Car Craft Nailhead Engine Swap (1956)

[Mudbone]

I found this article in an old Car Kraft Mag. They show installing a Buick Nailhead in a 49 to 52 Chevy!

 

 

Edited May 5, 2019 by Mudbone (see edit history)

[NC-car-guy]

Thats cool.  Did it say what transmission they used?

Edited May 5, 2019 by NC-car-guy (see edit history)

[60FlatTop]

'37 LaSalle transmission.

[RivNut]

They used a Cadillac side shift transmission.  The author goes on to say "..if they'd have used a 37 Lasalle transmission, the previous steps could have been eliminated."

[NC-car-guy]

Would that be a bolt on back then or was someone making adapters.

[old-tank]

2 hours ago, NC-car-guy said:

Would that be a bolt on back then or was someone making adapters.

They made a custom adapter.  Since that article was 1956, there may have been some available adapters later.  My Offenhauser catalog shows adapters for some Ford transmissions (0509, 0510) and some Jeep (5833) and Toyota (5843) to the early 322/264 Buick engines.  They made a good choice on transmission...those Cadillac/LaSalle trannys were tough.  The only Ford transmission that would hold up to doubling the horsepower would be the spur gear 4-speed that I used in my 51 F-1 truck.