but HAMB is very special and different. And it is the reason most of us like it so much.

Maybe the Bang shift forum is good, I found some cool stuff on there by means of Google.

I know both the other sides, and the 6bt swap forum is also good. I have O/T stuff too, but there is so many awesome things on here I love and would not give up.

 

Brought the 57 out of mothballs this weekend. Promptly installed the disc brakes. Drop spindles. Rear leafs and shackles. I have been waiting to do all that since I put it in storage 2 years ago.










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There is something about a black 57. . .

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Amen to that.


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