i am aware of everything neccesary to convert a closed to open and all the h***les and nah nah nah. does anyone know any rear ends which are the same length hub to hub as '56 Buick special? even an inch smaller is ok as i can fab spacers. preferably something with a disk option. Cheers Andrew
Center section from an early 60's full size Buick could be a bolt in for the '56... I know this is true for the '57... should be for the '56 as well...
i'd get the original but it's under 5 feet of snow. hoping someone would know what it was. my other option is to seal the rear end and weld on a universal, but how could i seal it?
Not sure what to search for, or who did the post, but there was a very detailed "how-to" a few years ago here that detailed everything in changing the closed drive in a 55-56 to open drive. Seems like he used the original rear as well. If a center section from a early '60s rear will work I've got plenty of those.. Brian
I changed my '56 Buick over to a G***er. I used the motor trans and rear out of a '79 El Camino. It was within fractions of an inch in width. I cut the spring perches off of the Buick rear and put them along with the panhard bar back on the Elky rear. I then installed Lakewood ladder bars for a '57 Chevy. It was a very easy conversion. I had about 6 hours total in it. The driveshaft lined up perfectly with the hole in the frame where the torque tube went. The trans also fit right in the hole. I had to take like 1 3/4" off of the driveshaft. I even adapted the Elky "E" brake rather easily to the stock Buick one. Any other questions feel free to PM me Don
Donzilla, Do you still have that car? That might be the only g***er 56 special I have ever seen! Very sweet looking ride. Give us more specs on it please?
I put a 90 Camaro rear under my 50 sedanette. If yours is the same arrangement with the coil springs and the pads are in the same place, it's like it was made for it. The coil spring pads are on the same side as the Buicks', they're only 1/2" wider center to center than the Camaro, which means they're only misaligned 1/4" per side. The overall width is perfect, the Camaro trailing arms go into the frame where you cut pockets open, and the Camaro torque arm goes right up the tunnel prefect. You'll just have to make it the right length and height to attach exactly aligned to the side of the front U-joint. Even the stock Camaro panhard bar & shock mounts are right, you just have to fab up the top shock brackets and the upper attaching point for the panhard. '
Might have been me. I converted my 59 which is the same as a 57 over to open drive using a 62 lesabre 3rd member. I set it up on a 4 link then removed the enclosed driveline. Works really well and easy enough. I believe when I was looking at changing the rearend that a 80's chevy pickup would work. Same bolt pattern also. TP
Like Buckeye said. Tons of info on it in the cl***ifieds. It's still for sale. You could own the only '56 Buick G***er. It's a nice car, blast to drive. Wife would rather have a new Jeep. Don
well it looks like i've got a ton of options. whatever i choose it's gonna get a 3 link with bags, so all that really matters is the width. i'm planning on putting a 700r4 or 200r4 behind the nailhead (no sbc for this buick powered custom) don, what did you do for a front end? i'm looking at mustang II. a front end rebuild kit from kanter is 600$ and dropped spindles are 400, and a disk brake conversion is another 600. a complete mustang II will run 999$ with bags and dropped spindles and disk brakes. anyone here think it would be rather easy for mount it? i'm a welder/fitter by trade.
I used a rear out of a 76 Firebird on my 55 Roadmaster. but any 70-81 Camaro/Firebird rear would work as they were all the same. Cheap and plentiful in junkyards. Was only 1" total narrower (.5" on each side) if I remember correctly.
I was told 56 to 63 cars and 64 Riviera center sections will bolt up. Remember a Special, Century is a narrower car than a Super, Roadmaster when measuring rear end width.
Try a mid 80's caprice. If you can find an ex police car better yet since they have posi. Be sure to get the trailing arms so you can graft them to the ones off your closed shaft----spread them and mount to frame rather than the drive shaft housing.
Hi Kustm52. I know this is an old feed but do you have early 60s rear end center/3rd members available?
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