Last weekend my son Jordan and I went up to Belvidere, Illinois and picked up the most exciting Buick I have ever had the honor of purchasing. The car is a 1954 Buick Century 2 door riviera hardtop (66R). What makes this car so exciting and special is that it is a 3 speed. As I understand it, only about 1-2 % of the 54 Century?s were produced with the 3 speed conventional transmissions. Additionally it does not have power brakes or power steering. This leads me to believe that whomever ordered this car must have been looking for ?muscle?.
And as I said I felt it was an honor to have been offered this car by the wife of our departed friend Jim Schilf aka Palbuick who left us last year just before Christmas. I also owe thanks to another good friend for helping make the purchase possible. About 3-4 years ago I purchased a large number of Buick Bugles from a gentleman in Illinois named Norm Kortus. Since then he and I have become very good ?cyber friends?. Norm was a very good friend of Jim?s and apparently put in a good word for me with Jim?s wife Rose that led her to offer to sell me the Century. I met Norm when I picked up the car and must say he is one of the nicest Yankee's I've ever met. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />
Jim had started dismantling the car and was in the process of doing some mild customizing to it and rebuilding the engine with some higher performance 1956 engine parts. It was gonna be a tough car I am sure. It was a day of mixed emotions that while loading the car and parts I was constantly seeing Pal?s work and tools where he had last laid them. I also saw the 40 Buick convertible he has been working on for years as well as the gorgeous 66 Wildcat. I hope Pal is satisfied with who Rose picked to be care taker of the car from now on. I don?t plan on ever letting this one go.

Here is a link to the Forum thread of when Pal first bought the car. He and I spoke once and emailed several times about the car and the rare 3 speed and the oddity of the 4 Ventiports.
Palbuicks 3 speed 4 holer 54 Century

Hey Lamar,

thanks for telling your little secret you had. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

What a gorgeous Century! It is really one of a kind. Manual trans is seldom, a car without power brakes and power steering, too. Four portholes, wow... I would call that a "Master Century" according to your other 4-portholers you have. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> I didn't know Jim, but your place is truly the best place for a 54 Buick, so I think he would have liked that.

BTW: The picture with the red truck in front of you looks a little frightening!

That's a great story Lamar. What is with the semi photo in the wrong lane??

What are your plans for the Century? Are you going to do a restoration or modify it? I thought the special purchase car you were getting was the four door Special manual trans car. Now this.

Jake

That tractor is being towed.

Lamar, congrats on acquiring the car. As previously stated, yours is probably the best home for this car. I can certainly empathize with the bittersweet emotions.

Thanks guys,
Jan it wasn't easy keeping it a secret. But one of the first lessons my dad taught me was to "keep it under your hat 'til it is in your hands"
Re the red semi being in the wrong lane? Jordan took this picture. As Thriller figured out, this is actually a tractor being towed backwards piggyback style by another tractor. Not on this trip but a previous one that my son and I were on I pulled up close behind a rig like this while my son was napping and after ensuring nothing was too close behind me I put on brakes pretty hard and yelled ?JORDAN, LOOK OUT!!! We had to stop at the next rest stop for him to change clothes. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Actually when Jordan is asked about this episode he claims he wasn't at all shook up by it. Yea right, I have never heard him call out "DADDY" as he did at that moment, as if he may never see his ol pop again. Ain't I cruel...

The first thing I did upon arriving home was to pull the 4th porthole in hopes of seeing a stamp cut hole for the porthole which would have pointed toward it being original. Not? it was a well executed saw cut and upon looking at the chrome porthole itself instead of seeing parts numbers I see the word ?CARS?. So it was a repro bought from CARS. Darn!!!
Next I clean off the stamped engine number from the 54 block (I brought home both the 54 and 56 engines) and determine it is a Century engine and presumably the original. I then look at all the clutch and brake assemblies and steering column for signs of swap out to a 3 speed and since the interior is original it is easy to determine that the 3 speed is definitely factory. It wasn?t that I for a moment doubted Pal?s opinion, but mainly that I wanted to just look over it and see something I have never seen before. Upon further inspection of the car I find that the floors and trunk are fairly solid but there is extensive rust out of the rear fender wells, between the fenders and trunk side panels as well as the rockers are totally rotten and had been filled in with bondo at some point. In fact there is extensive bondo on the car. I bought the car unseen and Norm had advised me of the amount of bondo on the car so I am not at all surprised.
I was hoping to build and reinstall the engine and put the car back on the road but after seeing the amount of rust out will probably be on the look out for some rear quarters and end up doing quite a bit of body work before repainting. The paint is peeling terribly bad as if it wasn?t sealed and primed properly when it was painted last. It has big blister spot and is peeling bad. I need to clean all that up and get some rust inhibitor on it quick. Any suggestions on that work.? The car was originally Tunis Blue bottom with a Jordan Grey top. The Tunis Blue came out later in the year and wasn?t seen much on 54?s. Not sure what color I will paint it back. Possibly Cavalier Blue w/Arctic White top. I hope to keep the interior original.

Here is the data plate and vin info

1954 MOD 54-66R
STYLE No 54-4637
Body No BW 1566
Trim No 60
Paint No 07 E

Vin Plate A 5020647

Engine V 32552 I 6 (the ?6? is a funny looking 6, looking more like a small letter b ??)

if anyone can add, give any info as to when the car was produced.

Man, I can't wait to come over and see this! I don't think I've EVER been this excited for a friend getting a car before.
Factory hot rods always make me giggle--and this is absolutely a factory hot rod! Big engine, lightest body, no power options, manual trans...and the dog dish hubcaps are the crowning touch!!!
I absolutely love the fact that this car was built before the 265-powered '55 Chevrolet. The only thing better would be Chrysler Hemi cars, but those were full-size cars, not a "small" Buick Century body.

Okay everybody--we now have to find Mr. Earl a 2x4 Edmunds intake. He's on his own for chrome factory valve and spark plug covers.

-Brad

MrEarl, I couldn't be happier for you. Please keep us posted on your progress with this rare beast. We look forward to your reports for years to come.

Thanks Brad and Brian,

Re: It will certainly take years!! A couple of years to even get to it then probably 2-3 to restore it. I plan on only restoring it to a nice driver condition but it has a lot of rust so that won't be easy. I hope to build the engine with everything that would have been possible in 54 to get as much power out of it is as possible. Then dress the engine up with some chrome, again a was available in 54.
My first work to do on it is to get the existing paint off of it. Apparently it wasn't prepped correctly when it was resprayed and ALL the paint is peeling and flaking off. I'm talking in like dishpan size areas. If I can just get it stripped and covered in some rust encapsulator til I have time to propely sand and paint it. As we all know though, rust never sleeps or in my case it never "waits for anyone".
Here's something I found while cruisin the net on a rainy day.

From Time- 1954
Nearly every motorist would like a sports car?or something close to it?if it had the comfort, roominess and reasonable price of the traditional family auto. In Flint, Mich, this week, Buick's General Manager Ivan L. (for Lester) Wiles, 55, took the wraps off what he thinks should fit the bill. It is Buick's Century, a new line that comes close to being a sports car for the family.

Sleek and low (60½ in.), Buick's Century is designed to sell in the $2,300 price range between the Special and the Super (without such equipment as radio & heater). It is built on the Special's wheelbase (122 in.), but under the hood it has the same 200-h.p. engine as the Roadmaster. It will be available as a station wagon, two-door Riviera and four-door sedan.


The Century, however, was not the only new car to roll off Buick's production line. For the first time in 18 years, Buick redesigned its entire line in the same year, at a cost of about $45 million. While most prices were unchanged from last year, the basic factory price of the Super convertible was cut $60 (to $2,700), while that of the Skylark sports car was slashed $500 (to $4,100).

The 1954 models follow the low and racy lines of last year's Skylark, are some three inches lower and as much as five inches longer than the 1953 models. The new cars have wrap-around windshields that give more visibility. Hoods have been lowered and fenders raised, so the driver can see his right front fender.

Under the hood, the Special has a V-8 engine with 150 h.p., v. 125 h.p. in 1953; the Super's horsepower has been boosted from 170 to 182, and the Roadmaster's from 188 to 200.


To show his confidence in his new models, Wiles has scheduled first-quarter Buick output at 135,000 cars, up nearly 10% from the same period last year. Buick's goal for 1954: to push Plymouth out of third place in auto sales.


Two other automakers announced new lines this week:

> In its ding-dong battle with Chevrolet for top place, Ford spent $65 million on its 1954 line. Chief new feature: an overhead-valve V-8 engine that delivers 130 h.p., v. 110 h.p. in last year's model. A new Ford hardtop, the Skyliner, and the Sunliner convertible have transparent plastic roofs over the driver's seat.

> Willys Motors announced a new two-passenger sports car, the Kaiser Darrin 161, designed by Howard A. Darrin, who has done cars for Packard and Lincoln as well as custom cars for Rita Hayworth and Errol Flynn. Like Chevrolet's Corvette, the Darrin 161 has a plastic body that weighs but 300 lbs. (total weight: 2,175 lbs.). Powered by a six-cylinder, 90-h.p. engine, it has six forward speeds and doors that slide into the front fenders instead of opening outward. Factory list price: $3,668.

Dear Lamar:
Based on the numbers you gave, the car you bought from my good friend of 29 years and one of my predecessors as Director of the Chicagoland Chapter Jim Schilf (aka PalBuick to us on the Forum), was built at the Wilmington plant mid May of 1954. The engine was built probably about mid Febuary in Flint. The numbers decode as follows: A is 1954, 5 is Wilmington, 020647 is the 19647th car built at Wilmington in the 1954 model year. The engine decode is 325521 (started with 2051 in 1953). The end digit of 6 tells you it's a Century engine. Think about Jim often as he was a great guy and loyal friend. That sometimes gruff Chicago cop image concealed a real teddy bear, if you were a friend of his.
Rergards, Dave Corbin

For those of you who missed it, see my note of 11/18/06 on Jim's passing away. It's on the Prewar Buick part of the website. Sadly, Dave Corbin
PS: Lamar, I think Jim would agree with you getting the 54.

Nothing better to do on a rainy day, eh? We were busy breaking a Wildcat...more details Monday / Tuesday after getting home and being able to get photos onto my computer.

It's great to hear your thoughts on doing this car as a period piece. A friend had a '70 GTO four speed...in the glove box was receipts for speed work done in '71 or '72.

Thriller, using Ewing's laptop

Hi congratulations on such a fine car. I really like the three speed trany. I have one question for you. You say you are going to do some body work on it. Are you going to take out the fourth porthole? I think when he painted it he added the fouth one. Century did not have four holes until 1955. If you are doing mild custom I think its fun to have four. It will give someone something to talk about. To your health.

Especially if you put 'em on backwards (Jordan) <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />.
Mike

Undecided about the 4th porthole. IMO the Century's rate the 4th porthole and I love the looks of the line of four on them but since they're not original...I don't know. Plenty of time to make up my mind.

My "Special" friend, ElDiablo from across the big pond, just sent some exciting links to the 2006 Carrera Pan American road race. The first I think is an overview of all the cars. the next four are of a 54 the owner describes as:

“Basically it is highly modified Buick Century 1954 with a Chevrolet 355 8 cylinders engine that provides aprox 480 real HP, a Mc phearson/Hammerlund suspention (back/front), 2 80 liters fuel cells, disk brakes (Wilwood 6 pistons), a Richmond closewide 5 gear box, top speed 265 Km/h (165 miles/hr), and overall prepared by Uvi Vega.”

ENJOY....I did

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JlIridWdOhM

Oh and turn your speakers up for the next four

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnCz0Ks1r7U&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CcY5S5UPtKA&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAP6YUHxpxM&mode=related&search=

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LUnuVB70v2g&mode=related&search=


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzYKqE-MNKQ&mode=related&search=


THANKS JAN

Now where are those tissues.

Soooooooooooooooo?????? Did it leave you speechless or what. Can't believe not a single reply. I at least expected some comment about the Chevy engine. Oh well, it got me going and thinking why would I want to waste my time on a 38. I just need to get Buttercup and DoraB done so I can start on 54 Muscle. Here's what the owner had to say.

"Last year we were doing ok up to the 4th day of the race (there are 7 days of racing). We were in the top 8. Then we have an electric problem and went down to 24th...
The car is fun and fast, but can not do anything vs the top Studebakers; it is too heavy and not very aerodynamic at top speeds (above 140 it matters!). The 53-55 Studebakers can do 180! So, as pretty much everybody else in La Carrera, we just run for the fun of it and hope for the best result. Regards!"

and here's another fun vid of the PanAm

and by the way is anybody familiar with the "York Reunion and Nostalgia Drags"

I asked the owner why he drives a 54 Buick. Answer: "Because the 54 Buick Century is the most beautiful car!"

Sounds reasonable and (for me) thats easy to comprehend.

Too busy getting my ride ready for the charge to Seattle. So, what are you driving??

Willie

Driving...I'll be driving Rita and the airline stewardess's crazy asking are we there yet? can't you make this jet go any faster...I bet it would go faster if it had a Dynaflow... whataya mean I've had my limit, I've just had a few samples...

hey, what route are ya takin,I'll wave as we fly over ya

Tomorrow night in Moose Jaw, then Lethbridge on Thursday, then Cranbrook for the weekend. Monday to Coeur D'Alene, and Tuesday to Bellevue. The '41 is loaded as is about half of our stuff...just gotta sleep, eat, finish packing, and we'll be on our merry way some time tomorrow morning.

Hello Guys-
Has anyone ever heard of swapping out the old-style diaphragm type clutch to a 3-lever style?
I have a '54 Special, and thought that there was a way to upgrade the clutch.

Thanks!!


Dave

I heard that the '54 Buick in the La Carrera PanAm videos has crashed.

Now racing in this series would have to be a major blast!! Gee, I wonder if I could get Yoda up to speed in time to make the race. Now that would be cool....I just won't hold my breath!!

Gary

Just thought I'd relate a little chill bump story that happpened recently. A 55 Century 3 speed tranny came up for auction on Ebay for a very decent Buy it Now price, it was not too far from home so I jumped on it. When I got the invoice it had a phone number on it so I called the seller to ask if I could possibly just pick it up in a few days as I passed through on my way to look at a Roadmaster Wagon. Well we got to talkin and come to find out that he has several Buicks and has been in the BCA quite some time (#5oo something). I tell him about my 54's and that I have 54 Century w/3 speed. He says the trany he sold me had actually been sold/swapped to a good friend of his up in Illinois that had a 54 Century w/3 speed but had passed away before he got it to him. I knew then that he had to be talking about Jim Schilf-PalBuick. Turns out he and Jim were very good friends and he had promised Jim the tranny when Jim first got the car but he had just never gotten it to him. I ended up dropping by and picking it up amd met James Keenan and his very sweet wife. Rita and I got lost in the backroads of SC and he ended up bringing it to us at a convenience store. Super nice guy, but aren't they all, all BCA guys nice... .

Great story with a happy ending.
It's a small world isn't it.

Ken. ( aka Rooster )
1929
(1954 I )

BTW: The 1954 Buick did it to the 2007 Carrera Panamericana and won the 4th place overall! Congrats!


For those who wonder how the car looks like from the outside, this is a video during a test run:

THANK YOU for posting that Jan. Man that will sho get your testostorone going. What I wouldn't give for a ride in that thing, much less drive it. Jan is this the same one that was reported to have been wrecked. If so was it before or after the race. I hope to make it there some day, if only as a spectator. I'm afraid I'll be too old to drive when I finish 54Muscle.

It was wrecked some weeks before the race. But he was able to fix it just in time and raced the car with success. 4th place overall and after some stages he was on the podium.

Pretty dang good showing I would say.

here is the car. it's not coming up on the other menu for some reason.




click the MENU button for more videos

Doesn't sound like your every day 322 / Dynaflow combination, now, does it?

Now, Lamar, with those back roads you probably have around Athens, you could probably just take yourself back in time and pretend you are a bootlegger running 54 Muscle during Prohibition (OK, with a futuristic car), or like them Good Ol' Boys, the Duke cousins

EXACTLY what Rita had to say!!!

Did you see the one where he just went straight out. His yellow shift light came on at top end and there was nothing lert to shift. 0 to 100 in 13 seconds and still a top end of 147 mph. That is some fast travelin man!!!!!

I am not a fast traveling man! I am a VERY irresponsible one!
Thanks for the compliments on my Buick. Yes, it is a beautiful car. In the next weeks I will place some videos from the race that were taken by a good friend, so you will be able to see the Buick in action from the outside.
Everybody at the race told me that the car looked great, but funny enough, everybody LOVED the wheels (which are not the ones on the video above, after the crash I change them). The funny thing is that those wheels I got them via internet in Summit! And the other thing was the sound of the car. Yes, it sounds GREAT. However I have to admit that this is by accident. In previous years I had problems with the exaust pipes beacuse, given the McPherson suspention, they couldn't run all the way to the back. So they were placed right below at the door side. So it was terrible! The sound and the smell all day. So I took the car to a very small shop were this guy (in the middle of a lot of street dogs and a lot of junk) said he could send them all the way to the back with some creative solution. He basically made the pipes almost flat but keeping the same "volume" of flow in order to cross above the suspention arms and then back to the normal pipes again. Looks funny from below, works, did not harmed the power and now it sounds great. The guy that did this is called Fortino. So when people ask me what kind of Exausts I am using, I tell them "Fortino Racing". I bet there are now some competitors asking for "this brand" in several racing stores!

WELCOME to the forum and thanks so much for coming on. Looking forward to seeing and hearing more of the car.

another WELCOME!

I enjoy every video and photo of you and your car, its great to see the old iron back on the road, racing for a new glory.

What do you do with the car now? I mean, the race is over and the next Carrera will be next year (or am I wrong??).

Well, the car goes back to its mechanics so they can pretty much go over it and check every single detail. These guys are VERY professional so, for example, they will review all photos of the car and videos to see it they can “discover” something that is not at a 100% with the suspension and stuff. They will also open the engine to review all it components and change whatever they feel needs to be changed. For example, last year based on the videos they decided to “do” a special carburetor just for me in order to fit my driving style. This year I noticed the difference. Believe me! So now I wait for they to tell me what are they going to do for next year.
Interestingly, I do not know anything (nor do I care) about mechanics. So whatever they tell me that need to be done is just info that I do not understand. So the deal I have with them is that they have to assume that the car is theirs and they are free to do whatever they want without even asking me! Crazy? Well… maybe, but it works. At least that way they are fully responsible of the car and have certain “ownership” over it. Actually sometimes I think that I am just like “their” pilot and not their client! Since they pretty much tell me what to do. "Chief, now you have mega breaks and you are not using them to their full capacity! Break later and harder!", "Chief, although your engine does 7500 rpms without issues, we want you to change gears at 6,300. That will be faster", "Chief, you are using too many revs at the start! Don’t be a fool! Break the inertia and then push! This is not a ¼ mile race!" Or even worse! This year, for example, when they gave me back my car just 2 days prior to the race, they told me: "Remember the car you tested? Well… it is no more. At last minute we decided to change all the springs and shocks and some modifications to the back suspension geometry. So handling wise it is a new car. Use the 1st day of the race to get used to it. We think it is going to be better". And it was!!! It was amazing!!! After half a day, in the service stop I told them: “I don’t know what you did to the back of the car, but don’t touch it now! It is great!”. Basically my car was very stiff; like a go-kart. Now the back is very loose so you can throw the tail like a real rally car. This combined with the 500HP torque to push you out of the turn and you have a very fast car cornering. And the results this year speak for themselves. Everybody was very surprised on how fast the Buick was. And I was on top of those surprised!
Now, these guys are pros. For perspective, on Discovery channel there is a program called Rides. They came down to Mexico to do a special program featuring these guys: The Vega Family. They not only prepare my car. They prepare around 8 for the race. And out of 20 editions, 14 times La Carrera has been won by a car prepared by these guys.
So, going back to your question, I send the car to them and wait for them to tell me next steps.