Hey guys, I finally got a 50’s project. Scored this 51 Buick special for 700 dollars pretty complete but needs some quarter panel work. Plans are to do a 60’s style custom. Chop the top Merc style shave the side moldings and door handles install a floating grille and lower it... What you guys think? Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
@Anthonycasare I think @X38 offers a good suggestion to consider. And before you shave the side moldings, check out how many lead sleds used Buick sweep spear body trim. You already have what many others have long coveted. In my opinion, those early ‘50s Buick Specials have nice lines and proportions. You probably already know this, but fully installing the quarter panel replacement section would be wise before beginning any other serious body mods. zbest wishes with your project. Ray
Very Kool ! I really like them Buicks, wife had a Cl***ic 51 Roadmaster that we really liked. (pic in my albums) I gave thought to making it into a restomod style, but age, time have caught up to me and it didn't happen. Good Luck, it will be Kool, all Kustom Buicks are Kool. Enjoy !
If you chop it, carefully plan on what you are going to do with that back window. Sent from my SM-T350 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Most likely use a different back window, not sure I’ll be able to achieve the chop I want with the factory back window. I’d like at least a 5/6” chop like you see on a 49-51 Merc Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Hello, Here is a good example of what was done during those 50s’s days of daily drivers and cool custom cars. A lot of people have the notion that all custom cars were Mercury Sedans that were radically chopped and lowered to the ground. There may have been some built that way, but to our early history and memories, the cars were mostly mild to moderate daily drivers that had no chop and looked just as cool in their modified state. Today, they are called mild customs. Most people were able to add on certain items to make the big sedans take on the look of being a custom car. They had jobs and were daily drivers, so the time taken out of the car requirement for access to the daily school or job would have to have been put on hold for any major chops or body modifications. They all had a primary use of being the main transportation for most teens or families. Add on, semi-custom accessories were easily obtained and installed. That made the custom car look for any sedan or coupe. These were readily available for low cost to just about anyone and any pocketbook back then. They were the accessories that full on custom car fanatics had on their cars at the local car shows, so the daily driver could still emulate those cool full customs they saw. Plus, the chop would be different, but not too many people would be satisfied with a daily driver with less vision outward, these days of heavy traffic and congestion in most cities across the USA. The sightlines of a chopped coupe or sedan are obviously limited and while it looks cool, there comes a certain point of being over the limited vision or sightlines for safety sakes. I took these photos of a chopped sedan at the Price Transfer Automobilia Museum. I was doing a show case of comparing a stock view sightline in a sedan versus one that was chopped. I did not sit inside, but my camera caught the confining feel of being inside of a chopped sedan, let alone using it daily for work or play. Look at the small view to the front and then surprise, the puny, rear window was worse than those in my old 1940 Ford Sedan Delivery. The Ford Sedan Delivery window was virtually useless unless a big 4x4 truck was following me and showed up in the mirror. The outside mirrors were the main source of rear sightlines. Jnaki If you are still set on chopping the top, go sit inside of several different chopped coupes, sedans and trucks to get the feeling of being squashed while driving. It might look cool, but that is one thing out of many negative things about chopping tops. But, remember, not all chopped sedans you see or will see were the main kinds of sedans that most people, teenagers, 20 somethings drove on a daily basis.
Sam Barris built a full custom 1950 Buick when it was a late model car. I believe he bought it as an insurance writeoff when it was less than a year old and rebuilt it as you see here. For more views do a search for Sam Barris 1950 Buick. This is the California early fifties style.
Best idea would be to replace the rear quarter and get it on the road. Take care of brakes, tires, suspension, engine etc. give it a primer paint job and mild lowering and drive it. Do whatever is necessary to make it run and drive as perfectly as you can. In the meantime you can start doing some custom work to tail lights, nose and deck, headlights, grille etc. changing one thing at a time and leave the top for last. Don't overmatch yourself by tearing everything up and trying to do everything at once, it is too overwhelming not to mention expensive.
Replace the quarter panel, make it road worthy, maybe put some slick wheels on it. If you’re serious about chopping it and modifying it, I’ll trade you. I also have the grill and front bumper. No upper grill bar, otherwise the car is relatively complete.
I love the plan, I'm all for this car becoming a shaved, chopped custom with a different grille and lower. I do however really like the side trim that's on it. It would look great with a two-tone, or in a solid color. Someone in the Photoshop thread could give this car a few different looks so you can see where you're headed, with and without the trim on it. What I really want to know is, what was the deal with that thick plate with the hole in it welded to the smashed quarter? Was someone going to start trying to pull that quarter out, and that's as far as they got, or?
That’s the way it came when I bought it, i think someone was going to start pulling it but never really started. The door gap is good on that side but the trunk gap is closed on that side. I’m sure it won’t take much pulling on the quarter panel to set the gap before I cut the old quarter off Sent from my iPhone using H.A.M.B.
Here's a great idea for Ya' that Madfish did in the Photoshop thread, looks great, and easy to pull off!
I've always liked the style of the 50's Buicks. Here's a rendering I did for the F.A.S a while back of how a custom might look.
Don't lose the portholes on the fenders! Those are for when Dyna flows... Love that Buick, and where you're headed...
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