ok so i must say i am glad i found this site! so i am building a rat rod and picked up a nailhead out of a 53. the engine turns over and everything looks great untill i opened it up to find oil has been cooked to everything for sitting for a number of years, but thats another story. so what color was the block? what color was the valve covers? my water pump also seems to be frozen in place. i am goin to pull it this weekend and see if i can free her up. if not does anyone know where i can find a new one? i was also wondering about running a manual transmission i found a bellhaouing on ebay that goes to a ford 3 speed but i dont know if the bolt pattern is the same on my 322. if anyone has done this conversion or any conversion to a manual transmission i would greatly appreciate it. -james
There are numerous places to get the water pump rebuilt. Converting to a manual trans is a matter of finding a 53-56 Buick with a stick. The Buick bell housing was not changed for those years. any other unit will not fit without serious work.
James I think the 53 322 ( this may be the one piece ballancer/pulley to a two piece ballancer/pulley ) is ballanced different than the other 322's you may have to have a 53 flywheel or reballance a newer 322 flywheel. There where different trans patterns on the 53 to 56 cars a light and heavy trans. I have a 56 bell housing and you can drill them to use a Chevy 4 speed but you'll be better off just buying an adaptor bell on e-bay.I think the 53 322 is an odd ball in the head piston area also but not sure. The motor was all green close to GM diesel green but not exact, if it's a rod motor does it make any difference what color it was?
Any Nailhead powered rat rod or street rod automatically gets my vote in a car show regardless.......too many Chivvies out there. Nailheads rule! :3gears: (sorry for getting off topic) :bglasses:
