How fast was a 70 GS or skylark in 1970 witha 350 trans. I m talking a ac bucket car witha 342posi and weight about 36-3800lbs? I mean that had to be in the low 14s with that torque and horsepower. any mags test them?? Thanks Doug
I think it was around 17 sec. in the quarter for the '70 315 hp. GS. Thats what (if) I remember correctly from a magazine road test, it may have been Cars magazine, or Hot Rod. The road test is in one of my "Buick" bibles. Mark
My buddie's 69 got 13's and drove good on the street. He used a mild cam, upped the compression, curved the distributor, worked the q-jet, added headers, and sticky tires. With highway gears, you need a 3500 converter. with 3.42 gears, use a 3000 stall. A good converter will gain 2-3 tents over a cheap one reguardless of stall. Talk to Jim Wise.
A '72 4-speed car was capable of this at the Pure Stock Drags last September: 72 Buick GS 350 350/190 4M 15.430sec 94.97MPH 3800lbs 251RWHP I believe this car was a low-mileage, unrestored garage find and was not "prepped" to the limit of the rules. Sure was pretty... http://www.gtsregistry.com/PSMCDR2009/pair3.JPG
That number seems unlikely from a 72 350 in factory trim. Gary, I don't doubt those #'s are easily achieved. But I think the OP is looking for factory fresh stock numbers.
David, I know this car personally. It is a Garage find, bone stock, and not many options. It has less than 17,000 miles on it.That time was turn in by the owners son who had never drag raced a 4 speed car before. I believe he had only driven his fathers' automatic car down the strip a couple of times. I saw run at the Pure Stock event at Stanton this year. It is a non posi car, Jason had trouble launching it all weekend. This car is a time capsule.
Someone has confirmed that the engine had not been touched before it was found? Is it non-air, manual steering and brakes? That is certainly a nice time. No carb or timing tweaks before running? Just curious, we know a bit of tweaking can result in times much better than what rolled out of the dealer lot.
My 68, with a very mild rebuilt 71/72 engine, TH350, power drums/steering, and a 2.56 posi has run a best of 15.38 in cool air, with no wheel spin. With a 750 Qjet and timing advanced quite a bit.
I saw the engine. it was out of the car when it was purchased. They owner had or wanted to detail the engine compartment. The engine was pulled down. It was re-ringed and new bearings put in it. That was the extent of it.
I believe the fastest stock 350 tested besides the Corvette,was the 70 Z28 which also had the LT1 350 engine in it.With 4:10 gears it ran low 14's. The next closest was the 340 Duster with a 3:91 rear which ran mid 14's. To give you an idea the stock 67 400 Firebird and 70 440 cuda six pack ran 14's also,so it is written.
That was close to my guess,but for the 1970 "SP" 350.Not a lower compression 350,thats a nice time:TU:
My 70 GS 350 has run mid 15's, mph in the mid 90's, at Quaker City Raceway in 2005 at the BPG nats. The car has 54,000 miles on it and the only engine mod is an HEI. It also has a shift kit. It has a 3.23 posi and weighs around 3700lbs. I made the runs on Sears Roadhandler radials that were put on in 1974. It has also developed what seems to be a burnt exhaust valve. Here's a pic of it in the burnout box...
Yeah Dave I realize that,I was just trying to put it in perspective to what the stock Buick 350 could actually do.:TU:
I would expect that the 70 315hp car would have to be in the mid 15 potential as you asked equiped, based on what I've found in my testing. With just alittle more gear my car with a low compression motor went 14.9 at 90. So unless your racing at a high altitude track there should be no reason why a showroom fresh car shouldn't run 15.50s +/- .2 tenths. My findings were done with a dyno proven 210rwhp.
With a correctly optioned GS (no air and 3.64 gear) I believe it could have been in the high 14's but no faster than 14.5. It would take some tuning but, it would not sound unreasonable since I have seen many smog SBB's in regals run 15's with little effort. With those kind of numbers it would give quite a few cars on the "fast 100" muscle car list a good whipping. Mainly some Ford's with 390 FE engines.
Road Test Magazine, June 1970, 1970 GS 350 --- 17.4 seconds, 88 mph in the 1/4 Motor Trend, May 1965, 65 GS 400 ---16.6 seconds @86 mph Motor Trend July 1966 --66 GS 400 ---15.47 seconds @ 94 mph Car Life Jan 1967 --67 GS 400 -- 14.7 seconds @97 mph Motor Trend Dec 1967, 68 GS 400-- convert 16.3 seconds @88 mph Car Life March, 1968 GS 400 HT 14.4 seconds @ 93.3 mph I added the other tests so you could see the GS 350 test in the context of tests for bigger Buick engines. I have some Riv tests too but I just included A bodies here. You mentioned the 440 6 pack results but there is also a magazine test for a 12.9 second 1/4 mile Road Runner pass. I seem to remember they had Ronnie Sox drive the RR it so it could be real. If it is this may be one of the the quickest 4 seat muscle car era stock passes. I think some 63-64 max wedge Plymouths and Dodges were even faster.
The 1st time I was up a dragstrip was in a 1972 GS 350 4sp M21. This was in 1980 at woodburn Oregon. The car was ALL stock with no AC and a 3.08 single track. I remember it was capible of 58 mph in 1st gear. Nice job GM on gear selection. Any way this set up ran 15.70 at 89 mph . Ive owned this car since then and has had a couple different 350s and lots of rearend combos. Its not a race car but as seen the strip a few times. The best the car would do with a sbb was 9.0 at 80 in the 1/8th at PIR in 1990. This was a 10:1 motor 350 TA manifold, Holley carb and small crane cam. With very short rear end gears. Sorry on 1/4 passes. Should have nipped the 13s. For this pass the car also had a few things a stock one wouldnt. Slicks, no front sway bar, 5" welds in front and battery in the trunk. Stock low compression SBB GSs go 15s and and 70s might go high 14. I have the time slips to prove it.
I have or rather had(I've made a few changes)the same car John. No power anything. Engine ,M21 and 3.08 would run quite well if tuned properly. I can recall that combo running 15's somewhere around 90mph.
