1957 Buick Behemoth Build

[dhutton]

I’m getting pretty damn old so this is likely my final build. I love these hardtop wagons so I just had to build one. Nothing is available off the shelf for these cars. I’ve built four trifive Chevys including two Nomads but the effort and cost of this build is at a whole nother level…

I’ve come a long way since my first build of a 69 TA clone that I started almost 20 years ago. https://www.pro-touring.com/threads/...light=69+clone. Roughly 30 builds some of which were painted rollers. It’s hard to believe it’s winding down but let’s see how it goes after the wagon is done.

I found this car in the dry Arizona desert roughly six years ago. It’s a good thing I got it before the Covid price hikes hit. I had three more of these wagons squirreled away (one was an Oldsmobile Fiesta) and sold them off when I got this one.

[dhutton]

These cars have unique one year only uber rare ball joints, a torque tube and notorious transmissions so I spent a few years navel gazing what I would do with the front and rear suspension. I finally decided on Detroit Speeds universal front clip and Quadralink. I’m not a skilled fabricator by any means but I managed to cobble them into a spare frame that I picked up locally. Apologies to the fabrication wizards…

[dhutton]

To keep the budget under control I went with a 6.2 L86 and 8L90 I got from a guy who I’ve had good results with. Holley mid mount accessories and a Speartech harness etc.

[dhutton]

I have never seen one of these cars that did not have rotted out floors. I think the door drains get plugged and then the heavy carpet gets wet. I cobbled up some floor patches. Again, apologies to the fabrication wizards.

[dhutton]

After the floors were done it was time to tear it apart and get everything blasted and in three coats of SPI epoxy primer. Blasting has got to be the worst job in these builds. After epoxy the underside and “trunk” got SEM urethane bed liner. I just like the look. The holes in the floor are pockets for the upper four link brackets. I made some covers that bolt in.

[dhutton]

Next up was body work. The only rust I had to weld in patches for was in the bottom corners of one door. I usually use polyester primer but decided to go with an all epoxy primer method and applied four good coats of black SPI epoxy. I did have a little Rust Defender left over from a previous build so I used it on the roof. A lot of hours blocking out the behemoth, especially the roof. . The firewall on these cars is a complete dogs breakfast so I smoothed it a little. There is also a huge battery tray mounted to the left inner fender which I deleted and smoothed. Battery will be in the trunk.

[dhutton]

Once the epoxy was blocked through 220 I applied another two coats of SPI epoxy followed by two coats of SPI Turbo 2k primer. Then I assembled it to check the gaps and set it aside to do a C10 for a friend. It’s going to be low, I targeted rockers at 5” with 20’s.

[dhutton]

Once the C10 was done it was time for final blocking and paint. I went with one of my standards. SPI black single stage. I’ve had two Goodguys winners and an LS Fest winner with that black single stage. . I panel paint my jobs.

[dhutton]

After a couple of weeks the paint was sanded 1000, 1500, 2500 and 8000. I use Eagle abrasives except the 8000 is Trizact. Paint was compounded with 3D ACA 500 on their yellow wool pad. It’ll get another pass of compound and then polish later after assembly.

[dhutton]

Next the body was set back on the frame. I run Dakota Digital gauges in all my builds but they don’t have 57 Buick gauges. The gauges are small and narrow so options were limited. I finally bit the bullet and bought some gauges for a 40 Ford and sectioned the dash to fit them in. Not perfect but good enough for a backyard hack build. Looking back I probably should have gone with custom DD gauges but at the time I had no idea how deep I was going with this build. I also modified the factory controls to work with the Vintage Air Gen V evaporator a customer snagged for me cheap at the Summit clearance warehouse. This is a factory air car so I have the rare dash vents which I tore down and painted before reassembly. I used an Ididit shifter cable to get the column shifter working with the 8L90. I replaced the mechanical gear pointer with an LED display. I want to use the cool looking factory steering wheel which excludes using an aftermarket column. The shaft spline count and diameter is different.

[dhutton]

This car had the dreaded treadle vac brake setup. I decided to go with an iBooster from a Tesla and a pedal setup that I got from an outfit called Battle Born Brakes.

[dhutton]

Wheels are always a tough choice. I went with Schott wheels that are a little reminiscent of the factory hub caps. Brakes are C6 Z51 that I got from Kore3.

[dhutton]

The chrome plating bill for this build was insane. IYKYK…. This is just the large pieces I had done locally. The small parts went to a shop in Indiana. I’m going to take a shot at polishing the stainless to save a little money.

[dhutton]

The headliner in these cars is perforated cardboard so I decided to take a crack at a one piece headliner like the big boys at Kindigit. . I used fiberglass shower board to build the base. Pop rivets and panel adhesive. Then 1/8” landau foam followed by some foam backed headliner material from Relicate. I couldn’t find nice headliner or vinyl wide enough for the behemoth so I had to go with four sections with new chrome divider strips. I learned on the Nomads to do headliners while the car is upside down on the rotisserie. So much easier.

[dhutton]

I put power windows in all my builds but again nothing is available. I noticed the 56 Belair four door hardtops are similar door shape needing the staged up/down action on the rear door glass so I took a gamble and ordered them from New Relics. After a little MacGuyvering modifying the arms and mounting I got them working. I bought a used rear door to experiment on.
https://youtu.be/HQWT7-tyP8Q
https://youtu.be/8Pttzuf7xOM

[dhutton]

I wanted to get the exhaust welded up before going further. Not the TIG welded works of art I see in most builds but I can’t TIG weld because I can’t see a damn thing. So MIG it is. I gave myself a headache working through all the angles. I cheated and used slip joint mandrel bends to minimize butt welding. I did use some nice V band clamps like the big boys. I crushed some 2.5 inch tube to make the tips. I used the LT4 stainless tri y exhaust manifolds which are nice for the money. Again, apologies to the fabricators and guys with deep pockets… . I also modified the stock gas tank to accept a fifth gen Camaro fuel pump module. It will be controlled by the stock fuel pump controller integrated into the Speartech harness.

[BobinFL]

Very nice work. You can work on my cars anytime. LOL.

[dhutton]

Thanks Bob.

[ZZ430]

Impressive work!

Just finding the old iron in that condition is noteworthy.

Man, that is a lot of chrome.

BTW, the C10 outstanding as well.

[jaybee]

You do really nice work, great car!