Fastest boats down the track..

Discussion in 'A boatload of fun' started by EEE, May 9, 2007.

  1. quicksabre

    quicksabre Well-Known Member

    This is a cool list. Tom Wagner should definitely be on it. But my Riviera is not listed, and I haven't sold it yet. I think blown455(Rod) also has a pretty fast 2nd gen Riviera.

    LeSabre 2dr- '76 455/TA413 cam with PAE 1400/4000 switch pitch 400, 3.42 posi, '73 heads converted to stg 1 valves, hyper pistons, 9.8:1 comp, Poston headers, mandrel bent 3" exhaust, sometimes with X-pipe, '79 350 Qjet recalibrated, performer intake

    LeSabre 4dr- '73 455/TA112 cam with Kenne Bell 1200/2800 switch pitch, 2.93 posi, '73 heads stock, hyper pistons, 9.5:1 comp, Poston headers, '76 stock 455 Qjet, performer intake, stock dual exhaust

    67 Riviera 430/TA212 cam with locally done custom 1350/3300 switch pitch, 3.42 posi, very mild port work to heads, TRW forged pistons(long since discontinued), 9.9:1 comp, TA shorty headers w TA 2.5" mandrel bent exhaust, 72 455 Qjet, 70 455 intake.

    Would like to hear more about grandville455, Buick or not!(still BOP)
     
  2. grandville455

    grandville455 Well-Known Member

    What would you like to know David? :)
     
  3. EEE

    EEE Straight out of lo-cash!

    I had plans to go up to the track tonight but no-one wanted to come with me :Do No: so no chances of improvements for now. The changes I've made are a new set of T/A radials, which could help since I have been running junk tires before. I'm also working on this fresh air system which is half installed, and then we'll see about the timing.
     
  4. EEE

    EEE Straight out of lo-cash!

    I think David wants to know if the back seat has been put to use or not. That was what my gut feeling told me that he was asking about.
     
  5. D STAGE 2 455

    D STAGE 2 455 Well-Known Member

    My '69 Electra has a stock 430, 2.93 open rear, the only modification is a dual exhaust system(2.5 Flowmaster delta flow mufflers). The car ran a 15.70@ 92 mph.
     
  6. flynbuick

    flynbuick Guest

    The fastest time in a mag article I see for the SG Electra says 11.7. Search the Board under "Scotty and Electra".
     
  7. 87GN@Tahoe

    87GN@Tahoe Well-Known Member

    so went to Sacramento Raceway last wednesday... actually did much better than i thought.. temperature in the mid 80's at about 200ft elevation

    at about 5,000 lbs including; spare and some other crap in the trunk, FULL tank of gas, 160lbs of ME (so lets say 5,200 lbs.. i've never weighed it, i need to )

    3.07 open diff, Telesco Roller Rockers, a TERRIBLE tune (tuned for 6,500ft elevation:Dou: ) and nothing to tune with, i.e. jets, metering rods, etc... stock RESTRICTIVE exhaust, muffler's removed

    I only got to run about 4 times.... some good tire spin on street tires my best run was 15.70 @ 86.197mph with a .289 reaction time and terrible 2.316 60ft

    not bad, I wasn't expecting any faster than mid 16's.. now I have a baseline to work from

    wes
     
  8. EEE

    EEE Straight out of lo-cash!

    Was this with the Riv?
     
  9. jamyers

    jamyers 2 gallons of fun

    Thanks, it's a blast to drive (not that the 350 wasn't fun). I used an air-powered die grinder and a carbide burr for most of the head work, then the "Standard Abrasives Kit" to polish. :TU:
     
  10. jamyers

    jamyers 2 gallons of fun

    Hey, looking at the chart above, it looks like any 60' time under 2.0 is going to take deep rear gears and a posi, so I wouldn't feel bad at all about 2.3 - in the world of Buick-sized cars, that ain't bad at all! :beer
     
  11. 87GN@Tahoe

    87GN@Tahoe Well-Known Member

    yep that was the '64 rivi
     
  12. quicksabre

    quicksabre Well-Known Member

    Thanks for the update EEE. Grandville455, your car runs fine. Just curious about gearing, engine, converter, and driveability. I do some tinkering with Pontiac motors, and really like them. I just did a '70 Pontiac 455 with S/P 400 ito a 79 Trans Am for someone.
     
  13. jamyers

    jamyers 2 gallons of fun

    :Brow:
    Quicksabre, I noticed that lots of your cars have Switch-Pitch tranny's...where are you getting them from, and who (if anybody) is converting or rebuilding them?

    You see, I've got this TH-400 in my garage, and know where a couple of '67 Electra's are sitting with S-P tranny's in them...
     
  14. GSCLARK

    GSCLARK gsclark

    EEE,
    Thank you for putting together this chart. I would like to add my 60' time of 2.10. Also, that was with regular street radials, not drag radials. My 73 Riv weighs 5060lbs with driver, (200lbs). I would like to see the weight of the other cars in the chart. Thanks!
     
  15. quicksabre

    quicksabre Well-Known Member

    James,
    Switch pitch is unbeatable in these big cars. I think it is a waste for anything with a decent gear that weighs under 3500, but most of us running the heavy fullsizes don't have enough gear, and carry alot of weight. There is a certain horsepower level that it becomes unreliable at though. I'm not at that point, even though I've fried quite a few of these converters until I got rid of all the thrust washers altogether. All of my switch pitch trannys started out as the easy to come by 71-76 big car trans. Except for not being switch pitch, I like most of the internals in those better. Plus, the case is stronger. Then I go to the local junkyard and pull the switch pitch parts from a 65-67 trans to convert over the later trans. You get the stronger intermediate one way clutch by changing over the direct drum also. Sometimes I'll steal the intermediate clutch piston too. One 76 case that I used one time actually did not have the switch pitch passage drilled, so I just grabbed a hand drill with 1/4" bit and drilled it myself.
    As for the Pontiac just finished, that had to be done on a tight schedule. So I bought a ready to go S/P 400 from PAE.

    As for the weight of my cars, with me in it(negligible), and 1/3 tank of fuel, the 76 2dr weighs 4803. The 4dr with all of it's electric windows and seats, A/C, and most of a tank of fuel weighed like 5150. I have no idea on the 67 Riv.
     
  16. jamyers

    jamyers 2 gallons of fun

    Good info, thanks! One question though...
    Which thrust washers did you get rid of?
     
  17. EEE

    EEE Straight out of lo-cash!

    No more big Buicks that have been down the track:Do No: We're still waiting for some figure from Nick White, anyone else who knows of someone?
     
  18. Floydsbuick

    Floydsbuick Well-Known Member

    He he he...........dig these timeslips! Rare is the time when my cars do better than I think possible. This is my 69 Wildcat with the stock 430. I added an HEI with my recurve (all mechanical), a 71 800 Qjet with #73 primaries as the only real non stock mods. Stock available mods include a 307 posi and dual exhaust.

    The car was laying down real consistent 15.05-15.06s. I lit the red light twice barely at 498 and 496, but after cutting a 512 and 520, I was getting greedy!
    I spun twice for some 15.20s, but those things happen. I was 2.2 on the 60 all night. [​IMG]
     

    Attached Files:

  19. Floydsbuick

    Floydsbuick Well-Known Member

    Then, I got the tailwind I was praying for!!!!!!!:TU: [​IMG]
     
  20. grandville455

    grandville455 Well-Known Member

    Hi...My current gearing is 3.42 from a 71 riv, engine is a 455 .040 over with stock rods beams polished, and good arp bolts with big ends resized bottom end is 2 bolt studded, camshaft is a bullet hyd flat 231 231 on a 108 lsa installed at 104 with .556 lifts using my h.s 1.72 roller rockers lifters are rhoads, giving me awesome streetabilty and idles at 650 in drive! stock 69 cast iron intake with a 840 q -jet.. trans is a turbo 400 with a couple of the holes drilled a little for a firm shift.. convertor is a continental tight 10" 3200 stall.. it drives like a stock one till you nail it! very tight!! car gets around 14 mpg .. anything else just ask, thanks
     

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