Finally got working on this after a few years. We picked this up about four years ago in a New Jersey junkyard for $400. Here it was when we got it. [/IMG] We started tearing it apart about a year ago, and it sat. Well in the last few weeks we finally got to cleaning and painting. Just have to finish prepping and painting the frame and we can start putting the suspension back on, after it is blasted and painted.
Suspension is all clean finally. Gonna try to lay some paint on all of it tonight. Knee action like hell, no balljoints here. Just 50 grease points. Girlfriend sandblasting away.
Nice, car! Good luck on the build! You also may get a laugh out of this... <iframe width="420" height="345" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dlXJrcSBIH0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Good luck! Looks a lot like the '54 moredoor Century my wife picked up for me almost two years ago and is still sitting where I parked it. Hopefully you can keep up the progress!
Nice Buick Moloko! It looks like the sister to mine, I belive mine was the same color as yours originally.
Love moredoors, love old buicks. Cant wait to see the finished product! And a huge thumbs up for saving a 4door from falling into the hands of a parter-outer or scrapper.
Too bad the parting out had already begun. By the time we got to the car the engine, everything for the manual trans, the bumper, and the side trim were gone. We are still trying to acquire pieces. For now we have an auto trans, since manual trans stuff seems to be impossible to find.
We have a 1956 322 Nailhead from a Roadmaster. I have a few intake choices, but I think we are going to run the stock 2bl intake with a Demon 350cfm. The car was originally a 264.
Looks good. I am also working on a 1955 buick century 4 door post. Looking forward to following your build.
jeez i see my future there! not really looking forward to tearing into my front end.i'm just glad i don't have knee action to deal with.. i think the Buick's are under rated cars. looks like it's gonna be fun one.
Rain rain rain, more progress. Upper control arms and spindles painted. Started putting it back together, but as I jack up on the control arm the whole car lifts. I need some "ballast" to sit on the car so I can jack the arm up. Either that, or get a spring compressor, but I hate them.
Rustoleum semi-gloss black. I gotta admit, the Duplicolor my store used to sell was much better, but I'm not driving all over the area to find a store that sells Duplicolor. Hopefully the Rustoleum will hold up.
After dealing with no power for a few hours tonight, I got to work. Thanks to the spring compressor, the coil springs have been tamed. I used universal tie rod boots, cut down, as the bushings between the steering knuckle and the lower control arm. Working at a parts store has its perks. Although no one claimed to make shocks for the car, I got out the PAPER CATALOG (it does exist!) and looked up the shocks by extended/collapsed length, and mounting options, and found two shocks that would work. If anyone is curious for their car, it's Gabriel number 81832. They are a whopping $16. Only thing I had to do is open up the holes on the bottom a bit for the 3/8 bolts. Here it is all together. Just need the sway bar, brakes, and tie rod thinger.
I'm glad you pulled her from the bone yard and gave her a second chance.I hate that when they just sit in the junk yard waiting for fate.
Time for some brakes. Front drums for life. The only new parts are the shoes. Everything else is rebuilt/cleaned and painted. Springs are Hemi Orange, because it was in my garage (unlike any actual hemi's).
Got the brakes mounted on the car. Two of the bolts have cotter pins in them, and those bolts were stripped. Had to make new ones. Finished product Waiting for the drums to dry, then gotta pack the bearings and put them on.
Great job so far. Makes me miss my '55 Olds 4 door that was in identical shape. I threw in the towel instead of rolling up my sleeves. Kudos for saving one!
Back to work on it. Pulled the trans out and painted it. It's yellow, I'm guessing because it was in a dumptruck or some kind of heavy machinery. Here it is all silver. No more Caterpillar yellow.
Motor is IN! Having trouble getting the torque-tube lined up, other than that it's all set. Anyone have any tips to get the torque tube in? I just can't get the splines to slide into the trans.
Cool, I had a 55 Special 4 door hardtop with a Super engine in it that I got in more trouble with than one guy should be allowed to. That 56 Super engine should have a four barrel from the factory if it was an original engine out of a Super.
Are you using guide pins? this will certainly help. According to my 56 manual, it says: "Carefully move axle assembly into place, guiding propeller shaft and torque tube into proper alignment with torque tube ball using two 3" guide pins to avoid damage to propeller shaft seal. Rotate rear wheel to line up propeller shaft and universal joint splines". I used this method a few years back, doing the job by myself and had no problem that I recall. Check for any spline damage otherwise it should be reasonably hassle free. Ross
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