It made my day as i'm not going to this event! I'm curious if the lifter area is modded even a little bit? Iv'e read it has been but not seeing any difference from a regular block in that area..
No, it was just a good casting with well centered core boxes. Beyond the mods to the main webs for the 4 bolt caps, I did not see anything really different about the block. I did not sonic check it, as I did this before I owned the equipment, and we were not going to bore it, so it would have just been done for the info. There was discussion about thicker cylinders and decks, but I could not prove that.. Most don't know the story, but it was recounted to me by Dennis. The 4 bolt block development was not sanctioned by upper management. Unlike the Stage 1 or Stage 2 program, there was no official support for it, it never was an official R&D project. Hence it has no official name. Dennis told me in 07 when we debuted it after it's resto at the Pure Stock winter party in Michigan, that they knew that a stronger cylinder block was going to be needed, so several of them got together and went down to the foundry on their lunch hours, and started working on the patterns for the caps and the block. They produced 4 or 5 of them to get a head start on a future development program. I asked him if he recalls when it was done, the block does have the early style date code location.. he thought probably late 69 or 1970, because in the fall of 70, the edict came down from the Feds for low lead fuel requirements, that basically killed all the performance development. Had that not happened, a '72 Stage 2 GS with 4 bolt mains from the factory very well might have happened. We will never know, the brass could have killed it off too.. He recalls a handful of 4 bolt blocks being produced, most were destroyed, but a couple made it out the back door to factory sponsored racers. It's great that John found this, and I was happy to be able to do the resto work on it. Look forward to seeing it again. JW
Did this block and the other parts belong to the NC drag racer named Branson? He raced a '69 (I think!) with a 455 Stage 2 with a tunnel ram and a four bolt block if I remember correctly. Somewhere, I have pictures of his car.
Jim, you always have a way of knowing what I want to ask.. It's uncanny, corny but true! I would love to spend even just half a day at your shop to pick your brain and a maby a couple other members too.. You would probably throw me out after a couple minutes though So a 4 bolt main thickly webbed heavy duty block with minimal core shift, how awsome would a Stage 2 GS package that would of been..
Amazing pieces of Buick history. So cool that Fritz found that! I would love to hear that story too...
Out of curiosity what is the weight difference, if any between the four bolt and two bolt main block? It seems the webbing in the four bolt would be beefed up to support the extra bolt holes! Bob H.
Not to go into a long story but, John Fritz found the Block. Cory Russo and his dad found the heads, intake, and headers and even though they were "found" at different times, the same gentleman had all the pieces. Once we got the block Dave Tumas told me who had the other pieces and we started some phone conversations to try to get everything back together again...........and yes these are all pieces of the engine that Tony Branson had in his 69 GS racer. Duane PS. Tony made the intake. Denny never had the time to develop one.
As far as the weight, I imagine it is heavier. Denny told me he used the same sand casts as they used in the regular production blocks, and then shaved sand off them to beef up the main journals. (Whatever sand was shaved off became extra metal in the block, so it must be heavier.) Plus it has the larger center main caps. He also told me he used the factory engine production equipment to machine the Stage 2 heads. Then do an extra cut on the exhaust side only. His idea was to use production equipment whenever possible to keep costs down. Smart guy there. Duane
I do have 1 pic of the car with the 4-bolt motor in it. I will try to post it here after I get home tonight. Duane
All this is soooo cool. I would love to here Fritz story on how he came across the block and how the guy who had it and the other parts acquired it all?? Soo much Buick awesomeness that I'm sure some of you have heard a bunch of times but not me.
I believe Denny is going to put a history together of the factory involvement up to and including when Tony had it. I have a lot of the history after that, from talking to Tony and piecing together what everyone else knows. Eventually we will get everything figured out. Duane
That is the pic that I have. Tony told me he did 9.17 @ either 152 or 153 MPH thru the traps. (He wasn't sure which mph it was, but was sure it was either one or the other.) That was hauling back in the day. Duane PS. Tony bought that car new and immediately started stripping it down for racing. The story goes that he picked up the car at the train depot and took it home. He said the dealership was a little pissed because they never even saw the car before he started stripping it. Originally it was a 69 GS 400, Lt Blue metallic, blue bucket seat 4-speed car, and that was how he raced it with the 400 motor. Does that sound similar to something else I own?????
