Hey guys, I'm gonna be running a 63 Riviera with a .030 over 401, true 10:1 compression, comp 279 cam, over sized stainless steel valves with porting on the heads, stock 4 barrel intake with the Doc mod, quickfuel 750 double pumper with mechanical secondaries, msd pro billet distributor with 6AL box, And headers. I'm also doing a st400 swap, trans will be built up good, 2500-2800 stall converter. And the stock 3.23 posi gear. Anyone here do similar stuff to their road yacht? Any feed back is appreciated.:TU:
I've got a similar setup in my '62. Stock 401, bored .030 over. Probably around 9.3-9.4:1 compression. Same cam. Stock heads, rebuilt, and mildly cleaned up. Ported intake with an 850cfm Holley DP. Pertronix Ignitor III ignition, ported exhaust manifolds with dual Flowmasters. ST400 trans with a Trans-Go manual shift kit, factory ST400 converter (stalled about 2200rpms in high stall), and 3.23 gears. For what it is, it runs good. It should be a high 14sec car. Probably low 14's if I actually had the heads ported. Nothing too spectacular but it can fend for itself stop light to stop light. That low end Nailhead torque makes it pretty agile. I've got a ST300 converter ready to go in before the spring. Should stall around 2600-2800rpms in high stall. The old converter just wasn't enough with the Thumpr.
What kind of Shifter setup are you running? is it P, N, 3, 2, 1? or P, N, 1, 2, 3? I'm looking for a shifter, and would love a maunual valve body.
Very cool, Thats a nice shifter, Did you already have a floor shift or did you have to make it floor shift?
No, it was originally a column shift. The floor shifter actually made the install easier, as you just bolt up the cable and go, rather than sorting out the original shifter linkage. Plus I used the original column shifter nub to mount my tach. If I had to do it again, I wouldn't go with a ratchet style shifter though. It has been a pain in the ass on more than one occasion.
Andy, i found your Invicta on youtube when i looked up my cam, and damn, i LOVE it. That thing sounds great, your car looks great:TU:. Those flowmasters really make that thing cackle. Just Buick awesomeness. What are the switches on your dash? I'm thinkin about running a tach in that same area as yours.
Thanks! I have a couple of new vids since I updated the exhaust that I should upload. In those vids the exhaust was just dumped, now it exits in front of the rear tires and actually sounds quite a bit different. One toggle switch is for the electric fan, and the other toggle switch is to control the switch pitch stall speed. The light is to let me know when the fan is on, and the rotary switch is for the memory function of the tach. I lucked out and found a factory radio delete plate, and although rare, I proceeded to hack it up for my gauges and switches. :grin: It's a great place for a tach. If you haven't bought gauges, check out eBay. There's a lot of lightly used NASCAR surplus stuff. Not sure which team my tach came from, but my gauges came from Evernham Motorsports and were in Kasey Kahne's Cup car. Got about $550 worth of gauges for a little over $200.
I'm also installing an electric fan with a champion 3 row aluminum radiator. Gonna have a manual switch for it too so i can just leave it on when i want, Due to the hot as hell summers :af: Chicago has. I'm gonna have a stereo but I'm deleting the ash tray/lighter for gauges and switches, if it all fits. I'm not gonna lie, i like the ratchet style shifter, i'm gonna have to customize my center console to adapt to that shifter nicely without looking like crap. I like the way your setup looks and works. I'm itching to start working on the car again, i've been working on the engine at the machine shop, but the 15 degree weather here hasn't been permitting me to work on the actual car, efficiently and effectively at least. I'm keeping the air conditioning but getting new parts for it. But i just want to make the car better and more to my taste and liking. Which is why i'm doing the trans swap, different wheels, different brake set up (whether it be drum or disc), improving the engine and suspension, lowering the car one inch, and the list goes on. ---------- Post added at 04:39 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:38 PM ---------- The only place i'll go for gauges is ebay. hahaha :grin:
I've heard good things about the Champion radiators. I would have went with them, but they weren't around when I installed mine, so I just went with a universal one from Jegs. Between that and a 16in electric fan (only 2300cfm or so) it stays right around 200* when it's 95* and humid so I can't complain. I like the concept of a ratchet shifter, but I've had issues with mine a few times, especially when it gets cold in the fall and the cable binds a little. I got stuck at a stop light in 2nd gear, and it wouldn't ratchet forward or backward at all. I've adjusted it, bought new springs, etc, but it still happens every so often. A standard gated shifter would NEVER have that issue. If I had to do it again, I'd go with a Cheetah SCS. Expensive but worth it. It'll definitely be a little tricky getting a shifter to work in the factory console, but should be doable. I'm not trying to talk you out of a ratchet shifter, just sharing my experience. Maybe I've just be unlucky... I'm with you on the cold. I pulled my trans over winter break while it was a whopping 5* outside. My propane heater couldn't even break 40* in my garage. I'm definitely ready for spring!!!
My buddy is using that cheetah in his 74 Demon... I like both shifters:laugh:. I'm also a huge fan of Hurst. I had to do an oil change/tune up on my daily driver a couple weeks ago, i had an industrial propane heater and a 240v electric heater and together heated the garage up to about 55, 60 degrees, but that was after an hour of them being on. Thats why i'm just holding off. I'm hoping to have both the motor and trans in by early September, still got lots of parts to buy but it can get done, its just a matter of getting it done haha. I still have yet to purchase the champion and the new heater core.
