Well, That's All Folks! After flogging my new 525" motor all season I ran a tire-spinning 9.11@148.75 yesterday at Englishtown and decided to pack it in for the season. I had a great year of racing and a whole lot of fun doing it and I couldn't have wished for more. I put 65 passes on the car this year and at least 40 of them were no worse than 9.0s, with a trifecta of 8.90s thrown in. :TU: Along the way, I won a Gamblers Race at the Norwalk Buick race, the Super-16 Gamblers Race on Sat. at the GS Nats, went five rounds at a Nostalgia race at Island Dragway (only to lose in the semis), and drank lots of beer besides! :beer That's what I call having a great year. :TU: I want say thanks to the guys who had a hand in my excellant season....PeeGee Scotty Guadagno (for building the monster under the hood), Rob and Jeff at Stage1 Auto (for all their work on the car), and last but not least, John Csordas (for always helping me out, at the track or the shop). I also want to thank the many people on this board who have followed my ongoing saga and offered me congrats and encouragement, both here and when we've met in person, at one event or another. It's a terrific group of people we've got here! Happy Holidays to you all! Doug.
Glad you had a good summer Doug. You carry the Buick torch well and we thank you. What ignition system are you running??? Thanks.
Hey! Doug! Hey Doug, happy thanksgiving, and thanks for a wonderful, colorful year of watching you go faster and faster. More to come next year, I'm sure. Have a safe and happy winter. see you in APRIL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :blast: :beer :beer :beer :beer :beer :grin: :grin: ou: or sooner! RV
Thanks for the nice comments gang. Jeff, I run an MSD 7AL3 with an HEI distributor and an MSD crank trigger. It works great!
Doug, I would say you had a very successful season after not racing for a few years. I for one am certainly glad to see you down in the staging lanes and not up on the tower!! I know it was hell for you most of the season trying to get that 8.99 but on the bright side... your car is very consistant! Dad and I were talking the other day and wondered how many passes you had put on the engine this summer so thanks for answering our question. My hat is off to Scotty!!!! I have never personally met him but chatted many times on the phone. He seems like a great guy who is by far the BEST Buick engine guy in the country. What are you plans for the winter Doug? Are you going to make any changes? Freshen it up? or just leave it alone? Aslo Doug, if you think about it the next time your chatting with Scotty, please ask him if he did anything to lighten up the crankshaft in your engine. I am looking to have this done and would like to talk with someone who has already done it. Anyhow... congrats on a great year and I cant wait until spring where we can hear the roar of the engines again. Norwalk is going to be very interesting with the Big Block crowd! I hope to see guys like Jim W and Sweesy, John jr and sr., Geof Ketchum, Rick with his new combo and hopefully Joe Chuba will have his back together. How many 8 second Big Block passes will we see??? Take Care
John, thanks for the sentiments. Scotty is currently freshening John Jr's motor and as soon as he's done, I'm bringing him mine to tear down and inspect. Other than a cam change, or any problems he may find that we don't know about yet, it's going right back together. As far as the crank lightening, mine hasn't been lightened, so I don't know if it's necessary or advisable. I go down to Musi's to hang out with Scotty every so often, so I'll ask him for you. As far as being out of racing for awhile, I often thank John Sr. for the loaner engine last year. Renting that motor allowed me to only miss two years instead of three while my 525" was in the works. I think Norwalk will be VERY interesting next May! I think our record-setting Quick-16 bump spot of 9.56 this past year is going to drop even further this coming year. How about you? Any big plans to up the HP? Take it easy, Doug.
Doug, There is plenty of air left in the cylinder heads. They are sitting at 350 cfm and I know I could take them to 380 to 390 but I am afraid to do it just yet. Most of this winter will be spent on making the engine LIVE. That is why I am going to aluminum rods and having the pistons lightened to reduce the rotational weight. The cam that was in the engine was wayyyyy to small creating to much cylinder pressure which was one of the causes of bearing failure at Cecil. So I am looking for a nice used camshaft that is larger than 276 duration at .050 if you know of anyone who has one. Oh... and you will be happy to hear the car is scheduled for a chassis certification in January. Will I need my parachute for a chassis cert?:grin: Dad and I also plan on getting our license this year. Do you know if there has ever been a side by side 8 second BBBuick pass? If not... lets be the first!!! Take Care
John, I believe the cam I'm taking out and replacing with a larger one would fit the bill! I'll update you with the specs. As far as the match race goes...John Jr has raced Rod Hendrickson twice in side-by-side Big Block Buick Skyhawks running 8s. I'll be happy to run you in the "first ever, side-by-side, 8-second GS pass" though. I SMELL A CHALLENGE!! :beer
Sniff, Sniff, April 30th smells like a great day for a BBB GS 8 Second Challenge, more to come on that idea!!!! HAPPY THANKSGIVING to ALL! Berta :beer :beer :beer :beer :bglasses: :bglasses: :bglasses:
