56Twotone

Despite the six pack involved in the rear spring replacement it was definitely done correctly. I have vivid memories of that afternoon/evening, specifically cursing out the guy that located the rear shock mounts. The frame is straight, I measured down to the floor from a few different symmetrical points and it's all within 1/3 inch side to side. I do suspect that when I installed the passengers side spring, the upper spring seat rotated slightly and the spring end could have become misaligned with the depression that has formed in the seat over the last 68 years. I don't know if that's actually the case but I'll check it out when I replace that bum shock. That could account for most of that 1/3 inch. I will have to get under there and get a real good look at the mounts and determine what I want to do. There are a few jobs that need done before I start worrying about cosmetic fidgety things like this, but it puts my mind at ease to know I'm not uncovering some hidden structural damage.

Thanks for the hint, but the mounts look good. Good enough that I wonder if they were changed and the car wasn't shimmed correctly in the process? The front frame rails are within 1/3 inch side to side on even ground, so it looks like most of the issue is in the way the body sits on the frame. The driver's fender seems to bolt onto the frame rail in the wheel well a little lower than on the passenger's side. It is hard to tell because the panels don't seem to be perfectly symmetrical. You can see where that panel juts down below the rail; that is not the case on the passenger side. This is all covered in what looks to be factory undercoating so I don't think anything here was reinstalled as a result of crash damage. I did find a relief cut for a bolt in the inner fender skin (?) that looks like it might have been widened or forced out at one point. It's on the right in this photo, the shine on the left side is from the radial tires rubbing on the frame. So far I am leaning toward this being the result of a day-drunk GM bodyman.. hopefully

I have a '56 Buick Century that leans about 1" towards the drivers side. Gap is about the same front and rear, maybe a little more on the front. I've been through the suspension and replaced the front and rear coils with ESPO springs. Rear shocks have both been replaced as well, but RCD messed up my order so I still have one known bad shock on the passenger's front (which is the side that sits high). I was able to confirm that it isn't binding up. This lean was present before the suspension work was done, although it seemed slightly more pronounced. That could be placebo. The car also leans to one side when I jack it up, especially from the front. This has also been the case before and after the work was done. I've heard criticisms towards GM's ability to mount a body, especially in the '50s, but 1" seems like a big F up. I don't have an awful amount of experience with cars of this era so I figured I'd ask if this is a plausible explanation. There is some evidence of body damage in the front, but it's very slight. There's a little scuffing on the chrome where a bumper panel got pushed in. I've been all underneath it and seen nothing structural whatsoever, in fact it's a very honest low-mileage car. The next step is to measure off of the chassis and see if the wonk is in the frame or the body, but that's going to wait until tomorrow. Thanks for any input.

Anyone know what these could be? The container was wedged in a frame rail. I assume it goes with the car. I pulled the air horn and tested the pump circuit, turns out an o-ring between the pump jet and the screw head was leaking fuel into the power piston cylinder. Removing it solved my off-idle stumble. It must have already been in the carb before I pulled it since I don't recall it coming in the rebuild kit and it is not mentioned in the manual. Fixing that has really woken the car up. I've been sending videos to my buddy who owns a Civic Type R just to harass him. https://imgur.com/a/wGcO0uj The brake reservoir is toast. It looks like you can have one made from an aluminum billet for $300 on ebay. That's a little steep for my taste so I'm hacking this one back together with JB weld temporarily and plan to fabricate a replacement before my next trip down here to VA. I'm using DOT III on this car, any reason to not use DOT IV or V? I put new front brake hoses in and am going to try to track the rear one down in a minute. The old ones were dated to '94 and look to be fairly swollen. The wheel cylinders are all in good shape but I plan on rebuilding them for peace of mind. The bearings, liners and drums all look immaculate. I have been very very lucky with this car. Anyone have experience with this front sway bar kit? https://bradsbars.com/ I'm going to have to go through the front end in the immediate future anyway and the stock unit looks pretty impotent. I shelled out for the good RCD Bilstein shocks so I'm wondering if I should bite the bullet on this, too.

The rear shocks and springs are in. I went with the Bilstein units Beemon recommended and Springs'n'things, respectively. Everything fit up well and looks to be sitting as it should. I'm glad I brought shocks because the old set was completely flat. I hope the Delco guy that named em got a raise.. "big D shock"... I might hang one up behind the john for self-confidence. The driver's side is still significantly lower overall than the passenger's but far better than before. I assumed that the front would have been worn out by the weight the rear was no longer holding, and that seems to have been what happened. I can only imagine that the front shocks are probably blown out too. I'll have to examine in the morning and see if I can date the model, maybe jump on the bumper a little bit and see how it bounces. That's a job that needed to be done anyway, along with the sway bar links, so I'm not too upset about the visible wonk. I did not enjoy doing the rear springs/shocks and can't imagine the fronts will be any more fun. Of course the last knucklehead to get in there had crossthreaded one of the panhard bar bracket bolts, forgotten to tighten the upper pass. side shock mount, and replaced the nut on the lower mount with some oddball spare. I did have to remove the whole top shock mounting bracket to get the bolt out of the strut eyelet, and I wonder if that was another little snafu. It seemed like a slightly shorter bolt would have had clearance to slip out without butting against the downturn of the floor pan, and those bracket bolts really didnt seem like they were positioned for ease of removal. Maybe just standard PITA engineering. I will try taking it for a little drive tomorrow. The new tires are on, Ironman "RB-12". I did not clean the blue protectant off yet, but I asked the tire guy if he had any cheap-ass whitewalls and that's exactly what I expect them to be. I'll be happy as long as they hold air until I start driving this thing enough to warrant wide whites. I've been eyeing Calli's 2.5 or 3". 3" might be pushing the originality but they'd look cool on the car. I should really yank the drums off for a brake inspection before any serious driving, but they certainly stop well enough after adjustment. The hub dust covers show evidence of reinstallation, so hopefully the shoes have been done. I still wonder about the power brake. It's definitely working, as the pedal softens up with vacuum, but there's quite a bit of deadzone in the pedal before you feel it "catch" the plunger. I've never driven on a power brake system of this vintage so I have no point of reference. At any rate, I'm sure it's all good enough for a roll around the block.

Nevermind, I prayed like I was on death row and kicked the drum a few times and I managed to get it loose. Hopefully I didn't just cash in all my brownie points with God. I was scared for a minute

Think I screwed myself over pretty good. The front brakes were rubbing bad, so I decided to try adjusting the star wheel. Unfortunately, I misunderstood the manual and overtightened the star wheel. The diagram shows a hand rotating the adjuster with an arrow to expand the brakes. I took the arrow to mean the direction of the adjuster, turns out it referred to the tool. It's stuck pretty good on the one side and I can't seem to back it off with any amount of force. I'd take the drum off but obviously that would be hard with the brake applied. I know newer cars have a locking mechanism when loosening the adjuster, am I correct in assuming that's not present? I don't entirely understand what force is keeping it stuck.

Thanks for the input. I will go with the lap belts and maybe keep a mouthguard in the ashtray in case the brakes fail. The shoulder belt would be nice, but as it's a 4dr hardtop, I don't have anywhere to mount that 3rd point.

Great, thanks. The explanation I got behind reinforcing the seat mounts was to prevent the seat from coming loose and crushing the occupant against the restraint as it moved forward. I tend to think that in that severity of an accident you'd be toast anyway.

As I get my '56 Century (4 door hardtop) closer to road-worthiness, I realize I'm going to have to bite the bullet and install seat belts in the thing. My question is: are there better options than a lap belt? A shoulder belt is obviously no-go without a B pillar. I know some folks install 4-point harnesses for upper body restraint, but without a harness support behind the seat, how much will that really do? I've always heard that the rule of thumb is no greater than a 20deg angle on the shoulder straps, and on these cars they would have to practically be perpendicular to the floor. Not to mention the fact that they would be resting on the seat back as support, which I'm sure would deform like butter in an impact. Safety dash or not, I'd prefer not to bounce my face off the thing.. same for that big "power steering" gem in the center of the wheel.. looks like a dentist's dream. But if the shoulder straps are only security theater I'd just as soon not have them. So, what is the consensus? Also - what about reinforcing the front seat mounts? Necessary or no? I figure I'll cut a piece of treated steel plate for the belt mount and sandwich it under the floor pan, just to spread the force out a little. God forbid.

I talked to the lady at Springsnthings. $200 shipped for a pair, which seems reasonable if they're quality. RockAuto is telling me that all they have for shocks for a '56 is Monroe... I'm not going to put that junk on the car, but if I can find units from a better name I might snag a pair just to get it done with. Bob's Automobilia lists a set too, but no brand name. https://bobsautomobilia.com/shop/chassis/1956-58-rear-shocks-rs-568/ The hood vent is a rectangular mesh, and judging by your description of the mirror variants I would guess that I have the 57 model. It's wide enough that I can see the entire rear windshield. Thankfully the wiper jar is present and intact. That's excellent information about the master cylinder. Mine was in great mechanical condition when I took it apart; no scoring or pitting whatsoever and all the seals were intact. It just needed to be cleaned thoroughly, as all the brake fluid had coagulated into paste. I don't recall off the top of my head how the system works, but if the original cup seals aren't a safety concern I'm happy to leave it as it is. I do need to bleed the system again and inspect/adjust the drums, although they certainly work well enough.

The pantyhose filter is working a treat, thanks EmTee for the advice. Thankfully, it's only picking up casting sand, and not a whole lot of it. It was HOT in VA over the last week , all 80s-90s. The car stayed in the green with plenty of idling and low-speed driving. There is still a little stumble on sharp acceleration that comes and goes, and I wonder if that is a symptom of a vacuum leak. In that lane of thinking, I have to wonder if the old seals in the brake master cylinder are leaking vacuum. I didn't think to soak the leather primary cup seal in any kind of oil when I had the thing apart, although it didn't feel terrible. I will have to give Apple Hydraulics in Long Island a call and see exactly what they replace in the course of a rebuild. Even though the thing works, if I can get that old leather and rubber refreshed it might be worth a few Benjamins. As for immediate stuff, the reflective material inside the rearview mirror is completely hazed over, so that will need to be replaced. The car is also sagging pretty heavily in the driver's side tail end, so rear springs are going onto the shopping list too. The tire place was closed all through this week so I am going to do some research on whitewalls and order a set before the next time I make the trip down to the shore. Maybe I will bring down a pair of Thrush glasspacks just so the car finally has a matching set. I'm curious to see if I can find some evidence of exactly why they're mismatched. They're different shades of light blue/gray, so that's what? Patriot? Definitely sound and blow differently. Maybe the fiberglass is burned through just on the one. Concerning the rear springs, how much of a PITA is that going to be? On my trash heap of a Subaru I did all the suspension stuff in one go, just because it was such a nightmare to get in there. I'm wondering if one spring being so flat (1 1/2 - 2" lower than the other) could have worn the shock out too. After 67 years it might be time to do all that stuff anyway. I recall Jay Leno saying something about old cars getting a bad rap for suspension just because so many of them are riding on half-century-year-old wear items. Of course, Jay Leno says a lot of things and many of them are probably just to fill dead air... Anyway, I'm back up to NY for a while, hopefully be back down in August. I hate leaving the peninsula because it means I'm back to the salt belt, and whaling on every bolt with a 4lb sledge and an impact wrench. Thanks to everyone for the input. It's been great having some learned advice while working on this thing.

I did some more timing work and tweaking on the carb linkage, to the point that it runs well while staying in the green temp zone. The bad news is that, in flushing the coolant, I opened the two petcocks on the block and both were plugged. On the passenger side I was able to use a 9/16 and go an 8th of a turn at a time on the base of the petcock until it came out, then poke out the gunk in the passage with a long screwdriver. The driver's side is inaccessible by wrench with the starter and manifold in the way, so I opened up the valve and rooted around in there with a bent wire. There was just a little silty gunk in the coolant, but now I'm wondering what's still sitting in the block. It didn't really look like rust and the car's not running hot, but if there are any tricks to cleaning this thing out, I figure I might as well try them while I'm in here. I'm going to try yanking the thermostat again and running pressurized water and air through the different passages on that housing. I don't know that it'll dislodge much more than the water pump would, but at least whatever is loose would go out through the bottom. Like I said, it can't be too bad in there if it was running cool in 90° weather at low speeds and idle.

Now that you mention it.. Gee I should have put that together in my head. Although advanced timing could cause overheating too, I thought. Regardless it is definitely happier after the change. I did have to clean the points up a bit with a file, and who knows how many times that's already been done. I'll order a couple sets and keep them around for when the current ones finally throw in the towel. I'm happy enough to let that particular problem wait until later. Looking at everyone's recommendations, I might just go with a decent blackwall radial for now. If this thing was my usual shade of rusty, I'd consider painting the sidewalls, but it's just too good a car to half-ass it. I've heard mixed testimonials about Portawalls, but they'd certainly be period correct. Of course vintage garbage is still garbage, but I've heard with the right installation technique they can work. If it was a Chevy I wouldn't think twice about just running blackwalls, but it doesn't feel right on a Buick. The guy who runs the tire shop nearby is pretty old-school so he might be able to offer advice.

The timing was, dare I say, profoundly retarded. I checked that the dwell was between 30 and 35, idled it down to 350 rpm, and found that it was running at about 8 deg BTDC. Set it to 5 and it seems far far happier. I need to do a coolant flush before I make a verdict, but the stumbling issue is at least lessened and it starts right up while hot (used to need to cool down before it would fire off.) I will try out that stocking trick that EmTee recommends. I made the change to sweat socks a few years ago so unfortunately I will have to stop at WalMart. I might run a hose through the rad too just for peace of mind. And I should get under the thing and see what I can lubricate on the starter. It sounds pretty wretched before it warms up. Tomorrow will hopefully involve new tires, too. Anyone have recommendations on cheaper whitewall brands? This thing will neither see hard road use nor the Concourse D'Elegance, so I'm looking to find a less-expensive set of radials with a 2.5-3" whitewall. Less-expensive being relative to Coker prices.

You know, I was thinking I heard a little more raspiness under the hood than would be considered normal, even with the air cleaner on. I didn't think to look into it since I was preoccupied with the carb. My daily driver Subaru has a rotted out flange before the muffler, so admittedly I'm a little numb to loud exhaust. That boxer 4 banger is not nearly as pleasant to listen to as the 322, if you can imagine.

Hah. I guess it's only wizardry if it works. Otherwise you're just a crackpot. I have no shortage of hardwood and wood tools, so next time I can make a spacer if need be. I doubt they sell WCFB-specific patterns.

Thanks for telling me, I'm glad I didn't try it. Is the same true for carb spacers? I look at Corvette boards for info on the WCFB, and I'm seeing that many owners cut spacers from cork, metal or phenolic board to keep heat off of the air horn. I will try to bring a laser thermometer next time too, to see what temperature the bowls are actually reaching.

Ok - still learning all the terms. I'll make sure the timing and carb adjustment is right before I worry about that. Whatever the case, I think I'd just live with it before fuel injecting such an original car.

Holy schiz, that must have looked like wizardry. I am having a lot of fun figuring things out. With the modern vehicles I usually work on, you just sort of toss parts at the issue and hope the error codes clear. The Buick certainly requires a different mindset and a lot more ingenuity.

Nothing actually overheated after the carb was rebuilt, the temp gauge stayed in the green and only ever slightly rose towards "H" after lots of idling. My concern is that the engine bay itself might be getting too hot for modern gas and causing vapor issues. I did save the old carb gaskets in case double-layering them between the air horn and intake manifold would help, but I'm not sure if that's just an urban legend. The coolant that's currently in there is relatively new, but quite dirty, so in all likelihood it is not functioning as well as it could. The water pump is new and the radiator was shipped off to be rebuilt. Whatever crap that's floating around now came out of the block. I'll change the coolant and take it to a shop for a real flush when it's back on the road, just so I know nothing's going to dislodge and clog the rad. Of course, my theories are all just guesswork, since I wasn't able to verify dwell, vacuum, or timing.. Next visit I'll bring my bucket of harbor freight diagnostic tools and really get it nailed down.

The manifolds certainly look to be original, but I will double check in a moment. Thanks for the info, next time I come down I'll bring a 180° and see what that does. I was told by the other guy who worked on the coolant system that it overheated with a 180°, but again that coolant doesn't look like it's performing as well as it could. And it still overheated with the 160° until I rebuilt the carb. How much of a pain is it to get to the freeze plugs with the engine in place?

Yes, that was just done a couple of days ago. I oiled the leather and let it swell inside the pump chamber; it built pressure very well when I put it together. The pump circuit seems to work fine after I start the car, but the engine bay gets real hot fast.

I have a '56 Century that recently sat for about 20 years, thankfully the master cylinder only needed to be cleaned and was in excellent condition internally (low mileage car, lifetime dry storage.) What is the consensus on using original, unrestored units? Obviously leather cup seals of a 1955 vintage aren't ideal, but it seems to stop just fine, albeit with relatively firm pressure on the brake. I know the vacuum assist is working at least to some capacity, as the power units are supposed to be even firmer than the manual ones without a good vacuum supply. The parking brake works, so I'm not completely out of luck if something does "let go", but I'd like to know if a hypothetical seal failure would more likely cause a sudden loss of vacuum assist, or a sudden loss of all braking potential entirely... according to what I could glean from the manual, I'd assume the former, but it would be good to know for sure if this is a situation where my life is actually on the line. My suspicion, too, is that a "rebuild" would not actually replace many of the components that I'm concerned with. The last time I was in there, I saw a lot of oddball rubber cups and seals and on and on. I'd be surprised if replacements for those parts exist, and since all the metal in the unit is absolutely pristine, I wonder if I'd be paying God knows how many hundreds for someone to simply throw in a new leather vacuum seal and hit the housing with a paint gun. The car barely gets driven, so I'm not too concerned about it yet, but it's another thing to keep in mind.

I think vapor lock might be part of the issue. Immediately after a cold start the car runs great with no stumble on acceleration. After a couple minutes the stumble makes an appearance under sharp throttle when stationary, or when put into gear. I just now had to let it cool down for 15 minutes before it would fire off. Other than that, though, it is running very smoothly. I need to change the coolant and maybe try to get into the freeze plugs. I doubt that job has ever been done, and even with a rebuilt radiator + water pump and new coolant, it looks very brown under the rad cap. I believe the capacity is ~5 gallons and I have 3 handy, so that will be a job for next time. The engine stays pretty cool with a 160° thermostat, but hopefully a flush will end up meaning less heat inside the engine bay. I don't want to have to run a vapor-separating fuel filter or whatever other bullbird. I leave tomorrow so I think I'm about done fiddling with the car, but it drives great and will start right up from the pedal so I am happy. Next time: a coolant flush, tuning, bulb replacement, and maybe tires so I can do a little cruising.. although I keep having to remind myself that that master cylinder is running with original 1956 leather cups and gaskets. Yikes.