MZ3033 Posted October 6, 2021 Share Posted October 6, 2021 Brought home this Century on Monday. My first Buick and about 30 years older than any other car I've owned. My wife and I plan to attempt a restoration over the next few years so that we can enjoy cruising around town with family and friends and attend some shows. Hopefully we will meet some of you one of these days! We were very specific in looking for one of these this year. Love the look of the '55 and we wanted a 4 door for ease of transporting others. Plenty of work to do on this one, but its pretty solid which was important as I'm not much of a welder. Already have a carb rebuild kit on the way as its starving for fuel and dies under too much load. Also have some ignition parts coming. Hopefully I'll get it running smooth as is and get to drive it just a bit before the snow falls here in Michigan at which point we will begin tear down. More information and pictures to come. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancemb Posted October 6, 2021 Share Posted October 6, 2021 Looks like a great start. Welcome to 50's Buick world! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted October 6, 2021 Share Posted October 6, 2021 Congrats on your find and successful purchase. And welcome to this Forum. Looks like a great choice in vehicles. There is a lot of good information here and lots of helpful people who will be helpful. What is your plan for the "restoration " since that word is frequently used but not in its strictest definition? To help clarify my question I would offer that some people define a restoration as a rebuild of an item to the standards in place when it was originally built. While on the other end of the spectrum, I have seen people describe cars which now sport non manufacturer engines and related drivelines and various other changes using this same term. This is really just a conversation point but it's an important thought process mainly due to the economic reality of what a restoration may entail. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted October 6, 2021 Share Posted October 6, 2021 Hey, that's my car!...well, kinda like where I started in many years ago. I still have some parts cars including a model 63 and may be able to help with some (free) parts. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avgwarhawk Posted October 6, 2021 Share Posted October 6, 2021 Very nice! Enjoy! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kosage Chavis Posted October 6, 2021 Share Posted October 6, 2021 Good taste! Please post as much as possible. Looking forward to see what you do with this project. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZ3033 Posted October 7, 2021 Author Share Posted October 7, 2021 9 hours ago, JohnD1956 said: Congrats on your find and successful purchase. And welcome to this Forum. Looks like a great choice in vehicles. There is a lot of good information here and lots of helpful people who will be helpful. What is your plan for the "restoration " since that word is frequently used but not in its strictest definition? To help clarify my question I would offer that some people define a restoration as a rebuild of an item to the standards in place when it was originally built. While on the other end of the spectrum, I have seen people describe cars which now sport non manufacturer engines and related drivelines and various other changes using this same term. This is really just a conversation point but it's an important thought process mainly due to the economic reality of what a restoration may entail. Thank you for the welcome! Good question on the restoration. For me its about putting this car back the way it should be. The history and what a car from this time period was like to drive is important. Being the first car I attempt to go through this process with I don't expect to be winning any awards with it, but I'll learn a lot along the way and do the best I can and hopefully I'll have a car when I'm done that will last another 66 years. 8 hours ago, old-tank said: Hey, that's my car!...well, kinda like where I started in many years ago. I still have some parts cars including a model 63 and may be able to help with some (free) parts. Hi Old-tank! You sure have some beautiful 55 Buicks! I have visited your website along with Mubone's youtube videos. What a wealth of knowledge! I appreciate the offer and I'd be happy to pay for any parts that end up coming this way as well. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAD36 Posted October 8, 2021 Share Posted October 8, 2021 Nice find and congrats on your purchase. Look forward to hearing about your upcoming “journey” 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZ3033 Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 Well today was the first day we have had to work on the Buick although it was only a couple hours. Decided to start with fuel on our quest to get it to run well enough to drive just a bit before winter. The mechanical fuel pump has been disconnected and at some point an electric pump was installed at the tank. There was almost no fuel coming out of the line with the pump running and what was there was pretty well varnished. I decided we should drain and drop the tank to get it ready to clean out as well as the line. I noticed the bottom of the tank had been dented in a bit on the bottom and repaired with maybe some JB weld or something. When I dropped the tank I also found some rust holes on the top. That was unexpected since the car has very minimal rust on it. In my initial research it seems like all the tanks made for this car now are 17 gallons and I believe this car has a 20. Anyone know of someone making a 20 gallon tank for the Buicks? I'm also in need of some side glass These drivers windows are cracked and my right rear window has a small crack. I see a couple companies selling glass kits for these cars. Are the aftermarket ones pretty nice? Any recommendation on a company for the glass? Here are some photos from tonight. The picture of the bottle is the very bad gas from the car and of course one of my wife's first time using the impact. We are going to have fun working on this together! 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 15 hours ago, MZ3033 said: In my initial research it seems like all the tanks made for this car now are 17 gallons and I believe this car has a 20. Anyone know of someone making a 20 gallon tank for the Buicks? I'm also in need of some side glass These drivers windows are cracked and my right rear window has a small crack. I see a couple companies selling glass kits for these cars. Are the aftermarket ones pretty nice? Any recommendation on a company for the glass? The original tank capacity is 19 gallons...unless you buy gas from the Seneca Indians in New York then it is 24 gallons. The available tanks have a 2 piece filler, but you can get a radiator shop to swap your original if in good shape. I have a sound, but very dented tank, but shipping cost expense should be reserved for new tanks. Buy flat glass locally. The hard part is getting someone willing to install in the frames. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted October 13, 2021 Share Posted October 13, 2021 1 hour ago, old-tank said: The original tank capacity is 19 gallons...unless you buy gas from the Seneca Indians in New York then it is 24 gallons. 😄 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lancemb Posted October 14, 2021 Share Posted October 14, 2021 I used https://www.autocityclassic.com/classic-auto-glass/ for my 57. The quality is nice and the green tint is perfect. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZ3033 Posted November 2, 2021 Author Share Posted November 2, 2021 Thanks you all for the info and the fuel tank and glass. My hope was to get this running on the road for a drives around town before the winter and road salt hit, but unfortunately that's not going to happen. After clearing the fuel lines out and running the car out of a gas can, something wasn't right. I couldn't get rid of at least one dead miss so a quick relative compression test on scope showed me no compression on #6. Pulling the valve cover revealed a stuck valve and a broken rocker arm. Also a lot of sludge. At this point its time to pull the engine and start the restoration process. We have the front bumper off and some of the support brackets. Hopefully will drain and remove the radiator this week and maybe have the engine out and on a stand one of the next couple weekends. I didn't capture very good pictures inside the valve cover but I've got a couple that show some of the sludge in there and one with the shiny end of the #6 pushrod that snapped the ear of the rocker off. I guess the good news is with all the oil sludge maybe I'll be the first one to open this engine up? Time will tell I guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avgwarhawk Posted November 3, 2021 Share Posted November 3, 2021 (edited) She is good and bent for sure. Hopefully the valve will can be unstuck. How many miles? This much sludge the pan should come off for a cleaning. It probably has a build up of old oil. Edited November 3, 2021 by avgwarhawk (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZ3033 Posted June 9, 2022 Author Share Posted June 9, 2022 Well Its been a while since my last post but I have been at work on the car. We pulled the engine/trans and I tooled up the shop a bit with a new air compressor, blast cabinet, parts washer and ultra sonic cleaner to try to do the best work possible on this car and hopefully others in the future. Currently the block, heads and crank are at the machine shop awaiting inspection. Based on my quick measurements the bores are a little over the max factory spec for standard sized pistons so I imagine It will get over bored and of course replacing most of the top end parts as well. The car says 77,510 miles and I think that could be correct as it looked like standard size bore with factory parts. Someone had been into it before, however, maybe for rings and bearings as the bearings looked very new (GM parts however) and it seems the rods were facing any which way which was odd to me. I assumed they would all be facing one direction from the factory? I saw no pitting on the valve seats and nothing on the cylinder walls that scared me. Lots of rust in the water jackets, however and some were plugged. It just had water in it when I got it...who knows for how long. Here are a couple photos from the adventure. Apparently I forgot to take some after the valves and pistons were out. 5 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZ3033 Posted June 19, 2022 Author Share Posted June 19, 2022 Almost all good news from the machine shop. Block and heads are good. Block cleans up at .030. Rod and mains at .010. Have parts on order now nd pretty much all in stock and available! The only hiccup is I need new rod bolts. I'm not sure if they streched or stripped, but the last person in there had several of the nuts upside down for whatever reason and I did notice they didn't want to hand thread back on very easily. It doesn't seem these are available anywhere and my research led me to a post by @KAD36 using some ARP bolts(125-6001) and turning them down in order to fit. So far its looking like that will be the way to go unless I find another option or someone sitting on some NOS bolts. This forum and the people on here are invaluable to say the least. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAD36 Posted June 19, 2022 Share Posted June 19, 2022 (edited) Turning the ARP bolt down was the way to go. Everything is still where it belongs inside the block 🤣 What did you find for pistons, how well did they balance out and how did they compare to stock? Egge appears not to be making them and Rebuilders Choice (through Kanter) was an option a few years ago…. Apologize if I missed it earlier, didn’t scroll back. Edited June 19, 2022 by KAD36 (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZ3033 Posted June 19, 2022 Author Share Posted June 19, 2022 Pistons are an interesting story… I actually have 2 sets on order. EGGE is no longer making them but I called anyway based on the conclusions from @Mudbone when he did his. EGGE found some they sold to another supplier I guess so they are going to ship me those as well as a set I ordered from Russ and Matt at centerville. The machine shop will help figure out which ones to use and I’ll maybe sell the other set. at worst case scenario EGGE will custom forge them if one really wanted to get it right. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZ3033 Posted June 19, 2022 Author Share Posted June 19, 2022 44 minutes ago, KAD36 said: Turning the ARP bolt down was the way to go. Everything is still where it belongs inside the block 🤣 Also very glad to hear everything is in its place and there isn’t a “3rd times the charm” rebuild thread 😅 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted June 19, 2022 Share Posted June 19, 2022 Egge pistons are still performing well after 120,000 miles. But in order to balance them lots of material needed to be removed from some. If you do not balance the rotating assembly (recommended), at least match the weight to some original pistons. All available pistons are a compromise and will be lower compression than stock...those from Centerville and Terrill machine are the worst. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAD36 Posted June 19, 2022 Share Posted June 19, 2022 I also rode on Muds coat tails and measured the fluid displacement of the domes after seeing the results of his tests. What a bunch of Motorhead nerds. 🤓 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mudbone Posted June 19, 2022 Share Posted June 19, 2022 2 hours ago, old-tank said: Egge pistons are still performing well after 120,000 miles. But in order to balance them lots of material needed to be removed from some. If you do not balance the rotating assembly (recommended), at least match the weight to some original pistons. All available pistons are a compromise and will be lower compression than stock...those from Centerville and Terrill machine are the worst. Now with the price of high octane, may be the lower compression one's would not have been so bad! 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZ3033 Posted June 23, 2022 Author Share Posted June 23, 2022 It seems Christmas has come early. Exciting to have these in and take piston set #1 to the shop for comparison. My original plan was to reuse my intake valves, but I went to grab them today and realized I had an issue with at least one of them so now I have a set of intake valves on order. Other than that I think I’m done with engine parts! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sebastienbuick Posted June 23, 2022 Share Posted June 23, 2022 Beautiful Buick and good job !! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Stoneberg Posted June 26, 2022 Share Posted June 26, 2022 A good article on Rod Bolts. https://www.enginelabs.com/news/tool-of-the-month-arp-analog-rod-bolt-stretch-gauge/ 2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZ3033 Posted August 31, 2022 Author Share Posted August 31, 2022 Wow Its hard to believe its been since June since I've posted anything, but we have been hard at work on the engine build. Things are really coming together. Have to build the new rocker shafts and go through the starter and generator. a little more assembly and she will be ready to fire off before I know it. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MZ3033 Posted August 31, 2022 Author Share Posted August 31, 2022 (edited) While I'm in here I wonder if someone might have an answer to a couple questions. What is the size for the plug on the 322 heads where the temp sensor goes? It looks like my machine shop pitched the plug for the unused one. Also... Which Black paint should I be using for the black parts under the hood like the inner fenders/generator etc? Appreciate the help! Edited August 31, 2022 by MZ3033 (see edit history) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KAD36 Posted September 2, 2022 Share Posted September 2, 2022 Can’t help on the plug although somewhere my recollection is Mudbone replaced the plug on the passenger head to run a numeric temp gauge and there might be some insight there. FWIW my choice for inner fenders and panels by the radiator, generator, distributor, air cleaner, radiator tank, blower housing was satin black. The coil, fan motor, horns gloss black. Not an expert on what is factory exact but it matched pretty darn close to what it looked like coming out of the shed untouched umpteen years ago and when my grandfather used to work on it. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted September 2, 2022 Share Posted September 2, 2022 1 hour ago, KAD36 said: Can’t help on the plug although somewhere my recollection is Mudbone replaced the plug on the passenger head to run a numeric temp gauge and there might be some insight there. FWIW my choice for inner fenders and panels by the radiator, generator, distributor, air cleaner, radiator tank, blower housing was satin black. The coil, fan motor, horns gloss black. Not an expert on what is factory exact but it matched pretty darn close to what it looked like coming out of the shed untouched umpteen years ago and when my grandfather used to work on it. All correct, but be advised that anything other than high gloss is harder to clean. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rusty Heaps Posted September 3, 2022 Share Posted September 3, 2022 Hose it all down with gloss, it’ll be satin soon enough! 😁 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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