Written by Gary Weldon, of Canadian Street Rodding Hall of Fame, and who campaigned the Nailhead powered racer at Bonneville! Preorder here: https://www.cartechbooks.com/buick-nailhead-how-to-rebuild-modify-1953-1966.html
what's left to learn that didn't come up on v8 Buick ? I know I learned some stuff I like to forget lol . ps Rhett send me the book when your done with it i will trade you. .
Pre-ordered it as well. With my Electra, one never knows, it may decide it wants to be rebuilt again. So far it's doing well, it only has 20,000 miles since being rebuilt. I also kinda like to know what I did wrong; - and if there's anything I should improve.
I refuse to pay $34 for a printed-in-Communist China S-A Design book. S-A Design titles used to be about $14 at Amazon, and that was still excessive given the cost to print 'em. 'Course, that also was many years ago. When I can get one used for somewhere under $20, that'll be soon enough. I've got a few others on my wish-list that I'm already waiting on. S-A Design has this "formula"--144 pages (too short), imported. Color photos but often too small to see the detail they're trying to point out. Sold at "Made In USA" pricing. I wish HPBooks was as aggressive as S-A at publishing automotive titles. The HPBooks are always better edited, too. Is Weldon a member here? His bio says he's built "over a dozen performance Nailheads". Hopefully, his book is better-researched, better laid-out, and better-edited than the S-A Buick disaster by Jefferson Bryant.
I've been dealing with Gary for years. He knows what he's talking about. I know he has been working with someone on this book. I & Russ Martin were asked & we both declined because of the amount of time it would take to do. And everybody has their own ways to do things. Tom T.
Good to know you have respect for his knowledge, that's quite a compliment coming from our guru! There was a 'Gary in NY' that posted here years ago, is it the same guy?
No, that was Gary from Long Island. Known as The Performance Engine Shop. Still in business & we still talk on somewhat of a regular basis. This Gary is the one who built the "NailHead" for the Henry J I was involved with in Mass. The Gary doing the book is from Canada. He was involved with "BonneVille" with his "Nails". Used to go just about every year. I just talked with this "Gary" a couple weeks ago about the book he was planning & MAYBE using some of my info in the book. This Gary very much liked the SFI approved harmonic balancers I provided for him along with my Varible Ratio Roller Tip Rocker Arms. With them he was NOT RPM restricted to 5800-6000 RPM's where it would fall on it's face because the engine ran out of air. Now he was able to go to 7K PLUS & was knocking on the back door of 200MPH with an older 30's Ford. You wanna see BRAND NEW "Nail" parts, both MANY BRAND NEW High Performance & used you would have to see Buddy's barn. Both upstairs & down. Mass was a hot spot for "Nails" back in the day. There was one that had a "322" that would see 10K RPM's on a regular basis. My friend in Mass (Buddy) hasn't raced the Henry J in years because of health issues. Buddy ALSO owns a '34 Ford that has graced many mags, including Hot Rod over the years. This '34 has gone ALL OVER the U.S. & raced at all out speed races in various parts of the country. These are some very interesting people I've had the pleasure of meeting/conversing with/working with over the years. Some have even made their own aluminum heads for the Ole "Nails". Talk about HISTORY!!!!! Tom T.
Got my copy in the mail this week. The comments about length and pictures are spot on. I'm not too far in to the book yet. I think this will be a good supplement to other knowledge.
I splurged. Paid exactly $20 shipped to my door. Showed up in today's mail. Book is in perfect condition except for a very minor flaw on the cover. God bless Amazon Partners selling "used" books. Far better than the Bryant book. Still has an occasional issue; like everything SA Design does, it needed one more trip through the proofreader/editor. I'd revise some of the content, but mostly that'd be based on general shop principles rather than Nailhead-specific items. And I'd prefer to see one larger photo than the same photo published twice at postage-stamp size. Overall: Recommended, but know that it's got EVERY problem that SA Design is infamous for.