My 1955 Buick Century 4 door sedan project

Picked up a pretty rusted but complete Century.

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At first I was like:

http://i51.tinypic.com/25i3e4l.jpg

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Progress............Got too much to do this week and very little time to get out in the garage myself. Looks great. Keep us posted!

Well got the whole front off and discovered a cracked passanger side exhaust manifold. More pix to come, i will imbed em

I love to see new project cars. Keep us posted! Mud

So I got really lucky and bought another 55 frame and body, this body has been indoors for 30-some years. Minor surface rust, zero body rust through (unlike my complete car pictured above) and very minor holes in the passanger floor.

I will be using the cars from the century on the new body after I get it soda blasted. I will be taking pictures today after work.

Keep tuned.

First, I want to commend you on takin on a four door project, especially a sedan, and especially a Century 4 door sedan. Aside from the convertibles, the Century 4 door sedan was the least produced of the series in 55, with like only 13,000 being made. Too many restorable and stately four door sedans end up as donors for the two doors.

Look forward to following your project. Have you set your goals yet as to what you want in the end?

Congrats on finding a better body, you won't regret that.

Also why don't you stop in the "Please Introduce Yourself" sticky thread and tell us where ya are and a little about yourself.

and keep dem pitchers comin:)

Thanks for making the four door sound rare, it doesnt look quiet as sweet as the other models but i just liked it when i saw a local one for sale. This car is dubbed the rusted part bucket, and the newer shell is actually a special, but will soon be a century.

As for plans, im still thinking. No idea of color combo yet. I have a cracked header on my 322 which turns by hand and oil and spark plugs look good. Id like to keep the 322 nailhead but would also like a 425 nailhead for more pep in the century step.

I am thinking about keeping the drums, the rusted bucket has pretty good brakes. But i will still go over the lines and do the dual master cylinder, something i read on this site.

Engine bay and firewall will be black.

I will be running an aluminum radiator with a fan, some nicer shocks up front with different springs to lower the car a nice amount.

Some pics and updates so far.

I finally received my Eastwood Soda Blaster, procured a new compressor and cleaned up my work area. I will be taking some more pictures after work.

Stay tuned.

From this

To this

Pulled motor

That engine appears to be painted a colour other than the original Buick green. With that in mind, if you do any work to it, you will want to inspect / measure before ordering stuff like pistons and rings in case they are already oversized.

Good point Derek

The tranny seems to be painted also. Thanks for the suggestion, I will check all the clearances.

Sorry had to throw in some of my JDM fast and furious roots lol

This is the end result of my first time soda blasting, one 50lbs bag and only cleared 20 percent of the fender. I personally now either sand or wirewheel the car, and would only use soda blasting for the hard to get to spots.

Doing the blasting

Then the motor got nakkid

Just guessing but this cylinder might have been running lean.

rusted thermo

So now I just want to check the motor and the clearances, clean up the coolant tunnels and get this baby together. Body will be epoxy primer since a paint job will cost 9-12k with a 9 month wait at most local body shops.

This is my progress so far. Sometimes feels like im in too deep. Keep an eye out for these cars on craigslist.... lol

Then I polished

Very good learnings here about soda blasting. Heaps of media for very little progress - right, got that. Jeepers, just getting started and you're talking Craigslist - don't do that to us! Your kind of energy and ambition is all that some of us get out of this great hobby. You've got plenty of armchairs restorers riding with you - please keep those photos coming.

So I have a few update. Thinking about how to get the body off the frame, hoists and anchors, jacks and stone blocks, and some 10x2s. All would work fine but it didnt feel right. My dad informed me " you cant search the internet" and told me about the rotisseri, which is cool but still not there.

While kicking back and working on a bike my friend mentioned a car life. A two post and i was sold. Hit craigslist and located one. Picked it up and now have my car lifted. Soon off the frame.

Pix will come later cant do it from my phone.

"hoists and anchors, jacks and stone blocks, and some 10x2s" - wow, does that ever sound like a recipe for an industrial accident! You are so much safer having found a 2-post lift instead. If I buy one more big power tool, one of my cars will be forced out of the garage. Memo to self: stay off Craigslist.

Update: Buying the lift was the best purchase since my 55 special rust free body.

Lifted!

This does not look like the factory master clutch to me.

All the brake lines I took off

Painted the MC/BB

Pulled the harness, it looks pretty good, but there were extra wires added by the previous owner to the rear taillights and to the fuel pump. Going to have to go over the whole thing and maybe rewire it.

Cracked the windshield while I was removing it. It had a big white spot on the passenger side between the two layers of glass and I was planning on getting a new one anyway. But I am damn pissed I broke it, I had removed two rear windows with no problems!

Looked inside the rear, looks clean.

Start of the day

And then

Ended up with this

Cut off the bracket for the old skinny tubes, to be replaced with some truck trailing arms in the future.

Front from the donor car.

Next step is to convert the rear to open driveline. Then starting putting stuff together.

Picked up a pair of chevy truck trailing arms on ebay for 133 bucks shipped. Looks like its slowly coming together.

Im BACK and ready to start doing some work on this project!

Welcome back. We still have a stool at the bar for you.