Thanks Walt. Yes, I have both the sales bulletins and service bulletins, In the above post I was referencing the sales bulletin which describes the "Wildcat GS" Skylark mid-year offering as an 10.25 to 1 engine. I failed to check my service bulletins and should have. I am familiar with the period road tests and specifically remember the one with the pic of the special air cleaner lid. I think that is where I was left with the impression the Skylark Wildcat GS motor was 11 to 1. Thanks again for the knowledgeable replies. Wasnt there a `66 pilot car with the 11 to 1 engine described here a few years ago? I was looking for that thread in Scottsdale to prepare to inspect the car this post started over but couldnt find it here? Tom
That car was featured in the Hemmings article. Formerly owned by Ed Fisk, now owned by Jimmy. It's 10.25 cr. There was another special-built GS known as the 'Flint Flyer'. Had a stroker crank and is said to be '1 of 14' cars built. His buddy Tyler had posted about it here years ago. Don't know what the '1 of 14' refers to, maybe it was 11:1 cars? Another rumor is that 50 11:1 cars needed to be built for NHRA use, but far less were actually built. There's a mice feature article on it at the Buicks.net site: http://www.buicks.net/racing/flint_flyer/ And now we have an alleged '1of 7' car with no supporting story! Could they be confusing it with a 4 speed 2x4 Wildcat GS? How many of those were built?
Ed Finke is the previous owner, here in Cincinnati. He is on the radio and has a show called "Simply Money" http://www.simplymoneyadvisors.com/meet-our-team.aspx Super guy, I see him every year at the car shows. Walt- 65 Super Wildcat Custom Convertible - 14 built...no 4-speed Wildcats in 66 of course! Except Wild Bill's 66 Coupe, which he made in the Cat's Lair Skunk Works :Brow: Those numbers are in the context of 466 total Wildcat 4-speeds; if one starts breaking down to trim or A/C level it gets sort of stupid IMHO.
Walt, Buick produced 21 factory dual quad Wildcat GS cars. The Super Wildcat motor was made available in March as a mid-year addition on the Riviera GS and Wildcat GS cars...just like the L-76 Skylark Wildcat GS motor. Tom
My friend Bob's car had those 11-1 pistons when I 1st. got involved with him back in the early 90's. From what I understand, I believe, Egge has a set of them but at a standard bore. I was involved with a guy in Tex-Arcana that had one that belonged to a Buick drag racer way back when from Ohio. The "story" goes that Buick offered him one of these special cars & he WOULD NOT take it unless it was a 4 spd. The guy from Tex-Arcana now had the car & he was trying to document everything. As this engine & car was far different than any Skylark GS he had EVER encountered. Long story short everything was shipped to myself for rebuilding. He sent me a stock crank & rods. The originals were not usable because of damage & rust issues but said that the rods were NOT "NailHead" & the crank had been cut/welded. Maybe stroked??? It was sonic tested & bored. Then at the time was working on pistons. This person WANTED it to run so was going to take any & all suggestions to make it happen. In the meantime the owner passed & his brother wanted the engine back. Nothing else was done & he said he was just going to get all 8 cylinders sleeved & put in stock pistons. From what I understand the engine was rated at 356HP by NHRA. Nothing else to add or document other than a "story". Tom T.
That was Dan K. Originally from Illinois, moved to Arkansas. Part of the story, I recall, was he took the engine somewhere for a rebuild (long before you got it Tom) and the shop owner said he 'lost' the pistons.... Dan was a good guy, we lost him way too soon. One of his friends is a board member and has his green '66 GS vert.
Yes, it was Dan K. A sad story for sure. The pistons were lost, but he had the crank & rods, although damaged beyond repair.
