Guy I need your opinions: I am looking for a project car to build for my wife. I have my eye on a 1956 Buick 2 door coupe that a guy in my area has for sale. It runs and drives, however it will need a complete makeover: paint, minor body work, chrome, a couple of windows, interior, wheels and tires, and possibly some mechanical work. But the price is right. my questions are #1: are there any issues with these early cars? #2: any hard to find parts that I should be aware of? #3: My wife and I are at odds over a color. I say classic color combinations, she says something that will "pop". (purple. Ugg!) I am concerned about custom colors for resale ease and value. #4: I am thinking maybe doing a modern suspension and disk brakes. Again, resale ease and value? #5: Then I am thinking a late 60's or early 70's era motor instead of the old nailhead. Again, resale ease and value? #6: Also, if I were to do any of these upgrades, how easily will the car accept them? Will I have issues and have to do major modifications? What say you all? Thanks T
Is this a torque tube car? If so, it may be easier to transplant the body on to an early 70s rolling chassis and suspension. Purple will be a drag on future resale. Stick with red, black or white without metal flake.
Biggest issues with those cars is rust. They rust like shipwrecks. Mechanically, they're pretty bullet proof, the rear ends howl a bit and the brakes are barely adequate. They have a prodigious appetite for high grade fuel. But there's nothing like driving a Dynaflow Buick down the highway; 0 to 120 in the same gear, just a steady pull all the way up. Throwing in a modern powertrain puts you in the category of a "resto-mod", and like most of them, resale is a matter of taste. You'll sell the car if you can find a buyer who likes what you did, otherwise you might hang on to it forever. Purple looks great on a Plymouth Roadrunner at a car show, but I'd hate to live with it on a daily basis. Your best and safest bet is a sympathetic stock restoration; - it appeals to a majority of tastes and levels the playing field by offering a fixed set of expectations. That said, it's your most expensive option, and if it was your plan to use the car daily, not necessarily the safest option(the brake thing again). Resale on those cars is pretty much at the height and remaining pretty flat; the generation that appreciated them is dying off. By the same token, the supply of those cars is drying up, and each one that gets converted to a retromod is inevitably taken out of the pool of survivors as most tend to usually wind up as parts cars or in the wrecker. The numbers for chopped up incomplete cars ending up in the crusher are staggering; I think it's pretty safe to assume that 2/3 of all projects end up there, and if you look at the numbers of those cars available on eBay or other online services, you'll see that my estimate might be conservative. IMHO with these cars, it pays to wait around and buy the best one you can afford and let someone else take the hit on the resto.
Color should depend on what your (wife's) end use will be. If you are worried about resale, then stock, numbers match is the way to go. If a resto-mod is what you are after, then the only issue of a color change would be a picking a color that looks so bad on the car that, when the time does come to sell it, no one wants it. The more you personalize anything, the more you limit those who will like it. Purple may not look so bad (depending on the shade) two toned with bright white (not pearl) or silver. There are computer apps that you can try different combos on the car to see what she likes. Just as an aside, one of my wife's cars is a non-numbers matching '71 Z/28 RS. It was originally Rosewood (no stripes) with black guts. She decided to go with Hugger Orange/white stripes with orange/black guts. Car has many other mods, but the body has not been cut/tubbed or otherwise. We limited our market come time to sell, but she wants to have a car built her way to enjoy. So, if this is the path she wishes to follow, "Happy Wife................ Oh, and lose the single master cylinder 'cause I know you love her. Best to You & Wife!
Anything you do that is not somewhat sticking with the factory stuff is going to detract from resale value. Is this a Roadmaster, Super, Century or Special?
'56 is probably the best of that generation of Buick. There are a few '56 only components - the differential comes to mind, but they are great cars. Supers and Roadmasters are essentially Cadillac-bodied, Specials and Centurys share bodies with Olds 88 and Super 88s, probably some Pontiacs as well. '56 is a torque tube drive (unique to Buick in '56 - they didn't go to an open driveline until '61). Since it's a two-door post car, I'm guessing that it's a Special. These have a lower horsepower 2 bbl carb engine, but the 4 bbl is a bolt-on and are not hard to find or particularly expensive. You may actually get better fuel mileage with the 4 barrel setup (if you keep your foot out of it) so it's a win-win situation. Personally I like the look of the '55 better, but the '56 Special does give you a few mechanical improvements.
John It's not a 2 door post car, it's a 2 door Century "no-post" coupe. And I'm not 100% sure, but I believe it's an original California car, with just surface rust and a couple of minor dings. I still need to get under the car and inspect it carefully for rust, but from what I've seen it's in pretty good shape. That being said, I can still see 6-8K for paint and body work, 3-4K for new interior, 2K for tires and rims, 2-3K for bright work, and who knows what else misc items might come up. That does not include any mods to the suspension or braking system to make it safe and drivable for my wife. All said and done I will probably be into it for 20-25K. I think it's worth it, but I don't want to get in over my head. And is long as she has fun with it, then it's all good. I understand about the "resto-mod" issues, and I agree with not "over personalizing" the car. But would upgrading the suspension really devalue the car? Thanks for the input. This gives me more to present my case to the wife! T
I agree with Marc and John, Especially what Marc said about the Dynaflow and the nailhead. The Dynaflow driving experience is smooooth power. It never shifts, yet it's effortless pulling away from a stop. You'll have even better performance than mine, with the higher power '56 and the lighter weight Century. Welcome to V8Buick! Places to look for parts : Russ Martin , Centerville Auto Tom Telesco , Classic and muscle (TelRiv on this forum) Flying Dutchman (for water pumps) Rock Auto Kanter auto parts Bob's Automobilia NAPA AACA/BCA forums This forum's parts wanted section CARS old Buick parts
I forgot to mention that the '56 is the first year with the airplane-style shocks in the rear - a good thing. The Century is a desirable model - especially the 2-dr hardtop. It should have the biggest, baddest 322 (255 hp if you want to believe the factory specs). If it's a dual-exhaust car it will have the really good exhaust manifolds that are essentially cast-iron headers. If I was looking for another project, that would be a car that would interest me. As one of the most desirable Buick models of the '50s,(excluding Skylarks and Caballero wagons) I'd leave it stock.
If you keep it stock you will get more help from the service manual and these forums. They have been modified before, but everyone does it differently and those that have done it are either illiterate or mute since they never come on to help (other than say it is "great"). Take the brakes for instance: there are disc brake conversions, but the "kit" is not complete since no one sells or can recommend a compatible dual power master cylinder. The last one I saw the guy spent the money and time, but the car would not stop as well as stock.
Now that I find out it's a Century, yes, that one screams stock...it's the original "banker's hot-rod". By far the most desirable model of that year. The will do modern traffic reasonably well. You will have to pay more attention, plan your stops, but they keep up and with a tightened up suspension will handle radials reasonably well. Now the caveat; - don't parallel park them with radials. The last one I drove was a 56 Roadmaster sedan which rode and drove well, and was the equal of anything modern off the lights in normal conditions. With a Dynaflow, I wouldn't recommend racing it off the line, but the Century was the best equipped to do just that in its day. About the only concession I'd make is the dual master cylinder, but, even then, I still drove a single for eons, but. you have to keep an eye on things and have a good rebuilt in to start with. Brakes, if there was a way to retrofit the later aluminum drums I'd do those instead of discs; - most disc set-ups I've seen and driven for those cars left something to be desired, they weren't as good as the drums. Since that the first year for telescopic shocks, you have options to stiffen it up. Steering, yes, it's the old socket and ball affair on kingpins, but it works. You'll need every inch of that wheel, with radials it does run truer and straighter on the highway, but on skinny tires it'll follow ruts. That's part of the romance and fun of old cars, they require operator intervention. You are forced to drive the car. Want to put on make up or text? - Buy a Lexus. But they were reasonably well balanced and handled well; - a lot better than the cheaper more popular cars of the day did. When you paid the money and bought a Buick, you bought quality. I'd take a nicely restored original over a retro-mod any day of the week; - I know what to expect and then only have to worry about shoddy parts, and not questionable redesign or underspec'd or goofed mods. Just sayin...
On my '55 Special yrs. ago I installed the aluminum drums & 2 1/4"x12" shoes all around from a '63 Riv. using the original single master, as dual hadn't come out yet, & the original w/cyls. The finished product was phenomenal. It almost felt like power brakes & would stop the car from 100+ MPH with no PROBLEM. Since I've been a mechanic & hobbyist much of my life for me it was just about a bolt-on. At the time I didn't have a lathe or fancy equipment I had to have the races machined. Other than that it was ALL done with a grinder, hacksaw, etc. Tom T.
It's my home address John. I had my business phone transferred to my home also. If needed just give a call. The phone has an answering machine. Tom T.
So I went to check out this 56 yesterday. Unfortunately it was not what I saw in the pictures. The body was very rough! There was caner on the pillar between the driver side rear seat window, and the rear window just above the quarter panel. It looked really bad, but I'm sure a good sheet metal guy could have repaired it. It had also been hit at one time on the front passenger side fender, and someone had replaced the fender, but had done a poor job of attaching it, and it had several small dents in it. The hood on that side was damaged all along the fender line, and although I'm sure it could have been repaired, it probably would take a lot of labor. The heater box had been removed, and the hoses and ducts were cut off and hanging. There were three small dents in the roof. There were two small dents in the drivers side quarter panel. There was a small dent in the passenger side quarter panel. Every bit of chrome was rusty and pitted, and two of the passenger side moldings had screws run through them to attach them to the body. Both windows on the passenger side were cracked as was the drivers side window. The car ran and the owners son drove me around the block, but it was smoking a little, and sounded rough. It didn't have power steering or power brakes, which would have been a deal breaker for my wife. The interior was completely original, and the dash pad had no cracks whatsoever, but everything needed to be redone. The dash chrome and steering wheel ring needed to be redone, but the instrument cluster was completely intact. The trunk looked like a time capsule. The original white paint looked brand new, and it still had the original insulation in the trunk lid, and the original jack instructions still attached! There was absolutely no rust in the trunk or the floorboards, and the frame looked dirty but solid. The car did have some good points, however I could see that it would take a lot of time and money to make it right again. The guy was asking $6,500.00, but I didn't even make an offer, as I didn't want to offend him. At $1,500 it might have been worth the effort, but I'm sure he thought it was worth more than that. And although it was a mostly original 2 door Century, it might be better served as a parts car. I will keep searching for the right car, as I know it's out there somewhere!
