1955 Buick Special, Restored, Air Ride, billet wheels, Accuair, chevy OD trans
1955 Buick special Buick Special bagged rat rod patina chevy bel air cadillac 1957
Hello, up for auction is a fully restored 1955 Buick Special Hardtop. 35K original miles, Car runs and drives great, very nice custom built air ride suspension, accuair with elevel, new billet wheels, over drive transmission, power steering, power brakes, ready to show and cruise!
Please ask all questions BEFORE bidding!!!! You can reach me directly @ 972 571 5822 (text or call)
Motor: Original 264 V8 nail head motor runs great, starts right up every time, doesn’t smoke, and has good oil pressure. 34,955 miles on car and its original motor. Carb is freshly rebuilt, all new gaskets, floats adjusted, jets cleaned, etc. Gas pedal starter still functions correctly. Car barley leaks anything, maybe a quarter size drop of oil after a few days. Original paint and decals on motor look great for original. New plugs, new wires, recent petronix electronic ignition, cap, rotor, and coil. (no longer uses points) fresh oil change, and oil filter has been converted to spin on style. Original oil bath breather has been painted gloss black with a hint of yellow pearl, it has also been converted to a paper style element instead of oil. Motor is all stock, with the exception of ignition and flow master muffler, motor sounds good and has a nice little lope to it as these old nail heads do. The motor runs great, its not a 500hp power house by any means, but pulls the car around fine for weekend cruising. Car has original power steering that is smooth and easy to turn.
Transmission: The original hydramatic and torque tube is long gone, and has been replaced with a 200r4 overdrive trans out of a 84 cutlass. There is a $800 mounting plate that connects late model trans to original nail head motor. Custom trans mount was built, factory shifter is hooked up (on column) and trans shifts as it should. Converter lockup is on a switch on the dash, and car runs nice low RPM on the freeway.
Brakes: Four wheel power disk brakes. Front end has replacement spindles that use a 80’s G body rotor and caliper, rear end has “right stuff” disk conversion that uses late 70s early 80s Cadillac calipers and rotors. Master cylinder is off late 70s early 80s vette and is a split reservoir. 2.5# residual valves used as well. Everything dealing with brakes is brand new, all lines (hard and soft) all calipers, rotors, residual valves, master cylinder, booster, etc, is all brand new. Car stops very well.
Suspension: 10 out of 10. Many many hours were spent on suspension fabrication, and the work is exceptional. Car rides absolutely amazing. Very soft ride, plush and smooth. Not at all stiff or rigid. It gets a lot of lift, and lays down pretty low. All fender well tubs are stock, not cut up or tubbed out. Car rests on factory bump stops or collapsed suspension (when aired out), and does not rest on tires to fender, and car can be rolled/moved with zero air in suspension. The shock part numbers are for a 68 c10 chevy so vehicle weight is similar, replacements will be easy to order, and ride can be fine tuned with stiffer/softer shocks if desired.
Rear: All the original two link and torque tube were removed, and a full custom soft mounted two link was built. The entire frame rails were plated with 5/16 steel from the beginning of the “x” part of the frame, all the way back to over the axle. This adds strength for the new link mounts and air bag mounts. The link bars are hand built with 1.5” .25” wall DOM tubing that is extremely stout. All other brackets and mounts are .25” steel. All rod ends are adjustable. Rear end can be moved from side to side, front to back, pivoted, and pinion angle can be adjusted. Also most rod ends are grease-able. The rear axle is a 69 camaro 8.2” 10 bolt with 3.08 ratio non posi. Gears looked good, fluid was changed, new brake lines on axle, new disk brake conversion on axle, and all original tabs were ground off and smoothed out and new brackets installed. The link bars are very long and bags are mounted on bar, which both factors give the car a great ride and a lot of lift. 2600# air lift dominator bags are used.
Front: front suspension uses factory control arms with the original lower spring perches reworked. Rivits were drilled out, lower plate removed, and a new steel plate was bolted in the control arm for bag to mount to. Upper bag mount is a traditional cup that bolts in. Spring pocket was trimmed so bag has plenty of clearance. Lower shock mount, lower sway bar mount, and lower bag plate, are completely bolt on, so entire front suspension can be taken apart if needed. Upper shock mounts are welded in with support gussets and go into the engine compartment, so there is no tire rubbing on shock. 2500# air lift dominator bags are used.
Air Management: All air ride components are brand new, and are a complete Accuair uv4 with elevel kit. Two viar compressors, 5 gal tank, all 3/8 lines, block type manifold, and all components are sent as a kit and designed to work together with accuair’s ECU and pre made wiring harness. The car has three preset ride heights and goes to them automatically with the single touch of a button. Also the car is set up to automatically go to ride height when the key is put in the ignition. With the elevel option, there is a sensor on all four corners of the car that detect suspension position and will maintain the car at that preset level constantly. For example, the car is at ride height and you put a heavy group of passengers in on one side of the car, the sensors will detect the added weight and raise that side of the car back up to level. The exhaust off the valve block is routed out of the trunk and toward the rear of the car, so when letting air out of suspension, it’s not blowing into the trunk. This is a very nice set up and preforms excellent, Accuair is the top of the line when it comes to air management.
Paint and Body: 7.5/8 out of 10. The car was stripped to bare metal and painted approx 9 years ago. It is wearing its original color of condor yellow. I have seen pictures of the car sanded down bare, and there was zero evidence of rust that I saw. Floor pans are solid as a rock, and still had some areas of original paint/primer on them. Now entire underneath of car has been protective coated with POR-15 rust treater/preventer. Inner and outer rockers are extremely solid with zero signs of any rust. Only spot of rust on entire car is under trunk in a double walled piece of metal, it is not visible from inside trunk and is above bumper bracket underneath car, so not in an easy spot to see or get to, it’s tough to spot, and not structural, so it has been generously coated and left alone. Trunk floor is solid, spare tire recess in trunk is solid, entire car is solid as a rock. Paint cleans up very well, it does have a few flaws from age, rock chips here and there, buffer burned through in a couple spots, and there is a dent in the quarter panel, but paint has recently been wet sanded, buffed and glass coated. Over 60 hours went into making the paint shine. There is zero orange peel, zero hazing, no oxidation, and paint is slick, deep, and very smooth to the touch. Paint does clean up very well and is very impressive in person even though it has some blemishes here and there. The door jambs, under hood, inside trunk were painted as well. Trunk has been spray undercoated in a semi-gloss black, it looks nice and adds additional insulation.
Interior and electrical: Interior has all been redone, seats covered, door panels, head liner etc. It’s again a 7.5/8 out of 10. Seats look nice, but yellow piping has some black around the edges, and dash paint is not quite as glossy as rest of the car, but overall it is clean and is good driver quality, and is a comfortable cabin. Seats have nice factory style insert in the middle that shows well, headliner is a leather type material, and carpet looks good and black. Radio works, and even wonder bar channel scanner pedal for radio works, although it isn’t hard mounted as it was from factory. (looks cleaner this way) all gauge lights work, glove box light works, dome light doesn’t work, headlights and tail lights work, license plate light works, bright light floor switch doesn’t work, blinkers work and turn off with wheel turn as should, wipers work although they are on a aftermarket switch, horn works but on button on dash, all windows roll up and down as should, although passenger vent window can be touchy and crank sometimes spins freely, speedometer works but is bouncy at slow speeds, volt meter works, oil pressure works, temp gauge works, fuel level is hit and miss (believe it is a ground issue) all glass is good zero cracks, there are some small wiper scratches on windshield but they arnt terrible and could possibly be buffed out, power door locks and key fob remote for locks work great, rear windows do have some discoloring around the edges from age, door flippers both move and work as they should. Brake lights work, courtesy light on dash works, radio light works, new big battery, 12 volt system, car has two blower motors one works one doesn’t, factory steering wheel looks nice, and interior chrome and metal pieces look nice as well. Carpet has thick insulating pad under it. Good driver quality interior.
Bright work: 7.5 out of 10. All chrome and stainless look good, and all is in good driver quality condition. Front and rear bumpers have been rechromed and look good. All stainless trim is original and has been polished. It all looks nice and cleans up well with a minor ding here and there, nothing major. Dagmars on front bumper are perfect. Grill is perfect and grill bar is not cracked as most are. Rear bumper has a ding in the upright piece but main bumper is straight. Passenger tail light and passenger vent window trim do show some pitting, but not terrible, and the rest of the pot metal is in pretty good shape. Emblems are all present and in good shape. I would say all chrome and stainless on the car is in good shape for being a mix of original and re chromed.
Wheels and Tires: Wheels are brand new, 20” in front and 22” in rear. These are high dollar billet aluminum wheels that really fit the car well. Wheels are in very good shape, with a very minor ding or scuff here and there, tires are great too. Wheels and tires do not rub with suspension all the way up or all the way down, nor do they rub at full turn. 245/35/20 front. 265/35/22 rear. Esajian wheels (made in usa) and lexani tires. If the wheels are not your style, I can keep the wheels and install something of your choice.
Over all this is a great car and is a blast to drive, perfect weekend cruiser. With the power steering, power brakes, and over drive trans it makes this a very driver friendly machine. This car is done and ready to roll, no additional work or money has to be spent on it. I took her on a 175 mile round trip last wknd without missing a beat. It is a nice car overall and gets tons of attention and trophies everywhere it goes. Be different than all those tri-five chevys! Clean clear title in hand. Thanks for looking and happy bidding.
Bid to win! If you place winning bid and reserve has been met, you own the car, winning bid is to buy, not to ponder on it. I reserve the right to end this auction early at any time for any reason. No warranty expressed or implied, vehicle is sold as is, where is. I have described the vehicle as honestly as possible, but I am not responsible for current or future vehicle problems stated or unstated. Shipping is the buyers responsibility, but I will assist with loading. $500 nonrefundable pay pal deposit due within48 hours of auction ending. Remaining balance will be paid in full within 7days of auction ending. Balance can be paid by cash in hand, bank wire, or cashier’s check only. If by check, the full amount will be cleared and accessible in my account before car or title leaves my possession. I bank with chase bank, and they sometimes hold large checks up to 12 days after deposit, so direct wire or cash is preferred. If paid by direct wire, I will next day mail you the title as soon as I receive funds. If deposit or remaining balance is not paid within the time lines, then car will be put back up for sale, and any and all previous payments will be null and void. If buyer is in Louisiana, then a sales tax will be charged. Thanks
- Condition: Used
- Make: Buick
- Model: special
- SubModel: Buick Special bagged rat rod patina chevy bel air cadillac 1957
- Type: two door hard top
- Trim: hard top
- Year: 1955
- Mileage: 34,955
- VIN: 4b4035734
- Color: condor yellow
- Engine size: 264 nail head V8
- Number of cylinders: 8
- Power options: Power Locks
- Fuel: Gasoline
- Transmission: Automatic
- Drive type: RWD
- Interior color: Black
- Vehicle Title: Clear Want to buy? Contact seller!