1955 Buick to chevy frame swap....possible?

Ok, I admit I didn't do much research before asking.

Has anyone ever swapped the frame on a mid 50's buick with the frame from a similar year Chevy?

I was given a rolling chassis from a '55 chevy 4-door complete with running engine and transmission that I would like to put under my '55 Buick 4-door since my nailhead engine is unk, transmission is trash and the torque tube setup is just a pain to try and modify though I have seen some very nice conversions.
Before I make the 6hr round trip to grab this thing I would like know kown if it is even a possible swap or if I would just be wasting my time. I don't have any measurments for body mounts and the guy with the chassis is a catalog/credit card builder with no idea what to messure for me.

 

Is the Buick a Special or Century or Super or Roadmaster ? The Specials have a lot shorter wheelbase than the Roadmasters. The specials had a 122 inch wheelbase while the Roadmasters/Supers had a 127 inch wheelbase.

The 55 Chevs had a 115 inch wheelbase with a 54.4 inch tread width so with a Special or Century body the wheelbase is seven inches short and with a Super or Roadmaster body the wheelbase is twelve inches short. It it would be a mess before you got done.

If it were mine I'd put a truckbar style rear suspension under it with an open drive rear end and forget the frame swap.

 

It is a century and the chevy chassis is from a Belair 4-dr. It does sound like more work then it worth, but as a second shot how about adapting the rear brackets and springs from the chevy chassis to the buick frame to get rid of the torque tube and coils.

 

See, there's a good reason why most guys retain the nail valve in their Bufords.

 

It would be a lot easier to swap the Chevy drivetrain into the Buick.

 

forget that swap,not the right candidate.

 

Waste of time. Don't do it.

If you insist on doing a chassis swap use something like a Caprice or Buick from the nineties.

You will still be sorry you ever tried it but at least you won't be swapping in 50 year old junk.

(It would be easier to work with the Buick chassis you have now. If you think it would be too hard for you, you are probably right. But a complete chassis swap is harder).

 

If it was Pontiac, You'd be in business.

 

No problem, its a car thats way on the back burner. I had the parts offered to me so I thought I would check and see if they would work together, since they don't the car goes back to the end of the line to wait for the truck arm swap I had planned from the begining.

 

I've heard that a 1961 or 62 Buick rear axle center section bolts into your housing, and has an open drive shaft. Then all you need is some trailing arms. 67 - 72 Chev pickups have suitable arms. If you can't find any they are not too hard to make. You just need something to connect the rear axle housing to the crossmember where the torque tube used to go.

 

Buick center sections changed between '55 and '56. The early '60s center center section likely would work on a '56........not so likely on your '55. And, even if it did, you are still left with the need to find one, then to adapt the truck arms, or some other axle control system, as the stock Buick parts are woefully inadequate for that purpose absent the torque tube.

For the same effort, or less, you can use an axle assembly from several potential donor vehicles using the 5 x 5" bolt circle. Some Ford Mercury and Edsels had 9" with that pattern, as do Chevy/GMC pickups beginning in '70 or '71, '90s era GM big cars and so on.

Ray