Now to join the battle. If Chevy had built the nailhead, we would be building Oldsmobiles just because we didn't want a Chevy right? If Chevy had built the nailhead, it would have gone the wayside just like the 348-409 motors did when a better design came out, such as the porcupine headed 396. The cost to build a 331-354 hemi is not much more than a 425 dual quad motor. More parts are availible and they run very well when built right. The weight of an early hemi is about 120 pounds heavier, the later (426) is only 40 pounds heavier. What looks best is purely personally preference. I like the looks of a flatty Cad motor with the exhaust coming out over the top of the heads with slick headers. Not too many others like it though.... Althought the torque is not far behind the hemi, the nailhead falls off around half track and the hemi is just starting to make real power. I know someone will argure this, but we all think an 11.5 full race built car with a nailhead is soooooo fast, I know street cars with 355ci chevies running better. I can't believe some guys on this board, I love Buicks for there own uniqueness but to argue over how much better it is than a Hemi or whatever is just like highschoolers just looking to be heard.....
Well.....I'm not going to make any politically correct apologies here.....the fact is the Nailhead is also a very well engineered engine. And John isn't building a race car for God's sake.....he's building a Hot Rod! I should have been more specific about my reasoning when I first answered......I never said it was no good, I was saying that IMHO I think the Nailhead has a better appearance and additional weight and cost of the Hemi would certainly be a factor. Sure, a Hemi is cool too......the 426 was a legend. The Nailhead has never been given a fair chance.....however it's a motor that I believe in 110% and my hot Rod would definitely have one in it....nothing else. (actually, it does if you consider a Riv a hot rod :grin: ) I don't race cars, and I don't build race motors. The only Mopar I ever owned was a '70 Plymouth Satelite with a 318 and I hated it......it was a cheap, unreliable car that was as slow as molasses. (no offense intended!) I've always liked the Hemis too, but I guess I'm just a die hard Buick man.....and I don't care if my car is not the fastest. Besides......If Tommy Ivo thought a Hemi was the greatest, wouldn't he have been running them instead? o No:
Oh will ya'll just shutup and let the man pick an engine based on parts availability and what he can actually get his hands on. We all have our personal prefferences on what motor "looks" the best, some of us have numbers that say what motors "run" the best but if the man is going bolevard cruising, let him put in a VTEC 4-banger if he wants!! These cars are not so much about going fast as looking right and having enough power to make it down the road from point A to point B. Thats why part of the style is all about over carboration, in effecient headers, huge cams, and some miss matched stick shift all on early engines that are lightyears behind the "modern" V8's. Early hemi's are awesome, put one in a rod. Flathead Fords, both V8's and I4's, are awesome, put one in a rod. Nailheads are awesome, put one in a rod. Early Olds are awesome, put one in a rod. Get the point, if he wants a Hemi, and can find one great, I know where a DeSoto Firedome is in Colorado if he wants. If he can't find or afford one, hook him up with a nailhead and say cool, a Buick Powered Chevy for once. You guys act like its the end of the world when a guy comes on here and asks some questions but mentions that he would like another engine in his project car. We are all gearheads, not Buickheads, learn to appreciate the other brands will ya'll! Ok and I'm done, I don't even really care if you reply to this because shy of you bad mouthing my family I'm not going to say another word.
engine preference cat fight Oh, let me agitate a little. :laugh: Back when I had a strong running nail head, I never had a hemi beat it and I raced a bunch of them in the Houston Texas area. The Mopars that did give me a fit was the wedge engines. I ran a 70 Challenger with a 440 6 pk that beat me and I had a friend that had a 426 plymouth that I played cat and mouse with . One time he would beat me and the next time I would beat him. At the time I was running a 64 slark cpe. with a 401, th 400, 411 gears, Holly 950 three barrel, ram air, headers. stock super cat cam and stock heads. I would jump on a hemi or a corvett or a 396 camero, or a Ford cobra jet in a heart beat and usually come out the winner. I found that unless the hemis were geared 456 or tighter they wouldnt begin to breathe untill they got on the high end of the qtr. , but by then the High torque that the nail head put out would put such a hole shot on them that it would take them further than a quarter to catch me. The nailhead with its 445 ft lbs of torque at 2800 rpm and 'terrible' stock heads and valves supprised a lot of people. :Brow:
Well you do have to wonder where the Hemi was when Ivo was setting National speed and ET records, or where it was when Max Balchowski was beating the best of the european supercars on the road course. Cheryl
Tommy Ivo ran both, nailheads and hemis........ I own 2 nailheads and would love to add a hemi and a flathead to my collection. I love cars, engines, bikes, and boats of all kinds.. Thats being a gearhead.... Picking one brand over another is being closed minded. Who do yall talk to at car show only buick people. I enjoy meeting people of all walks of life and hearing there car stories but people like some of yall I wouldnt even talk to yall about my buick........ just my 2 cent.. www.tommyivo.com
I'm sooooo mean.....what's wrong with me? Not doing the politically correct thing and going along with the rest of them...after hearing it all the time, over and over again out there about how "great" :boring: the other brands are :boring: ......and how the Buick is not competitive...the only place I can come to where a Buick gets any respect at all and I can speak up...it's here on v8.com......all I did was add my my 2 cents...I gave the Nailhead a little credit for something...and what happens? What was I thinking?????? :spank: Maybe I should trade mine in for a GTO....then put a 426 Hemi in it....and then I will have the best of 2 worlds......the very "first" :sleep: musclecar with God under the hood! p ou:
I'm sorry you see it that way, Joe....some people just don't have a sense of humor I guess. Had I known some people on this board would take my comments as a "negetive response" I would have kept them private. And I don't "think the Nailhead is the only motor worth running", I'm just not afraid to speak up with my opinions. Too many people make fun of these motors who have never appreciated one. I don't like to argue, but I'd rather eat worms than be a chicken. I tell it like it is, don't expect me to back down when someone takes a shot at what I have to say. If you read my read my posts you'll see that I never belittled anybody or criticized their opinion......it's truly sad some people are so thin skinned and serious they just can't laugh about things I guess. ou: This is my last post in this thread too. :bglasses:
