I HAVE 1955 CENTURY REVEIRA 322 WANTING TO FIT DUEL CARBS FOR EXTRA PERFORMANCE ,WHAT SORT OF SET UP SHOULD I BE LOOKING AT OR ARE THERE BETTER SINGLE CARB/MANIFOLD SET UPS ?
Dual carbs are eye candy and of no real benefit unless you install a very aggressive cam, change the rear gears and transmission. And added complexity means more things to go wrong and will probably affect normal driveability.
The Stock manifold and the Carter or Rochester factory four barrel will be more reliable and easier to set up, and cheaper, too. Buick used Rochester and Carter carbs in 1955. I've had both on mine. Each one performed well. I've got Carter on it now. Seems the Carter on it now stays in adjustment slighter better than the Rochester I had.
Not totally true. I have put dual quads on mild 322's and ran great. I like the Edmunds and the Weiand intakes. Offy's are garbage
Hi what carbs did you use?I m thinking of putting edelbrocks on if I do, do you know how I can retain the gas pedal starter set up
The gas pedal start works on vacuum. There's a check ball in it that breaks the contacts once there is vacuum generated in the engine. You would need to retain the original AFB and then use an Edelbrock, it's more or less the same carb as the AFB, that's what Edelbrock bought and used as a pattern. Personally if it was up to me, I would go with the factory AFB. It truly is the easiest carb to use, it's a lot easier to set up than the 4GC Rochester, and it's a very forgiving carb. It works really well on a Dynaflow equipped torque tube drive Buick. Buick built the Century to be one of the fastest if not the fastest all around production car of 1955. It will still hold it's own against a modern car, or at least be respectable. I'd maybe think about putting a 59-63 401 or 425 and a post-1956 Twin Turbine Dynaflow in the car to make it a real screamer. 3.42 axle set just wakes that car right up. I had a 1960 Invicta which was a heavier car but the same formula and it was an absolute ball. I raced and regularly beat badly hopped up Camaros, Novas and the like. (These were cars that sounded really good, but usually had one or more pieces of the equation missing) Never underestimate the combination Buick built; just lay the pedal on the floor and let the rest do the work, nothing but a quiet smooth pull from 0 to 120 mph with no gear change. It's like driving a modern Nissan buzz-box except that the Buick quietly pulls where the Nissan just screams a lot.
Thanks for the info-didn't want to change to much of the originality of the car just twick the motor with duel carbs and duel exhaust ,and electronic ignition and after reading the forums maybe change rockers for more lift-this car was owned by don produmme who did the restoration work and motor,such a cool looking car bought it with 20" American racing wheels and 18 on the front so probably losing some power there but the stance of the vehicle being lowered 2 inches makes me not want to change the look just want it to match the 1955 oldsmobile I have, the only think I've done to that car is fitting duel exhaust!
If you are going to dual exhaust, some of the the '56 Buicks had really good exhaust manifolds. I'm not sure which models had them, but they were practically cast-iron headers. Maybe Tom Telesco would know...
The '56 dual exhaust, left side, leaves room for starter, etc. One on my Mini-Starters would solve that issue with your manifold. Besides they are VERY pricey IF you can find one. Buick offered the EXPORT kit in '55 which included, among other things, was dual carbs. AGAIN, IF you can find them they are very pricey. A cost effective upgrade would be to use the 1.6 ratio aluminum rockers. Usually about a 10-15HP increase. I could probably put a set together for you with used rockers I've got & new shafts. On the distributor an upgrade would be to use a distributor from a '57-'66 which bolts right in & has readily available parts as well as electronic distributor conversions. Again, I could set you up with a core, rebuild, convert, etc. You could use a '57-'60/364 AFB as they still retain the pedal start feature. I could probably locate & source a carb. then do the rebuild. You would need an adapter plate for your manifold. OR, if you found a dual quad intake use your original carb. & add another to the front. AGAIN, I could probably source you a carb. & a rebuild of that one or both. Tom T. P.S. We need pics!!!!
Lot of great info- ive got a dual quad manifold made by I think gold engineering and have ordered 2 ×500 edelbrock carbs(wish I'd got on this forum earlier,sounds like I may have done the wrong thing) so not sure about whether I can hook up the gas pedal ignition hope someone can help me there,I'd be keen on the al rockers,how do I contact you tom- now to try and put some pics on
Yes John, solids, cam, longer pushrods, higher compression pistons & some other things. I have the Buick memo stating what was included somewhere. Tom T.
Was trying to find some info about the specific's of the Buick Century's that ran in 55. All I found was FireBall Roberts was disqualified after a win due using illegal lifter's. Could it be solid lifters weren't allowed? as they weren't technically stock. I'm having a hard time finding anything about these Buick Nascar 55 cars
NO PGSS. He was disqualified because of one polished pushrod tip which probably polished itself with all the wear & tear being run for hrs. on end with NO maintenance. After the MILLIONS Chrysler spent on promoting the new 300 they couldn't let a lowly Buick bet them by 4+ laps. Tom T.
Hey Tom, I know that you are busy, but if you ever have the time to do some research, I'd be interested to know a bit about the NASCAR Buicks of '55. I remember reading an article in a major automotive magazine that didn't come out and accuse NASCAR of fixing races, but kinda led the reader in that direction. Please note: This was decades ago, not now. The last outrage that I remember was NASCAR essentially screwing Mark Martin out of the then Winston Cup championship because his intake manifold was two pieces instead of one. The two-piece manifold gave him absolutely no advantage over a single-piece manifold.
