What to do with this?? 54 Buick 2DHT

Hello and thank you all in advance. I stole this car last year, 54 Special 2dht, 77K mi, parker in '69, RUNS on B-12, Fact PS PB AC. Minimal rust and 2 small dents. all fluids look great, complete - air breather, fact ft seat and gas pedal assy. Still has date in door jamb of oil change in july '57 for gods sake!
What to do?
throw a Nova axle and small block in it? (cringe)
Rebuild 322 and Auto while keeping closed driveline?
I dont wanna cut it up, not a single factory wire has been tamperd with!
I am not worried about poor brakes or ride quality, but SBC is all I sadly know.. This thing is totaly new to me..lol
I know its a great platform, being 12V, auto, larger V8 W lots of options
but I dont know were to start..Got fresh oil/filter, tried running off aux fuel pump, but elect pump flooded it pretty quick, so maybe a Carb rebuild to start the motor to test the trans to see if its worth brakes and replacing every major component...Or chicken out, cut her up andUse a donor cars drivetrain??
I'm thinking flat black (or leave the patina), full skirts, whites, dummy spots, lake pipes steel rims (orig) mexican blanket int.
All comments and threats welcome, I have stalled on this one..

 

that looks like ray utter's old buick. sat behind his house with about 500 other cars. there was a green 53 sitting next to it. they sat there ever since i remember.

 

good looking car. just fix what needs to be fixed and drive the wheels off it.that is what i would do.

 

could we just go with the later nail head, rear end and trans - 65-66?

 

Get it mechanically sound and drive. Do'nt rush it will come to you.

 

I would go for that, But it seems hard to find any "old" drivetrain around anymore (or ima just lookin in the wrong places)

Thanks for the replys!

 

Get in touch with CHUCK III on here..... he will be in Oklahoma soon, he can get cha fired up and going.

 

well..is that ray's old car?

 

I bought it in Mustang from someone who found it in some small town, not sure of much else, sorry! Very good chance, It's a small world..

 

that's the car. i bought those 2 cars many years ago,but got orders for overseas. ray and i are good friends and he let me out of the deal. the green one is still there,sitting next to a sharp 56 caddy coupe deville.

 

Something that original and being a 2DHT should be restored. They don't come around like that too often.
I'd love to give you the old "it's just a rusty old Buick, you should sell it to me" routine but I've got two projects going already.
Whatever you do, congratulations on a great score.

 

Ah Terrys caddy, That is the reason i was even tossing the new drivetrain idea around. He put in a drivetrain out of a 60's 300$ auction bought caddy, and has been smoking the tires off all last summer. Castlebury found the buick for me. Shame it got split from the 53, is it avail?

 

yes..pm me sometimes.

 

most yard keep the Buick Riveras? around...good source for parts...

 

X2
change the oil, rebuild the carb and drive it while restoring it.
Cool project!


EDIT:

NO!!!

 

I'd say get the 322 running if it will run and see what the rest of the mechanical pieces are like. Even now a 322 will run with the big dogs and show most of them the way home on the open highways. If you can work on a Chev you can work on the early Buicks but just remember that the firing order isn't the same. If I were to change engines in that one I'd go to a later nailhead.

 

Can you give me any info on the 54? Ha I know nothing except parked in 69, Thank you

Thanks for the imput 'stude and others, keeping orig is souding like a good idea

 

Skirts are a great idea. Flat black? Sorry, bad idea. You asked. I'd paint it a frosty pearl color with an off white top, or all one color. I'd drop it 2 or 3 inches too. Mexi blanket interior is ok as a start but it needs off white tuck n roll. Rebuild the stock drivetrain if it needs it. Hot Rod Deluxe did a nailhead build and mentioned thins to look for. If it's not smokin and a leak down shows decent seal, run it. Carb, fuel pump, ignition, all pretty doable and basic. Old stuff is great to work on. As time went on I'd look at frenched headlights, 59 Caddy taillights in the stock Buick locations...

 

Yo loser

cool ride You said " throw a Nova axle and Rebuild 322 and Auto while keeping closed driveline?" Its not that simple! if you put in a nova axle you cant keep the closed driveline or torque tube. the torque tube holds the rear that and a panhard bar it can be done but a lot of work and cash will be needed you will need first a trans adapter ($1,200) from the 322 to a new trany ( because of the torque tube) and cut a good size access panel in the floor to get it bolted in and so it will fit. then fab up trany mounts. then you might need crank work i know the bigger 401's and 425's the rear crank hub only fits dyna flows and not any hydromatics. so a motor tear down is needed. then a new driveshift and then your nova rear (it wont work use a mid 60's buick ) then new shock mounts on the car and rear cause nothing will line up. i would do a four bar rear suspension system . if you go to low some rears might be verry close to the gas tank.so watch that

send out the generator a.s.a.p. it will cost a lot more if you burn it up. and will melt lots of wires. oil it up for now. or think about a alternator. for that motor its on top and is a simple task just weld one bracket if i remember. for the 400's its more work

a new wiring harness is a must.

then on to the brakes. due to rims i dont know if you have taken off a rim yet but there is no studs (like every other car in the world ) but a "bolt" that threads into the drum so you need buick rims and buick drums. their is a drum to disk kit out their my buddy did it. i think he had $800 in it. agan a lot of work plus you will need then a new bigger master and new lines. i wouldent do it you can get brake parts and just rebuild the master. its cake

the fuel pump might have a to much p.s.i.

and on the full skirts i dont like them because the trim around the rear wheels looks out of place with skirts on. but thats me.

good luck you got a lot of work to do

see ya
1lowbuick

for photos of my buick
www.myspace.com/1lowbuick

 

Have a look at mine (photos on my profile). Its not finished yet, but it may give you some ideas. Cut it up if it makes you happy, and means you will drive it as much as possible.
good luck.
Kyle Loose

 

I agree. Just drive it a while and you will figure out what needs to be done as far as customizing.

 

You do know there's a federal law against replacing a nailhead with sbc don't you?

 

i'd just leave it and drive it. man what a patina! where did all the paint go!?

 

Retaining the patina is what I´d do. I really don´t think skirts of any kind would work with that style of wheelwell at all. Neither would flat black.
As far as the drivetrain goes, You basically have two options. 1) Either keep all of it stock.
-Obviously the easiest option if everything is still there and can be revived with reasonable ease.
2) Getting rid of the torque tube.
Be aware though, that this way, You need to swap out basically everything from behind the radiator, AND come up with a whole new rear suspension setup, too. I´ve seen an ´80s GM B-body (Caprice) rear cross member grafted on the frame of a ´55 Buick before. The whole drivetrain came out of the said B-body, and of course with the rear cross-member came the axle housing, all 4 ctrl-arms, plus the coil springs. I guess You could still keep Your 322 Nailhead if You only came up with an adapter plate for in between the motor and whatever kind of transmission that You´d be using with Your open driveshaft, though.
Apparently this option #2 would be a lot more involved undertaking, involving actual fabrication, and of course strong enough equipment to weld on frame-rail steel.
This just to make clear that on any of the Buicks made prior to 1961 You can´t just "swap the rear and keep the torque-tube driveshaft".
Anyway, that´s a good-looking project You´ve got.
Best of Luck.

 

The older I get the more I appreciate the design genius of Harley Earl. He was in his prime as Vice President of Design at GM in the 50s. His Buick designs were loaded with character and yours is one of them. When you said you were thinking about a flat black I cringed. In the 50s GM cars were all about the bling. Just look at all that shiny detail (chrome and stainless) on your car. It cries for shiny paint. JMO

Enjoy your ride. It's a real looker.

 

Here is what I did to mine back in the late 90's....

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kustom55/2387169135/in/set-72157604426610316/

 

l'ld make a mild custom out of it. Rebuild the mechanicals, nose and deck it, a decent two tone paint job, lower it a tad, www's with some nice chromies or Olds Fiesta caps, some tuck n' roll and you gotta great cruiser.

 

I don't see where any mentioned it but the little Special has a 264 cu in engine rated at 150 hp (gross) in 1954. The engine is very durable and will run past 300,000 miles. It is easy to swap a 322 from Buicks up to 1956 (255 hp), but you can whip a few more ponies out of the 264 with a 4bbl intake from a 322 and 5* more advance in the timing and rocker arm from later nailheads. Swap the rear gears from a 54 standard transmission Special (3.90). Dual exhaust of course, but don't use mufflers. Nailheads don't have a lot of bark and even 12" glasspaks will be too quiet.
See my website for some of the fix-up details.
Willie

 

Thanks alot, you are very very correct. And thank you everyone else who reply'd.
Im going to leaver her as she sits, do the carb and brakes and drive it while restoring to a mild stock custom, 2 tone no skirts lowered www nose/ deck. It was orig a blood red/ black red int. I will be PMing some of you who offered parts and info soon thanks again

 

I could not agree more with the above. My 264 was extremely reliable and would take the Santa Ana Canyon roads with ease. I had straight pipes on the car and it sounded almost as bitchin is a flathead.