This is a photo of a project 56 Buick I wanted to buy but cannot go see personally since its 9 hours away. Can anyone tell me if the frame brace looks bent or not in this photo? I cannot find any photos online of the under carriage of the 56. Thanks a lot for the help. Also another pic...any thoughts on if this looks rotted out? I think its just blistered surface rust. Thanks again. (hopefully the photos worked)

Looks are going to be decieving here. It does look like a bend in the area where the exhaust would come through, but only on the inner rail. The outside rail and rocker looks straight, so that bend may be intentional.

Of concern are the floor boards. Looks like the floor for both the front and rear have been patched. I would say replaced but from under the car it looks like they simply cut out the old floor, and laid in a flat piece of sheet metal. Plus it looks like it is raised in the one corner on the rear one so I wonder if these patches are welded or just how they are attached.

I also noticed some rot through on the rear most corner of the drivers door.

None of this would stop me from buying the car if I got to a comfortable price.

By the way, it comes to mind why the stick shift car can't have power brakes. The brake cylinder is attached to the car on the angled part of the front floor boards. It's right behind where the rod goes through the floor. The power brake booster is probably too large to fit there next to the clutch mechanism.

Thank you again. Since the car has an X frame, that body brace and outer rail are not the super structure of the car. That would be like a double frame if it were the gauge steel that the X frame is. Though the brace poked a hole in the floor, it can be repaired??? I just don't want the car going down the road sideways due to a bent frame. The rot in the floor is not a real problem since I do body work and the floor boards are flat. I can duplicate them pretty well I would think. The hole in the corner of the door is not a hole; it is the remains of the weather stripping that ripped off and is hanging slightly. It does look like rot though since the photo is so small. Thanks for pointing that out. I have the large original photo. I may post a few more, but the body panels look great on this car. I asked the owner to poke around for rust. Thanks a lot.

Where is the car located ? There may be someone on the board willing to take a look and give you an opinion.

great idea! Its located in Toluca, Illinois. The name of the place is Kelly's Classics: 101N. MAIN, TOLUCA, ILLINOIS 61369
The guys name is Bill and his number is: CALL 815-452-1707 SHOP OR 815-674-9080 CELL. Here is a link to the site. I included the home page too since there is no link to it from the Buick site. Thanks a lot!
Buick page http://www.kelleysclassics.com/
Home page http://www.kelleysclassics.com/56buick.html

I like this car. I pulled the dealer photos up and enlarged them. He seems to be trying to represent the car fairly well. The glass does look pretty good. The rear tailight and even the J bars look good. (FYI solid J Bars have been known to go for $500 a pair or more) Any idea what the headliner is like. The car is going to be a lot of work but it would be fun work. From what he was originally asking to what he is at with you now I doubt that he will come much lower. Ask him to help you out on the gas to come get it and go for it. I really like this lil Special. If it turns you on then go for it.

Edit) BTW, lack of power steering and brakes ain't no big thing with the mid fifties. Also, I may have some spare hub caps I'll give ya if you need them.

I sure miss my Century.

The frame does look bent but not too bad from what i can see, the body does not show signs of impact so it looks like poor jacking jobs.

Looks to me like the frame brace was pushed upwards, either through the floor stiffener or it bent the floor upwards. Looking at the amount of floor already rusted out I guess, through it. That upwards twist then bent/twisted the frame side rail. There are some real problems with this car. All of it fixable depending on how much you want to spend in time and trouble.........Bob

Thanks a lot for the help. I found another car 20 minutes from home, its a 56 Pontiac Star Chief 2 door hardtop Catalina that runs and needs fuel lines, brakes, windshield, but has absolutely no floor rust or rocker rot at all. Its a CA car like the Buick, but the Pontiac is 1500 more smackers so I would have to sell my old truck first...cant decide now what I want more..the Buick or the Pontiac??? Both are great cars, but I actually found someone to look at the Buick for me in IL but have not heard from them yet. I will get back with a full report hopefully early this week. Take care everyone