I got this from a friend of mine and thought I'd share it with other nailhead gearheads. http://www.standard1320.com/Ivo/Buicks/TwinBuick/TwinBuick.html
Between this and the thread on the 4 engine car, it's so cool to see how these cars were constructed. Thanks for posting!
The comment about the center exhaust "not being a problem" may be accurate - at speed. The problem would have been at the start when the car was being staged and waiting for the light. Studies of piston aircraft exhaust has shown that at high power settings, the exhaust gasses exiting the pipe remain in a column that almost acts as a solid pipe, and actually increases aerodynamic drag. It is quite possible that once Tommy pressed the loud pedal, that the center exhaust really wasn't a problem, as it would likely go straight up and clear his head before it started to diffuse.
Well for starters, they are tough as a boot.... :Brow: and put out massive amounts of torque at a real low rpm....:laugh: you would be surprised at just how little was done to the bottom end of those engines... I have read where Ivo said that they were basicly stock..... the oil system is good, the cooling system dont matter on a digger, the crank is forged steel, the rods are forged steel... the pistons were replaced no doubt .... because cast will not hold up ,,so forged is the order of the day..... at that time you could get trw forged ,,, at a reasonable price.... :laugh: heck, at that time ''engine blueprinting'' had not even started.... :Smarty: that did not start untill 1966 or so.....popular hot rodding started the blue printing movement with the project X car.... ---------- Post added at 03:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:41 PM ---------- The ''Buick step child'' thing is strange to me,,, no car looks better than a 64/65 skylark or a 63-65 Riv.... even now.....:idea2:
I have a article from a couple of years ago and it was a history of Ivo's raceing career. If I remember right at the time he started with a 56 buick off the show room floor from a movie bonus and was kicking butt. Nailhead at the time with a few modds was hard to beat. Wish I could paste it here, It might already be in a older thread.
"the pistons were replaced no doubt .... because cast will not hold up" Doc we ran 128 passes on the cast factory pistons in the dragster 10.5+ to 1. We ran an average of 30% nitro in it with a few runs at 60% nitro no problems at all. The same engine is going in my wife's dragster with the same pistons. I am just proud to know that Ivo told me I was/am crazy to run nitro in a Nailhead:Brow: Ivo's T Bucket is another reason he went with the Nailheads in the beginning because he won a lot with it.
A reporter once asked Ivo the same question. Ivo in turn , asked the reporter, "Wouldn't YOU , rather have a Buick?"
Thanks for sharing. I love these old articles and Buick history involving Tommy Ivo. Also nice to have people here that remember the days and have been involved in the history. Just thinking... I have two 425 blocks sitting in the shed, and as Doc said, cooling system not so important. I just need to get back out there, make some more progress and get the 56 finished first. :laugh:
That was just too coll!! :TU: Thanks for sharing it. :beers2: Doc, I nearly got "drafted" into the stepchild thing a few years ago. Fortunately, I have stayed true to them dang 64 and 65 Skylarks. :laugh: Oh the 65 Riv is gorgeous too.
In those days, most engines were not turned much faster then about 6,000 rpm. The Nailheads' massive torque at the bottom end would make up for it's poor breathing at the high end. They were lighter then just about any big-inch engine at the time, and as Doc said, they didn't break. The very deep block webbing is extremely rigid (I once saw a video of a SBC with a see-through oil pan and a dry sump system under load on a dyno. With strobe photography, you could see the block flexing)! In my younger days I regularly took down 324 Oldsmobiles, 352 Fords (no problem), a Pontiac which I believe was about 340 Cu. In., and 292 Fords (slightly harder then the 352 boat anchor). 283 Chevys with a 2 bbl were no problem, but with a manual transmission and a four barrel they were. This was with my '55 Buick 264 Special with a 4 bbl carb and manifold from a 322. The Nailhead was objectively not a bad choice.
Well, John,,, I am kind of surprised that the cast pistons held up that well....but,,, i am used to building used engines , mostly very high mileage used engines and nearly all of them had at least one cracked piston in them.....:Brow: and you know what a fan of the nailhead that I am....:grin: and again, when i think dragster engine, I think 98% mix that puts out white hot flames....:laugh: not gasoline.....
Some time ago I did post (in response to something that you said) that when I pulled down this engine (that ran beautifully) it did have one piston with a spiral crack that ran nearly all the way around the piston. I had it hanging in my garage for years. My brother bought the house and threw it away before I could grab it. I wish that I had taken a picture of it. Other then that one piston, the engine needed nothing. I replaced the piston and normal stuff, and ran it for several more years in a '53 Mercury before installing it in a '56 Chevy. It most likely met it's end there. I sold it to an 18-year old kid who proceeded to wrap it around a tree - killing himself and another kid. I have no idea whether the engine survived or not. Nailheads were tough...
