1955 Buick Special - Hemi powered

kberjian

kberjian

Member
I am building a 1955 Buick Special that I put a junkyard 5.7 Hemi into with full air ride suspension. I am doing 99% of the work myself. I am trying something a little different for sharing progress on this one, I am making YouTube videos. I have a intro video where I tell you about the history of this car and the changes up to Dec 2020, then I started making individual videos for the little project I do along the way. Here is a link to the playlist for this Buick. I will be uploading a new video every week so subscribe if you find them interesting! I will also be posting the completion of my 1929 Willys rat rod on the channel too this summer. Stay tuned!

 
Thanks for posting this. Great project, good luck with it.
 
Appreciate the kind words. I am not an experienced builder so let me know if you notice anything I should do differently!

I have 9 videos up so far about the Buick, and 1 for my Willys project that is stalled currently that will get worked on after the Buick is on the road.
 
A couple comments. First, I have always loved those Buicks. Great choice. Second, I have often wondered why the 5.7 Hemi was not more popular in engine swaps like this. It seems that everyone goes with the LS swap. The 5.7 should be a good choice. Third, I like the way you think (because it;s the same way I think). Stock body, stock interior. There is certainly nothing wrong with modifying either if that is what you want. I've seen some VERY clever mods done but there is something perhaps nostalgic in stock form that appeals to me. Looking g forward to following the progress.
 
Great looking project; thanks for the video intro too.
What a bugggar, selling stuff-miss represented, and then hiding under ‘Covid’...cheesy. You made it work though!👍

I will need to go back and watch the section on the electronics-wiring-modules for the Hemi/trans again. My son is working with the ‘04 Hemi into a ‘94 Ramcharger...and there is “no plan” yet for the electrics.
Will be watching, cheers.
 
Welcome and EXCELLENT video, great work. I have only watched the first one but I will check all the others too. I really like the 5.7 and wish I could get the ambition to install one. 400 HP I love it in my truck, but I know there are longevity issues at least with other Ram truck owners I have met. Real nice Buick too, lucky find.
 
CDNflatlander said:
Great looking project; thanks for the video intro too.
What a bugggar, selling stuff-miss represented, and then hiding under ‘Covid’...cheesy. You made it work though!👍

I will need to go back and watch the section on the electronics-wiring-modules for the Hemi/trans again. My son is working with the ‘04 Hemi into a ‘94 Ramcharger...and there is “no plan” yet for the electrics.
Will be watching, cheers.
Click to expand...
Thanks for the feedback. The engine control options I researched were :
1. HemiTronix - Website - Seemed like a good option but I was concerned with the low volume of them and little support.
2. Megasquirt 3 Gold Box - Website - A good product with a plug and play harness. The overall kit was 1300 USD. I didn't go with it because the ECU doesn't self learn and the tuning seemed too daunting for me.
3. Holley EFI - Website - A good brand with lots of support available. Self turning capabilities with a great interface. I used the plug and play dash setup as well. I am frustrated with the numerous additional costly harness add ons that you need, You need to buy the ECU for 1500$, the main harness 300$, the injector harness, the spark control harness, the main power harness, the I/O harness, the CAN connector harness, etc.... All in I am in 5K just for the Holley parts for the engine control and Dash......

The transmission controller is tough too. The usual transmission that came on them is a 45RFE or a 545RFE for the early Hemis, both are the same transmission and just have a different controller to make it a 4 or 5 speed. The usual aftermarket transmission controllers wouldn't work with those transmissions either which forced me to change it with an adapter to a 4l80. Some have made the stock dodge trans controllers to work but I couldn't figure out how I could make it work in my application.

I can share any of my costly lessons learned if you have any more questions.
 
Somehow in the past 50+ years the fuel filler assembly from the car vanished. I have tried searching for a stock replacement with no luck. I decided to make my own using a generic fuel filler assembly from Amazon, some mandrel bend 2" pipe, and a whole lot of cutting and welding. I am happy with the result other than I need to replace the silicone orange coupler from the tank to the first hard line since silicone isn't fuel rated. I have a rubber piece on the way and will install it before I fill it up for the first time.

Here is the video!
 
Wow that's looking good . The car appears to be in very nice condition ( I haven't watched your other videos yet so I won't ask stupid questions lol ) . I also often wondered why there aren't more hemi transplants as they are readily available at reasonable cost but at 5k in wiring the answer is reasonably clear . It's unfortunate but the chevy ls is becoming the old sbc not neccessarily because it's a better motor simply because of the self cheapening cycle of the more that use it the more aftermarket get in on it and the competition lowers price making it more attractive .
 
I think there will be more options for engine management soon that will be more cost effective. I am into the full engine/trans/wiring/ecu setup for around $8,000 but it should reliably make 350 HP and run well in all temperatures and conditions. The engine and trans should have 100,000km more life in them too.
 
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