Bride of Young Frankenstein - 1957 Buick Super

[flashed]

Drew ,we will be here when you update again ,I understand the heat thing .My work had been pressure washing a 4 story building by myself in the heat until the lift broke down ,then the pressure washer broke .Probably be back at it next week as a new pressure washer arrived today .

[drewskiren]

Ok, I may be a little crazy, but while looking for better parts for our 57 Super, I stumbled upon another Buick. Not exactly close to home, but as you've already seen, thats part of the fun.

Anyone ever heard of a Roadmaster?????

[flashed]

Cant wait to see this one .

[JJorgensen52]

You're making me want to start working on my Buick again, Drew! Is this one for parts, or another project??

[drewskiren]

Albuquerque isn't really that far from Memphis.... Right?

Don Dulac and his father were kind enough to save this "parts car" from the crusher back 30 years ago. Don's dad has owned the Roadmaster convertible since around 1960 and sometime around 1969 hit a deer. He wound up buying an extra Roadmaster just to swap out the bumper, grille and fender. Fortunately some Buick experts reminded him that his Roadmaster 2 door hardtop model 76A was actually more rare than his convertible so he stopped robbing parts and kept them both. Only about 2800 of this 2 door hardtop Roadmaster were made back in 1957 - our Super is one of about 40,000 - its a no brainer which one to restore! Don's dad bought the hardtop Roadmaster with no engine, so since its going to be a non - original motor car anyway, I figure its ok to continue on the original path we had with the Super on this car.

Don has decided to sell this Roadmaster to fund the engine repairs on the convertible. It is in pretty darn good condition and is 100 percent complete - unlike our white Super. At first I figured at the very least I would buy this car to have everthing that I needed, but after looking it over and considering its pedigree, we will end up selling off the white Super. The floors in this new car are WAY better, but the rockers are worse. Rockers are actually available now for this car so that should be a pretty easy fix. But.... with a car from the 50's nothing is easy. I foresee less metal work with the new Roadmaster and a more desirable car in the end.

More pics to come.

[68Timber]

Are you going to use the frame you've modified or sell it with the Super?

[High Desert]

Drew, this is Don. I found this thread per your recommendation, and you do some amazing work! Glad you guys made it safely back home after such a long trip.

I feel very lucky to be able to see you make progress on the Roadmaster and will be checking in often. I promise to keep quiet unless you have some 57 Buick related questions or I need to let you know how much I think of your work.

It was great to meet you and your daughter. She is very lucky to have a father who cares so much.

[Advanced Design]

What an outstanding find! And I am guessing another great adventure. Love a Roadmaster.

[drewskiren]

Originally Posted by BRUISER

Are you going to use the frame you've modified or sell it with the Super?

Oh no. We will be forging ahead with the Super frame I have been working on since it is identical to the Roadmaster. My plan is to swap the bodies and put the white Super on Don's stock Roadmaster frame and sell it as a complete car.

[drewskiren]

Originally Posted by High Desert

Drew, this is Don. I found this thread per your recommendation, and you do some amazing work! Glad you guys made it safely back home after such a long trip.

I feel very lucky to be able to see you make progress on the Roadmaster and will be checking in often. I promise to keep quiet unless you have some 57 Buick related questions or I need to let you know how much I think of your work.

It was great to meet you and your daughter. She is very lucky to have a father who cares so much.

Thanks, Don!

Check in and comment as often as you like, it will be great having the previous owner chime in. I may not have remembered your story about the car exactly, but I think I hit the high points. Please correct me and add any details about the car's history you can.

[drewskiren]

Originally Posted by Advanced Design

What an outstanding find! And I am guessing another great adventure. Love a Roadmaster.

Of course another great adventure - a 3 solid days of Daddy/Biz time!

Everything about the mini adventure was great except for one thing.... passing by the cattle stockyards on I-40 in Amarillo, TX. Oh man did that place smell. I seriously wonder how anyone could live or work near there.

Apologies in advance if you live in Amarillo.

[drewskiren]

Biz needed a few more states checked off on her list of states visited, so here we go in New Mexico and Oklahoma.

If you are in New Mexico - with a 57 anything - you have to at least hit the Mother Road for a few miles! Even though our 57 Roadmaster was not under its own power, we still can claim that she's been on Route 66! If you remember our last build with Young Frankenstein, Andrew and I and parts of that truck also were on Route 66.

Good memories - looks like I'll have to revisit Route 66 at least one more time with my youngest, Sarah.

[drewskiren]

A few pics that Don snapped while we were loading/leaving.

[Zoomin]

It'll be interesting to see the two cars side by side. I'm not familiar enough with them to know the difference between a Super and a Roadmaster.

Did you guys stop by Cadillac Ranch?

[Advanced Design]

Cool pictures Drew. The car guy version of bringing down big game. The Roadmaster looks really solid.

[drewskiren]

Originally Posted by Zoomin

It'll be interesting to see the two cars side by side. I'm not familiar enough with them to know the difference between a Super and a Roadmaster.

Did you guys stop by Cadillac Ranch?

There is really not tons of difference between them, extra chrome bits, nicer interior, power windows and seat, and of course ROADMASTER emblazoned across the trunklid screaming "I've made it" to everyone on the road.



We may have seen a car or two stuck in the dirt.....

[High Desert]

I borrowed the attached form from the teambuick forum http://www.teambuick.com/reference/y...order_form.php . The Roadmaster was Buick's top-of-the-line offering in 1957. The Super (50 series) and the Roadmaster (70 series) share the same engine, transmission, body panels, etc. Aside from the Roadmaster having two-piece painted headlight bezels versus the Super's (and all other 57 Buicks) one-piece chrome bezels, they are essentially the same car. You could order a Super in 1957 to have all the same options as the Roadmaster, aside from convertible versions of each. The Roadmaster convertible (76C) came with leather interior standard while the Super convertible (56C) had a cordaveen interior.

Things that were standard on the Roadmaster, but were options on the Super were two-tone paint, the safety group, windshield washer & wide angle wiper, power windows, and dual exhaust.

[drewskiren]

Love it!

Thanks for the great info.

[drewskiren]

Everyone is resting peacefully.

[drewskiren]

Our Buick swung by to say hi to the Cadillacs at their ranch!

[Russell Ashley]

Glad to see some updates.

"Things that were standard on the Roadmaster, but were options on the Super were two-tone paint, the safety group, windshield washer & wide angle wiper, power windows, and dual exhaust."

Don't forget the extra porthole, LOL.

[drewskiren]

Back on it!

Summer is finally over and it's time to get back in the shop.

I spent all last weekend cleaning up the garage to make room to work and this weekend got back to the rear suspension. After studying it for a while longer, I have decided a third rail would make it even stronger. I made a cardboard template and traced it on the plate steel I had and man, I did not want to start cutting. Then I decided to bite the bullet and order the plasma cutter I've always needed and wanted! Until it arrives I have gotten all of my bolts lined up and dialed in for zero angle on my pinion.

2 "helpers/hecklers" showed up in the cleaned garage.

[drewskiren]

Picture misfire above.


Also this summer I have been super busy with 3 Sportclips franchises I purchased from another owner. One of which (TN105) has always been a fantastic location, once in the past with the previous owner hitting # 9 in the nation.

With my competitive nature, I had to make sure we bested that in short order - We worked pretty hard for a few months and felt like our back to school week could be a real winner. Ummmm, yeah..... We hit # 1 in the nation!!!!

I couldn't be more proud of our team at the Collierville location!

[NASTY-LSX]

Way cool!! this should be a interesting build for sure. What an adventure.

[Palf70Step]

Glad you are back on the bride. Congrats on the store news.