Did the Le Sabre ever come with a nailhead? I've seen a couple pics of them online and they look for all the world like nailhead powered to me in '64 unless someone did a swap. I found one for sale about an hour from here and wouldn't mind getting the thing if it's really a NH but don't wanna bother if it's not. Owner says it's a 355? Sorry for X-posting this, but I'm in need of a quick answer before this thing disappears.
What year? 64 was first year for the 300 cid in the 4400 series LeSabre, prior to that it was the 2bbl 401. One could also get the 401 in the 64 LeSabre 4600 series. 65 had the 300 cid engineAKA Wildcat 310 or 4bbl Wildcat 355 (torque rating method of naming) Sonds like a 300 powered car. They made the valve covers mimic the NH, but 355 is the small block.
Yeah, it's a 300. Owner said it's a 355 which I forgot is the torque naming system(I couldn't find a 355 displacement engine in the line-up anywhere, duh). The mimicking of the valve covers I did not know about and that explains the pics I saw. Thanks alot for the info. The car is a 64 btw. I was looking for a rolling chassis to drop my 48 on and use the 425 nh. This would have been a nice cheap solution, but since it's all different, I'm gonna pass it by. However, is there a place to see what all cars came with the nailhead, specifically the 64-66 years? I think it was just the Invicta and the Wildcat. Is that correct? Would that engine with the TH400 transplant easily into an earlier nh chassis? Thinking that route might be easier than modifying my 48 chassis which is torque tube straight 8 to accept a much stronger non-torque tube auto tranny set up with a newer and stronger rear end.
Easy way to tell if a nailhead vs "pinhead" (i.e. 300, etc.) is that real nailhead has the distributor in the rear, a pinhead has the distributor up front like the newer Buicks.
Too bad you are in CA, I have several 65 Wildcat frames that would be good for your purpose. If the wheelbase matched.
