I think I'm going to make some new shiney bling-bling billet pulleys for the nailhead. This would be for the water pump and crank, since the other ones for the PS pump and Alt are already available. I'm thinking about buying some bulk aluminum material to help bring costs down. I can make them to either A/C or non A/C dimension. I haven't worked the cost out yet, but is anyone else interested? Erik
I'd be interested, depending upon cost. Also, I think an underdriven crank pulley would be a fantastic way to free up some ponies on a 'Nail. My plans for manufacturing parts kinda fell apart for the time being ...
I have already made a underdriven crank pulley....three groove..... billet aluminum too... not polished... Would be intrested in other pullys....
Doc- How much smaller is your crank pulley underdriven? I measured the stock 3 groove I have at 6-1/2" OD, and the non A/C pulley is 6". Do you think 1/2" underdrive is too much? It would be a WAG for me. Let me know what you would want. How many grove and in what size? Just about anything is doable.
Well,,,,,, The diameter is 4 7/8 in... I took a clue from the ones in summit cat. and made it about the diameter of the factory hub,,, the hub,,, now ,, not the pullys.... Crap, I dont know the percentage of under drive,,,, it was a WAG for me too... Havent used it yet, dont know how it will do,,,, but I got it.....:laugh: :laugh:
Yay! 900th post! First off, what's WAG :laugh: ? Generally, an underdrive pulley underdrives everything 15-20%. Doc's is about 19% underdriven when compared to a stock non-A/C pulley. That's probably a pretty good size to mimic. Also, I'd prefer a 2 groove setup.
Andy - So you think the Nailhead loafs ? There's untapped H.P. in them pulleys ? I have an old '53 - engine seems good - 322 Nailhead. You mean I can put a half inch smaller pulley on her and she'll FLY ? So to speak. . . :bla: Like cut it to 5 and 1/2 inches ? From it's current 6 inches ? I guess if it doesn't "hurt" the engine, I'd be interested in shiny new pulleys ;-))) What's the estimated price ? :dollar: :dollar: Rip Rohring
When I did the math, I came up the diameter of Doc's pulley being ~61% as big as the diameter of the OE pulley. For every crank revolution of a 6.5" pulley, the belt moves about 20.5". For every crank revolution of a 4" pulley, the belt moves about 12.5"
I don't think the 'Nail is a loaf, but the more horsepower the better :TU: ! Underdriven crank pulley's in other applications have been shown to add up to 20hp. It's one of the cheapest and easiest ways to free up some ponies. I believe you just divide the diameter of the new pulley by the diameter of the original. 4.875 divided by 6 is .8125, you than subtract that from 1 which is .1875, which is roughly 19% underdriven.
Andy, We're doing the same math, we're just not using the same numbers. I picked up on the 6-1/2" OE a/c pulley, and for some reason thought the new one was 4". Even though I used the circumference, dividing diameters will give the same result. I came up with the percent of the number, not the inverse. We both went to the same math class, we just worked different problems.:Smarty:
Stock diameters, as listed in 1966 Buick A body Assembly manual: Non AC: crank= 6.080" fan= 6.640" 9.2% underdriven PS= 5.280" 13.2% overdriven Alt= 2.5 59% overdriven AC: crank= 6.50" fan= 5.0" 23% overdriven PS= 5.640" 13.2% overdriven Alt= 2.5" 61.5% overdriven The Riv GS had a larger diameter PS pulley to slow it down (dia=?). The GS Riv had the 3.42 rear gears, so it ran at a higher rpm.
I don't know about the rest of you (besides Andy), but I would personally rather keep with the factory diameters to keep everything running to spec. If I was going to be sqeezing out horsies at the drag strip I wouldn't be worried about A/C, power steering, or an alt, and would probably have already switched to an electric fan. For my first run, I'll do 3 sets of 3 groove 6.5 crank and 5" water pump. This will give me an idea where my costs are before I make a bigger batch. I'm estimating they should come out around $250 for the pair (unpolished), or to pad myself a little... say... $275. This is an ESTIMATE only! I'm thinking I might put together a full A/C "package" and non-A/C "package" with all the pulleys in Walts list.:idea2: Erik
At $250 for the pair, you'd be half the price of these guys. www.hawaiiracing.com type nailhead in the search window
You might also want to consider reproducing the power steering pulleys for the 322 and 364 nailheads. I get calls for them all the time and I'm usually sold out. Not to mention the AC pulleys.
Mike, Perhaps "Elvislives," who is putting new brackets on his nailhead, can give you the number of the Dorman pulley he used on his p/s pump. It lined up perfectly for him. Ed
whats up guys I am new to this chatroom stuff so bear with me I have 2 hilborn injected nailheads 1 has half aluminun heads I think its made to nun on alcohol does anybody know who did this kind of work I know it was done a long time ago the motor was hookes up to a 4 speed hydrostick mickey rods gear drive timing crazy roller cam with springs above lifters it had a magneto bit somebody stole the mag along with a 6x2 manifold im thinking of retrofitting efi onto one of the hilborn set ups ive seen it done does anybody know of any 56 gs or reg skylark bodies for sale within 400 miles of daytona thanx Im loving seeing so many nailhead enthusiasts like I say "give me a nailhead or no head at all"
Hi Guy! Neat stuff you have there. It's possible they were made by Max B, a drag racer from the 1950's. He did a lot of experimenting in those days. I would suggest you contact either Russ Martin or Lee Schelin in California. Those guys know more about the Nailheads early drag racing days than anyone here... Russ's site is here: http://www.centervilleautorepair.com/index.html And lee has a Nostalgia drag racing site here: http://www.standard1320.com/ Please let us know what you find out!
