1956 Century Ring and Pinion

[Guest 54fins]

I have 3) 1956 rear ends. 2 century and 1 is a special. Odds are good rear ends. I am building a 56 convertible and I got 2) 56 century sedans that had to leave a property. Send a PM or email to 54fins@gmail.com. My preference is to horse trade as cash values are hard to determine, usually its more time pulling the parts than what they are worth. I'm in Colorado and I have the 3 56 rear ends and several 54 rear ends.

[Beemon]

Damn. ... I wish you would have posted sooner, they're already in the process of disassembly and reassembly. It was okay before because the carrier was in one piece but if I have them put a hold on something that's already apart I'd just be wasting the shops time. Thanks for the offer, it was just two days late. I also don't think I'd have anything to horse trade. 

[sean1997]

Rebuilt 1957-1960 3.23 center section on ebay:

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1957-60-Buick-Differential-Rear-End-Carrier-Ring-and-Pinion-3-23-ratio-Rebuilt-/141938176957?hash=item210c2cb3bd:g:y5kAAOSwT~9WlW1V&vxp=mtr

 

 

[SpecialEducation]

1 hour ago, 54fins said:

I have 3) 1956 rear ends. 2 century and 1 is a special. Odds are good rear ends. I am building a 56 convertible and I got 2) 56 century sedans that had to leave a property. Send a PM or email to 54fins@gmail.com. My preference is to horse trade as cash values are hard to determine, usually its more time pulling the parts than what they are worth. I'm in Colorado and I have the 3 56 rear ends and several 54 rear ends.

 

That's hilarious.  I *just* saw your post on cutting up the Century and thought to myself, "I bet Beemon could use that rearend!"

 

Come to think of it, if you've got a spare power steering system, I could use that!

[Beemon]

I unfortunately do not have $640 to drop on this unexpected repair, $300 on a used junkyard gear set was within budget. I'm quite bummed all of this info is turning up the day after I gave the shop the go ahead to rebuild what I have. Had I known this listing were to exist on a freshly rebuilt unit, it would have saved me $1000 in labor.

Edited March 24, 2016 by Beemon (see edit history)

[SpecialEducation]

I know the feeling.  We had a leaky torque ball serviced a couple years ago.  Once we dried the rear end up, we found that there was a small leak up front.  After a couple years and a trip to Springfield last summer, that little leak turned into a big one.  We took it into the shop expecting a $500 bill to drop the Dynaflow and replace all of the external seals.

 

Then the shop found the torque converter full of metal.

 

It seems we've been loosing the front bearing, resulting in a leak at the front seal and turbine blades rubbing inside the converter.  Fortunately, none of the metal got pumped into the rest of the transmission, but this $500 job will end up around $2k.

[Beemon]

Being a college student and working full time, my project money comes from tax returns. I had the engine rebuilt two years ago, the transmission rebuilt last year and this year was supposed to be the diff. The motor was apart when I started the car and the car sat because the Dynaflow went bad. I should have had the diff inspected at the time I started, too, but I was so jacked on getting the car running for my grandfather I started with the front and moved back. The Dynaflow was a $2400 fix and the diff will cost me $1800. I also just can't pull the plug with these guys, they're the family mechanic and I have a vintage car holding up one of their bays for two weeks during their busy season. With the condition of these rear ends, chances are that rebuilt one will be gone by the time I recoup my losses and they're so rare that another good set probably won't be around the same time next year. My father tells me its the family curse, the natural born losers lol. Always loose tools by just setting them down, having the shop rebuild a bad diff to have a new one pop up on Ebay one day later. After this debacle, I'm looking into just going to a Chev rearend with a 700r4 and truck arms next year. That also bums me out because I just spent a hefty dollar on swapping the rear drums to disc, $400 machine shop time to have the axles matched to the rotors, $205 brackets and $220 in hardware...

[Guest 54fins]

My observation is that the rear diff is rarely, if ever serviced. You may have the original oil in it. Then the ATF tends to walk down the torque tube. if 1956 is a bastard year I have 3 of them and hopefully 2 are good. If I run into any issues I'm more likely to scrap the torque tube and convert to open drive shaft. The Riviera rear ends are nice- right size Posi and with the 5 on 5 bolt pattern- with the monster drums. Unfortunately its not cheap if you are paying shop rates but I can get an overdrive tranny and do the conversion way cheaper than rebuilding the original drive train. I just did a 55 Pontiac and it was so easy, adaptor plate for the motor was $700 but all I needed was the drive shaft length adjusted and done. The Buicks are a bear but that keeps everyone from having one. Most car shows have at least 5 tri-5's and I rarely run into another Buick

Edited March 24, 2016 by 54fins (see edit history)

[Beemon]

So I know that I got part of this question answered earlier, but I did a quick search and the 1956-1965 gaskets for the carrier are the same. Does that mean I can drop a 65 carrier into my 56 axle and switch to open driveline? Or do the axle assemblies differ on the carrier?

Edited March 24, 2016 by Beemon (see edit history)

[Guest 54fins]

That I do not know, but the torque tube rear ends would probably be more trouble to convert to open shaft than replacing the whole rear end. Then you have to deal with the Dynaflow on the other end of the tube. This is the bitch for us Buick guys, Buick had to be different and you will quickly see the interchange problems. Old Buicks don't play well with aftermarket or even other GM divisions. Given your situation- tight budget, limited resources, the best option will be swapping the guts on your rear end. Once you get into the rear end conversion the project will grow into a beast. Given that not many young people are into Buicks, you are welcome to my pumkin guts if you happen to be in Denver.

[Beemon]

I wish I was but I'm over here in Washington. Thanks for the offer, though. The shop says as long as I drive it like a normal car, there won't be an issue, it'll just have a noisy rear end like a late GM pickup.

[sean1997]

20 hours ago, Beemon said:

So I know that I got part of this question answered earlier, but I did a quick search and the 1956-1965 gaskets for the carrier are the same. Does that mean I can drop a 65 carrier into my 56 axle and switch to open driveline? Or do the axle assemblies differ on the carrier?

 

 

You can only use a 1961-1962 center section to convert to open drive due to the difference in the number of splines on the axle shaft which changes the axle shaft diameter.  See my post here:

 

http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?257578-Early-Olds-rear-and-early-Buick-rear-do-parts-interchange-Monzaz&p=2110102#post2110102

 

You will then need something to locate the rear axle to replace the torque tube.  Chevy truck trailing arms are commonly used.  Russ Martin sells a kit, see the last row of this webpage:

 

http://nailheadbuick.com/drive-line-and-differential

 

 

Edited March 25, 2016 by sean1997 (see edit history)