Mudbone Posted October 30, 2020 Share Posted October 30, 2020 I found some photo’s of my first 55 Buick. (Special 2Dr sedan) The photo of me standing next to the car was taken in 1969. I was 14. I came out to my brother in-laws farm in the summer to help bale hay and do minor service on equipment. The hired man had left several cars behind when he quit. I was told if I could get it running I could have it. After repairing a transmission cooler line and stealing a battery out of an old truck, I was driving around the farm. Unfortunately it took two years to get the title. More photos to come as I find them…….. 17 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billbuickgs Posted October 30, 2020 Share Posted October 30, 2020 From the looks of the brown grass roadway ,you did lots of driving !!!! LOL Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancemb Posted October 30, 2020 Share Posted October 30, 2020 Awesome color! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avgwarhawk Posted October 30, 2020 Share Posted October 30, 2020 Great photos and memories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudbone Posted October 30, 2020 Author Share Posted October 30, 2020 8 hours ago, billbuickgs said: From the looks of the brown grass roadway ,you did lots of driving !!!! LOL Bill I think I ruined the hay field but he never said a word! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudbone Posted October 31, 2020 Author Share Posted October 31, 2020 (edited) Here are a few more. Do you like my air cleaner? Edited October 31, 2020 by Mudbone (see edit history) 1 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosage Chavis Posted October 31, 2020 Share Posted October 31, 2020 Whatever happened to this car? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudbone Posted October 31, 2020 Author Share Posted October 31, 2020 1 hour ago, Kosage Chavis said: Whatever happened to this car? As I find more photos I will add to the story. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudbone Posted November 1, 2020 Author Share Posted November 1, 2020 (edited) I don’t remember when we brought the car home but it found a place in the driveway. Unfortunately I removed a lot of parts from this car thinking I could find better ones and they never when back on. I put new king-pins in and maybe some tie-rod ends. (1971) I rebuilt the wheel and master cylinders. Sophomore year I had engine class in auto tech so the engine came out for a rebuild. The trans was slipping in reverse so that came out and went to the basement. (If you look close you can see our daily driver the blue and white 56 Century through the window of the 55) (Soon to be buried) Edited November 1, 2020 by Mudbone (see edit history) 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudbone Posted November 2, 2020 Author Share Posted November 2, 2020 The engine was rebuilt at school and the dynaflow went in our basement for rebuild. All I had was part time job $ so it was a very limited rebuild. New rings, one piston, timing chain and valve job. New gaskets, tune up and rebuilt carburetor. We drove to downtown Chicago to J.C. Whitney to get the parts. (About three years later the wind blew down that tree!) 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudbone Posted November 5, 2020 Author Share Posted November 5, 2020 I found a few photos of the Trans apart. Unfortunately I took everything apart including the needle bearings in the planetary. I must have done something wrong because it backed up the driveway and drove down the driveway and that was the end of reverse! My dad felt bad for me so he took the Trans to the Trans shop and had to replace the rear section. We went to a local junk yard and bought a complete Trans for $25.00 and took that to the shop. Apparently some needles came out. (Dad never gave me the Bill) 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted November 5, 2020 Share Posted November 5, 2020 Is that a 55 transmission looks like a 56? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudbone Posted November 5, 2020 Author Share Posted November 5, 2020 29 minutes ago, old-tank said: Is that a 55 transmission looks like a 56? Who knows I was 14! I don't think they ever had aluminum bell housings in 55. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudbone Posted November 7, 2020 Author Share Posted November 7, 2020 (edited) The car was mostly back together and senior year came and went. Several cars were purchased and repaired and sold to buy one that would make it to Denver. (1966 Buick LeSabre 4dr hardtop) So off to Denver Automotive and Diesel college I went. Returning home I had a title and plates. I drove the car to work for about a year or so. My buddy Chris and I drove it to Iowa to an abandoned junk yard. I got married, moved out to the country to work for my brother in-law on the same farm the car came from! At that time it was in Red Oxide lacquer primer. After sitting for a year the rust started to come through the primer. I decided we needed to paint the car before the next winter. With my wife’s help we sanded it down gave it anther coat of primer, scuffed the primer and spayed some metallic green paint that I picked out of a sample book at the auto parts store. Unfortunately I have not yet been able to find photos of the car completely painted. Edited November 7, 2020 by Mudbone (see edit history) 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sebastienbuick Posted November 7, 2020 Share Posted November 7, 2020 Very nice story, thank you for sharing it with us Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudbone Posted November 13, 2020 Author Share Posted November 13, 2020 I found two more photos of the first Buick but they are not the main focus. The Javelin was purchased when I returned from Denver. I didn’t have it too long as Sue could not drive the four speed. (1974-1975) 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil morse Posted November 13, 2020 Share Posted November 13, 2020 On 11/1/2020 at 5:53 PM, Mudbone said: Great story! I love the Vega in the background -- classic image for 1971. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudbone Posted November 15, 2020 Author Share Posted November 15, 2020 I have not given up looking for more photos of this car. My buddy Chris took slides when we went to the Iowa junk yard. So far he has only come up with this glimpse of the right front fender as we were heading west. (Still in brown primer) He says he has tons more slides and it will take time to go through them all. I hope he come up with some good ones…. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudbone Posted November 22, 2020 Author Share Posted November 22, 2020 So, what happened to my first 55? After the 55 four dr. was sold, I was working at the Sears automotive center. One of the guys there had a 64? Wildcat convert for sale. It was in poor condition and barley ran. I had this brilliant idea of putting the 425 engine and trans in the 55 with an open rear end. Well I bought the car for about a $100.00. After pulling the pan and looking at the crank I decided to back away from that project. (Several years later working on the farm) After painting the 55 we ended up buying our first house in town. The only car that would fit in the small garage was the Honda Accord. So the first 55 had to go. I ended up selling it to a guy two blocks away. He said he wanted a project for him and his grandson to work on. I think I got $600.00 for it. The sad part was he had it backed in his garage and most of the time the door was open. I saw it for a couple years just sitting there. And then one day it was gone. I never saw it again. (If I have more photos I will post them) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudbone Posted November 26, 2020 Author Share Posted November 26, 2020 Photo from winter of 1975. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudbone Posted January 31, 2021 Author Share Posted January 31, 2021 We decided to clean and organize our basement before it becomes an official hoarder house. Of course I always get side tracked when I find cool stuff. My dad was a member of the local Model T Ford Club. We were featured on the front cover of the monthly news magazine. (Read the highlighted area) (The photo is the First start for the T after restore with the 55 waiting for me to come home from Tech School) 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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