1950's buick super swap?

knob1 · November 25th, 2008

Hi,
I'm looking at getting this old buick. the guy says its a 1953 buick super 8, but for the reseach i have been able to come up with i'm not sure what it is. it has 3 circle holes on the hood not the fenders. it has a fastback 2 door. also i don't really know how rare it is but it has non-production turn signals on the fenders above the headlights. lots of chrome. it also says super on the side on it. he has alot of old cars but i'm wondering if this is maybe a diamond in the ruff. does anyone know what year/model this is? by the way, what ever it is, what would be the best frame to do a swap with for a 350 and a th350?
thanks alot!

imported_Thriller · November 25th, 2008

The only year with the Ventiports in the hood is 1950. The Super model had 3 Ventiports. It also has unique grill guards on the front of the front bumper in 1950.

I can't speak to anything about a swap though.

knob1 · November 26th, 2008

Thanks man. i really appreciate it! so has anyone done a frame swap on these things?

64e225 · November 30th, 2008

That ol' straight 8 has plenty of touque. Don't decrease your car's value! kinda like "Don't knock it til you try it"

Bill Stoneberg · November 30th, 2008

If you want to swap, I have heard that mid 70's Cadillacs are the way to go. Body drops on and mounting bolts mainly line up. Having never tried it, I wouldn't know.

A swap that does make sense and looks pretty in the meantime is a old Nailhead engine. Much more torque then the sbc and prettier too. Plus you have the advantage of not looking like 95 % of other people. You have the room under the hood for it and all the accessories.

Is there something wrong with the frame or why are you looking to swap it out ?

Wmsteed · November 30th, 2008

A friend of mine is in the middle of doing a chassis swap on a 52 Buick Special HT. He is using an early 80's Chevy chassis with a 454 engine.

This project has turned out to be the project from hell... The chassis had to be sectioned to shorten it up then the rear portion of the Buick chassis had to be added to the Chevy frame so the bumper could be attached. Notches had to be cut into the body in the rear seat area to clear the frame.
The list of modifications to the frame and body go on and on.

I for one can not understand why people think they have to cut up a perfectly good car/chassis, when with just a few simple modifications, the original chassis can be up-graded to larger brakes and/or disk with improved shocks and a nail head engine.

My friend has picked up another '52 Special HT. He is going to get the "abortion" running and sell it to some unsuspecting citizen, then build the second '52 the right way.

knob1 · December 9th, 2008

well the car is sitting on the ground right now and has been for the last 20 years. the body looks good and i havnt looked at the frame yet but i can just imagine what is will look like. i'm picking the car up in the spring cause the frame i frozen to the ground right now. i just figure i would pick up more info about the car and a swap possiblitly before i get my head in to deep like your friend. one thing i did notice is that the holes in the hood are complete circles not ovals. i wonder how rare that really is?

First Born · December 13th, 2008

knob1, sounds like soime body has changed something. As someone else said, 1950 is the ONLY year the portholes are in the hood. And they are oval. Raise the hood and look on the cowel on the passanger side and tell us what is on the little platr there

RivNut · December 16th, 2008

Find out what the car is to determine the wheel base. If it's around 121" look for the frame from a late 60's or early 70's G-body station wagon - Buick Sport wagon or Olds Cutlass Vista Cruiser. Still fairly simple but they came with disc brakes and they're easy to find parts for.

d2_willys · December 17th, 2008

Can't be a 53 Super as they had the first Nailhead V8's.