My '56 Buick build *or* How to completely destroy a car

Dont let it sit outside unassembled if at all...besides would your ole lady really care if you put a piece of wood over it and called it an end table?

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Congrats on the job!

You can probably order some parts ahead of time, but others like the pistons (think overbore) if you need them, you gotta wait for the machine shop to tell you what size you need.

The block should come with some protective coating after the machine shop gets done, but still I'd be scare of letting it sit outside.
Is there any way you could store it at a friends place for a while?

Oh, and it was nice meeting you at the breakfast. Can't wait to see your Buick in person, sitting next to my Olds!

 

You might be on to something there. Now that she's in in a good mood from Valentine's day, i'm gonna see if she'd be alright with moving the block into our cramped utility room or the dining room.

That's a good call. I can probably go ahead and nab some gaskets, water pump and the like, plus maybe see if Ballos machine can give me a ballpark idea of money and time involved in cleaning this guy up.

It was good to meet you too, man! Definitely looking forward to cruising with you dudes if i ever finish this thing. haha

 

Congrats on the job Chris. I am really happy that you will be able to make some progress on the Buick. My suggestion would be to save up the money for the total rebuild rather than buy bits and pieces at a time. This way the machine shop is responsible for everything rather than being able to blame a part you pruchased. Make sure to post a pic of the ocmpletee and painted motor.

 

nice build good luck !

 

Chris I don't know if you've chosen a machine shop or not but I've found that alot of machine/engine shops will assembly the short block for almost the amount as just the basic machine work and even stand behind the work. Maybe ask around and find a reputable shop and let them do the machine work and tell you what size they will have to bore to then order the pistons, bearings,etc. asap and let them assemble them. You could buy your cam, lifters, gaskets, etc. in the mean time.

Just a thought. Either way you should proably save for the whole machine/assembly at one time to get it sealed up. I've been wanting to do a build on my old 283 but I'm in the same boat and don't want to start it till I have all the parts. Fortunatly for me its safe n sound in the garage!

 

I don't know if you've addressed your cam yet but I wanted to relay my experience with mine. I had a flattened lobe on my '56 cam and began the hunt for a replacement when I stumbled across http://www.deltacam.com. I sent them my cam and within a week I had it back in my hands with three fixed lobes and a complete regrind for a hair over $100. A standard check/regrind is about $45 and worth it if your taking the effort to go through a nailhead. Also, Russ at Centerville is top notch and super helpful with parts. I hope to get my block back from the machine shop this week!

 

So i went ahead and made an executive decision not to change my master cylinder. After doing some more research, reading a few other forums and emailing some folks that have done the disc brake conversion, i think the stock power brakes will push enough fluid to work the disc brakes fine. Also, i was influenced after emailing scarebird and finding out that i'm on my own for finding a master cylinder that works with power brakes. I might think about finding a rebuilt or refreshed stock master cylinder, but for now i'm going to run some new lines in the front and call it good.

But in bigger news, the engine block, heads, crankshaft and flywheel are all at the machine shop! They're gonna clean the block and heads, put new freeze plugs in, polish the crank, resurface the flywheel, heads and block (if needed), and hopefully i can get away with them just honing the cylinders. They felt a little ridge in there, and said it might have to go .30 over, but even if that's the case i don't think it will be a big deal.

I'm going to hit up Russ Martin and start ordering parts this week, hopefully i can get this engine back together pronto!

I do have a question: looking over the front end stuff i replaced, it seems to have dry rotted and rusted a lot faster than i figured it would. It's been sitting for a few months, sure, but i'm kind surprised it looks like i'll have to replace things all over again? What do you guys think?

upper control arm bushings
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/11677273@N06/8581454224/" title="photo (4) by chris_horrorshow, on Flickr"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/11677273@N06/8581454138/" title="photo (6) by chris_horrorshow, on Flickr"></a>

Lower control arm
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/11677273@N06/8581454178/" title="photo (5) by chris_horrorshow, on Flickr"></a>

Is this normal? Or am i in for more work?

 

The rust is normal if you didn't coat anything. As far as the rubber that seems a little harsh to me?

 

Like your car and this build! Keep up the good work!

 

The rubber on your front suspension looks like it's depleted rather quickly, maybe it had a long shelf life before you saw it. Be prepared to drop a grand at the machine shop to go through the block and basic hard parts along with an over bore. You're doing right by ordering through Russ, he's been a great resource for me!

 

I think you got hosed on your front end rubber... I'd just leave it and keep moving forward for now... at least get a little use out of what you have there before you decide to do the whole thing over again.

 

I went and checked out the block, heads and crank at the machine shop, everything is looking sharp! I'm waiting on a parts delivery from Russ, but in the meantime here's some photos.

Clean block, bored .30 over, resurfaced.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/11677273@N06/8642479571/" title="photo (14) by chris_horrorshow, on Flickr"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/11677273@N06/8643578202/" title="photo (13) by chris_horrorshow, on Flickr"></a>

Heads, also looking snazzy!
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/11677273@N06/8642479979/" title="photo (11) by chris_horrorshow, on Flickr"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/11677273@N06/8642480071/" title="photo (10) by chris_horrorshow, on Flickr"></a>

And the crank, got polished up, no need for grinding.
<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/11677273@N06/8643578310/" title="photo (12) by chris_horrorshow, on Flickr"></a>

 

Killer...Dont cha love nice clean parts!

 

Sweet!
That's when engine rebuilding starts being fun!

 

I am still working on my 1956 buick special station wagon.{which just came out of a 20 year storage}I just sent the brake booster out to be rebuilt.Once i get it back i am going to try and take it out for a short test drive to see if the transmission shifts right.Its leaking pretty good .Iam hoping it just needs a gasket set not a rebuildThen replace the exhaust system and some tires then work on getting the seats redone.Good luck on your project.Bruce.

 

Looking good Chris. Glad to see some progress on it.

 

A great read mate. Can't wait to see some more updates.
Quick question for ya....who did you buy your front end rebuild kit from?
I've seen kanter list them along with some on ebay.
Any real difference between them to anybody's knowledge?

Cheers mate and keep up the good work.

 

Hey guys, everything is moving right along. Machine shop has all the parts and paint they need, i figure any day now i'll be getting a call from them to pick stuff up.

In the meantime, i'm getting ready to pick a few more parts up and had a quesion about connecting rods: Can i reuse the ones i pulled out of the engine? Or should i buy new ones for a rebuild?

Thanks, everybody! Things are gonna start coming together real quickly very soon!

 

Chris, I had the machine shop check my connecting rods, and they were fine.
So they fitted new bushings to the new piston pins and that's it.

Oh, and don't be scared to drop by the machine shop and take some more spy pictures for us

 

Good to hear.. we've been patiently waiting for updates! Anxious to see progress sir.

 

Incremental progress is happening. The machine shop is getting a fairly steady flow of parts from me.

One decision i did have to make, though, is letting the machine shop assemble the engine. I want to assemble my own engine, just to be able to say i did that. But right now, i've got nowhere to do it. I could assemble it in my house, but getting it out would be a whole other issue. And unfortunately, the garage just isn't available to me yet. So i think this will be the way i have to go, sadly.

I dropped off a pile of parts to have them clean and paint. That garbage bag is my oil pan.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/11677273@N06/9013420818/" title="photo (19) by chris_horrorshow, on Flickr"></a>


The block and heads are painted, and the new pistons are on the connecting rods and ready to go. I'm gonna offend a lot of people with my choice, but i had them paint the block red. Never was a fan of the Nailhead green.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/11677273@N06/9012235543/" title="photo (20) by chris_horrorshow, on Flickr"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/11677273@N06/9013420934/" title="photo (18) by chris_horrorshow, on Flickr"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/11677273@N06/9012235869/" title="photo (17) by chris_horrorshow, on Flickr"></a>

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/11677273@N06/9012235949/" title="photo (16) by chris_horrorshow, on Flickr"></a>

Now i'm just waiting on a check, so i can order a final round of parts from Russ. I've got a line on a shop locally that can refresh the dynaflow, so hopefully i can get everything put back in by the end of the summer! Hoping to make the Karb Kings show in Fredricksburg this October!

 

Very nice. Way to keep at it. Some times it can be hard to stay motivated when you have to lay off working on it.

 

Great job Chris. I was always a fan of the green but the red looks good as well.

 

Go man, go!

Love seeing a new guy progress and do good work.

That spring install was sketchy as hell, but you knew that already.

I too also think you got hosed on your rubber parts. They should not degrade like that so quickly.

You didn't accidentally douse them with brake cleaner or something similarly harsh while you were working on other stuff, did you?

It really looks like dry rot, but that should take years and years to happen like that, not months.

 

I just bumped into your thread..im alot like you building my car..learn as you go..good to see alot of what your doing..mirrors what ive seen..plus your car and my 56 olds have nearly the same suspension..fun to see..ps the coil springs take out was like handling a live grenade..i was sweating all the time...i like my fingers....face..legs........

 

The method of pushing up the lower arm is even in the original shop manual for '56 Olds... Even with the engine installed I did not had enough weight - so I added my sister and my girlfriend standing on the frame... Scary shit that was!
Keep up the good work.

 

Man! What a thread! Just picked up a 56 Buick 4 door hardtop that needs a ton of work and your my inspiration! Keep up the great work Chris!

 

Where are we on this build? Im about to get started on a buick special

 

Any updates, Chris!
You're probably driving this thing around by now