Diving Off the Deep End: My 1956 Buick Project

bump. please

 

If you take a few close up photos of your clutch linkage from different angles, and also post the relevant photos, diagrams, text from your service manual, even those of us here not specifically familiar with your Buick can probably come up with the answer for you. If your still stuck after that, PM me, and I'll see if I can come out and take a look.

 

no manual yet.

 

buicks are way to kool .
i havea 51 2dr special. pulled the st 8 in favor of a 56 322 that im rebuilding. should be running in a 3 months. egge wont have my piston size till then
.030 over..nice find by the way

good luck..jes

 

I was messing around on photoshop....this wound wind up around 108 inches on the wheelbase(same as an 80's g-body).
just a "plan C"

 

I'm Having trouble following your descrption of the issue as well as the terms you're using to describe the parts. Pictures would most likely be your best bet. The zbar will come out when you yank the motor and trans out. It just rests on the ball that is mounted to the chassis and same with the bell housing side.

 

Nice car, but looking at it got me wondering. Has anyone ever ran the exhaust straight out of the fender portholes? Set of custom headers should do the trick. Would look cool with 4 flames shooting out each fender. Would be hell on the paint though.

 

From what I see in the manual if you start to pull the motor trans the clutch linkage will fall off the motor and frame. It looks like tha same setup my Comet has with the clutch cross bar just sandwiched between the frame and bellhousing mounts.

 

Great project!

 

i like your new ride ! even if it might take a while to get it back on the road . wagons are cool !
i am pretty sure you have a 12 volt system . chevy went to 12v in 55 why not the rest of gm . if it is still a 6v system i would upgrade to 12v . it isn,t that hard .

now you could probably free the engine that is in the car up and even get it to run but i think that given the rust under the valve covers you are going to have to totally rebuild the engine . that as others here have already said will be expensive . i think you might do better if you located a good running 364 or 401 and just swap out the 322 . unless you are attached to it for some reason . like keeping the car original . if you want to try to run the 322 first thing to do is flood the cylinders with penetrating oil and let it soak for a few weeks . then try to spin the engine over by hand . if you have to remove the radiator to do that oh well it probably should come out anyway to be pressure tested .

my best advice is take baby steps . don't just take the car all apart . work on it like the jonny cash song " one piece at a time . start with the engine get that running and move to the trans which at the very least will need new seals and gaskets . then the brakes and steering . don't forget the wheel bearings when you do the brakes . for the most part do what needs to be done so it can be driven . then enjoy it for a while before you tackle the next step .

 

Not difficult at all to swap to an alternator, especially a one wire. It's literally a bolt on swap. Buy (make) the correct brackets to fit your application(manifolds, headers, style head and waterpump etc.) then just wire it accordingly. Should be a 12 V setup so no other changes are actually necessary. The visual difference is that a generator is typically of smaller diameter but around 9 inches long and alternators are roughly 6 inches diameter and 6 inches in length

 

I would suggest brakes and steering before the motor and trans are running cuz then you wont be tempted to drive around the yard and wind up literally between a rock and a hardplace

 

Whats the status report on this?
Did you get the engine and trans out?
I know the weather hasn't been the best there, but have you got anything done on it?

 

I haven't. I've been really busy and the weather has been horrible. Winter break starts in 2 days so I'll get some work in on it then. I know this wasn't supposed to be easy but I just wasn't expecting all the little hang ups like this. Once I get the motor out I'll be able to do some "easy" work like cleaning and re-painting of engine bay and engine parts so that will be nice.

Ryland

 

It's been a long time since I worked on a stick-shift Buick, it was 1961..

If I remember correctly, swapping a stick-shift to an engine that originally came with a Dynaflow as you are going to do will involve some work with the pilot bushing/bearing.

The pilot bushing is a small bronze bushing about 3/4" in dia with a hole in the center about 3/8" dia that fits into a hole in the flywheel end of the crankshaft. The input shaft of the manual transmission has a projection in front of the clutch disc splines that fits into the bushing when it is in the hole in the crankshaft.

I can't remember whether the Dynaflow crankshaft has the hole already machined into it or not, I don't think it does. Four things can happen -

1) The hole is not machined in the crankshaft, you attempt to bolt the transmission to the bell housing and it will not go flush with the face of the bell and if you keep cranking down on the bolts, something will break.

2) The hole is machined in the crank, you do not put a new bushing in the hole, you assemble the transmission to the engine, there is nothing to support the input shaft, you engage the clutch, the shaft torques and does not stay in alignment, and something breaks in the transmission

3) You examine the crank and there is no hole for the pilot bushing - you have to dissasemble the engine to have a hole bored in the crank

4) You examine the crank, there is a hole for the bushing, you put the bushing in and everything works fine....

If this explantion is confusing, PM or e-mail me

 

I haven't run into a Dynaflow crank that wasn't drilled. And that it wasn't a matter of a bushing to put a manual on.

 

Good, that makes it a lot easier for him; I said it was a long time ago!

 

Sweet Wagon. Ive had my 54 Special 2dr for almost a decade now, and My advice to you is keep listening to what you get from the guys on here who have done it. Buicks in my opinion are cool mechanically in the factory state (also in my opinion that wagon is pretty cool in its factory state) so dont get too hyped up wanting to change everything right out of the gate. I would make a solid game plan. figure out what needs to be fixed and then list options. I didnt read all of this post so I dont know if its been covered but there are alot of guys who have helped me on here with my Buick with things I knew nothing about, and dont hesitate to take everyones advice and imput as valid. take lots of pictures for reference and list everything so you can retrace your steps with a big project like that. I've learned the simplest answer is usual the best. But i would definitely do everthing very thorough. If your gunna do it, do it right so you dont end up doing it over.

 

A Chevy stick trans will fit the hole in the 56 Buick pilot bushing perfectly. The bushings are still availlable new.

 

I got the clutch linkage off, it was pretty easy once I new were to scrape the grease off to look for bolts.

Now comes the next problem. How the hell do you get to the engine mount bolts? I can get to the front bolt of the front mount but that's it. Anyone have any tips?

As far as I can tell the rear mount is just a pad the engine rests on without anything mechanically attaching it to the engine, is this correct?

Ryland

 

I rounded the head on one of the bolts on the driver side exhaust manifold, I tried welding a nut to it but it kept breaking off. I then went out and bought a set of "bolt out" sockets from Sears and they didn't work. Any suggestions? I would like to get the manifold of undamaged. Next I think I'm going to drill a hole into a 9/16ths inch socket and plug weld it to the bolt. Have any of you used grip right sockets? They were at sears too, should I get a set of those?

Thanks,
Ryland

 

First, spray penatrating oil on the bolt (and any other bolt you hope to remove form a 54 yr old car) and let it sit overnight. Second, HEAT! As in flames. Get your little propane torch out and heat that sucker up (have a fire extinguisher or bucket of water standing by just in case). Get it nice and glowing hot. Then it is also a good idea to give it a good whack with a hammer (like driving in a nail) to help break free the threads that have been rusted together for 54 years. THEN you can try the weld a nut on, or vise grips or whatever. Good luck. It wont be the last one you have to do this too, so just accept it as part of the fun.

Oh, and more pics please...

 

Oh, adn by the way, the whole idea of welding a socket on... remember, a rounded bolt head isnt really your problem, a stuck bolt is. the head rounding is a blessing compared to what you are going to have when that bolt sheers off because you put too much force on it. Soak it, burn it, hit it and turn it.

 

remember one thing the most, this is not going to be a driver overnight. don't stress yourself out on this project. just take it easy and enjoy what you are learning. one of the biggest mistakes i made with first project, was i just started ripping and tearing things off the car. start little projects, after you finish that then move on. take lots of pics,do lots of drawings and keep everything organized. great luck to you. always remember, if you are willing to put the time in and do the work, nothing is impossiable.

 

When you heat the bolt, apply some old fashion (Parrafin?) wax to it. The heat allows the wax to weep into the bolt thread area, sometimes this helps.

 

There she is. Cut a slot in the side of an extra import 9/16th socket and it came right out. Over my attempts to get it off it got heated (welding) and hit with PB blaster several times and waked with a hammer a couple times.

Hopefully now I can actually get the engine out.

Ryland

 

Great! Glad you got it out. now get the engine out and take some more pictures!

 

Today was a great day. Pulled the engine out, it was a lot easier than I expected. Pulled the starter off it to swap it to my other engine, now I just have to get the intake and transmission off and I'll be done with this engine.

What is standard procedure for getting a manual transmission that has been sitting road worth? Flush and replace fluids? What about the clutch? I'm sure it needs some attention?

Ryland

OT but I was also told today I kicked ass in an art show, won several awards including the best in show for 3D. I'm pretty excited about that.

 

Now I am really thinking about what to do next, while I'm cleaning up the engine compartment I figure I should run the fuel and break lines, rebuild the breaks and master cylinder. If I do the scarebird swap can I do front and rear breaks? Should I use the master cylinder I have or buy the one that would originally go with the breaks I buy?

Thanks,
Ryland

 

I would say you continue to clean everything off, get rid of all your grease and oil and dirt so as you progress you will have a clean area no matter what. take your time.

Rebuilding a master cylinder is pretty simple, and you can get kits for them. www.classicbuicks.com will have alot of stuff your gunna need. Kanter as well. just take you time and read up on all the little ins and outs of your car and parts for your car. Unless you have all kinds of money to throw at it, your best bet is to rebuild and renew factory equipment.