37 buick special build

[drptop70ss]

thanks for the kind words, I had a lot of fun building it, although it is nothing compared to some of the cars being built here. There are some guys here with amazing skills! Next car is a 23 T bucket, already started and is a roller, a good friend built the chassis for me and I will take it from there.

 

[Bigt442]

great looking car, could you tell me what s10 did you use. By one of the pics you had a cab&1/2 was this the frame used. I have a 37 olds I will be starting on soon.

 

[drptop70ss]

84 S10 extended cab chassis was used. Only issue with it is the steering box is up front, so to get the car low I had to have the front wheel slightly off center to the rear and the body shifted forward. Also moved the rear axle forward a few inches as well. If you went with a steering rack or had the body higher on the chassis you can get it more centered. I am not concerned with it, I love the car. It was a lot of work to do the chassis swap, if I were to do it again I think I would clip the original frame instead.

 

[rex1927]

I bought an 85 Blazer a few years ago then found out they set to high and are too short.
I still have it for parts.My cousins drive S10`s and keep coming by for parts.

I am still looking for a mid 80`s S10 pickup to use for chassis swap.
They are about all gone around here.I will have to get lucky to find one

 

[drptop70ss]

Plenty of S10s around here, and you can use a chassis all the way up into the late 90s for these swaps. I had a 95 S10 extended cab as well and the frame looked the same as the 80s except it was boxed in the middle instead of C channel, so even stronger. They are great for fat fendered cars and trucks, I plan on doing a pickup truck in the future.

 

[Wrinkles]

good job on your build. If your lookin for headlite rings? on my model a I used rings from a 65 jeep. no adjustment needed. fit right on and look good. just a thought. I am runnin seal beams.

 

[drptop70ss]

Thanks, I am using the factory 37 headlight rings, but since the car originally had a glass lens the rings are not big enough to cover the sealed beam headlight hardware..the rings would surround a 7" bulb fine but the housings are not large enough to use 7" bulbs. I will need to make some filler panels but I will do that at a later date.

 

[Shea Laking]

84 S10 extended cab chassis was used. Only issue with it is the steering box is up front, so to get the car low I had to have the front wheel slightly off center to the rear and the body shifted forward. Also moved the rear axle forward a few inches as well. If you went with a steering rack or had the body higher on the chassis you can get it more centered. I am not concerned with it, I love the car. It was a lot of work to do the chassis swap, if I were to do it again I think I would clip the original frame instead.

Your car looks GREAT! Turned out really nice!

Gotta admit, the picture in this post made me throw up a little (see my avitar pic). Wishing my "project truck" started out as solid and nice as what you cut up for parts!

Regards,
Shea

 

[drptop70ss]

yeah that truck had an excellent frame, was a good parts truck. S10s are a dime a dozen around here, craigslist was loaded with them when I found that one.

 

[Shea Laking]

Surprisingly, there's still quite a few of the "brick" s-trucks up here like your parts truck and my truck...However, being the rustbelt, most still around are in pretty rough shape (like mine). I just saw a NICE '86 Tahoe extra cab with fairly low mileage on kijiji going for around $2600 the other day... Looked like it needed a fresh coat of paint and you'd be off to the races. Sadly, I've probably got that much into the rustbucket I've got now... Oh well, the car hobby isn't necessarily about "fiscal responsibility." Just ask any car guy's wife.

The Buick's looking great so far. Keep up the good work![

Regards,
Shea

 

[cosmic12]

Great job! Thanks for the pics, now I see what the rockers are supposed to look like on my 37 Pontiac. It is amazing how close they are and probly have many interchangable parts. There was nothing left of the bottom 1/2 of mine.
Again thanks and have fun with it.[cl

I went a little different route with my sedan

 

[Johnson]

Cool, looks a little cartoon-y. In a good way though! [cl Do you have a thread?

-Johnson

 

[Mutt's37Buick]

Hi drptop70ss,
I'm new to "Rat Rods Rule" and really appreciate your build thread.
It's of particular interest to me because I have a '37 Buick Roadmaster (131" wb) that I want to turn into a streetrod. I had a few questions:
1) Do you know if a s10 chassis could be lengthened and used under my car?
2) You channeled the body. How much did you lower the body by channeling?
3) You started with drop spindles, but later swapped for stock due to 4" clearance. If I used drop spindles and no channeling, can you guess what my clearance would be?
4) You mentioned that you had the front wheels slightly off center. If I do not channel the body, will I be able to center the front wheels?
5) You mentioned the chassis swap was a lot of work and next time would do a frame clip. If I buy a complete running s10 and then do a frame swap, would this be less work than changing the front clip, engine, transmission & rear?
Thanks again for your help.

 

[Shea Laking]

I've seen reference around the web to a couple of fellows lengthening S-truck chassis in the middle. Basically, just cut in the middle of the "C" channel part under the truck cab area and add in a piece of 2"x4" rectangle steel tube. Set to your desired length and you're done.

Welcome to RRR, BTW![cl

Regards,
Shea

 

[MACKAZ]

this car is awesome....

 

[drptop70ss]

Thanks guys!
Mutt I really cant answer those questions, everything is set up during the mock up phase, you can put the body anywhere you want on the chassis as well as full setup of the car. Every build is different, you have to mock it up and see what you have, lots of trial and error to find what you like.
FWIW I have been driving the car around and it has been a nice reliable driver, no issues. That ebay special aluminum radiator works great, actually a little too cool, cant even get to 190 degrees, electric fan never comes on.

 

[Mutt's37Buick]

Thanks

Thanks so much for your advice and for doing such a great job of capturing your build. Your pictures are worth a million words and your thread will serve as a reference for me no matter what direction I end up going on my car. Thanks for the advice on the radiator too.

 

[drptop70ss]

Just an update, so far the car has been a reliable driver, everything actually works as supposed to and so far has not attracted police Made it to a local rat rod / traditional hot rod show over the weekend, found these pics online.

 

[earthman]

I love this car!

 

[Mutt's37Buick]

Car looks great. Have you made changes to the interior or seats? My garage is half built so will be bringing my Roadmaster home in about a month.