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Auto on a 1942 Buick 8/40


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Folks;

 

We are working on putting a Turbo 700 on a Buick 8/40 from USA 1942. They were built in Australia with the 1942 Sloper Body as a 1946/47 .  We have a kit to fit the Auto and are now working out what to do with the Torque Tube Tailshaft set up as it needs to be changes to a normal open tail shaft. We are wondering if anyone has done this and used an alternative tailshaft ,  Diff,  Rear axle setup and if so what did you use. . We can modify a leaf spring rear axle to take the coils if we have to but would prefer a Coil set up. Any help would be really appreciated.

 

Ranald (Australia) 

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Welcome to the AACA Discussion Forum. Since you are asking a question about modifying a Buick, I have moved your topic to the Buick Modified Forum. You are much more likely to find this type of answer here rather than the AACA General Forum. 

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If you do a Google search, you'll find a couple of articles where the builders have taken the control arms from a Chevy C10 pickup and mounted them to a Buick chassis.  They use the original springs and panhard bar.  But they substitute a later open rear end.  Shouldn't be any more difficult than installing a "kit."  

 

With the overdrive 700 R4, you might consider the rear end from a Ford Explorer.  It's probably close to the same width, PLUS it has a nice 3.73 rear gear (which will give an overdrive highway gear of around 2.61.  All of those Explorer rear ends have disk brakes and posi-trac.  With disk brakes in the rear you's want to change the fronts to disks as well.  You would probably want to redrill the bolt pattern on the axles to 5" to match your wheels and the fronts.

 

Scarebird makes adapters.  scarebird.com/index.php?route=product/product&path=59&product_id=57   The nice thing about just using adapters rather than kits is that the adapters allow for the use of OE parts from other models.  I think this adapter calls for using the front disk rotors, calipers, and pads from a 76 era Buick.  Sorry if I got ahead of myseif here.

Edited by RivNut (see edit history)
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  • 2 weeks later...

hi , I had a 42 special  running a 430 /200r4 trans  I used the rear clip from a 69 chev  impala   a 4link out of a 70's chevelle / monte carlo should work too. a cut down and rebalanced driveshaft from the same car  use the front clip too and get the disc brake and power steering front end to go with it. bos

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That's a neat old building you found for the background.  The car I saw was in a huge junkyard in Lanexa, VA probably 30 years ago now.  It was salvageable at the time I seem to remember.  Unfortunately the owner passed away and I think the junkyard was cleaned out and sold by a son....or, at least that was what I heard.  Yes, all to most of the diecast was replaced with tin, even the hood handles.  The most interesting part to me has always been the shortened ball and arrow tailights which look like the 50-70 model but the arrow was much shorter, and or course they were made out of tin.  I think in the parts books these wartime cars were called H1942 models.  There must have been very, very few built unless they kept building some for the military, because I had a 1942 Super that was sold new in December, 1941 that was all chrome and used all diecast for the chrome.  They production cars stopped on Feb 16, 1942.

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