Don't assume that I didn't do my homework! I own a switch pitch convertor from PAE. Talk about poorly made junk. I have also seen first hand, with my own eyes, a set of alum heads that came out of PAE. I am SURE I will not be calling Burek for ANY advice about my car. I think it is VERY good advice to ask around before using a vendor. Better yet, start with some small stuff and see what you think. That is how I ended up with a SP convertor that works, and an engine that makes terrific power and will LAST. Good advice to look at all the info you can find. No free passes on my nickel. In the "no free passes" vien, JB's engine uses a larger cam and bigger heads to achieve substantially lower torque numbers and the same horsepower than the competition. I just couldn't give a pass when the original post made it sound like new ground was being broken. Sorry, it hasn't, and those are "Just the facts, ma'am"
Well, since you opened up this can-o-worms........... How about YOU show US your homework. Show us the specs that you have from a equally built Burek motor and the specs from what ever builder you are talking about. Since you are gonna come on here squeeling about a vendor.....it's time that YOU back up yourself with some info. Let's see if you can substantiate your claims. :Brow: Mike
I agree, if you want to know the prices pony up the 35 cents and make the call. There are so many variables in any rebuild that I doubt it is possible to build two indentical engines for the exact same price! Something will need a touch more here or there on one or the other, often to the tune of hundreds of dollars! Personally, I give kudos to all the professional builders who offer advice on this board. Most here have received thousands of dollars of free advice. No one gets everything right all the time, and by the time you've heard a story second-hand, well, the old saying "I've already told you more than I know" comes to mind! Let's all just be civil and get back to what's important! :3gears:
OK Brent, you've made your point, you don't like Jim Burek.It's obvious you've have some sort of problem with him that your not sharing with us. Now, do you have anything POSITIVE to contribute to the info shared on the board here, or are you just looking to slam JB? [ Moderator ]
First of all Brent, I don't think Jim Burek came on here to say that he built this engine specifically for the public to see what horsepower it's putting out and to show-off his abilities. I think this is a customer's engine where he's showing us what the engine is producing and the way it's doing it. I believe he's doing this as a favor to the Buick community just like every other professional engine builder that posts their combinations to show what available options their are to building an engine. There are alot of different ways to construct an engine for each and everybody's particuliar taste, just look at what he wrote here "As this engine demostrates as otheres have done as well, with good heads, 600 horsepower is not that diffiult to achieve with only 10 to 1 compression and a not too huge cam. To hear this engine idle, you would never expect it to make the kind of power it makes" First, he admits a 600hp engine has been done before, but he also mentioned the idle quality. So, if a particular person wanted a high horsepower engine without sounding like John Force coming down the street this would be a perfect example for that person who's looking to do something like this someday. I hope you can look at his advice on the board as a favor to the Buick people here. If you ever had troubles with anything you bought from Jim Burek, did you ever talk to him about it?
Im kinda left scratching my head over this one While my heads don't flow as good as these new Alum. ones do, mine flow ~285 In / 195 out ....which from what I've seen posted isn't shabby for Iron S1's My cam is a TA413.....no Idea how that compares to the 290-08hl But Im all ears Im not more than .2 less on the compression side (9.9) with 1.6 RR's and 455" .040 bored..... Im also running a massaged old style B4B and a massaged Holley 850 DP I've never been on the Dyno but I've guestimated it based on ET / MPH to be just under 500HP. So - are the Alum. Heads and their better flow plus this cam (and intake/carb difference) and a tenth or two in compression THAT much better ??? OVER 100 HP better ???
TA413: .500" .500" .516" .516" 234 244 286 296 113 TA290-08HL: .523" .543" .540" .560" 238 248 290 308 112
Al, Sounds like a stern tone to your voice p are we having a "day" ? lol. I would ask, that you DON'T get on anyone for voicing their opinion on something like this. We are all entitled to our thoughts and feelings. be it on the board or off. That is one of the things that makes this board great. That we can tell what we think, In and ADULT CIVIAL manner. Now granted some things are better left off board or to the confines of private email, but even then sometimes things need to be known, and emails are forwarded around to certain indivuals. But again, that is OFF board. Brent, I too have heard what you mentioned about Bureks convertors. In fact it was damn neart' word for word uzzled: !!! I have ALSO heard what you eluded to in regards to the aluminum heads(and it is my understanding that problem was fixed by JB). I would ask if you actually contacted Jim B. about the convertor ? If so and the problem wasn't taken care of, then I would have a complaint also. But if you didn't, and your just taking someones word as "gospel", then thats wrong in my opinion. As a personal example, the distributer in my racecar. I got it from one person, had a solid 15 minutes of run time on it and it took a dump on me. So I asked a couple people their opinions on what happened and why, it was agreed that it was NOT anything I did, and then sent it to a 3rd party to be put on a dist. machine and fixed. NONE of which were Jim B., (before you go there). Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice shame on me. Jim B. has been MORE than helpful with me personally in regards to my car. Mainly, I would have to say, because it is his old racecar and there is a little personal pride involved. I call him and talk to him often and would also consider him a great friend. He has never assumed the "parts seller" position, and has never tried to steer me in a direction I don't want to go, be it a race theory or parts supplier. Even to a point that he RECOMMENDED a cam grind from a vendor, that is a direct competitor to his usual supplier. He has been in business for upwards of 15 years, doesn't look to me like he starving to death,lol, and does have some happy customers out there too. It is VERY obvious that you are not one of them so, OK, thats kool. We are all entitled to your opinions. But to come into a thread like this and intentionally try and disrupt it at Jims expense I find in bad taste. You have a Tri-Shield motor in your car, you are happy with the results and I am glad for you. You have your favorites for certain things as does everyone else. I am not trying to run down anyone here OR to preach that Jim B. has all the answers, cause he doesn't. NOONE does ! But I will say I would be more than happy to let him work on my stuff in the future, and he will ! later..........................
I guess I have my loyalties and, you are all allowed yours. IN MY OPINION, which I believe I am entitled to, based on what I have seen with my own eyes, YES, I have a problem with JB's work. I think that there are better places to go. If the work is questionable, why would I want advice from the same source? I never contacted JB about my convertor. I intend to just return it to Postons. I don't want it, I don't need it, I don't have time to hassle with it more than I already have. It does not work as advertised and is just plain shabbily built. It was cut open to reveal very poor welds etc. It will be welded back together, repainted and returned. Why would I talk to Jim B other than to give him an earful for wasting my time and money like that? The engine I was comparing to, for those who couldn't figure it out, can be found on TSP's website. It is also a customers engine, not a dyno special. I suspect it idles even better with a smaller duration cam. Look for yourself. The intended contribution, since that was questioned, was to voice my opinion that there are better options if you look. I have been trying very hard to leave names and specifics out. I would rather see people decide for themselves. I was only trying to open peoples eyes to possibly better alternatives. That would be a contribuition to the board and Buicks in general, would it not? The silly tone of "can't we all just get along" needs to go away. We all spend hard earned money on these things and the truth needs to be told, even if your feelings get hurt. So if you like what JB has done for you, more power to the both of you. If you are trying to decide on an engine builder, which is entirely appropriate to this thread, my personal opinion is that you could do better than the combo and results listed.
personally I dont use anyone mentioned above to build my engines My engine guy doesnt need to brag I like doing it on the 1/4 mile for him!!!
ou: ...Geez Dave, me? stern?...haha, sorry for sounding like the heavy, but I was simply trying to head off a pissing match before it got carried away. Actually, I thought I was being polite. To me, it was obvious Brent had his problems with PAE but I let his opinions stay( I simply could have wacked his post, but I believe in people's rights to their opinion). Now I'm sure you can see that Brent's post was boarderline to a personal attack and THAT is where opinion steps over the line. If we just keep an ADULT CIVIAL manner and I'm sure we can all get along. By the way, I am aware of the vendor wars now playing out and I think it stinks...:af:
Alan, I'm not sure if you told me that your TA 413 was ground with a 118 LDA. The 118 LDA will give you a flatter torque curve at the expense of top end power. I think I saw it written that Buicks don't lose as much as other engines when you widen the LDA, but it's something to consider. That being said I think you have a vast amount of untapped power in your motor. I think with some tuning, there's alot to be gained. I think one of Dave's distributors and an MSD with the right timing, and you'll be on your way. Maybe some carb tuning also. I have the part numbers written down for you, just give a call when you are ready.:TU:
Ignorance is bliss.....that is a BIG difference !! Thanks Steve Larry.....we'll get there this spring :TU:
Geeeeezzz, I didn't mean to start such a furious debate over asking about how much the engine was. My apologies to all involved.
Rob, you are absolutely correct, this post was started to share information to Buick people, not to try to show off or slam anyone or compare this to any one elses combo. It was stricktly to present information That I thought would be interesting to others. This is the reason I do not post results on every engine I do, because this has happened before. You know, I have around 700 dyno pulls on Buick engines over the past several years, that's alot of data that has been collected and alot of knowledge that has been gained , I don't post this stuff to try to compete with others out there, that is what the engine masters challenge is all about. Besides the fact that you cannot compare dyno figures from one guys dyno to another guys dyno, that's plain dumb. I truly do enjoy reading other peoples' results as it is all information, which is what this whole thing is supposed to about here. The last time this happened on the board, me posting inforamtion about a particular engine, it started some damn war and I decided to stop posting dyno results, I guess that's what I'll do again, it's not worth the hassle at this point. I appologize to the many decent people on the board that are hungry for inforamtion, I hate to say it , but there is some serious bias on this board. What a shame! Jim Burek P.A.E. ENTERPRISES
Opinions!? Jim B, please don't stop giving us info on the projects your working on from time to time, I have not yet used your services, however I respect your Ideas, thoughts and comments on this board as it is for eveyone to view and take as they will. you have given me advice through this board that I study, test and try from time to time. I am a novice at Buick Performance, but feel that this board is for all to use and information is to be digested in differnt manners as we all come to our own conclusions and choices, therefore I will continue to watch for your "posts" of Information and "tips" to Buick enthusiasts. We all have something to learn from others! Bruce
How do you expect anyone to help you or fix the problem? If your car quits running, why not cut it in half and then weld back together too........... Why not turn off your computer.....since you obviously know EVERYTHING already...... there is nothing here for you to learn now. :rant: Mike
I agree with Bruce and Adam!! Jim, don't let the vocal minority dictate what the silent majority want. I personally appreciate what every one of the "major players" bring to this board. If someone has a favorite thats great, but is it really necessary to attack the others? Maybe I'm not reading into JBs posts deep enough but I haven't seen a sales pitch yet. There are some other builders that push product and services alot harder. BTW I haven't dealt with any of the builders on this board as my current budget puts them out of my range. I still enjoy reading the information that they give us though. Without these guys this web site wouldnt have near the technical info that some of us (myself included) take for granted.
