1957 Buick Behemoth Build

[dontlifttoshift]

Such cool cars to start with. Nice job with the front clip!

[Pingar]

Amazing work. Can’t wait to see more!

[Aussie]

Very nice!!

[slazisme]

Don, I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit for working on many of the facets on your build......your Buhemoth 'Sled' looks great!
When someone builds something that isn't a duplicate from how it was originally, to me that is where the talent lies in a unique tasteful execution.
I've been peeking at it over at SPI once in a while, should get more exposure here at PT.com. Keep up the fine work.

[dhutton]

Don, I don't think you're giving yourself enough credit for working on many of the facets on your build......your Buhemoth 'Sled' looks great!
When someone builds something that isn't a duplicate from how it was originally, to me that is where the talent lies in a unique tasteful execution.
I've been peeking at it over at SPI once in a while, should get more exposure here at PT.com. Keep up the fine work.

Thanks Simon. All the best for 2026!

[boss_hoss]

Dude, This is awesome! This is my dream 50s car, the 57 Buicks are the best of the bunch in my opinion. Only thing holding me back as you well know is that everything's so specific to the 57 Buicks it's kind of either full custom or full stock. The cost to build one can get out of hand really quick if you don't have the skills to do a lot of it yourself.

[dhutton]

Dude, This is awesome! This is my dream 50s car, the 57 Buicks are the best of the bunch in my opinion. Only thing holding me back as you well know is that everything's so specific to the 57 Buicks it's kind of either full custom or full stock. The cost to build one can get out of hand really quick if you don't have the skills to do a lot of it yourself.

There’s a reason a lot of these cars are patina builds. Fortunately body and paint is the one thing I do ok at. The rest of my skills are good enough for driver quality which is my goal. A nice driver quality wagon my wife and I can enjoy.

[ryeguy2006a]

What a killer car Don!!! So cool you snagged one out of the desert. I remember several years ago when I was looking for a wagon you suggested a 57 Buick, but little did I know that you had one squirreled away. You aren't giving yourself enough credit on the build. It's top notch work and you should be very proud of the work you are doing. I can't wait to see more progress! Thanks for posting.

[stab6902]

Very nice, keep up the good work!

[chevyz240]

Cool project! I like the wheels.

[KiwiStarChief]

Great work you have done there! I love these modified 1950's wagons, and you have made my day reading about your project.

[dhutton]

Thanks everyone for the encouraging words. I hope to be cruising this fall.

[dhutton]

Since the behemoth is pushing me towards personal bankruptcy I decided to try to polish the stainless moldings. The last guy I paid to do it did a great job straightening but his polishing sucked. Full of sanding scratches. The guy before that charged me $130 an hour. A friend gave me the name of a guy who does his polishing but he doesn’t straighten. Trouble is I can’t tell if they are straight until I get into the polishing. I’ll give myself a 7 out of 10, far from show quality but pretty ok for a driver. It was a lot of work. Sanded 240 and 400 on my mini belt sander after straightening. Then 600 800 1000 1500 and 2000 on a DA. Then three compounds on three different buffing wheels. It took me a while to figure out a decent process and I could probably go back and revisit the early pieces but I’m ready to move on. The buffing is nerve wracking, especially on the curved and long pieces like the windshield and drip rail moldings. A couple of the door moldings were hammered with dings and the windshield moldings were essentially sand blasted after all those years driving around the California desert. The chrome window frames also had some deep scratches but I did my best cleaning them up with 1500/2000 followed by buffing. Have to be more careful there to not break through the chrome. I did have the pot metal vent window frames rechromed since the chrome was badly cracked. I probably should have had the front door window frames rechromed. Next up is painting the center strip of the side moldings and installing the new door glass in the frames. Then the dreaded vent window rebuild.

[KiwiStarChief]

I have been down this exact path as you are now. I spent so much on the rebuilding and getting the front bumper bits rechromed, that I tackled all the stainless mouldings myself, so I feel your pain.

It is a nerve wracking process for sure, and although I didn't have too many dings, there were a lot of scratches. It's nowhere near show quality, but it looks heaps better that it did, so good enough for me.

Keeps up the good work!

[dhutton]

New glass installed in frames with new seals. One of those time consuming jobs. I also restored the window felts. The originals have a larger formed stainless bead so I peeled it apart, stripped the skinny bead off the repops and installed the felt strip on the original beads. A lot of work with a lot of cussing.

[dhutton]

JJ Furillo has my custom valved JRI coilovers ready. I have had great results with JRI coilovers. The ride quality is unparalleled in my experience with quite a few brands.

[dhutton]

It’s 80 degrees here today so I thought I would knock out this task I have been dreading. SPI red single stage. Good times removing the tape before the paint cured.

[dhutton]

Got my wife to help me install the liftgate today. Damn that thing is heavy, like a Nomad liftgate on steroids. Installing the glass and moldings was a bit of a chore. The glass is not reproduced so it’s essentially unobtanium.

[KiwiStarChief]

Man that wagon looks wide, and so cool.

[guys64impala]

wow, beautiful and very detailed build. Eventually I would like to do a chassis swap on my 64 SS