Lets see some project pictures here! 4-speed 65 GS engine I am wimping out on the solid lifter cam. I'll have to change valve springs to go with the hydraulic. Sneak preview of the Wildcat 5-speed w/Buick aluminum eXperimental dual quad manifold :beer Some Telesco's ! Bellhousing check: Lots of projects, little progress! Thanks, Ted
:TU: Ted that looks great. I'm waiting for my roller rockers to be finished by Tom. I can only hope that someday soon my engine can look so fine !! Don.
Not my project but a buddy's. A '51(?) Henry-J with a stroker 401" in it. First time out ran high 11s. Should do much better with it once he gets used to it, this is the first car he has run an automatic with and is not used to it at all yet. All new chassis, drivetrain etc... This car will see street use also. He is in the process of building a 33 Ford roadster witha 401 also. I also put a few shots of the 'Buick' stuff in the garage. And I thougt I had a lot of Nailhead stuff. ps I'll post some pics of my project motor soon.
Looks really nice! Whats the story on the 'experimental dual quad'?? Also, what are you doin with all the 4-speed stuff?
The headers on the Henry-J exit through the fenderwells (completely removed) and point straight down behind the front tire. Then a 'street hook-up' bolts to the flange and runs to a short baffled pipe inder the car. It is loud both ways, with and without the baffles. Sounds GREAT!
Russ Martin sold this on Ebay; its a Buick factory experimental aluminum manifold. Its 3/4" taller than the stock dual quad and the carbs are 1/2" further apart. TopCat aka Wild Bill has one thats the same as factory except its aluminum too. I'm using a stock GS 4-speed bellhousing since the other one did not measure up.:TU: the 4-speed stuff is for the 2 projects going- 65 GS 4-speed and the 65 Wildcat 5-speed (ex automatic) conversion. Ted
Hi Joe, Hope all is well! Just wondering how long your buddy has had this car. I sold a '51 Gasser J back about 5 years ago. Always wondered if it was still around here locally somewhere. It was gold with a black front clip. Matt
Hi Matt, he bought the car a few years back, I don't think it was yours though as it already had a chopped top. I think the car came out of the Worcester Mass. area. Anyways, here are some pics of what I have been working on, cyl heads and a B262 intake for my 401" in the '55.
Yup, I made the dirty mess all by myself. I have been working on them off and on at work between cars and during lunch etc... Pressed in all new iron guides, ported runners and pockets, shaved 'eyebrows' out of chambers to unshroud valves, polished chambers, valve job, new stainless valves (still need to be back cut). I have no flow numbers and don't think these will flow better than everyone elses, but they didn't cost much, just a lot of time. I spent about $100-150 in tools and a few hundred on parts. This would have cost me nearly $2000 if I had to have it done. I think the 'new' heads, modified intake and roller rockers should make quite a difference this spring. If not the roller cam should do it I hope. Thanks to all who guided me during this excursion!!!
My cam is an old Isky set up I got from the guy with the Henry-J. I am not sure how long ago he bought it. From time to time cams show up for sale but they never seem to have the roller lifters with them, and Isky no longer offers lifters for them. The Chevy lifters are the same diameter but they usually are taller. I am not sure but I think this could cause pushrod interference with the hole in the cyl head. Also most roller lifters use a 'cross-bar' to locate them and keep the lifters from spinning. The trouble here is that the Chevies (at least SBC) lifter bores are too close together and the cross bars would need much modification to work. I am sure it could be done by a competent machinist though. Tom informed me of Schubeck (sp?) lifters which have some strange roller design. I am not sure if these could be used in a Nailhead easier. I tried to find info on them on their website but could not get a pic. I am sure there are solid cams and possibly hydraulic cams that with new technology make as much or more power than the old grind roller cams. I have always wanted a 'full roller setup' so this is more for my 'ego'. Hopefully the car will go well enough when I am done, if not atleast I can brag about 'full roller set up, ported and polished heads, etc...' Next full build up will be a slight stroker set up using Chevy rods and custom pistons. This seems to work well. It give longer dwell on the piston at TDC and I have heard that the total 'bob-weight' can be lowered to that of a SBC. Unfortunately I can't do much of the machining on the block so I will need to save quite a bit before starting thea project. The stuff I have now will be going on a basically stock lower end, I will put ARP rod bolts and possibly forged pistons in it but not much else for now.
Good luck with the full roller set up. I remeber a roller set up was the badest around when I was a kid. In My SBC days I had a 327 with solid lifters and agressive cam, but there was always the guy out there with a lopidy lope roller cam that you wouldn't even think of running. When I do my rebuild (Maybe next winter) I am going with forged pistons and a little more aggressive than GS cam for my 425 Rivi'. Like my signature says 14.0 or bust - Now I just gotta get my hands on some 3.42's . . . :3gears:
