Big Chief heads for big block Buick

those are them! he has one with the exhaust ports cut off like a stage II head and the ports are cast super tiny so you can move them some and have more freedom when it comes to porting for your application. theyre not as big and rowdy as what i was gonna do, but its still better than anything else out there and its here now.

 

To answer anyones question here, maybe someone should do a history check on canted/splayed valve heads, Buick did experiment with it before Chevrolet ever thought of it. Buick was the innovator for anything chevy! Look in Hot Rod Mag and see. there is in a old article called Buicks back room. check it out.

 

Here Is the problem I see. Pontiac heads on a Buick! Anyone looking for Billet heads, Made from solid billet aluminum in wet jackets or not and anything you can dream up with, Meaning DRCE, Sonny Leonard symmetrical, Dart big chief, Brodix BB, or a one off crazy BS head he'll make for you and if that's not enough for you, how about this, The valvetrain can be made for off the self parts at that. Call Tom Hempill Racing Engines 1-724-639-0024. This cat is the one you need to holler at, he works with all the cylinder guys out there. He also does engine blocks, billet ones. know here is something for all of you out there, Donovan does make any engine out there and there known to take more power then just any block maker out there except Keith Black Blocks. The problem with the Buick Community is that you all are stuck on what the looks are! Do you see that engine going down the drag strip or road, I don't think so. Get off that mentality it's old! Welcome to the 21st century! OH by the way Curtis boggs is ok at cylinder work but I prefer the masters Darin Morgan at Reher-Morrison- the brain child to the Raptor 1 and 2 cylinder heads and many others and Sonny Leonard of Sonny's Racing engines. I have talked to Sonny personally about another all out race head and he wants to talk with Mike at TA Performance to see if he can do anything with the castings he has now- reshape ports, possible canted valve, spread design, and etc. Now that's what real cylinder head people do. Darin said he would help to, but he wants to see what he can do with bare castings first and go from there. It's in your ball park now. Yes, I have contacted everyone of this people and then some to get some cylinder heads made but no luck. Sincerely Gary McGruther. Check this out, if you wanna learn cylinder heads. http://www.superchevy.com/how-to/engines-drivetrain/1005chp-cylinder-head-design/viewall.html , http://www.superchevy.com/how-to/engines-drivetrain/1006chp-cylinder-head-port-design/ These articles alone will make you wander. yes two different articles. Here are few more for anyone to read, http://www.enginebuildermag.com/2006/11/wet-flow-testing/ , http://www.enginebuildermag.com/200...ts-what-you-need-to-know-to-go-with-the-flow/ , http://www.enginebuildermag.com/2005/12/cylinder-head-design-and-modification-getting-started/ . Good luck you all. sincerely Gary McGruther.

 

The only thing you say the buick guys are stuck on the looks and you don't see the engine going down the track , then why spend +$30,000 reinventing the wheel and make a phone call and have a 565 Chevy ship to your house in 2 days they make the big power of 1/3 the cost and no waiting time sounds crazy to me . I run a buick because it's a buick might not be the quickest car but it is a buick that's were we are
Just my thoughts

 

^^^^Amen! I actually get mad when I see a bowtie in ANYTHING other than a bowtie, but thats just me, and one thing I dont understand is if you want to go faster than the traditional buick style head will allow, they do make power adders and even power Multipliers. If your a bracket or class racer I still dont see a prob as the good ole TA stuff will go up to 1000hp NA. I guarantee a 632 TA block with 4 kits or a couple of 98mm promods hung off the nose or a F2 is gonna take you down the 1320 faster than 99.9% would care to go. Yea its gonna take more boost or N20 to push thru.a 380-400 cfm head vs a 500+cfm head but its gonna push thru , just keep the head on the block , and your golden, granted a heavy hitter N20 setup is gonna want a big head it still will get the job done to certain point in that app, just thinkin aloud

 

The thread that keeps on giving. And it will keep on and on and on until and only until. TA is selling a 500 cfm head. BUICK Head. Then they will cry "Not Fair"

 

Most of your Buicks' no longer have "BUICK" parts in them. Sooooo lets get off the bashing. Remember those Chevy parts are not chevy anymore, they are "GM". Isn't a Buick a GM car and we put GM or aftermarket parts in all or most of them. When heads are ready they will be aftermarket parts for your Buick, and they will not fit a chevy or Olds or Pontiac or dodge or ford or any other make.

 

I'm not trying to p--- anyone off here, I'm saying Buick did make the first Canted valve head in GM. Why not make another one that actually does a better job then the current cylinder head's? Matter of fact, no engine manufacture Ford, Chevy, or Pontiac has ever made a symmetrical port head, just the moper hemi was. Now take that technology and use it to your advantage. Now think about this for a second, Sonny Leonard of Sonny's racing engine told me he would help Mike at TA Performance to revamp his existing heads, to make them more powerful. they would look like Buick heads but the ports would be highly modified. I'm just trying to help you guys go faster that's all. I love the Mighty Buick 455, I have done the chevy,ford, and Pontiac thing and came to realization that Buick is a power house and can be made to go extremely fast if you are willing to pay for it, Which I am. I plan on doing a 496 Twin turbo done by Mike Moran at Moran racing engines (Moran motorsports) to do a cross country drive and race at every track possible. Yes that's a ton of money but I want 3000+ horsepower to run with the big dwags. Chevy's, Fords, and Pontiacs are to easy to make power with them, I like a challenge, that's why I choose a Buick 455.

 

I don't think anyone has done a Max effort TA head yet???? It seems that a lot of people are complaining about heads yet they haven't used what we have in front of us to there full potential. Until something comes along we have to work with what we have here.

This Thread was started last March, is anyone using these Big Chief's yet???? Like Ken says, know matter who makes a head its not going to have a Buick part number on it is it? TA, Big Chief, Mopar, AMX, volvo who cares its only a name just grind it off but when its really needed someone will come to the plate with something.

 

Our head project is far from dead. I also have the block and the ATI Procharger F3R to make over 3000 hp on nitro. When you start putting out #'s then everyone comes out of the woodwork to dispute it. Funny, the pro's we have talked to and who are helping with this project are the ones who gave us the #'s, not the guys who have never even made half that hp. I have gone somewhat silent and should not have said squat until they were available. I should have listened to TA but unfortunately a relative blew the cover. We will have them this year!

 

Ok. think about this now. you are using nitromethane that produces ten times the power of racing gas and you are making only 3000 hp? damn i have seen twin turbo's engines produce that on racing gas! See i designed a cylinder head and by my calculations it would b more powerful then anything currently available .the intake ports would be 2.500x1.800 and exhaust would be 2.100. Now think about this! the. head. would look like a standrd Buick head,but with canted/splayed valves! I came up this by lookng over every single canted/splayed valve head out there. then ei decided to tak one step further, same head as above and only have the intake ports , spread port . Just those. two. cylinder. heads alone, would make more power then any cylinder head available . I would like to see this cylinder heads because they still. look like aBuick head .

 

Has anyone heard of a "Flow box"? Its something the cylinder head designers use if they are using a existing cylinder head. look it up enginebuilder.com/how it works. it Will surprise you why someone hasn't done one yet.

 

Gary,

Your enthusiasm is great, and frankly I was surprised to see your posts again, because I had you on my "ignore" list since back in 2011. This might also be why you don't always get replies from some other people who might have been put off by your comments then.

This particular topic has been seriously chaotic with heated discussions, deleted comments, etcetera. Maybe it would be good for you to reintroduce yourself and what you've been up to. Hopefully things are better since you and I clashed back then. They are for me, hoping the same for you.

Devon

 

OK, yes it will make over 3000 hp on race gas and 4500hp on nitro but if I said that to begin with 99.9% of racers would say a Buick you're kidding. That is the possible hp but I am not going for the max just making parts for others to do that. For those with money who want to help PM JESUPERCAT. I retired 10 years ago and have no ambitions to go 275+ mph in 5 sec. He does. I am still working with him but he is in Florida now and i can't drive to the track in 4 hours or even fly there. Canted valve heads are part of the plan but cannot be run in nostalgia top fuel. We are further along than we are telling anyone so don't ask, i don't apologize for keeping people in the dark, go racing for now and when they are in stock we will let you know.

 

I had someone lined up with backing to do what you are talking about almost to a "T" 2 years ago, there are a lot of people out of touch with the process/technology out there when it comes to designing heads etc etc. Its a lot easier to start with existing ports and adapt. You are better off to take it over to yellow bullet and bounce it of those guys that have a clear understanding of what you are talking about, there is a fellow there that does this exact thing for a living that has expressed interest in making a buick head. Great idea's you have, its a breath of fresh air to see someone that has done there home work!

 

Ken,

Keep up the good work. I don't race anymore, but you replied to someone who drops names, blows hard, and for what we know for the last four years, doesn't race either.

As curious as I am about what you're up to, from a practical standpoint with my understanding of mathematics and physics, plus my background in fuel and brake systems engineering, I would not DREAM of trying to give you any kind of advice, or tell you to call some "expert", or what have you.

What I CAN tell you is not to spend any time worrying about Gary McGruther a.k.a gmcgruther.

Do good work, test it. Don't worry about other people. Report back.

Devon

 

Devon the one big limiting factor for our engine will not be the head but rather the fuel pump. Nostalgia top fuel limit is 20-21 gallon per minute, and yes you run a flowed and certified pump. If you are caught outside the limits I guess eventually you could run in IHRA. This is what keeps the cars in check. Gary may not know the limits of Kens 3000hp comment. We live it,so we need to play by the rules.
When we get a handle on what Ken and I are working on we will do some testing with a 30-35 gallon a minute Rage pump and then traction will be the limiting learning curve.

 

Can someone explain why on the Buick head their is a bump by the spark plug hole, its said its for turbulance, I dont see it on the TA heads.

 

They're nothing more than reference spots that the production fixtures used to position the head during machining processes after casting. Where did you hear the "turbulence" comment?

Devon

 

I cant find the exact source at the moment, but the artical was about head porting and it stated that that bump was there to add turbulence to the intake charge as it flowed in to the cylinder and to shear wet fuel that enters and atomize it better.