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Thread: 1955 Buick turned Gasser

  1. #1
    azspyguy Guest

    Post

    First off I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Larry and I recently purchased a 2-door 1955 Buick Special. This car is in very good shape and runs good too. It has a small V8 and came with some extra parts.

    I am planning on converting to a straight axle with leaf springs front and rear. I have access to several engines, including a Chevy 454. I am trying to convert the old Steering wheel to a smaller one, but the original shaft is smaller in diameter and therefore the splines do not mate up. I have searched for adapters with no luck. Also, if you know of any hood hinge upgrades. I plan to keep the body pretty much stock with the possible exception of a hood scoop. The whole idea here is to create a 1955 Buick gasser with a distinct '60's look. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

  2. #2

    Post

    azspyguy
    You're not likely to get much help here on this. Maybe if you were going with a blown 425 Nailhead? Us Buick nuts get crazy when we here of another chev motored anything! LOL. I'd like pictures with the strait axel though.
    Judd

  3. #3

    Post

    Below is an article I wrote about this very subject, mixing "themes". What on earth are you thinking? I am sorry, I have never opened an old HotRod magazine to see a "gasser" with a 454 in it, the darn engine didn't even exist when Gassers were smoking down the quarter miles of America. I certainly would want to see a Buick in it,but if you were to put some "X" brand motor, a big Cad, Hemi, Olds, or "W" Chevy (348-409) would be in order for a "Gasser".

    Thank God, this is a VERY hard swap and you probably will never do it. The car has a torque tube drive which reqires a complete drive line change with rear end and all making up complete rear end mounting. You have to REALLY want to do a swap on one of these cars to pull it off. No weekend project there.

    In my opinion, instead of putting a 454 in it, just douse it with a gallon of gas and burn it to the ground. At least it wouldn't have to suffer a long agonizing death with a chevy in it.

    Sorry, the 454 in a 55 Buick of any kind is not "taste" it is just plain WRONG. By the way, did you know that Buick won more NASCAR races in 55 than Chevy did?

    Taste, or just plain WRONG?

    Okay guys, don’t beat me up for this but I have to say it. Some things are just plain WRONG. Yes, “beauty is in the eye of the beholder” but some things are just plain WRONG. What I am talking about is, when someone does something to a car or truck that “misses the point”. Some times the whole thing is a miss; other times there is a reasonable trend in the work, and then, out of no where is some “after birth”.

    An example would be a traditional 1950 Mercury custom with a billit aluminum steering wheel. The builder was going along just fine…chopped top….frenched head lights……53 Buick side trim….and then, BLAM, out of no where an after birth. The billit wheel just doesn’t belong on the car, PERIOD. It is not “taste”, it is wrong. How about the 1950 Chevy fastback that was at the last show I went to. It was chopped, sectioned, but had the stock grille and bumpers. That was a little strange, but it still worked. It kind of looked like a Chevy designer had did the sectioning and chopping. Yeah, a Chevy designer was just day dreaming and showed us what it would look like if it were left up to him. It looked great…then the after births. The dang thing had 2000 VW Bug head lamps and 2000 Corvette tail lamps! He RUINED the car. All that work in the sectioning and chopping, right down the drain. Now, how would the ’50 Chevy head lamps look on the 2000 Bug, like crap, that’s how. How would Kesey Hayes wires look on that 2000 Z06 Vette, like CRAP, that’s how. There are thousands of “traditional” rods out there with all the classic goodies; fenderless, black paint, tuck and roll, a white firewall, and then, a SBC with TPI and billit valve covers. I have even seen this with hoodless cars! Would one of Boyds cars look right with 20” billit wheels and a six duece set up?

    We have all seen these cars, maybe one is in your garage. If it is I am sorry for being so hard on you.

    You have the right to build a car anyway you want, this is true. But don’t put an after birth on you car and then cry because it didn’t win at the show. If you look at the big winners, the front pages of the rod magazines, they all follow a theme. EVERY NUT AND BOLT on the car, fits into the theme.

    Is this “conforming”, yes, sort of. So what if it is, do you want a stand out car because it is pleasant to look at or because people want to laugh at it?

    I’ll tell you what sets the cars apart, DETAIL, that’s what. If you want your car to be “special”, then make every nut and bolt follow a theme (ONE theme, any theme) and fill the car with detail.

    Don’t make it WRONG, just to be different.
    "Fan of anything that moves human beings"
    1965 Gran Sport Conv.
    1948 Chevy P.U.
    1959 Rambler American, yeah I said Rambler, you want to make something of it punk?

  4. #4
    bluewhale13 Guest

    Post

    If you're truly going to go for the gasser look you'll need to run an engine that is period correct to truly be able to attain the goal you're trying to reach. With all of the nostalgia cars that are being built a gasser will be expected by most to either carry a nailhead, a Olds J-2, a 392 Hemi, or something along that nature. Since it is a Buick I would reccomend a nail head in it. There are plenty of multi carb intakes and there were even blowers that were available for this.
    To build a gasser is a pretty invovled process. I've got 2 I'm building over the course of the winter and both of them will be Buick powered. One is a 30 Model A on a 36 Huppmobile frame and the other is a 64 Wildcat.
    Basically what you'll have to do is be willing to fabricate everything from the firewall forward.

  5. #5
    '54 Special Guest

    Post

    Hi Larry and welcome.

    I'm not going to dismiss or encourage the gasser theme of your '55 (even though you should really go with a nailhead) [img]graemlins/clonk.gif[/img] , but I was just curious if anyone had any ideas on the steering wheel adapter problem that you asked about at the end? I have been trying to find one of these for my '54 for some time with similar lack of results. I'd like to know if anyone makes a steering wheel adapter also, so if anyone out there has any ideas, how about passing along the info to Larry and I? Then we can all go back to explaining to him why chevy motors don't belong in classic buicks.

    Best of luck with your project Larry (unless you use the 454, then I hope you fail miserably ) and keep us posted.

    [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/shield.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/shooter.gif[/img] chevy

  6. #6

    Exclamation

    I just noticed something, the guys name who started this tread, "A Spy guy". That, and the fact he never returned leads me to believe he is a troll posting to start trouble. Thank goodness if this it true it is unlikely he ruined a nice old Buick.

  7. #7

    A spy?

    I know this is an ancient post, but I just joined so I could post a reply and maybe get some help (if I don't make too many people angry) with my pending project(s). I am in the process of acquiring a pair of Buicks , one 55 and one 56 , both two door hard tops . I have done some (limited) research and found out how to tell them apart, but not a whole lot else...yet.
    I will be building both of these cars at (relatively) the same time. The 56 will be done as a mild custom (lowered with wide whites and two tone paint) and used as a regular driver. It has VERY nice trim, bumpers, and glass... too nice to do anything but resto-mod .
    The 55 is another story...It has a tweaked front bumper and some missing/damaged trim...some other body damage issues and is really going to take some work. This one is going to be built as....wait for it...a GASSER!
    I know a bunch of you purists just blew a gasket, but hey, those 'other' tri-5's are WAY too expensive and done to DEATH...these cars have similar lines and need complete rebuilds anyway , so I figured why not? I'm going to rebuild the original engine for the 56 and do a 60's era Nailhead for the 55.
    What I am looking for here is not confrontation nor confirmation , I need some help with , perhaps some odd questions, but stuff I have had a hard time finding answers for elsewhere.
    First, I'm assuming that since these cars were originally billed as mid-line luxury vehicles, there were none offered with a floor shift transmission? That being the case, what other manuals (4 speed) were offered that I can use in the gasser with a BOP bellhousing? Am I going to have to source out an adapter and go with a Chevy trans (Muncie or Saginaw)?
    Next, the original engine (322 I think) obviously will need to be rebuilt, but is it worth it? I mean since this is not going to be a concourse original, should I opt out for another hopped up Nail or what?
    I have a bunch more questions, but I guess I've thrown enough out for now. Any insight anyone could give will be greatly appreciated .

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
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    Mariposa,
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    Smile

    I'll take that old tired 322 off of your hands for you. That way it won't clutter up your shop.
    Airy Cat

    1954 41D
    1955 46R
    1956 63D
    1998 Jeep Wrangler
    2007 Corvette Coupe

  9. #9
    I would put in at least a 401, or a 425. The Muncie M-21 was more than a chev transmission it was a GM transmission. Put one behind it.


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