Unfortunately, the skins are not the same between the Chevy and Buick at either door. However, I believe the leading edge of the front doors may be the same, which would allow him to continue to use the Chevy door with the Buick fender. He may find himself needing to do some sheetmetal surgery, though. Dealing with the side trim will be another difficulty point, as the Buick fenders rely on the trim to form the edge of the fender. Continuing the trim down the Chevy rear doors and quarter panel will be a tricky point.
Because I won't be using the Buick doors, and retaining the Chevy rear body lines, I think I should be OK. The big difference on the 4 door cars is the top section of the doors that follows the rear fin on the Buick. Being that the same gl*** and roof lines were used, the fronts of the doors should match, which is all I'll really need. As far as the trim goes, I'll have to probably play around and see what I might be able to make work.
Great project. After reading this I’m curious if it would be easier to attach the rear of the Chevy to a Buick. ♂️
Yes but no. The same issues apply to the rear, with the added hurdle of the doors no longer matching up. Both cars carry the rear body line through the back doors, and the Buick being longer, doesnt have an indent in the door bottom for the wheel well. Im sure it could be done, but it would take a bit more "surgery" than just swapping the front clips. Which is also wildly oversimplified given what needs done.
Will subscribe & watch with interest. Without seeing it in front of me, could the front suspension mounts be removed & slid forward to the correct wheebase & then use the Buick horns to stretch the front? Either way this will be a killer kustom
Unfortunately, unlike some of the later model gm vehicles, the front k member appears to be welded in place on these cars. Unless there's some hidden hardware that I'm unaware of. Either way, I'll find out once shes apart!
Two questions- asking for a friend- 1- are you sure you are grafting the right end onto the car? 2- wouldn’t it be simpler to buy a buick and have the best of both worlds.
Much as I'd love a 3rd vehicle, unfortunately its just not quite in the cards. Ive got a buddy saving a rotten 2 door with a parts 4 door, hence the availability of the front clip. I do love the Buick rear though. Ive since swapped the bumper for an uncut one, just dont have any good pictures yet...
This is a really intriguing project. Regarding stretching the frame, I am not sure how you want to attack that. It may be what I describe here already. I envision cutting a sideways Z in it. Basically a horizontal cut perhaps 6 to 8 inches long through the middle of the frame, with a vertical cut up towards the firewall in the back, and a vertical cut down towards the ground in the front. Slide the front portion forward two inches and you are welding 4 to 6 inches of original frame back together. Then make fillers for the gaps and plate the whole cut on both sides. It ought to be plenty strong this way. Mind that I have no measurements to work off of and this is an X frame so it is merely theory, but hoping I just sparked some positive ideas here.
hard to see on the picture below, but behind the crossmember is a weld where the frame tubing is joined. I plan to try and cut that out, then slide the sections apart the necessary length, adding material if needed, and then weld it back up. Not quite, this is a bare frame off an x frame car:
It looks very similar to early 50s stuff up here. Unrelated, but I've always had a weird soft spot for a lot of the older Aussie stuff. Wish utes had caught on here as well as they did down there!
Yes and no. The Buick is 2" longer in the rear as well. So you would have to add that 2" to the chevy sheet metal. The wheel arches are quite a bit different also.
Thats immensely helpful actually! To clarify, I plan to cut this weld, slide the sections apart, add any necessary material, then weld it back up for a "factory" look.
That's where I would cut it as well. I'd probably carefully remove that body mount piece to give a bit more space to work, do an elongated Z cut in it like CaptainComet said so you don't lose all of your reference, then when everything is welded up you can just put the body mount back in place where it came off. If you want to research the frame cuts, have a look at what the C-10 guys do when they shorten a frame from a long box to a short box wheelbase. They do that same Z cut, only they're taking length out and you'll be adding some back in, requiring some filler pieces. The general principles are the same though, and those are done routinely without issues, so it's very do-able.
Same! Although with enough hammering, welding, and grinding, you can get most anything to work Ive seen that method many times, and it is a good one. I was thinking to minimize cutting, and maximize strength, I'd get 2 sections of tubing. One section being the same od as the frame rail, the other being the same id as the crossmember section. Slide everything together and adjust to fit. Best part is a solid 360° weld and support on all sides. I can adjust it to where i need just by sliding everything in or out before final welding, so no chances of my famous "measure 16 times, still manage to cut too small" trick.
That would work if the inside and outside of the frame rails are straight and consistent. I can't say I've had a '59 Chevy frame cut in half so not sure what to expect there. But if there's even a little bend or ripple or weld bead hanging down, it might make that impossible. And also it would require the availability of the perfect sized and shaped tubing. It could work, if you can find the perfect material, and if the area of frame you're splicing is very clean and consistent inside and out.
There's a metal supermarket the next town over, so I'm sure they'll be getting to know me quite well I guess really it will come down to how well I can clean the sections that slide apart before I try to add to them.
Id personally add some plate reinforcement to the middle section of the frame after lengthened like lowrider guys do. Extra wheelbase will add more load on the frame
Thats not a bad idea at all actually. I might snag a plate/bracing kit and hit up my buddy with a 4 post lift....
Completely different frame. Buick still had a ladder style frame in 59 instead of the X frame. Also it would need to be modified in the rear as the Buick wheel base was 4" longer than the Chevrolet.
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