My55buick

Thanks guys once this rain stops I'm going to go out and take another look

Has anyone swapped 55 special over to the two and a half inch aluminum fin drums? I'm looking to daily drive the car and I want as much breaking as possible. My plan is to move the 2 1/4 inch drums from the front and put them on the back and use 2 1/2 inch aluminum drums in the front. Does anybody know what would be involved? I got the drums off of a full size, they are the 90 fin drums. I tried putting them on just to see, and they don't seat far enough back onto the backing plate for me to put bearings in. I'm thinking about using the hubs from my drums in the aluminum housing. But I've read it's easy to crack the aluminum so I don't want to move anything until I'm sure. I also read that 58 hubs work and allow me to run roller bearings, but I can't confirm that. I do have 58 hubs in case. Right now I'm curious if anybody else has already done this. I know the Roadmaster got 2 1/2 front drums in 55 and as far as I know the spindles are the same so there has to be a way.

I'm running American Classics on my 55 Special in that size. They do rub at full lock but otherwise are perfect.

If it is a 322 the engine will fit, but the dynaflows don't all interchange. You have to measure the length. Also if it's from a 56 it uses a trans cooler. I can find out what years and models interchange if that helps. All the 55s look the same but the Special and Century are the same the Roadmaster and Super are different.

Hi I have a 55 buick special. I want to get the wiper motor rebuilt. I keep reading different reviews and don't know who to go to for a reliable rebuild. Can anyone help me out?

It sat from the 70s but I was able to drive it around with no leaks, up until I flushed it.

Hey Guys so I have a 55 Buick Special with Dynaflow, I've been working on it on and off for year's. Now that it's road worthy I decided to change the original fluid and clean out the pan and all. Now that I refilled it with modern Dex III it leaks like a sieve, it's leaking out the front seal and rear seal. Is there a fluid out there that's more similar to the original whale oil base type A? I tried using Type F also, but that didn't help either.

The shoes were replaced, I got them from my local store. Is there anywhere that still re-arches shoes?

Hey Guys, my 55 Buick Special finally runs really good.I took it out for its first ride above 10mph, and I'm a little concerned about the brakes. It has the factory drums, with the Treadle Vac. The brake system has been completely rebuilt. When driving the drums start to engage at light maybe 1/4 pedal but don't really do much until 1/2-3/4 pedal any more than that the front drums lock up. I feel like there should be a little more bite at lesser pedal. I tried to adjust everything the way the shop manual says, I'm wondering if the rod from the booster to the pedal needs to be adjusted, or maybe the brake shoes need to be adjusted. I figure there has to be something I missed. I've bled the brakes multiple times.

Hey Guys, my 55 Buick Special finally runs really good.I took it out for its first ride above 10mph, and I'm a little concerned about the brakes. It has the factory drums, with the Treadle Vac. The brake system has been completely rebuilt. When driving the drums start to engage at light maybe 1/4 pedal but don't really do much until 1/2-3/4 pedal any more than that the front drums lock up. I feel like there should be a little more bite at lesser pedal. I tried to adjust everything the way the shop manual says, I'm wondering if the rod from the booster to the pedal needs to be adjusted, or maybe the brake shoes need to be adjusted. I figure there has to be something I missed. I've bled the brakes multiple times.

Ok I kept the stock coil, and have the Pertronix attached to the 12v of the ballast resistor. Would it create a stable spark with reduced voltage? I forget how the system gets wired but the coil power maybe coming from the other side of the ballast resistor I cant remember.

Thank you both, once this freezing weather breaks here I'm going to go out and pull that starter out. I didn't realize the starter was wired through the ballast resistor? Right now I only have my PerTronix hooked to the feed side before the resistor, I thought it was pretty much ornamental at this point and figured there wouldn't be much load on it. I may order one for the heck of it. Thank you!

Hi Guys I have a 55 Buick Special, its been my project for a couple years, but lately the starter is giving me a tough time engaging. You'll hear the starter just spin but not the engine, then after a bunch of tries it will crank the engine but then kick out just as its about to start. I ordered a NOS starter drive, new solenoid, and a set of brushes off eBay, they should be here any day. How hard is it to get the starter out, is anything in the way? My car was parked from 73 until 09 when I got it and its bone stock, like most things are from 1955 even some hoses. So I'm a little leery about dropping the 66 year old exhaust or anything. Who has done it before and how bad was it? Im hoping its like 70s GM's and I can do it in less than an hour.

So 54 and up won't interchange?

I don't think they I don't think they went to the BOP bellhousing until the turbo hydramatic came out the 350 and 400, I know that my Buick has a different bellhousing from any other engine, even the nailheads had two different bellhousing I can't speak for other models. The other problem is that Buick until I believe 1960 use a torque tube rear end so now you have to engineer a newer transmission to accept the torque tube with a torque ball pivot, otherwise you have to redesign the rear suspension using a newer rear end upper control arms and have a custom driveshaft made. The only way something like that could work is to use some kind of transmission adapter, then take the tail shaft off of say long tail 400 and then make a plate to add the end of the dynaflow where the torque ball and shaft sit. But without some real metal working equipment I don't think it's possible.

I'm looking to swap a 57 or newer into a 55. I know you can use a 56 if you use the 56 cross member and 55 tailshaft. That's actually in the Hollander manual.

I've been on multiple sites, and haven't been able to find any credible info. Everyone thinks but isn't sure. A long time ago someone told me you can swap the bellhousing and torque converter from a later Dynaflow on to an earlier one, and also the other way around. Is there any fact to this? I bought 2 Hollander manuals to see if I can compare cases and tail shafts but I didn't see a section for it. Let me know what you guys think.

I've never tried the clamp trick. Are you saying I should try clamping the rubber hoses and then bleed just 1 wheel at a time? The brake pedal is soft with the car off...

My car is a treadle vac set up. I just can't remember if it's the Moraine or Bendix version. I didn't bench bleed only because I couldn't figure out a safe way to hold it in a vice. So I pedal bled the system without going all the way to the floor and once all the wheels had steady fluid, I did the trick where you loosen the brake line at the master and then push the pedal down and then while it's down tighten it back up. I did it repeatedly but go no bubbles from the master cylinder. So I assume there is no air. I was thinking of trying to make a fitting for the reservoir and use my pressure bleeder to try and see if there is any air that's bound somewhere, but I really think the system has been thoroughly bled.

Wow Bob I hope I didn't pay $750 to have my master cylinder destroyed. How difficult is it to take just the hydraulic portion of the treadle vac off to check?

HI everyone, Im new to the forum. I have a 55 Buick Special that I am trying to get back on the road after 45 years. Ive already done the basics, getting the gas tank boiled, rebuilding the carb, rebuilding the fuel pump, got the radiator and heater cores boiled, belts, hoses, and generator rebuild (why the car was parked in 1973). Now I am working on getting the brakes fixed so I can take it for a ride. I grew up working on 60-80s cars and even went to tech school to be a mechanic, so I have a pretty decent knowledge of what to do but this car is really throwing me for a loop. Here is everything I have done as of now. I flushed all the brake lines with fresh fluid before installing new brake hoses, wheel cylinders, and shoes. I sent out the treadle vac to Apple Hydraulics who have rebuilt a few master cylinders for me in the past. They said they have done many Treadle Vacs and it shouldn't be a problem, so I sent it in. They sleeved the master, replaced the piston and shaft, and rebuilt the booster portion of the Treadlevac. I got it back, installed it in the car, and bled the system. I ran 3 bottles of Dot 3 through the system and have no air I can see. I adjusted the shoes so when you spin the wheels you feel just enough rub that the wheel spins once or twice and stops. My brake pedal still goes almost to the limit and barely stops the car. Being frustrated I decided to look in my Buick Service manual and I found out that I am supposed to set the brake pedal with 3/4 of an inch of pre-load on the master, I didnt know that I am used to newer cars where you want no pre-load. I went back under and adjusted the brake pedal, then bled the system again and now the brakes grab at a slightly higher pedal height but the brake pedal is still almost on the floor to get any response. What am I missing? I wanted to try posting here because every other forum I have tried just keeps trying to talk me into swapping to a manual master cylinder under the floor or power brakes on the fire wall and I am really trying to preserve originality.