Thanks guys. At this point it's a nice looking 50 ft car. Just don't get too close to the paint and body work!
Hey Dr. Buick. She is a beauty! Did you fabricate any sort of brackets to make the Riviera Calipers fit on the car? KFD
Dr Buick In post# 11 you mentioned putting some big rims under a TR? Could you provide some more info? Like what tires and rims were used, and back spacing on the rims? Did you have to modify the TR's body or chassis in any way? I am the course of aquireing all the parts needed to build my BBB/2004R Buick Regal into a Pro-Touring style car. Awesome Build-up on your 3GS...... I have that GSXtra article also on your road course built 350 GS. Impressive build for the period it was built in, with that said, it would probaly still put some of the newer style Pro-Touring builds to shame tho. Also hows the EZ EFI setup doing now, I was looking into doing that eventualy. Thanks
Chris, The wheels are made by Complete Custom Wheel. www.ccwheel.com. Talk to John Purner. They have 4.75" backspace. The front inner fender had to be cut back quite a bit. Some black rubber material was used to connect the inner and outer fender. The rear inner and outer fender were cut quite a bit under the GNX flare. Before the flares I had all four wheels at 17x10 with 275/40's. All I had to do was send two back to John and he changed the outer barrels to achieve 11's for the rear 315/35's. It now has 285/40's in front . Goodyear GS-D3 F1's all around. I really like the EZ EFI. I have the fuel pressure maxed out at 60psi to support up to about 625 HP. The computer can set the A/F ratio at idle, cruise, and full power with just a few buttons on the hand held unit. It also turns on the fans at any temp you want and turns the fans on whenever an A/C compressor is on.
Update on the brakes. The car stops much better with the rear disks working but with a panic stop the fronts are overpowering the rears and the front tires want to lock. I put the Wilwood proportioning valve from Summit that I had on the rear brake line of this car for 20 years, on the front line. I adjusted it to full "decrease" and the fronts still lock first! But even so with a hard stop everything loose in the car flies forward! I'm hoping that the rear pads will bed in better and the rears will equal the fronts eventually. I have Hawk HPS pads in the rear. I might have to go to a more aggressive pad. There is a new road course in Austin called Driveway Austin Motorsports. They have driver schools and I plan to take 3GS up there soon, maybe August 28th.
Paul,before you put the Wilwood proportioning valve in the front did you have it installed at the rear lines? Thanks
Yes, I had it in the rear lines while the distribution block valve was messed up. I thought maybe the proportioning valve was malfunctioning so I removed it. But the rear brakes did nothing until the valve in the dist. block was reset.
You`re not running the stock proportioning valve with the Wilwood prop.valve at the same time are you?
I removed the stock cast iron valve by the master that has the rubber button in the front line and put the Wilwood there.
Yes, The 6 piston Baer calipers on the 13" rotors are simply overpowering the rear disks. I will wait for the rear pads to wear in better and then if I need to I'll buy some more aggressive rear pads.
I had the pleasure of driving 3GS yesterday, and it is one wicked machine! It accelerates, handles, and stops like a race car. It's a great street car that was built to drive, but is also capable of getting you into a lot of trouble with the boys and girls in blue! Thanks Paul. :3gears:
Haven't been on here in a long time (I used to run a '72 Vega GT with an all alumumin Buick 215 V8). Found the link to this build-up at the Pro-Touring site. After seeing this Buick run at the Run To Music City event in Nashville, Tn (autocross on Saturday and road course on Sunday), I had to go talk to this guy and shake his hand. This car is AMAZING!!!!! I took some video and posted on youtube for you Buick guys to enjoy. Catching up to Schwartz's Temptress on the warm-up laps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SA1Vr9BxSE Big Buick in the Braking competetion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=085IAhNo4dY Trying to upload another one from the cell phone that shows one of the fastest cars of the day slowing catching ground on the big ol' Buick..... there just wasn't enough track down the straight, though.
what's the exact specs on backspace/offset for the 12.5 rims rear and 10.5 rims up front also can you get full lock or does it rub the front swaybar? did you get rid of the inners fenders and did some trimming for the 10.5 front also or was this just for the 12.5 up front? as for the rear ..just notch frame and larger trunk tubs? would the notch still be fine for a lark frame?
My good friend Shane Maggio has been doing a great job on the trunk and interior, sound system, trunk electric release, power door locks, and hood underside. I can't thank him enough. Check out what he did on the underside of the trunk lid! He really worked hard to get the car ready for the Run To Music City Pro-Touring event in Nashville. Here are some pics. The engine picture shows the ramair setup and the Hydroboost brake booster. I discovered I didn't install the throttle cable correctly and the throttle body was only opening about 75% during the Texas Mile and the dyno runs.:spank:
