Seized 264, looking for options

My 55 special (264/dynaflow) has a burned up and seized motor.

I’m not sure if the trans is shredded as well, it will roll forward and backwards in P.

From the looks of the block and heads, Mrs. Delois (previous owner) never put oil in and burned it up.


I'm hoping to buy a 322 off a local dude to swap it out, but I can’t find anyone who can work on dynaflows or source parts for Nailheads.

I bought the complete car for $1500 w/title, and just want to cruise in it, not make it show winning, so it is definitely a budget build for lots of reasons. Is it financially smart to track down a nailhead and dynaflow, or switch to a SBC. I want to keep it Buick, but I don’t have endless cash. Not sure what else would need to be changed down the line if I swap to a SBC and if that is in the end cheaper.


Is there anyone out there in the Buick world that might be willing to talk on the phone every now and then to guide me through this motor situation? I’m in upstate SC, near Charlotte, NC, so I’m EST. My only car knowledge is about my 69 Morris Mini, which is quite different, so I have lots of questions.


Thanks a lot for your time, hopefully someone out there can talk me through my options!!


—Matt

https://egge.com/product/kits/page/2/

keep an eye out for Tom. he's in the NE and has parts and knowledge.

https://www.teambuick.com/forums/member.php?6691-telriv

Have you tried soaking the cylinder's with a penetrant just to see what happens? It's kind of like taking a half court shot just before the buzzer... probably won't work but its worth trying. Also remember if the car's been sitting a long time 50s oil didn't really have any kind of a detergent in it that's why it was changed so often, a lot of these motors even with decent maintenance got very sludgy. I did a 55 Ford for someone about 10 years ago that was owned by a little old lady and it had one of those stickers on the door showing the oil changes were done religiously some at less time than they were supposed to be and the motor had so much sludge in it I actually ended up rebuilding it when I was trying to get it running, because I was afraid something would come loose and plug uo the oil pump pickup and Id catch the blame. The customer was fine with rebuilding his Y block so we did it.

As far as trying to swap another motor in really it should be a 322 or 264 once you get rid of the dynaflow you're putting thousands of dollars in to reconfigure your whole drivetrain it's not quick and easy at all. A drivetrain swap requires a new rear, custom upper and lower control arms, and a custom driveshaft. You could probably buy a 322 and get it rebuilt for less. My 264 is pretty much gutless so I've been looking into trying to go with a bigger nailhead like a 364 or 401 on my 55. It doesn't seem like a terrible swap but I haven't got enough conclusive answers for me to throw down a couple Grand on a nice engine.