has any one done this using the orignal transmission. did the fire wall needed to be cut i am told that with the new type mini starter it clears the steering box. any other pit falls to look out for thank you
Nailhead Buicks make a lot of torque. They will tear up an old Ford transmission designed for 85 horse. I would put a Muncie 4 speed behind it, and a 9" Ford rear end. Find an early Bronco rear end, and mount it on parallel rear leaf springs. All this will make the car dependable, and you can light the tires up if you feel inclined....
It would be wise, on this site, to be as specific as you can about the particulars of your situation. More information is better. There are people on here who know almost everything there is to know about traditional Hot Rods. Others are staying up nights to figure out the rest. They can be quite generous, if you are specific. Use year, make, model, number of cylinders, for implant. Is it a coupe, two door, four door? What kind of steering box are you going to use? Rear end? We are all on here to learn. According to the Tool Guy, knowledge is a power tool. Use complete sentences. Some of these guys finished grammar school. They like things easy to read, and are good at doing the impossible, and can walk you through how it's done. If you want to be part of what's going on here, read about others who are working on projects, discussing how they do things that have never been done. Hang out and learn. Good luck on your project.
fortynut offered good advice......don't be too proud to heed it. '54 model Buick used the 264 cu in in Special and 322 cu in in Century, Super and Roadmaster. In stock form they differ in torque and hp. Outside dimensions are the same and weights very close. Ray
This swap was done many times in the 'old-days' and the reason that TranDapt, and others, made adapters specifically to mate the Buick to the Ford. In stock trim, the engine will not be the problem in breaking the trans and rear axle. Your foot will be responsible. Will it fit easily? You'll find out when you get started. And yes, fortynut offers good advice. .
One of my buddies had a 322 Nailhead in his '34 coupe......had a '39 Ford trans and '34 rear axle. It was so light that he never broke it with all the street racing.....the rear tires simply let loose and relieved the torque from the trans and rear. I am pretty sure the trans adapter moved the starter to the passenger side.
I'm in this same boat except I don't even have the ford 3 spd. If you have the money as others have suggested there are several companies offering complete adaptor kits bolt it up and away you go...try Bendtsens
He's lurking right now... RICHARD CROW WAS LAST SEEN: Viewing thread 1949, 1950, 1951 Mercury Pictures, Today at 7:40 PM
Not all two doors are coupes; the "coach" or two door sedan both have two doors but have a back seat.
Nothing like a good tongue lashing I didn’t see anything wrong with what fortynut said ,far too many times you get a quick “my engines dead” and then they want the perfect answer. As far as I can see the Buick should be ok if the usual things are done ( like 9” axles in the rear - not a full 9”maybe a quick change?) I’m no expert but seems it’s been done many times before .
Maybe he wont mind if I use his thread to pose buick related questions?...Hnstray if I use '54 buick rims for my car do I have to use tubes? and is it possible to mate a '54 5 bolt trans to a Model A torque tube?
I guess you could adapt anything but doubt that 54 Buick 264 three speed one armed bandit transmission would easily adapt to a Model A torque tube.
‘re the wheels/tires question. Assuming the rim surfaces are not seriously pitted, I see no reason why you couldn’t use tubeless tires on ‘54 Buick wheels. The rims are riveted to the center section, but so are most wheels until when.?....the late ‘60s or so when welding them became popular? Tubeless tires were common in that era and I have mounted tubeless tires on several of my own ‘50s era Buick wheels with not one problem surfacing. As for the transmission adaption to a Ford torque tube...... I have seen other trannies adapted (in several magazine articles and H.A.M.B. threads) such as Cad/LaSalle, and some older Buick Century/ Roadmaster. In those instances, the Ford U-joint assembly and the housing /ball connecter are adapted by converting the back of the desired trans case and machining the output shaft to accept the Ford pieces. It means drilling/tapping the trans case for the 6 holes that hold the Ford U-joint housing in place and possibly filling some unused case holes from the old rear housing. The trans output shaft usually needs to be shortened and resplined for the Ford U-joint. You can probably find such articles here or on the internet by searching. I know of no such adaption that would allow use of the Buick ‘torque ball’ for pairing the trans to a Ford torque tube. Maybe, just maybe, it could be done by converting the Ford torque tube by using the forward sections of the Buick TT and driveshaft to make it compatible with the Buick trans........worth looking at for evaluation of it’s potential, but do not have any expectations about it being (readily) doable. Ray
I was around during the change to tubeless and as I understand it you should have JJ rims to run tubeless. This is because the tube wont deflate if the tyre is forced from the rim edge but the tubeless will without the safety bead. There was a tyre company movie that showed violent cornering with and without the safety bead (the J in JJ ) no bead tyre off the rim. You can run tubeless on early rims , but I wouldn’t
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