I have been at a standstill for a long time on the ol' 57 Buick. Money, time, and skills, or lack thereof are some good enough excuses. I have got a question or two concerning the old motor. We checked compression and one or two of the cylinders are low, not terribly bad but still a bit concerning. When trying to crank it and run it for a bit it does indeed run, but sputters, and it blew some freeze plugs. I have many other things that need to be addressed, mostly carb related, and some wiring, before I can be up to speed to really running it long enough to see how it sounds and performs. My question is, after learning how hard these 364's are to rebuild, coupled with the complicated carb and starting system, as well as the enclosed drive shaft, would it be better for me to just find another engine, trans and whole drivetrain ? I would rather just keep what I have and make it work, but if I am better off money and time wise, maybe there is a better option. Just looking for a little advice from the guys who have been there and done it. Thanks
I suggest you keep working with what you have... next to no new money. Fix the little stuff to make it run reliably so you can have a better perspective of just what you have now. What time and little money you spend to fix the little stuff and get it running so you can get a better evaluation will come back to you... if it seems pretty good, keep it and use it. If it needs serious work, determine the cost and then reevaluate your options. Also, knowing what you have will be useful should you decide to sell it because the engine and transmission will not be such a big unknown; and therefore more valuable. If you go to a later 401, for example, they aren't cheap and going to an open driveshaft will get expensive in a hurry!! I just paid $465 for a new driveshaft for my 401, switch pitch turbo 400, with 9" Ford rear in my 29 roadster pickup. A new rear suspension won't be cheap either. Being able to offer for sale a running and driving engine and transmission combo helps a lot with a potential sale and you could let them drive it before you pull it out if you go that way. Don't get in a rush to make expensive decisions on a project that you say has been waiting for some time... a relatively short time more could pay big dividends. Good luck, Al
Short answer is yes. Donor SBC/BBC vehicle, preferably with a close rear end width. Whip up some mounts, and Bobs your uncle.
While the nail head is not cheap to build you also need to take into account “ everything else” that will need to be upgraded. rear end, trailing arms, Jag irs ,something custom trans swap cross member etc engine , mounts , rad , wiring etc etc Ifs upgrade Brake upgrades Wheel upgrades The lists can go on and on. I had a 55 special , fun car . The Dyna flow was leaking. I pondered a drivetrain swap , decided to sell the car and buy something else . the 50’s era Buick’s drive incredible in stock form. And nail heads are cool Find out what a rebuild with some speed goodies are going to cost you, then figure out what a complete drive train swap will cost plus time to do all the work where an engine re and re and tranny reseal is not a huge job ( it’s big on a Buick) but not impossible.
The enclosed driveshaft makes going with a different power train much more of a challenge. The engine isn't difficult to rebuild, it's just different. And more expensive. I'm guessing you have a dynaflow, which is not exactly hot rod material. A standard (rare) trans would make it easier for me to leave the nailhead in it. The carb/starter deal is easy enough to bypass. Missysdad (close to his user name, look him up) did a fantastic thread on putting a Chevelle (I think) rearend under a 55/56. It was a lot of work. I think the question I would ask if it was mine, would be "Do I want the Buick drivetrain, cool engine and suckish trans, or do I want to "Chevitize" it, and put in an entire new drivetrain." Either way, there's time and money involved. Which do you have the most of? Good luck.
Thanks for all the input y’all. I am weighing all the advice and will factor y’all’s thoughts in to be sure. My car is the 3-on-the-tree rare one. I have wanted all along to just upgrade the ol nailhead and get er running and driving as she is. I love the mid 50’s Buicks and am not giving up on this one, at least just yet Here is a picture as she sits today...
Refresh the Buick engine and try it out. If you like it, put shocks on it and maybe upgrade the brakes a little.
How many miles are on the clock? How is your oil pressure? Does it blow blue smoke? Does it knock ?Have you done a compression test? If it was mine, and had no more than say, 75,000 miles and seemed to have been maintained at all decently (look for oil change stickers in the driver's door jamb) I would try to fix it up. It is extremely unlikely you will find a good nailhead engine for a decent price, considering they have not been made for 55 years. The unique transmission and torque tube drive means you have to replace everything - engine, trans, driveshaft, and rear axle. You also have to make up some way to mount a rear axle to the stock coil springs, and some traction bars or something to take the place of the driveshaft in locating the rear axle. So, not an easy or cheap job. I considered doing something like this on a friend's 58 Buick. We thought of using a Chev 350/350 and a Chev pickup truck rear axle with the wide bolt pattern which I believe matches the Buick's. Chev pickups used a similar coil spring suspension up to the early seventies. Not easy to find anymore but it would be possible to make something up.
From your description it sounds like a valve job, major tuneup and some core plugs are all you need. It would pay to do a little more diagnosing to be sure. A complete drivetrain swap would be a last resort.
Go with the advice above. Take your time and tackle one thing at a time. As stated, not hard to rebuild, but the nailheads have some oddities. Russ Martin at Centerville Auto Repair is the to go to source for nailhead info and parts. If it hasn’t been running for some time, I would get carb rebuilt and see if will smooth out. May just be gummed up. Dump some Marvel Mystery Oil down the cylinders and let it soak. Changing to a open drive shaft will require some welding skills and somewhat costly. The manual transmission in your car is not one that will take a lot of abuse. It was only offered in the 250 HP Special. It was deemed not to be strong enough to go behind the 300 HP engines of the Century, Super and Roadmaster. Also this transmission was only used in 57/58 Specials and 59/60 LeSabres. Very low production as it was usually in the very lowest priced car. Grandpa wanted a Buick but not one of them new fangled Dynaflow things! The white car in my avatar is a Special with stock 250 HP 364 and has the synchromesh manual transmission. Fun car to drive. A sleeper at stop signs!! But being a Buick guy, PLEASE leave it Buick powered! 401 or 425 will pep it right up but that will necessitate a transmission change of some sort.
I am not sure of original mileage. The po couldn’t tell me much. I have decent compression on all but 2 cylinders. I am leaning towards getting my carb cleaned and new freeze plugs and firing it again. We will get some progress made and check back in. Thanks for all the advice guys ! P.s. I sure like your 57, that’s a cool Special right there !
The stick is really a game-changer in my eyes. All that stuff is rare, and I think really adds a lot of cool to an already cool car. Twenty years ago, give or take, there was an orange and white 57 Buick 2 door in the car mags. It still burns in my brain. Best of luck with it. I loved my 55. 57 is the best looking of the bunch, imo.
364's are the best Nailhead, still has a faster reving short stroke, I've had several and they're great. soak the cylinders with atf and acitone to break the rings loose and run it.
The Jalopy Journal
