Does anyone have suggestions as to what more modern rear end with disc brakes can fit into my '55 ? I am measuring front drum backplate to backplate 51". I have a Camaro rear end with disc but it measures 62" from front side of hub to front of hub so it is too wide to put in.
Don't depend on the front track width to determine what was in the rear. Considering an early Camaro rear end is supposed to be a bolt-in for a tri-five chevy I'm having a hard time believing that it is too wide for a 55 Buick. I think there is something amiss in your determinations. I seem to remember reading an article years ago where a 55-6 Buick had the rear suspension from a 68-72 skylark grafted into it, control arms and all. Maybe it was even the whole chassis? memory is a little fuzzy on that one, the whole chassis swap may have been for a Merc... Maybe this will help? http://www.hemmings.com/partslocator/axles.html
Although the rear suspension can and has been changed in many of these older torque-tube Buicks, I have seen some pretty serious hack work done in a few of these modifications. You need to put your engineer's hat on before starting this job. The earlier Buicks were pushed around by their transmission and transmission mounts. The rear of the frame did not take, nor was it intended to take the thrust of the rear axle as it would on an open driveline RWD car. However you mount the new open axle assembly, you need to be sure that the frame and mounting points are up to taking the axle thrust. You may need to do some frame boxing (carefully, so it won't trap salt, water, and crud), or general beefing up of the axle mounting area. This is not an impossible job, but it needs to be approached intelligently.
Danny You could use Chevy truck style trailing arms which uses a mid chassis mounting point. There are many options for this style. Here are a few examples. Here is a link to a Buick torque tube to open rear end conversion. A 78 Lincoln rear was used in this example under a 40 Buick. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=578566 Here is a site with rear end widths http://www.carnut.com/specs/rear.html http://www.porterbuiltfabrication.com/?p=317 http://nailheadbuick.com/drive-line-and-differential See Torque tube eliminator kit. http://www.nolimitparts.com/products.asp?dept=1177 http://www.earlyclassic.com/catalog.aspx?category=crossmembers http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=672544&highlight=nascar+rear+suspension
Thanks John, very helpful....definitely will look long and hard on how secure the rear end. ---------- Post added at 08:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:34 PM ---------- Awesome....thanks alot....very very helpful
