If the the stage 2 package wasn't cancelled buick would of made more than the 7 or 8 thick webbed 4 bolt main blocks that they gave to racers.
Yes, Stage 2 engines would have blown all the other engines away. Super engine design. I wonder if anybody ever Dyno 'ed the stock Stage 2 engine? What Torque and HP would it have made????
Why does the Buick (and Pontiac, and Olds, and the Ford 351C) have the extended-length exhaust port design? Because it was the cheapest and easiest way to turn the exhaust stream downward, so they could get it past the suspension--upper control arm cross shaft, steering gear/steering shaft, etc. When power meant more than compact packaging to the engineers at Buick, the extended runners were "removed" in favor of the significantly-different Stage 2 headers; or in the case of the Ford Cleveland, the iron of the extended exhaust port was cut off in favor of "port plates" fabricated from aluminum that massively raised the exhaust exit point--but flowed twice as good as the crappy iron port.
All I can say is WoW. That said, I assume, the Stage 2 was built as a Race only engine? Not intended to be used on the street like the Stage 1 engine.
Preach on it, brother. The engineers and those who proved things, took second place to the bean counters. And just like Drag Racing, second place is nothing but the loser. (And three generations of drag racing and innovating, we know "second place", never put groceries on the table or parts in the car ...)
I had to opportunity to build and test a "as offered" Stage 2 with a bunch of NOS parts here some years back. A true 455 with factory stage 2 rotating assembly, good unported Stage 2 heads, and the correct intake and carb. Tuned for Sea Level, so was just a touch fat here, a few HP could have been extracted yet, but no more than 5-10 if you really rung it out. It was 120 ish HP stronger than the factory Stage 1. As far as the Stage 1 head design: Two things to consider: Cylinder sealing and head bolt count. Even the Iron Stage 2 heads had sealing issues on the exhaust side.. it's missing the material to enhance structural stability and clamping forces, without that exhaust port material. Consider that most V-8's have 2 more bolts around each cylinder. When I do an iron head Stage 2, I machine the block for a frost plug at that lower center coolant hole in the deck. That's where they leak coolant.. and that big hole is more of a sand clean-out than anything related to cooling. This was a real problem with the aluminum Stage 2 heads, when they first came out. In the early nineties I was around when Dan Hopkins had one of the first sets out there from TA. We Could not for the life of us seal the head gasket on the exhaust side of the cylinders. The solution was to weld an aluminum bar onto the exhaust side of the head, and then drill and tap the block for 4 extra bolts. That worked, and TA redesigned the heads to incorporate this extra material and fasteners. And secondly.. packaging, and simplicity of casting components. Extending the exhaust port to the edge of the block, simplified the exhaust manifold design and casting. JW
Was there much of a difference between the 11 to 1 and 12.5 to 1 piston engines or was there more involved between the 2 setups?
