Much advice & direction is needed from you guys with this project. It's an '84 TType that's being transformed into an outlaw 10.5 car w/33X10.5W's, a powerglide, 9", 4-link, a big 455 running on lots of alcohol & several stages of NOS. Here's a few of the issues we need to figure out: what's needed engine wise to handle 2 big stages of NOS along with the alky, do we need the Stage 4 roller cam high port heads & cast intake, what stall should we use with the glide, how much gear do we need to run the 33X10.5W's, & what size carb should the big block Buick use? There's alot more I need to ask, but time & the Buick brotherhood will help us figure things out. I've seen what some of the quicker guys are running on here, so don't be surprised if you all start getting emails from mrturboregal asking how to run fast & keep everything together. We've been around turbo regals since the dawn of time, but the 455 game is a whole new deal. Any assistance is greatly appreciated. Oh, we'll be the pesky guys at Norwalk next month that can't stop asking questions
To start you will need a ta block girdle and halo.A TA/MOLDEX billet crank would be the next step.Aluminum rods are a nessecity you will want to keep the rotating assm as light as possible but don't go to crazy on the ultra light stuff with nitrous.You will also will need to fill the lifter valley with devcon titanium putty or use a TA lifter bore girdle when using big cam solid or rollers.I like the sg3 heads the stg4s are pretty big when done right the stg3 will flow with a stg4 and have a higher port velocity.For a carb a 1050 dominator or bigger if not 2 depends on the rest of your motor combo. The weak part is of course the block you will need to be spot on with your tune up or you will end up with junk.The motors will make alot of hp but above 900hp things become scetchy Rod hedrickson is making 1300 plus with a blower on alcohol so it can be done but longevity becomes the issue.There are nitrous guys on the board but they haven't sprayed over 350 yet. Rick Crawford is one of us nitrous guys Im sure he'll post here and put in his input
Thanks for the info 10inchbuick. I noticed that Rick is in state with us, so I'll be bugging him soon. I thought the block would be the main issue. Hard block here we come! I'm itching to get the motor side of things started, so I'll post how things go. Thanks again.
Hey Mike, Just wanted to step in and say hello to a great guy! Mike is a tremendous asset to the Turbo Buick community! Good to see that you too are also playing with the BBB now. Mike, this site is a great resource with lots of great help and assistance. I think you'll find it to be more mature, civil, and less stress producing than another site that will remain nameless. Good luck and get her up and runnin'.
Whats up! Are you going to be running the Outlaw class at the NC tracks? If so are you going for a 1/8 mi or 1/4 mi setup? The oiling system on the Buick needs some TLC. You'll should seriously consider either a Peterson external wet/vac pump or just a straight up race dry-sump. You'll have to do some rerouting, modifying, and restricting of the oil passages. Plan on getting the T&D Race rockers that mount on plates instead of the stock rocker stands. Only available through TA. The stock configuration has bad geometry and doesn't allow for clearance of the necessary springs for large roller cams. Stg 3 or 4's? I would say it depends on the intake configuration. The 4's might be the better choice since your starting from scratch. THey have a further offset pushrod hole for a better port entry but a single plane would need alot of work to match the flow. Looking back, I wish I would have started with Stg 4's. THey both take the same amount of work to set up. As long as the port shift isn't any worse than the Stg 3's but that would be a question for TA. As for converters, look to go with a 10". I blew through a "full-tight" competition 9". ATI, Coan, Neil Chance can all make a 10" converter that will work. I've been happy with my stock-geared glide so far but the converter is what has to be right. Stall? Its all a matter of power. You'll want something that will flash on spray to the 4500-5000 range thats soft on the hit. It sound loose but its actually very tight. My current "tight" 10" flashes to 4800 on spray. I run a 29x10.5 at the moment with a 4.30 but will look at going to a 4.10 or 3.90 when I get home. Depending on how your combination works out, I would say anywhere from 3.90 to 4.56. It will depend on the cam and rpm your looking at. I know a few guys running 3.50-3.70 on the high power glide setups but running a 28-29" tire. An extreme duty 1.87 first gear might be something to look into. Running alcohol+nitrous, I wouldn't recommend alot of compression since alcohol takes up alot more space and 4 head bolts aren't the best for holding head gaskets. I've had good success keeping the compression under 12 so far but I haven't tried it with a huge cam yet. So I would say, just stay a little lower that what is usually ran for the size cam your going to. I personally would stay under 500 cubes. You should be able to make all the power you need from 2-stages of juice and you'll need the rpm. A Big Inch Buick won't like rpm, especially with the stock block. Go with custom headers. At least 2 1/4". Buying something off the shelf is a waste of money. I use a 1250 Dominator. The trick of the nitrous is not having alot to spray but finding the combination that will actually take it and use it. Good to hear another Hard-Core Nitrous guy. You should be hearing alot from myself and 10inchBuick. :TU:
Hi Guys, I have to agree with Evans here. Mike is a great guy who has always came thru in a pinch for me and my Regal. There are several parts on my Regal that has came from Mike and his "Muscle Car Salvage"! Thanks Mike!:TU:
Mucho gracias to Evans & Kerry. You to guys are good friends & great customers too Rick I'll definately be in touch with you soon as the project progresses. Thanks for your valuable insight. As for events we'll be attending, our car will mostly be a fun vehicle. I'll never keep up with Robbins, Kirk, & all the big dogs in outlaw 10.5 with a BBB, so it will mainly be something to turn a few heads :grin: We're dropping off 1 of our blocks at the machine shop this week, so it's finally on (slowly, but surely). Thanks again everyone.
Chassis is the first thing to address when trying to compete with a BBB on nitrous. Personal opinion on this, a set of good worked stage 2 heads set up properly with nitrous will make more power than any current block can handle running high RPM. Set the engine up to make awesome power below 6500 RPM and run a Lenco or Liberty trans to get it out the back door. Or work out the chassis and driveline while waiting on a new block, if you get all your ducks in a row before the new block gets done go ahead and build up a current block. 1000HP and 1000ft. lbs. before 6000 RPM is not that tough with current parts, just have the chassis ready to handle the early power that the Buick is going to make. Chassis shop needs to know what you will throw at it before the car can be built properly, the first 60' will win or lose the race. The stage4 heads will give you more ability to make horsepower above 6500 RPM while taking some bottom end torque away, running alcohol will require bigger intake ports to be efficient, you may want to start out with these heads or go to the stage 5 heads if Mike will build you a set just for future ability. The block is your current weak point, more RPM = more damage
Dennis has the right idea on the trans.The only thing I would say is the liberty or a G force is a better choice due the fact that both require less hp to turn.A lenco is good in ultra high hp applications like 800 cid ihra prostock and promods.We need to put all the hp to the ground that we can.I will be running a low 1st gear combined with a 3.89 gear to get as much mph as possible.The low 1st gear will allow it to get off the line.The down fall is the cost minimum of 10k to get set up with a manual trans clutch and clutch can.Then you need some sort of data aquisition system to monitor engine,input and drive shaft rpm to help figure out the clutch tune up.
Mike! Good to see you jumping into the V8 stuff. I guess if the Turbo cars are the 'dark side', does this mean you've seen the light?? :Brow: See ya bro.
I'm only a speed weenie, but I have a question! :laugh: How heavy can a "fast" car be and still use a 'glide? o No: PS: What's up with all these Carolina guys! :laugh:
Thanks again for everybody's input. The block is at the machine shop getting ready to be "filled to the rim" (not with Brim either :grin: ), so I guess I'll be helping make Mike T's house payment for a while. Your's is a good question Alan, but our boat will hopefully be somewhat lite! Tim I've got another '85 GN that's receiving a warmed over 455/TH400/& a ladder bar 9" spinning 33X21.5 "slippy thompson's", so I'm still a little in the dark :bglasses: It's just a looker that's gonna turn heads & wake up the neighbors. Poston will be the primary source of goodies on this one, but TA will be feeding the 10.5 car. Speaking of which, our fabricator runs a blown alcohol 526 in his '69 Camaro, so the TType will have lots of gussets in the right places. I would love to spend the $$ on a Lenco, a Liberty, or other high end tranny, but I've got too many irons in the fire as it is. With so many turbo regals on hand, the thought of chopping/channeling/& laying back the roofline/tube framing/& big winging yet another GN, has got me itching to go mega fast. Whether it will be BBB powered or not is yet to be seen. All this rambling is making me thirsty :grin: Thanks guys.
