1950 Buick Sledanette

[SuperBuickGuy]

In the 2010, I went to a car show and saw this


it is the sexiest car I'd ever seen, nice chop, perfect color, but it has a Cadillac motor :bomb:

but the seed had been planted and not terribly long after this, I bought this

from a farmer in Montana.

That was 2012. The plan was to use a 455 I had, put turbos on it, and mimic the rest of that car I saw. Sounds simple, no?
no
In 1990 or so, the Courthouse in Montana burned to the ground, taking with it all records of cars that were registered in Montana. As you can see, this one had been sitting for awhile, so I had to apply for an ownership-in-doubt paperwork in Washington. To do that, I had to have a motor in the car then haul it to the State Patrol to be inspected... a lot of work, but the only way to tile it. Of course, the car didn't have a motor, so I bought one

for less than its value in scrap (it's a heavy beast).

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

Suspension
a 2003 Lincoln towncar gave up its front suspension

and a friend rebuilt a turbo 400 with 475 internals (straight cut gears) in anticipation of the motor

the torque tube had to go

as did the freight-train sized front suspension


lots and lots of measurements later


a boat?


and fitting


and yes, more cutting


and new frame rails


then came the hard part


but eventually success


set a spare buick motor in for fitment


and it almost looks like I knew what I was doing

 

[JPhil]

And we're off and running on another build thread! Woohoo!:yahoo:
I'm really looking forward to this, SBG. I grew up in Buicks of the 50s & 60s, one of my dream cars to build is that very one you have. Let the fun begin!

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

Rear suspension


okay, an aside. I am my dad's son - his first car was a 50 Buick as well (white, even) and my getting a 50 Buick ended up in him getting one as well


his came with a trailer hitch, motor, and a lot more rust... apparently rust was standard from the factory as you will see later


back to the task


Buick put the rear forward in the wheelwell, I wanted a larger tire (and larger then this 295/50 15)


and I came up with a 9"


one just cannot imagine the structure Buick put under these... they had typical side-rails that support the body, but they also had a X-rail (like the 60 impala) as well.... I cut all that out


sexy vette there yep, miss not having a C3, but this is my current task... focusing


my plan was air ride. not anymore, my plan is now typical coil over these go on my pickup (eventually)


yeah this x brace


floors will be a later post, but for anyone worried that I was cutting up a pristine car.... yeah




the flintstones have nothing on me


originally, I wasn't planning on narrowing the rear.... so I had to adapt the brackets


but there we are, and rest assured, I think those are CHINESE brackets


that's 'done' (except for the take the frame out, wire wheel the frame, finish weld it, paint it and put it all back together)

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

then I went to Canada to overload my trailer - this, along with a story that comes in a bit ended in my spending 2 years building Corvette then 2 years building the Toyota



That really was a fun day and this doesn't look as heavy as it actually is

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

the rear, cont.


oh yeah, the front, rear mount


time for happy dog break (and very unhappy wife because that toy was expensive and for a friend's baby shower)

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

dark clouds

the brake set up arrived

broken

all of this done is in anticipation of the motor I'm building.... a 455 with twin chinese turbos, edelbrock heads, MS3x fuel injection...


I also got some better tires for the rear


the 295 is on the left


it actually almost fits.... it will, but there will be some narrowing


cross member

yep, it's crooked, but it will be straight once the motor mounts are built
at this point they're those special 'air-gap' style


they are pretty beefy because the motor will have the nuts to turn those tires


my photobombing yellow lab, rip rue


looks pretty good, now all I need is a motor (this was 2012)




and into the hole with you for the next 4 years

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

blanking Jim Green Performance in Monroe washington. Never, ever use them.

In 2012, I took the motor to him because he claimed he could put the girdle on the Buick block.
So a bit of aside, to build a 700 hp (900 in anger) Buick motor, you must put a girdle on the block otherwise you'll drive over the crank. While the crank can handle 1000+ hp, the block barely survives at 500 (and it's risky). I had a 455 that my brother (now deceased) had bought for a 71 Skylark. He never put it in and eventually I ended up with it. It was a 76 motor - which was the last year, and actually best year for the block.

I took the motor to them, and they managed to make the pan rails U shaped. Worst of all the legs were tighter then the middle - it actually made the motor weaker then it was without the girdle. $1,500 to install the rail, and he ruined the block. Of course, his defense was that 2 other machinists calipers were wrong.

Eventually I found another shop capable of doing the build.... and I honestly don't know what to say about them. They did nice work, but the cost was literally my truck to get that work done (which I never would have spent had I known)

shiney parts to make me happy again.


and miscommunication with the person talking to the shop - I wanted X motor, he thinks I need Y motor - so rather then doing what I want, he simply nodded then told the shop Y. My first plan was to run this motor without turbos, but I can't now because the pistons are too low of compression to run with the cam (or run well enough so that the tune would make any sense)


but they sure are pretty.


custom made pistons 8:1 compression. For a 430 ci motor, so part of the problem with Buick motors is the thin-wall casting. If you want to turbo or supercharge the motor you need to sonic test the block to get enough material so it won't, literally, blow out.... I have 4, 455 blocks that failed that test. Eventually we gave up and sleeved the block to get the thickness

BBC rods, but not really, because BBC never came with a 6.800 rod - but it is BBC sized so the pins and pistons match, as does the crank that was turned down to BBC size


block with girdle

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

so the FJ40 is done, Corvette is sold (sniff), and it's time


the reason for a winch on the FJ40


beside being a whole lot dirtier


we're ready to start again.... by building a frame table that will look remarkably like a car trailer without the tongue and axles (and will miraculously become one when this part is done)


the floors are so bad that I want to put it on a frame table to make sure everything fits. It's yet another detour, but a necessary one

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

so, do you want to watch this or wait until I get my next C3?

 

[phantomjock]

Don't keep us in suspense!

More - yes more please.:drink:

Cheers - Jim

 

[Sam Cogley]

Very cool project. I'd love to do something similar with a Willys Aero when time and funds allow.

Have you seen this build? http://autoweek.com/article/diy/adv...ng-ancient-field-find-car-and-cleaning-it-out

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

a 4 door 41 Plymouth - now that's either amazing dedication or complete insanity (the good kind). neat car.

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

so I may back up just a bit.... when I built this, I was more concerned about tuneability and straight line performance. I'm not putting a cage in it, so it needs to turn as well.... which is better accomplished by a triangulated 4 link rather then the 4 link with panhard. Also, it drives and rides better.

so, the parts




kind of the back story is I also need to narrow a 9" rear end and I'm not sure which one's going to get the cut.... but that's a tomorrow deal

 

[BangkokDean]

Looking good:thumbs:

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

thank you.... this is going to be a long term project that I hope to have driving by next summer. it will not be yours or Bob's level of detail or craftsmanship...sorry

 

[bobs77vet]

oh yes i want to see more!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


i can tell you, your ingenuity and level of craftsman ship is very very high and i am liking it....

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

thanks.... now to just convince you that you need a Spider
So I bought these air springs for something else, but they're being pressed into service while I decide what I'm doing with the back.... problem is the mongo tires may interfere with the triangulated 4 link

but for now, they'll hold it off the ground so I can more easily roll it around


Buick approves

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

I realize I haven't shown the car that I fell in love with (even though it's caddy powered) and commenced me on this path


however, it will be closer to this when it's done


with a whole lot of inspiration from this

 

[bobs77vet]

I wish I was not on the other side of the world, your build would be so cool to see in person.