Well Guys I should have my new toy in my yard this Thursday. I will post pictures as soon as I take them. Anyhow I will need some help on a couple of things. I need to find someone who either makes or can order seat covers or a recover kit or something to go over the ugly green interior that this car has. I will also need carpet & something to cover the door panels with. Air ride any suggestions, its something I have always wanted to have on a car? Flat/Satin paint, how well does this hold up? How easy is it to wash Which is better Flat or Satin? Do either of these prevent rust? Just looking for some answers and maybe some ideas. Thanks guys The Rock
If you have a Rat (unless the '56 is big block powered) you are in the wrong place.... and no one can smell what you are cooking...
Rock, go back and edit out all references to the word Rat. People here will treat you nicer. We dig hot rods and customs here. Hey Zman, I smell a Rat... he heh heh
Air Ride has to be custom fabbed. PM KustomBuilder, me sells a complete kit, minus that brackets. i ordered mine for my '56 Special from him. the kit costs under a grand after shipping.
The 56 Buick has a kingpin set-up instead of ball joints. If you want to drop it and have it be reliable, it would be best to switch the front clip to a suspension that has ball joints. Fat Man Fab sells a kit real cheap that has the air ride upgrade with it. You could get away with using the air ride on the kingpin set-up, but you will run into some steering complications. With the clip upgrade, you also get rack and pinion as well as disc brakes. These two upgrades alone can cost up to the same cost as that one kit. Don't let people on this thread try to tell you to get rid of this car. I have a 56 Buick also. While it takes a little more to get them road ready, its a good vehicle and it deserves to be driven just like any other car. I am currently in the process of adding a Chevelle swing-pedal with a disc-drum master cylinder and a front clip from an El Camino (73-77). I am very proud of my car just like I am sure you are of yours. People tend to have a problem with throwing you under the bus rather than giving you helpful advise sometimes. Good luck with what ever you decide to do. I've included a picture of mine as well.
She's a beauty, I will most likely have a ton of questions for you once I really get into the car. I love the body style of the older Buicks, they look sleek but mean. Thanks for the good advise and for the little inspiration. Looking forward to chatting with ya again.
Buzzard, this is the LAST place people would try to tell him to get rid of that car. I have a 55 Century 2dhp, psyco-it's like driving a couch. Hope you have a blast with it. There was a thread about cleaning satin paint on the board today. Don't use microfiber rags, California dusters seemed the favorite. Nothing wrong with shiny paint, either.
RockB1 sent me a PM the other day asking about the gears in the rear end as well as better ways to maintain fuel economy with this car. Here is what I sent him: The reason why I asked you what model it was specifically is because the Roadmaster, Super, and Century all had 3.36 gears in the rear ends. The reason being is because these cars all had the high-compression 322 where as the Special had the low-compression 322. How can you tell which is which? Anything with the four-barrel from 56 had a 9.5 to 1 compression ratio. Anything from 56 with the two-barrel had a 8.9 to 1 compression ratio. The only real changes in the engines was that the high-compression had a beefier cam and the larger carburetor. The Special had 3.2 gears if it came with an automatic and 3.9 gears if it came with the 3-on-the-tree standard. The Special only came with a standard if it was a wagon or a four-door sedan. For 56, any Buick that was a hardtop was called a Riviera. It doesn't matter if it was a Roadmaster, Super, Century, or Special. The car was only offered in a sedan, convertible, and the Riviera. To answer the question of better fuel economy, as long as you keep with the basics, like tune-ups (air induction, ignition, and oil changes), you will get better fuel economy. The best way to increase fuel economy is to convert the distributor over to electronic ignition. Pertronix makes a kit that cost $80 that includes everything you need. Speedway Motors offers it and a bunch of other goodies for the Nailhead as well. The better the ignition, the better the fuel mileage and consumption. Unless you actually switch over to fuel injection, the best way to maintain fuel economy is to rebuild or find the unicorn (i.e. brand new) mechanical fuel pump. If you switch up to an electric fuel pump, it will pump a constant rate of gas. This is fine if you are running a race car. Since you want to make it a cruiser, you have to have the flow of gas change with the rpm's (higher with higher, lower with lower). As long as you have this, your fuel economy will be the best it can be. I hope this answers your question.
My 55 has green interior......its not ugly if you paint the car green and white. Try onlineupholsteryandmore.com ROB
They aren't to bad, and they are still out there. Be aware that the Century/Special will not fit into the Roadmaster. The Roadmaster is 2" wider and longer than the Century/Special. 55-57 Chevy parts will not interchange with the Buicks either. Nice lookin car brother. Make sure you put lots of miles on it with the family unit.
No need to do a front clip you can order uprights from fatman and I can sell you the bag parts that are the same as mine. here is my 55 http://grunionfabrication.com/gallery.php
Sweet thing is I have all the trim, the grill, mirrors, everything but the handles and the p***enger side wiper trim.
In response to Scotch King Buzzard. A new fuel pump is not that difficult to find www.kanter.com sells them. They are kinda pricey but everything that the sell is top notch. I have a 55 buick and I used them to buy my rebuild kit for my 322. Along with a few other odds and ends. I've heard great things about pertronix, I have seriously been considering upgrading my distributor with them. I do appreciate the link to speedway motors. haven't seen that website yet. Also, I couldn't get grunion's link to work on my computer. I would love to see what his 55 looks like.
Hey any of you guys have extra parts laying around that you may want to get rid of? Let me know what you have. Also does anyone make a rubber or vinyl floor mat? I would like to run that instead of carpet
I have 56 4door and some parts i know you can get from CARS. they are out jersey www.cars.com call them they are nice on the phone but ****s at shows as far as the grill i have seen them around and i did have one i my hand , it was perfict the guy wanted 200 for it i didn't have the money so i didn't get "i was laidoff" . Now i kick myself in the *** any time i think about it. good luck oh when i bought mine it had set covers on i don't know where he got them but i do know they make them.
http://www.jcwhitney.com/AUTOCRAFT-...ET/GP_2006928_N_111+10201+600015716_10101.jcw These are my preferred "low buck" very good looking seat covers. Made by Autocraft. They fit over the old or I usually remove the old cover and repair the cusion or padding and put these on. My favorite is the pleated vinyl which is available in lots of 1950's and 1960's complimentary colors. JC has good carpet also. Spend the money for the good loop carpet with the jute backing. Look for a sale and I think they are offering free shipping right now. I've done a couple cars with a buddy and we could do the carpet and seats in a day. The cover kits come with hog rings and pliers. Good luck in the nice "Buford" overspray
the replacing of the padding is a good idea ,because mine the fome was fall out of the bottom i had a friend do my seats in black and white vinal this wasn't a kit but the seat cover that were on mine were nice . if you want to see the old girl i'm on myspace greenhell56@msn.com
Nice car- brings back memories. I got my DL in a '56 Buick Special 4 door hardtop convertible- No Riveira markings on that one; I think the Riv came later. It also had a four barrel carb, and was the next fastest stock car in the area. It was second to a Packard Carribean that would really wail. Dad used it like a pickup, and hauled everything from beehives to fence posts in it. Country roads and a 4 door hardtop= cracked windsheilds. It would start in 20 below (with a bad valve) and lay a single black mark 100 yards long (no limited slip). Thanks for the memories- Great car!
Ok so I changed both rear wheel cylinders and the brakes still take their sweet *** time stopping the car. Maybe its me but it doesnt feel right. I have never had a car with an all drum brake system so how should it stop/slow? Any suggestions for a front disc conversion???
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