I figured the hottest 1957 Buick was the Century 2-door, with the 364/300hp 4bbl engine. So: I'm looking thru old Drag News, circa 1957-58, and I'm finding a 1957 Buick winning in S/SA class. What's wrong with that? Well, S/SA back then meant weight/hp < 12.60 lb/hp. The top 1957 Buick engine was the 364/300hp-4v. The lightest Buick I can find is the Century at 4081 lb, giving 4081/300=13.60 lb/hp That would land in A/SA, not S/SA class. This means there had to be either: * A Buick lighter than the Century, by almost 10%, or * A Buick engine hotter than 300hp RATING, again by almost 10%, like 325hp at least. Example, Pomona, 20 Apr 1958: SSA, Bob Whiles, 57 Buick, 14.55 at 93.00mph There's another 57 Buick, this one is where it belongs in A/SA: AA, Len Kennedy, 57 Buick, 14.92 at 89.82mph I'd consider it a misprint but the same car wins 13 Apr 58 at San Gabriel, again in S/SA class 14.62 at 93.55mph Again in the wrong class. Was there some kind of limited-production S/SA Dual Quad or Paxton or Isky-Cam 1957 Buick engine that I missed out on? Or a super-light 1957 Swiss Cheese Buick body?
The NHRA blueprint specifications for Buick start in 1960. That lists the 1960 364 at 300 HP and the 1960 401 at 325 HP. I know the 401 was not in production until 1959, but maybe a few lucky folks got a crank a little early?
In 55 -56 there was a factory Xport kit , part of which was solid lifters a hotter cam , adjustable rockers etc In 57 , I think the Xport kit raised the Hp to 325 with similar equipment + rear gearing to 3.90 Can't remember where I read this , sorry . Bill
Dont forget NHRA rated engines at whatever they felt was realistic, not necessarily what the factory claimed.
Thanks to both! The Xport (Export) was the hint I needed. Discussed in 2 books I don't have yet (and I thought I had em all!) Hotter (solid) cam and 11.0 compression plus blocked heat crossover. The +30 hp (Schorr says 10%) jives with the advertised Pontiac Isky cam kit. Drag News, 31 May 1958, advertises the Pontiac kit engine as "360hp", which is 30hp more than the 370/330hp-6v Pontiac HD. So it makes sense that Buick would also add 30hp for their kit. I've never seen this 364/330hp noted anywhere else but it's the only way to explain that 57 Century running in S/SA class. 4081/330=12.37 which is too light for A/SA=12.60 class break, so that puts the Export Cam car into S/SA class. They ran good, I've found 3 or 4 wins so far. The books also say there was a kit for the 322cid, same idea. Rumor is that Pontiac used the Isky E-2 cam for their kit, so I guess I'll assume similar specs to Gonkulate the Buick 364/330hp "Export". Good stuff! Day One: https://books.google.com/books?id=m...e&q=1957 buick 364 nailhead xport kit&f=false Max Perf Buicks https://books.google.com/books?id=P...e&q=1957 buick 364 nailhead xport kit&f=false
Bigpig, I know about most of the NHRA Factoring done later (well, I THINK most of it), but I didn't think anything was factored until 1964. That year, Ford tried to rate their 427 HiRiser at the usual 425hp, and then Mopar brought out the "425hp" Race Hemi, NHRA just laughed, and Factoring was born. I don't know of any examples of factoring before 1964, even though the Pontiac 421 SuperDuty 405hp and Mopar MaxWedge 425hp made a lot more than their ratings even when they left the factory. The 1966 Street Hemi got factored to 480hp IIRC right off the bat, and the 427 Medium Riser Ford got factored to 450-465hp right away. The Chevy 396/375hp L78 spent about one year in NHRA at its 375hp rating, then it got factored too. Z28, Mopar 340, Ram Air IV, by 1969-70 just about anything hot was getting factored. But I never heard of factoring in the 1950s or before 1964 as I said. Then again, always more to learn!
Ok I'm going to goess the Export Kit as 11.0cr, with a solid Isky E-2 cam, which is the same thing the hot Ford 312 and Pontiac 370 kits ran. Around 230-230 duration at .050 and 110 LSA, about .429 net lift. This adds near 30 hp and 7 ftlb or so my Gonkulator tells me. The Gonkulator also says it makes the car .23 seconds and 2.4mph faster, which jives with the 93-96mph trap speeds these Buicks were running back in 1958, through the mufflers. (NHRA didn't allow open exhaust cutouts until 1960 race year) Mainly, either 325hp or 330hp rating gets the car into the right class: 4081/330=12.37 4081/325=12.56 Either one is below the 12.60 lb/in weight break so it would send the car up into S/SA class where the Bob Whiles car ran. Good stuff! Thanks for all the help.
There's some components listed in the chassis parts book for both '57 and '58 as 'high power equipment'. Pistons (11:1) #1388026. Camshaft #1179701. Lifters #5232099. Rocker arms #1175508 & #1175509. And pushrods #1174699. Might be a few other special trinkets, found these numbers by seaching each group listing one by one.
The export parts I've seen documented were for lowering compression ratios where high octane gas was not available and would not have enhanced performance. At the same time performance parts were sold over the counter.
