What are the differences between the 1957 Buick Roadmaster and the Century. Is all the sheetmetal the same? What about frames? Thanks
On paper they are quite different. The Roadmaster is on a 127.5"wheelbase compared with 122 for the Century. The body is bigger as well. The Century shares a body with the Special. The Roadmaster and Super use the same body.
If I remember correctly the special and century are the small body and the super and roadmaster are the large body. The century super and roadmaster had large engine and special was small engine.
The Special and Century were the same body. They both had the three piece rear windows. The Super and Roadmaster shared the same body. Some of the early Roadmasters had what appeared to be a three piece rear gl*** but was really a one piece gl*** with trim that gave it the appearance. If memory serves me correctly the Super/Roadmaster are about 7 inches wider. I am not sure about the frames but suspect they are different. A friend has my parts book but let me know and I can check it. The Special had a 250 HP with 2 BBl Carb. The other three had a 300 HP and 4 BBl Carb. The front fenders the same for all series. Just different holes for different trim. Grilles, hood, deck lid, seats bumpers and etc are all wider on the larger series. Hope this helps.
So lets say I find a hacked up buick that has the front fenders, bumper, dash, front 2 of 4 doors, and is hacked off body wise behind the front doors and frame wise behind the back axle. This same frame has been hacked off at the front before the wheel wells so I can't really measure the wheelbase. How to identify which one it is?
There are a few ways to identify the series (Special/Century vs Super/Roadmaster) and model. I'm ***uming the firewall ID tag is long gone, but if not post the info and I can help decode it. You said that it's a four door body. Look at the front doors - if it is a sedan with frames around the windows (not a hardtop) then it's a Special model 41 or a Century model 61, or maybe even a Special Wagon model 49 with all the wagon stuff cut away. All of the Supers and Roadmasters were true hardtops, so door frames would eliminate these. Count the portholes. ***uming you believe the fenders are original to the car, Specials had 3 portholes. All the others had 4 portholes. The frames are surprisingly identical. The only differences are in the very rear, which you don't have. If the rear crossmember is still there, there is a slight difference in the mounting position of the rear coil springs. Measure the distance between the bolt holes in the spring cups - from side to side. The Special and Century are listed at 35 15/16" between spring centers, and the Super/Roadmaster are listed at 37 13/16". This is straight out of the 1957 ch***is service manual. I hope that helps solve the mystery.
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