[MrEarl]

If someone was building a period correct or "old school" 54 Buick street rod with say an Ansen 3 speed shifter in the floor and wanted to use bucket seats that would have been available back in say 55-58, what would be some options for bucket seats. (preferably old Buick)

[Caballero2]

I would consider '58 Bonneville, then early Corvettes, then '58 T-Bird.

Dan

[JohnD1956]

Originally Posted by MrEarl

If someone was building a period correct or "old school" 54 Buick street rod with say an Ansen 3 speed shifter in the floor and wanted to use bucket seats that would have been available back in say 55-58, what would be some options for bucket seats. (preferably old Buick)

Just for arguments sake, would someone have had the financial ability in 55-58 to cut up a 54 Buick? By then the car would have only been 4 years old and still retained a good portion of it's value. I might suggest that someone would not cut up a 54 buick for a hot rod till at least 61-64, thus moving your search to Corvair or even Skylark bucket seats.

[MrEarl]

No, for argument sake let's say it was 1958, this guy had plenty of money and he didn't want to wait til the 60's. He wanted to bore out a '56 322 to 422 cubic inches, throw some Grant piston rings on some balanced Jahns pistons, a T-3 Iskendarian cam and springs, port and polish the stock heads and balance the crank. Hell he didn't care if he had to sit on 5 gallon bucket, there was this 57 Chevy he wanted to blow the doors off of.
Besides, who said anything about "cuttin" anything up. It was a street rod. 56-58 Rod & Custon, Hot Rod, Honk, and other rod magazines of those years were full of 3-5 year old cars being customized and rodded.
Those 58 Bonneville buckets sound pretty comfy, I guess they could have been ordered new from the dealer eh?

[First Born]

Lamar, are we dreaming or did this car really exist? That would have been quite a bore job to gain 100 ci. Should have been a screamer.

Ben

[JohnD1956]

Ok then, now that the parameters are set, just by pass my earlier suggestion.

[serb]

"someone", would that certain "someone" be living in Georgia with a collection of Buicks in the ole Buick Farm?

[MrEarl]

I've been reading too many of the old 50's Hot Rod and Rod & Custom magazines lately. That engine build I described was done in 1957 by Bill Schnell in Portland Oregon and dropped into a 52 Buick Super. I still have dreams of building a 54 street rod but those dreams are never clear enough to tell what kind of bucket seats were in them. Perhaps you're right JD, maybe I should extend the years on out to at least 60-62 and I could use the '60 Invicta semi-buckets or even the 62 Wildcats buckets. But then I'd have people asking why not just use a 401 Wildcat engine...and I'm a 322 man.
Back in '66, my 57 Chevy had 63 Chevy Impalla SS seats. That's when I was a bored and balanced 283 man. And people were asking why don't you just use a 327 or 409. I guess I just like to stretch the limits.

[old-tank]

Lamar
As long as you are dreaming: Supercharger



Even a 264 would benefit. A more modern solution would be fuel injection and one or two turbos. And as long as I'm stressing your engine and spending your money there is alway nitrous.

Willie

[Thriller]

Standard Catalog of Buick lists bucket seats as being available for a '59 (Electra 225 convertible only). It makes no mention of buckets for '57 / '58 (not that it provides a complete list).

Of course, there's always the plain Jane buckets in the '62 Special. I don't seem to have a good photo, but could provide one in about 10 minutes if you'd like.