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Buick Special 1956 Model 41


Guest hudini

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Guest hudini

2 days ago we started to restore my first american car. This is like a dream come true, to me. I will try putt pictures as we progress.

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Wow! A 1956 with air conditioning from the factory. That is a very rare option in a 1956 Buick, especially in a Special. It also looks like it is a 3-speed standard shift car--another rarity. You have a very unusual 1956 Special model 41! Do you have all of the missing parts, such as front fenders, interior, grille, bumpers?

Good luck and let us know if we can help. You should join the Buick Club of America and receive the monthly magazine. It will help you with finding parts.

Pete Phillips

Leonard, Texas

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Guest hudini

Yes Pete, I have all parts. The car is 100% complete. On car everything its working except air conditiong, because there is no gas in system. Thanks for support.

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Wow! what a great car, and you are taking it apart very quickly. Make sure that you take many pictures when you take it apart. They will be very helpful when you go to re-assemble the car after you have cleaned and painted all the parts. Also use small plastic bags for parts and label them as well. Use a sharpie pen and tags or labels. It will also help when you go to put it together many months from now. Good luck on your restoration and keep posting the pictures as you go along.

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Guest hudini

Guys, now I need little your help.

Question 1. How too remove knob on first seat. (in red circle)

Question 2. How to remove antenna (chrome ring that have a little hole - in red circle)

and 3. I need this chrome ventilation port (i dont wanna radio) (in red circle)

Thank you

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You need a shop manual. They are available on Ebay ; original printing, reproduction and on CD. I normally would take pictures of my manual and post.... But,

My camera and scanner are down .

The '55 Shop Manual Section 11-7 (page 401) Has the procedure for installation of the antenna. (the procedure for removal is not given). Reversing the installation should work.

There is a nut inside the fender.

Hopefully some one will post a scan or photo fo the manual...........

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The knob has a small (1/8" +/-?) hex (or Allen) key on the underside of the knob.

That chrome antenna bezel just twists off. Protect the chrome and then use pliers of some sort. There may be a tool for it that is crescent shaped, but it may be hard to find in Croatia. So use the pliers ;) .

I assume you are looking for a radio block-off plate. eBay has them sometimes.

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Guest hudini

thank you guys. I have shop manual. It was the first thing I bought. In section 11-7 is installation of Manual Antenna and for this chrome nut says too tight securely use Antenna Nut Wrench J 5185-1. I just need this information that Buick5563 give me.

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  • 2 weeks later...
Guest hudini

work on the car to this day. Engine is off and dismantled. The valve's are in poor condition. I have to replace all valves (intake and exhaust), and 4 lifters are bad. Undercarriage is ready for sandblasting.

Edited by hudini (see edit history)
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  • 1 month later...
Guest hudini

Today I rebuild my carb (carter). I have question. On carb there is a small hole, must these "hole" be open? (mark with red circle). And second question: When opening filter nothing was inside. must be in some kind of mesh? Thanks for answers.post-80658-143139129124_thumb.jpg

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I don't know about the hole, but , yes , there should be a wire mesh"cylinder" inside. Also, you might want to disassemble the morain filter that is attached to the carb in the 2nd photo and soak it in carb cleaner or some such. The pores are very small, and will plug up with stuff an inline filter passes. Ask me how I know.

Ben

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

very cool- ambitious project too. valves are the weak link in the engine. You need to get good oil flow to them, the oil pushes through a bolt thread that holds down the valve rockers. Anything you can do to increase the oil flow around that bolt will help alot. there is no second chance if you stick a valve.

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the pancake filter has a sintered brass filter- likely removed. I would add a see thru filter and then just leave the pancake filter as is, making sure it doesn't leak.

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Wow! A 1956 with air conditioning from the factory. That is a very rare option in a 1956 Buick, especially in a Special. It also looks like it is a 3-speed standard shift car--another rarity. You have a very unusual 1956 Special model 41! Do you have all of the missing parts, such as front fenders, interior, grille, bumpers?

Good luck and let us know if we can help. You should join the Buick Club of America and receive the monthly magazine. It will help you with finding parts.

Pete Phillips

Leonard, Texas

And Pete, dual exhausts, absolutely a rare one.

Hudini, do the dual exhausts appear to be original? Did you happen to find a build sheet anywhere during dis-assembly.

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MrEarl, I'm 34 year old guy that from little dream about heaving this kind'a car. I always watch it on tv. Today i have my car, my dream car. In Croatia this cars are another world and I dont have anyone to talk about this car. So, lucky I have you guys. When we start to disassemble car this is what i foundpost-80658-143139160975_thumb.jpg

I can not figure out what is written on the paper. This paper was under back seat. the seat are original. I think.

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The 56 has a high brake cylinder so dual exhaust is no problem. I can imagine that is quite a project, I suspect it is hard to find parts in Croatia. Let is know what parts you may need.

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  • 1 month later...

to this day chassis is ready. I think I hit the color of engine. now we wait until body is done (possibly within a month)

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please comment. Tell me what's wrong and what not.

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very nice. I understand the transmissions were engine color, but could also be black or unpainted. So, consider this more of a discussion topic than anything definitive.

When you get to the body, I have found on unrestored cars they hit most everything with red oxide primer. I personaly like the underside and pans to be the car color, but red oxide primer is how they were shipped. For judging, that isn't an issue (the pan is under carpet and the underside is a one knee rule) Just a few discussion points depending on how "correct" you are trying to be.

But often, when I think I have "correct" defined, I later discover I was wrong. So, Take my comments with a grain of salt.

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Beautiful work! If possible, I would install the rest of the exhaust system before installing the body.

Did you rebuild the transmission while it was out, or just paint it?

In the earlier pictures I noticed the brake master cylinder is not of the original kind. I also noticed this was set up with what I think is a late 80's era power brake booster and master cylinder. I believe a stick shift 56 Special would not have dual exhaust, and I am guessing this has to do with the shift linkage and original style master cylinder. In this car however, someone already engineered a way around that and put on the dual exhaust. I, personally, would just leave it as is. Power brakes are definitely better than manual, and dual exhaust is a nice touch.

What color do you plan to paint the car?

Edited by JohnD1956 (see edit history)
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this week the exhaust system will be installed. On transmission we just replaced seals and oil.

In one way that is very good that someone change the master brake cylinder, but when that cylinder brakes?? what then? I don't know from what car that master brake cylinder is. If you now please tell, so i will now what parts in need and from what car. When I bought this buick it was in very good condition except floor.

The last owner take good care.

I can not decide between two colors, one is metallic silver with metallic white, white-silver-white, (by metallic i mean with "grains") and the other one is turquoise with white, white-turquoise-turquoise.

What experience do you have with engine oil?? what you put?

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The restoration is quite impressive, I suspect you may not have a lot of 50's Buick parts readily available. I will address the oil, since I work in that industry and have some experience with the 322 nailhead. The shop manual is as valid today as it was 50 years ago. I do not have a 56 manual, but the 54 manual recommends 20 wt oil. I use 5W-20 with excellent results. 10W30 or 10W40 are more common- and probably fine, but I would not use 10W40. Thicker is often mistaken for better- not true. However, lower viscosity oils move faster into the critical areas- like the valve train. If an exhaust valve sticks, the results are catastrophic. :( There is also a very tight passage around a bolt thread as the oil goes to the valve rockers. This is a problem, the nailhead needs good top end lubrication. I may be the only Buick owner that uses 5W20 in his engine, but I have not had a single valve problem with that grade or any valve noise. I also met with a Buick mechanic that rebuilt nailheads for a dealer in the late 50's, early 60's. They would strongly advise their clients to use 10 or 20 wt oil and that was the best way to avoid a valve job. Higher viscosity oil just didn't get in the valve guides. I also change the oil every fall before I store the car for winter. If you do nothing else, keep the oil clean and full. I use Red ATF in the tranny so I can see where it leaks (they all do) and service the diff fluid too. ATF will leak down the torque tube and gradually ruin the rear end. Keep the fluids happy and the engine and drive train will last a very long time. The Dynaflow is virtually indestructible but will not tolerate being towed, forcing it to run from the back wheels. Also, don't forget that oil filter. They are often quite old and deteriorated. Of course, this applies to any car but the nailhead won't forgive you for low or bad oil. They do make an excellent boat anchor after you drop a valve. :mad: One more note, I use Zinc additive in the oil and lead substitute in the fuel. Not sure how important they are, but that is highly recommended for old engines so I figure it's cheap anyhow.

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I am not an engineer and only have experience with this one nailhead. I have used 10-40 w oil without adding zinc. I have not driven the car far in the last few years but I also do not have valve train problems. However that may be due to the valve job I did back in 1988 or so. I am taking 54Fins advice to heart. I need to change my oil and will probably use the 10w20 if I can find it. I won't add additional zinc though.

I also do not add any lead substitute to the gas. For the winter I will use Stabil to try and prevent problems with the gas blends we get here. And I will add marvel mystery oil to the gas too.

Can you post close up pictures of the master cylinder and booster so we can try to identify it for you?

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Since I'm going to use a 425 nailhead in my modified, I need to see what the shop manual recommends for oil. The oil passage to the valve train is enlarged over the 322 and I have not read the shop manual for the 425, so if anyone has a manual do post the oil specs. Overall, if you keep the fluids serviced and full that is the most important issue. Old oil is bad and a surprising number of old cars have old oil in them! As for the 56- do you need a new master or did someone modify it and you are trying to match it? The original one is probably not to difficult to locate.

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54fins, The original one is difficult to get because it is a one year, one car application. Finding one is not too bad. rebuilding one is $$$. From the distance in the pics above I can see that the master cylinder in this vehicle has a plastic see through reservoir. That puts the cylinder in the late 80's - through 2000's I believe. What throws me off is the brake pedal in the other picture. That looks like a 6o's Chevy brake pedal to me. Anyway, what's done is done and if it's working I'd leave it alone and move forward. I don't think there are many judges in Croatia who will know the difference.

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I have a couple of 56 centuries but have not got into them yet. The roadmaster has an interesting steering setup with u joints, the small body appears to be the straight column. 56's also appears to go to a high brake cylinder (nice, under the car is a pain) Closer look, I can see he has a newer master- good point, leave well enough alone. It should be easy to identify with a close up shot. I did not know that 56 had a unique setup- I figured it would be the same as a 57. impressive job, That is a big project in the US with lots of parts and Buick people around. Where did you acquire the car?

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  • 3 months later...

Finally, after months and months of waiting finally bodywork is finished. no more such worker. I could do this in max 1 month. ok, the worst is gone. now on body is going to put rust protection and everything else what is need to be put. In 10 days car is going on painting and then assembling.

Here are some new photos, 2 days old.

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And of course I need your help... In Europe we have other threads, if someone could tell me which body clips I need for side trim. Thank you. You are the best for help. Regards

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