engine swap in 56 buick

[Guest evac1133]

i posted this on the restoration side. someone suggested i might get a better response over here. what would be involved in putting a later model nailhead (401 or 425) in a 56? secifically what to do about the torque tube.

[The Old Guy]

The first problem you will encounter is the bell housings are different! You will need a Dynaflow from a 57 to 63 Buick . I think you can probably find one that will mate up with the tranny mount, and also the torque tube.

[FireballV8]

Joe

Can you put in a 62 401 into a 57 with the 364? Are the mounts and bolt holes in the correct places? Basically do a 364 & 401 & 425 have the same relationship as the earlier 264 & 322 do?

Thanks

Steve

[The Old Guy]

I am not sure on the mounts, but the only difference that is obvious is the bigger the engine, the taller they get. This ,of course causes the intakes to be wider .The 401 and 425 are the same width because they did that with a boring bar, and a little core change.

[brad54]

My back-burner project is my '54 Buick Special. I want to convert to an open driveline so I can run an overdrive trans.

I've gotten a set of early '70s Chevy pick-up truck trailing arms, and a buddy is going to give me the cross member from his project truck to mount them.

I'll put in a new rear end (probably the '57 Chevy or 9-inch rear I already have), transfer the spring mounts and pan-hard mounts to the new rear end, and then put the new cross member in the chassis to connect the trailing arms.

I'm planning on building a '56 322, but am seriously considering swapping to a 401--If I'm doing all that for the rear anyway, new motormounts and headers won't be that big of a deal.

I think the '56 went to tube shocks--the '54 uses knee action shocks. I may retain the stock 12-inch backing plates from the '54, as that's where the shocks mount. However, I've also got a set of later 12-inch rear backing plates, so I can use finned aluminium drums (less brake fade). These would bolt up to the Chevy rear's bearing cup, while I'd have to get new GM pattern bearing retainers welded onto the ends of the 9-inch housing.

-Brad