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Thread: restoring my 1956 Buick century

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    restoring my 1956 Buick century

    hello, i am restoring my first car which is a 1956 Buick century that i bought when i was 15, i am now 21. i was wondering if anyone out there new of anyone that makes or can make a rear pass. quarter. i need it from inside the door to the middle of the quarter. also any other great buick cites for info and parts.

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    restoring my 1956 Buick century

    Quote Originally Posted by MyfirstBuick View Post
    hello, i am restoring my first car which is a 1956 Buick century that i bought when i was 15, i am now 21. i was wondering if anyone out there new of anyone that makes or can make a rear pass. quarter. i need it from inside the door to the middle of the quarter. also any other great buick cites for info and parts.

    Welcome to the site, I'm also an owner of a 56 Buick century and in my 20's! I have a lot of experience working on these cars. No company makes quarter panels new for these cars unfortunately. A parts car is usually the best bet. Mine was only rusty on a fairly flat section of the quarter so I was able to make it out of plain flat sheet metal. Do you have pictures of your car you can post?

    I see you also posted about changing your transmission to a 6 speed corvette. modern corvette transmissions are mounted in the rear of the car so that would not be compatible even with an adapter plate.

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    IMG_1710.jpgThis is the area I need for the body it's all much and no metal. Can you explain more on how the trans won't workIMG_1710.jpg

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    Attached Images Attached Images

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    IMG_1767.jpgThis is what my car looks like now

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    restoring my 1956 Buick century

    Why do you want to replace the quarter panels? Im not seeing anything in the pictures all that bad.
    Also, do you plan on keeping the original motor? I know half of the people on this site would disapprove, but I swapped to a 2002 LS1 engine with great results.

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    restoring my 1956 Buick century

    And on the transmission, which one specifically are you referring to? A t56 out of a 96 or older? a 6L80?

    modern corvette transmissions sit at the rear of the car, between the rear tires. Here is a picture of a T56 out of a early 2000's car. see how the output shafts come out the sides, and it doesn't have a rear output shaft where a driveline would attach.




    If you want manual, a T56 will be the way to go, but out of a camaro or similar car. For automatic, 4l60e or 6l80e. But be prepared to pay either way. you're looking at 3 to 6 thousand in parts (at used prices). PLUS switching out the rear differential.

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    so this is my plan, and by the way i saw your build and i loved it. so I'm keeping the original 322 nailhead motor and wanting to do a manual 6 speed transmission. i thought i could do a corvette but idk now. then I'm doing a corvette irs (independent rear suspension) rear end. the rear quarter looks good but its all mud and i want to put metal back in it. the car was painted i believe 8 years ago. but i don't know history because the guy i go0t it from, bought it from goodwill. who ever did it, just did a half *** job and it has some over spray and quick mud work which is horrible. how horrible, where theres mud, its cracked. so yea. also i want to do air ride on the front for better stances. then custom paint and retro custom interior.

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    restoring my 1956 Buick century

    Quote Originally Posted by MyfirstBuick View Post
    so this is my plan, and by the way i saw your build and i loved it. so I'm keeping the original 322 nailhead motor and wanting to do a manual 6 speed transmission. i thought i could do a corvette but idk now. then I'm doing a corvette irs (independent rear suspension) rear end. the rear quarter looks good but its all mud and i want to put metal back in it. the car was painted i believe 8 years ago. but i don't know history because the guy i go0t it from, bought it from goodwill. who ever did it, just did a half *** job and it has some over spray and quick mud work which is horrible. how horrible, where theres mud, its cracked. so yea. also i want to do air ride on the front for better stances. then custom paint and retro custom interior.

    Thanks! so I would really recommend agains the corvette irs. it was something I looked into and there are several obstacles. To begin with, the spring rates are way off. It's meant for a much lighter car and it uses leaf springs, not coils so increasing the spring rate is not practical. The Brakes are also meant for a lighter car. The track width is different. Mounting it beneath the frame will require a lot of fabricating. Just because its from a corvette doesn't mean it will handle well in a 4,500 pound buick.

    Next, I looked at Jaguar independent rear. It solves all of those problems and uses an american Dana 44 differential. I can even use my factory hubcaps. Spring rate and brakes are perfect for these cars. Mounting it under the frame is surprisingly easy. The V12 cars did 140 + MPH factory so its a very stable and capable differential.

    Unless your quarter panel is rusted, it can be pulled out with a dent puller and you won't need much body filler anyways. As someone who's replaced pieces of quarter panels, its not worth it unless there isn't any solid metal to work with.

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    Okay thanks for the info. I new it was going to take some fabrication and that some things will need change like brakes. But I forgot about the weight. I'll look into the jag rear end

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