any info on 57 Buick rearend conversions?

Hi. Does anyone remember if you all have had a thread on Buick rear suspension conversions, or updates to an open drive shaft system? Any infor or direction to an archive would be appreciated...thank you Tom
Temp is starting to dip a bit in SE Mich, so trying to start gathering parts for the winter...

 

I was asking about this on my 57 Buick Special a week or so back...was told that I need to find a '61 Buick third member -bolts in.....[use '57 hsg and axles]-to convert to open drive.

 

Thats the deal its the easiest way to do it.

 

that would work for a 55 special too right?

 

Thanks a lot folks for the info, I will try to locate one of the 61 vintage rear swingarm ***emblies....heading for fla in about 10 days to see my bro there, if the state is not under water!! I have heard of a couple of yards down there that have an abundance of Buick stuff 50s and 60s

Anyway thanks so far and have a good one...hotrods n 2wheelers rule

 

I know the center section (pumpkin) work is in the 57-60's not sure about the 55. The hardest part of the swap is fabbing mounts for the trailing arms that were hooked to the torque tube. Think Nascar ladder bars....

 

I'm trying to expand this thread a bit further. I have a 56 buick special that needs the rear converted to open drive. I was hoping to do this with the use of a later model buick ge****t as has been discussed here. Is the 61 buick the only ge****t that fits the 57 buick? Would there be other year buick ge****ts that can be used for the 56. I would also be taking Zmans suggestion and using the chevy truck trailing arms and keeping the spring set up. I'll fab my own shock mounts and remove the stock ones. Need some input on this conversion.

 

I've looked at these Buick rearends several times and I don't see why a person couldn't take the yoke off the back of the enclosed driveline, put it on the spline, drill a hole through both the yoke and the shaft to put a lock bolt through and run it. The Buicks aren't like the enclosed Fords that lack a seal. The bearings for the pinion and seal are there, just like an open rear. The only difference is it has a splined shaft sticking out instead of the normal pinion yoke. If it was converted like I just outlined, the rear end would still have to be installed with the driveline attached as there would be on bolt-on yoke at the rear.

 

The '61-'62 Buick rear ends use 33-spline axles just like the '60 and earlier rear ends, so these center sections will bolt in. The '63-'65 rears used 31-splined axles, but the center sections still fit, you just need to get custom axles made. Axle shafts for the '56-'58 Special/Century are the same size as the '63-'65 Riviera, so you can also use a complete rear end from a Rivi.

 

Do all 61 and 62 buick rearends have 33 spline axles??? I found a 62 buick they are parting out on the interwebs......so can't inspect it myself.

 

All 1961-1962 fullsize (LeSabre, Invicta, Electra, etc.) use the same 33 spline axles. Special/Skylarks only have 21 splines.