Let's talk 1950 Buicks

My nephew just bought a 50 Buick special. It's a field car. I don't know much about Buicks, but I do know that they were underpowered and heavy. I have been pitching the idea of a nailhead and he is dead set on building the straight 8.

Questions:

Straight 8 have babbit rods?
Torque tube drive shaft?

 

It does have torque tube closed drive and it uses insert bearings.

 

Root, the 1950 Special has the last 248 ci engine.
Let him build it! Will not be cheap, but what is? Bore, after sonic testing, to 100 over. Custom [ I used Aries] pistons to what ever compression ratio wanted. The head can be massaged some and larger valves. Still folks that can turn the cam.
1950 saw the first 263 ci engine. In the Super. I did a 1951 263 and enjoy the devil out of it.

Ben

 

There was also a 320 engine I believe.

 

Nice pickup with that '50 Buick Special, field cars can be a fun challenge. Yeah, the straight 8s had babbit bearings in the rods, and most used a torque tube driveline. Nailhead’s tempting, but if he’s set on the 8, it’s a solid choice with some tuning potential.

 

YES. In the Roadmaster. 1950 was the ONLY year all three engines were made.

Ben

 

Not so in 1950 . INSERT ROD bearings came in 1949. Mains were insert from the late 30's.

Ben

 

@guthriesmith to the courtesy phone please

 

Lol! We already have the expert here in @firstinsteele! Ben helped me with what little I did to my car and knows these engines and the 50 Buick’s well.

 

A friends straight 8 stock car raced in NE Iowa tracks was competitive against SBCs etc. IIRC he spun it up to like 6 k.
Cool engines
Dan

 

Here she is, in all her glory.

 

One of my favorites

 

That looks like SUPER. One piece windshield. The back door glass. There should be a "data" plate on top of the cowl under the hood on the passenger side. May we see a picture of that bad boy?

Standard or auto transmission?

Ben

 

I thought the Supers were 4 holers?

 

Reminds me of the one I had.

 

I always enjoyed your thread about that one.

 

Can I ask why this is in the OT section?

 

I’ll get him to send me pics of the data tag.

 

I may have accidentally created it in there….not sure.

 

By 1950, the straight 8 had all insert bearings and hydraulic lifters. Find a 1941 dual carb manifold.

 

Some, maybe all, with standard transmission still had non hydraulic.

Ben

 

Not difficult.

Jon

 

I have one of the dual carb/dual exhaust manifolds for the small engine that is surplus to my needs. Might be spendy to ship, though.

My 248 runs well and has plenty of power for what I do with it. That being said, I plan to rebuild my 322 nailhead and put that in the 50 at some point.

I am envious of that grille.

 

Make it go and stop

drop it

that’s cool

 

Years ago, I had a couple of straight-8 Buicks. The first was a '48 Super convertible out of Montana with a rust-free body and a blown engine. I was temporarily flush at the time and had the babbitt 248 replaced with a rebuilt '53 263 with insert bearings. The Buick mechanic who did the work explained everything he did and why. I should have kept that car, but the Hydro-Electric windows, seat and top were all shot and back when I had it, parts were not available. I got scared off and sold it. (It was a stick, too.)

The second was a '50 Special Sedanette, also a real clean car and a stick. I drove it for several years as a winter beater, and in retrospect, the car deserved a better fate. All in all, it was a terrific car. My one take on this is that if one wants a '50 Buick, go for it, but I would try for a better bodystyle than a four-door. I found the Sedanette particularly appealing.

50 years down the road, I have always wondered if it would have been practical to try to install a 320 RoadMaster in the smaller body cars. I used to vintage race with some guys who ran them and was aways impressed with the power (actually torque) they made. Those guys would bore them .250 over, install IH tractor pistons for 356 ci, add a homemade intake with 5 or 6 '97's, hi-lift rocker arms, and an upgraded ignition and go racin'. The track roadsters especially were dangerous fast. Word was that one of them had killed three drivers early in it's racing life and then been banned from the local tracks.

 

This 50 Buick was burned into my brain as a kid. A buddy of dad’s owned it, Gary Mathern of Des Moines. It had a rowdy straight piped straight 8, lopey cam. I remember the exhaust exited through the reverse light holes in the bumper.

The biggest issue with early Buicks (in my opinion) is the closed driveline. In an olds or Cadillac a modern trans and engine swap is easier. In a Buick it requires a 4 link or something to restore the structure that the torque tube provides. That’s what brought my 56 Buick project to a halt and I sold it.

 

Thanks for the help guys. Colby is 21. This is his pickup.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/the-okie-apache-thread-a-boy-and-his-truck.1109227/

I sent him a link to this thread.

 

That's a pretty nice truck for a 15 year old. My only worry is that a "field find" '50 Buick might tend to suck a lot of money, time, and worst of all, ambition out of the kid.