My 51 HenyJ

[Henry Albert]

We have 2 HJ's. The first is a rusted out 53 that we bought in 011 and the one I am currently working on is a 51 that was in storage since 1970 that we bought in 012. We got it running the night We brought it home. I was going to fab an adapter to convert it to a GM auto but after the carb let a gaView attachment 203734 l of gas into the oil I decided to change it to something else. My buddy gave me the 80 Buick Turbo V6 we had pulled out of his car this summer. It was running OK but needed complete engine and trany gaskets to stop all the leaks.
The 51 was a hodge podge of parts and as we got deeper into the car it was hit front and back, twisting the frame pretty badly. So we took the frame from the 53 and am in the process of fitting the V6 into the frame. I got most of the trany mount done and will fab the engine mount next. I will place the body back on the frame to ensure the engine clears the body before I finalize the install. The block sits in the same realestate as part of the steering box so the box will be moved down and or partly inside the frame.
Also the upper A arm mounts interfere with exhaust manifolds so I will probably fab headers to suit. That'sView attachment 203734 it up till today. Henry.View attachment 203733

 

[Henry Albert]

The 53

 

[Henry Albert]

4 cyl first startup in years, youtube.

 

[ek02]

I haven't seen one of those in a while. My uncle had one in the mid 50's that he used to haul us kids to the beach in. It should go pretty good, not much weight there.

 

[dr_frankenstein]

pretty cool man!

 

[Henry Albert]

Some progress

starting the engine mount

finished mount, just needs finessing to be pretty

 

[Henry Albert]

My buddy dropped off the diff out of the Regal, now to cut off the brackets and fit for leaf springs.

 

[charlief1]

You should be able to use one from an S-10 and mot have to do a lot of fab work Henry.

 

[Henry Albert]

Thanks Charlie, I currently have a S10 under it(also given free) but it needs everything replaced and the Buick diff has all new brakes etc. So for a little more cutting and grinding, the same welding is required, I have a like new diff under it. The Buick diff is about 2 inches wider than the HJ's but as I do not have the wheels yet it is not a big deal. Henry.
PS the 2 wheel drive diff has about a 1" offset to the pass side so the driveshaft would have the same offset, I cannot move the engine over that amount as it would interfere with the upper control arm mount.

 

[dr_frankenstein]

i would keep the S10 rear. its real easy to upgrade and you will be thankful later with the 54" width of the housing. all of the brakes and stuff from the buick should interchange if they are both 7.5/7.75