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My 1956 Special Model 43


56buickinga

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It was oringally a PA car and it had been sitting for 17 years before I bought it in September of 2007 put in a fresh battery and a fuel cell in the trunk and had it on the road in a few days but it always had a skip like it was running on 6-7 cylinders and massive amounts of blow by. Thanksgiving of 2007 it finally decided to do whatever it thought it needed to and all the gas/compression ignited and blew fire out of every orifice of the motor.

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The day I bought it.

Upon engine disaasembly I found that the #5 cylinder had a crack in the top of the piston. So while it was down I got a new piston, piston rings and bearings.

post-58377-143139292226_thumb.jpg after the rebuild. Its not the correct color I went with Detroit Diesel Green. Also, the plastic fuel filter was temporary to check fuel pump function.

After getting it on the road and running great three weeks later the torque converter O-ring started leaking. That resulted in the removal of a dynaflow. I have no pictures of this unfortunately. So while the rear end was out it was cleaned painted and repaired and the brakes were totally gone through at that time too.

post-58377-143139292262_thumb.jpg Some pictures after I had been driving it for awhile.

After fine tuning the mechanicals I decided to repair the rust on the hood. The Sheet metal instructor at the aviation school I was attending assisted greatly in the body work.

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In the summer of 2009 the heater core started lealking.Then in October of 2009 I foolishly decided to start disassembly for repaint. In my mind I had to pull the fender to repair the heater core why not just fix the other bad spots at the same time. Looking back I should just have left the heater box bypassed but thats the past.

post-58377-143139292264_thumb.jpg What it looked like while I was doing that. I thought it would never look like a Buick again.

After that I bolted it back together so it was kinda together. I parked it in the barn prepped it for long storage and moved to Las Vegas in Feb. of 2011.

Christmas of 2011 I pulled it out of the barn and got it on the road again if only for a week.

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Thats how it looks today. Work has stopped until I can either get the body work done in Georgia or have the car shipped to Vegas and work on it out here.

Sorry for the long and pic heavy first and very delayed post in this thread.

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Edited by 56buickinga (see edit history)
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Guest shadetree77
Sorry for the long and pic heavy first....

Don't worry about it! I think we all love lots of pictures around here. Good to see another Buick guy starting a build thread. These "Me and My Buick" threads are my favorites here on the forum. Be sure to keep us updated and feel free to post away with the pictures! :)

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Guest Rob McDonald

BINGA, I think you were onto something there... Squint a bit and you can see where Studebaker was headed with its terrific styling in '53 and '54. Imagine the Buick grille and bumper as just a very deep bumper. Now, if the designers in South Bend had squared up the grille openings a bit and raised the hood ornament, they might have had a huge seller! Instead they lost their way in '55 and never had another chance at the coveted Number Three position, taken that year by Buick itself.

Wow, is this ever Off Topic. Sorry to read that you and your Special are struggling with a long distance relationship. It shouldn't be hard to find a cheap garage to buy in Las Vegas, in which to continue your restoration work. Heck, most garages there come with 3-bedroom houses attached.

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So glad you posted your story Buickinga. That looks like a nice project car. Is the interior okay? The seat tops in your pics look pretty good. Wish I could help you get the car to Vegas. Matter of fact, wish I could get myself to Vegas. Good luck and I hope you get it sorted out soon.

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Is the interior okay? The seat tops in your pics look pretty good.

The interior is somewhat ok. The headliner needs to be replaced. The dashpad is fine. The door cards are complete but sun stained from sitting. The front seat was recovered before it was parked so its in pretty decent shape. The rear seat back vinyl was recovered before I bought the car so it looks great too. sadly the rats discovered my Buick and thought it to be a luxury apartment and built a nest with the back seat bottom. I havent seen it but I hear its ruined. These are pictures from when I bought it of the interior.

Wish I could help you get the car to Vegas. Matter of fact, wish I could get myself to Vegas. Good luck and I hope you get it sorted out soon.

It will get here one day, when the time is right. Youre welcomed anytime here in Vegas we love visitors.

Guess I should add how I came to own this Buick.

I used to have a 1953 Willys Aerolark. It was rusty but drove great. I attended a lot of car shows and wasnt very well liked. There was an older man that drove his Nash rambler to a lot of shows. I knew him from the auto museum in town I worked at part time after school.

So from knowing me hed usually save me a spot to park next to him and we became better friends. Eventually I started driving him and his cars to shows since his health was declining. One day I noticed the 56 parked under a lean-to. I asked what was he ever going to do with it. He said it was his wife's dad's car the last one he ever drove before losing his license at the age of 90 and she probably wouldnt want to get rid of it or anything to that nature.

I said well we should at least get it out and clean it up see if it runs etc and that I hated to see a good car just sit there. He always just said well see even though I'd ask him everytime I was at his house.

Then one day out of nowhere he called and said, "You know we probably ought to pull that old Buick out wash it down clean it up and see about getting it running. I hate to see a good car just sit there."

So we did just that and got it running but the brakes were frozen and it was immobile. He said hed call me when he wanted to work on it again. Three weeks went by and I was busy at a full time job. Came home one day and his obituary was in the news paper. No one in his family had my contact number off hand so they couldnt call to inform me he was in the hospital.

About a week after that his wife finally called me. Said that he was fond of me and enjoyed working on and driving cars with me and that if I wanted to buy the car it would mean a lot to her.

No questions asked I said of course lets talk about a fair price and work it out.

Thats how I came into owning one 1956 Buick Special. I dont think I could ever part with it.

Also, another interesting side story.

Mr. Humphries who owned the car before me only drove 1955 and 1956 Buick Specials. He drove his Model T into the local Buick dealer in 1955 and bought a new Special. He drove it, another '55 Special, a black '56 Special, a green and white '56 shortly before it was in an accident, and my 1956 that was bought for his 85th birthday in 1986. He drove it for 5 years all around the county at 20mph until the state took his license in 1991. Thats when they backed it under the lean-to and shut it off.

Wow again sorry for the novella.

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Edited by 56buickinga
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Jon, great story! Loved every detail. Reminded me of my 56 Roadmaster that was given to me by my parent's neighbor. Only difference is I let the Roadmaster meet it's maker when my Super came along. Long time ago, in a different world.... ( sigh)

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Guest shadetree77

No need for apologies Jon. If we love anything more than pictures, it's a good Buick story! Yours definitely qualifies. Thanks for sharing.

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Jon, it is stories like this that demonstrate how the automobile was a large part of the family fabric. The allure of the automobile is kind of lost these days. Way-back-when folks would take the day off to see the new model just arriving at the dealers. Today the auto is as utilitarian as a toaster. Enjoy the car. Enjoy the memories. Enjoy putting the car back together and making it part of the fabric of your family. Sometimes the simple things in life are completely and utterly lost these days.

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  • 4 weeks later...

I made it home for the holidays and day one first thing was to get the Buick out of the barn. It still runs great drove fine. found out that the inner fender on the passenger rear is a little worse than I remember it being.

The red on the picture is the bondo part of the car. The driverside rocker is just as bad. The blue line is how much of the inner fender and fenderwell is missing. I can see some daylight from inside the trunk.

Ive been debating for a long time of owning the car if there would be a good way to go about converting it to suicide doors. since the body isnt the best and the frame is rewelded back together up front it will never be a 400 point car. Plus being a hard top theres no post so just a matter of fabrication. I always thought it would be neat to open up the interior like a continetal but im not sure if it can be done or if its even worth doing honestly.

Here are a couple of pictures taken of it.

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If that rear inner fender is toast, then I would not want to be hanging heavy doors from hinges in that area. Considering the cut of the dog leg there, you'd have to have two hinges withing around 8 inches of each other. Surely this will sag and the doors will need constant alignment to look right and maybe even to open.

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Guest Rob McDonald

Please don't let your daydream get out of bed. If you want suicide doors - and they are very cool - buy a beater Lincoln from the '60s. Start cutting your Buick up for that and you'll just never put it back together. Now, slowly put the torch down and nobody has to get hurt.

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Please don't let your daydream get out of bed. If you want suicide doors - and they are very cool - buy a beater Lincoln from the '60s. Start cutting your Buick up for that and you'll just never put it back together. Now, slowly put the torch down and nobody has to get hurt.

I can assure you the torch is not anywhere near my hand. Its only a what if at best. If it was to be done it would be a checkbook modification by letting a professional do it.

Im really just going to repaint it and get it back on the road and have a real nice driver to enjoy.

And while I like suicide doors and the lincolns they're just not for me.

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