1954/1956 Head Swap?

[TheCJ]

Hi everyone, sorry for filling up the forum with my constant questions...
I'm doing the 1954/1956 engine swap and don't know too much about nailhead adaptation. I'll try to list my questions in an orderly fashion from now on. I'd like to say THANK YOU to everyone who has been generous enough to donate their knowledge to my project, it's going quite well. I just ordered the replacement pistons w. moly rings to replace the worn ones in this new block. Everything looks great and I can't wait to get it all back together!

1. My first and most important question is if it is possible to interchange the 264/322 head from my stock 54 4 series Special to this 56 6 series Century engine? I just had the 264" heads re-built and would have to waste the $600+ I spent on them if I can't do this...

2. Do I need to worry about the pilot bearing when I put the 56 233" block onto the 1954 SM 4 series tranny?

3. Do I need to use a harmonic balancer on the 56 block or can I get away with the standard pulley that's on the 54 4 series block?

That's about it for now, I've obtained much of my other information by studying the forums but could not find this information. Thanks in advance to any contributions!

Chris


54 Buick Special 41D
64 Fiat 1500 cabrio
83 Bertone X1/9
84 Jag S3 XJ6

[jrlemke]

The heads should be o.k., the pilot bearing is o.k. if the 56 was a stick, the A/T has a larger hole in the crank. You can make a sleeve with the od. to fit the crank and the id. to fit the ball bearing that is used in the 54. You could also make a bronze bushing like most other makes use. Buick made a sleeve at one time for this, but they are long gone now. I made a sleeve to put a 55 Century to a stick and it worked just fine. I think you need the balancer that goes with the motor you are going to use. I used the balancer from my 55 Cent on a 56 Spec., both 322's and I have a little vibration. Don't know if it's the balancer yet, it's too cold to play with it now. Good Luck-Jim

[TheCJ]

Thank you Jim for your input, now I feel a bit more confident to take that leap of faith with the head swap. The 2 head sets appear to be about identical, just one set is all used up and my fully re-built 264" heads only have maybe 1 or 2 miles on them, I had to put them back on the busted engine so I could move the car a bit. As far as the transmission goes, it looks like I'll definitely need that bushing or adapter. Hopefully it won't take too long to make since I need to pluck the engine and tranny from the car. Could you tell me a bit about how you made yours?

I just got my new pistons with moly rings in today and found that the high compression 322" pistons are not available from any of my vintage car parts sources. It's ok for now since I only have the stock 4-series SM tranny in there, less power is easier on it but I'd like to up back to 9.5:1 in the future.

Does anyone know if the 6-series 322" pistons with 9.5:1 comp ratio can be found new anywhere? I'm planning on re-boring the engine later to an oversize, lightened rods and better valves but will I need custom pistons?

Also I was wondering if it is possible to bore out a 264" to a 322" or better? I've got my rather worthless (damaged) but stock 264" that's going to be sitting around and maybe if I can do something with it I can sell off this 322" and drop it back in.

Again, any input from anyone is appreciated, thanks for reading!


Chris

54 Buick Special 41D (soon to have a 56 block)
64 Fiat 1500 cabrio
83 Bertone X1/9
84 Jag S3 XJ6

[jrlemke]

I just made a sleeve. Mic the I.D. of the crank hole and the O.D. of the bearing. Or you can mic the I.D. of the old motor. On a lathe turn the O.D. of the bushing for a press fit in the crank and the I.D. to the size of the crank hole in the old motor and cut off to the length of the bore in the new motor so it will fit flush with the end. You can loctite it into the crank if you want to, I didn't and had no problem. DON'T FORGET TO GREASE THE BEARING BEFORE YOU INSTALL IT! I got a very good stickshift motor because somebody forgot and they wound up junking the car. I have a Century stick trans. I may be willing to part with.

[rcull]

Here's a fellow selling new OE type pistons on ebay...
CLICK HERE

Here's a complete kit...
CLICK HERE

[TheCJ]

Thank Jim and rcull for your input!

I don't have a lathe but I do have a drill press, mic and other misc tools that may be able to compensate, I'll dig into it in a few weeks or once I get my pistons re-done. I was thinking as last resort solution may be to fill the hole with a tough epoxy and set the bearing in it. Sounds pretty ghetto style but it'll all depend on if I can fabricate a sleeve in 2 or 3 days while the engine and transmission is out.
I may be interested in the transmission if you're parting with it. I'm definitely paranoid about blowing up my weak 40-series gearbox. I'm not quite sure how to contact you with email since I know spam bots like to scan sites like these for victims.


rcull, I checked the auctions on ebay, thanks for your time in finding them. I'm actually aware of the new pistons that are out there for cheap, this seller has fitting pistons but they're made in Taiwan (now China), I forgot the company name but the compression ratio is the 8.9:1 instead of the 9.5:1. Kanter and 2 other companies that I've checked also carry these low compression pistons and just say "it'll work in your car" or something rather...
I bought a set of these pistons with pins and the Chinese don't seem to realize that the 56 Buicks have press-in pins and not the screw mount pins like the 54s. The ones I got had notches for the screws to locate the pistons but I'm hesitant to use these in a press application. I'm currently following a couple of leads and waiting for replies but I might just have to settle for the 8.9:1 set for now if I need to have the 9.5s custom machined.


Chris


54 Buick Special 41D
64 Fiat 1500 cabrio
83 Bertone X1/9
84 Jag S3 XJ6

[TheCJ]

I was just pondering the idea of swapping the 264" crankshaft with a 322" crankshaft. My 1954 Buick shop manual shows that the 264" and 322" both have the same stroke and con rod bearings. The manual claims the cranks are identical and the only differences from the 264" to the 322" is anything related to the bore.
I don't have a 56 shop manual to check the stroke on the 56 nor a Hollander exchange manual for this year range.

Has anyone ever tried this or has any idea of the feasability of this swap? If it's possible then I can just swap the entire clutch and crank pulley from the 54 to the 56 block with no hassle, the crank in my 54 is still good and I figure it would be cleaner to swap cranks than jerry-rigging the pilot bearing.

Chris


54 Buick Special 41D
64 Fiat 1500 cabriolet
83 Bertone X1/9
84 Jag S3 XJ6