rear axel swap

i looked in the search engine but was unable to find what im looking for. on the 50 buick i have it has the rear torque tube axel setup. the question is what is a good axel to use with little modifications as this is going to have a 455 buick and TH400 later down the road. i would also like to bag it so keeping the coil spring setup in a must.

 

Look under the 60's Chev pu's and see if you can make something like that work.
The Wizzard

 

there is no really easy swap for this car because when you remove the torque tube you remove the major component that locates the rear end. The stock radius rods that are left after the torque tube is re moved are way to weak to work on their own. Some sort of fabricated ladder bar is needed to hold the rear end in position. It will need to be a triangulated type to fit up into the X member like the stock radius rods. A panhard bar will also be needed to control lateral movement of the rear end. I am in the early stages of doing this to a '53 Buick. Hope this helps.

 

keep me updated on your progress and if you can maybe some pictures?

 

I've also studied this for my '54 Buick. I don't have the skill, time and all the rest to do it for a good year or two, but when I do it, I'm planning on using the rear arms from the late-60s/early '70s Chevy trucks as mentioned. You can keep the coil springs on the housing, add shock mounts (or keep the lever actions after a rebuild), and if it's like my '54, there is already a pan-hard bar there, at least for a template.
Haven't broken out a tape measure or anything yet, but I'm planning on retaining the cross member from the truck that is the pick-up point for the front of the trailing arms.
-Brad

 

I've also heard in a couple places that you could use an Olds rear end for this... anybody have any feedback on that?

 

I removed the torque tube from my '55 Special (same setup as your '50) and am running the stock axle (3.36 gears) & Panhard bar with an open drive shaft, 4-speed & 401" engine. The rear axle's kept in place with ladder bars and Speedway polyurethane rod ends for the lower ladder bar brackets, to reduce stress on the brakets / axle housing. I put about 4500 miles on it this summer and another 3-4k the year before and haven't had any problems. Even took it down the drag strip several times this summer.