I just got my '55 Buick Special back from Carl's Custom Cars (www.carlscustomcars.com) in Red Oak, Texas, and want to share details and photos of the fine work they did on the car. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/group.php?do=discuss&group=&discussionid=13189 The car is 100% driver, not show car, and now has the great road manners it needs to be a real pleasure to drive. The info is posted on the HAMB '54-'56 Tri-Five Buick/Oldsmobile Social Group, but I thought I'd post it here on the Main Board also. Carl's did a great job on the modifications. I couldn't be happier with their work!
Wow! Thanks so much! I'm going through the same process right now. I have the same rearend and was wondering how I was going to set it up! This is very do-able and will come in handy as reference material! Question: Did the stock rear spring location on both the rear end and the body line up with out altering it? and why did you switch to the Chevelle springs and not use the originals? Again.. thanx so much!
Yes, the spring locations lined up and the Chevelle springs were a bolt-in. The original springs were sagged and ready to be replaced. I set the rear ride height by selecting the proper replacement springs. There are a lot of choices so you can go higher or lower if you want. The color is Galway Green and Cameo Beige, both are stock '55 Buick colors and both were original to this car. Thanks for asking.
Great car-I have a 55 Buick 2dht and this is exactly what I'm looking for, front and rear, but up front first. Not even gonna comment about the lack of a nailhead . A very valuable, and as a bonus, well written post. Those tires and caps really work well (although I like the big moons-I have them on my car). Thank you very much.
Thanks for the kind words. They are greatly appreciated. The nailhead, Dynaflow and torque tube driveline might tweak your nostalgia bone, but are highly over-rated in a car that is regularly driven fairly long distances. Now that this car is "right", thanks to Carl's Custom Cars, it is fast, stops well, is pleasant to drive, dependable and able to be repaired in any small town with an auto parts store. The same simply cannot be said for a '55 with original drive train. Thanks again for the compliments.
Great tech post! I am in the process of fabricating the rear suspension on my '54 and soon will be attacking the front also. Some great information. There is not much out there for the Buick lovers. Especially a setup that has been tested and abused. Thanks and keep adding up the miles!
I'm waiting for "Zman" to chime in.. ha! I won't even say what I'm using as a power plant.. but I do understand where Missysdad1 is coming from. Great post and great pics! Thanks for the info.
No. Just the ones from the underside of the car. Here's one I lifted from the Scarebird auction on eBay. It shows the brackets in some detail, but all the components are purchased separately, according to the list which comes with the kit. Hope this helps.
We were sent a few pix of Carl's work - and added what needs to be done to use the Fatman upright. Note this will fit inside the stock rim - Buick did a lot of things right back then...
Nice work no need for a power booster? i have converted mine to disc brakes using all Australian parts, it has'nt been road tested yet , still in build mode..
No. I don't feel the need for a power booster. I much prefer manual brakes, and these are just fine. The pedal pressure is about what one would expect for a car this size with non-boosted brakes. I drove the car for a while with stock Buick front drums/Chevelle rear drums/stock non-power master cylinder and what I have now is decidedly better than what I had then, both in terms of pedal pressure and stopping power. The final deciding factor was that, due to space considerations, even a small booster would not fit under the car without hanging below the frame rails. This is an absolute no-no in my book. The OEM manual-brake Buick firewall has two plenums on the firewall which are, from what I can tell, related to the heater system which is intact on this car. These plenums make it difficult to install a suspended pedal system without major surgery to the firewall. I understand that OEM power brake '55 Buicks use a suspended pedal system from the factory. This may be adaptable to late model master/booster systems, but since my car was manual since new I don't have an answer for this. Perhaps another '55 Buick owner can shed some light on this situation?
Thanks, i am running a 10 bolt rear ,so with what i've read i am going to order the parts you have listed, sounds like a good conversion, and no booster is one less problem, cheers.
UPDATE: We received a section of frame last month from French Lake Auto parts. After scouring NAPA's catalogs we selected a simple, cheap ($42 @ NAPA) master that fits the parameters we set, including the ability to use a remote master. We designed a simple adapter to allow it to bolt up to the stock Buick (and other?) frames. The bore is almost the same as the stock unit; 24mm vs. 1". We also doped out a new transfer rod. pics of both below. The reservoir is missing; we plan on machining a simple set of aluminum bungs that will snap into the formed seals, these bungs wil have ******s for hoses to run to remote reservoirs.
If you have no luck with the part numbers here in Oz ( which can be common), drop Dan 'DMARV' a pm here, he owns a carquest ( like repco) and is really good at getting parts and sending them out here.
I want to add a dual master cylinder which one will fit in the stock position of the other one? Anyone have any info ?
Well done bro. I just got ahold of a 55 Buick Century 2 door hardtop. The top was the light green and bottom was dark green...fairly rusted up. I know you did your conversion a few years ago however I wanna thank you for taking the time to put this up here on HAMB......the article is going to help me tremendously with the suspension and disc brake conversion......thanks again, look forward to meeting you one day.
That's nice to know....I am building this car for my wife and was considering power brakes....but now I think I'll just go with 4 wheel disc....it should stop good enough I would imagine. Heck, I drove my 69 Camaro with 4 wheel non power drums on the Hot Rod Power Tour.....then did a conversion to power disc and about put my face thru the windshield....haha. So I take it...that your Buick stops pretty fast for a non power and front disc only car????
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