Anyone know about this car or heard anything about this Kenne-Bell Buick? http://www.yenko.net/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=425721&#Post425721 Supposedly never even had a hole for the heater.... o No:
This thread could get really interesting.:eek2: Click on that other link and look at the pictures. The airbox sure looks like the ones on the non-existant Stage2 cars that were supposed to have been run by Kenne Bell and another California based racer but the motor in the car has regular heads on it. We need Dave Knutsen or Tom Rix to get into this one. With the unstamped firewall and the original cowl tag having some unique numbers on it I'll be standing by to see where this one goes.
Yes it does. I think this thread should be moved to somewhere where more members will see it. ray: ray:
Don't know much about how Buick operated in Flint around the time this car was built, but think it was pretty similar to Oldsmobile, where I was during that time period... I always thought COPO was only involved with Chevrolet at that time. Olds had their own system for everything and operated pretty much independent of Central Office in about every area. Of course that changed radically soon afterwards and began the downhill slide into oblivion the more they got involved... Did COPO actually get involved with special vehicle builds at Buick? We had a system called red border release for production for anything they (Engineering) wanted built in Manufacturing. Production vehicles were built on normal production releases.
Yes, 43537 was the model designation for the Skylark 350 2 door hard top. The "BF" indicates the car was built at the Freemont Ca. plant. Interesting that the car does seem to be a heater delete, but back in the day, a car could be ordered any way the customer wanted. I'll just never understand the vinyl top on this one. Jim J.
it would had to have been for export (or at least built as such), as the fed required a defroster (heater)...yenko & chevrolet built a few combos in the early 70s that most folks have never heard of, that carried export & fed emissions exempt decals (think "L88").
I thought all vehicles in USA after 69 had to have heater - even export ( mexico ,south america ) still had the stampings and blower shroud ,just no heater core o No: o No: Would they have a different firewall laying around for exports ??? The factory definatly didn't put that second trim tag on. Being Hand stamped and all.
Dave, I too thought COPO was a Chevy thing. And I have seen some 1970s (not Buicks) with heater-deletes, as they went to Hawaii. I can't say I know what to make of this - for all I know, there may be some great secret that's ready to be uncovered - but for now, I smell a rat.
Hmmm . . . interesting. For some reason this just looks fishy to me. What would the rules be for Super Stock?, cause it looks like stock intake, heads, and manifolds . . . lets see some casting numbers . . .
The engine in the pictures can not be from the time the car was first run in it's current condition. Look close enough at the pictures and you'll see it has smaller head ARP style headbolts on it. Those were'nt around in the early 70's. And I seriously doubt that valve cover would have survived uncovered storage without showing some rust or atleast patina. It's an interesting car none the less and I'd still like to know it's true story. I feel for the new owner though since he's stated it'a GS and was found and acquired as such and we here know it did not leave the factory as a true GS with a Skylark 350 number plate on it. It may have been an early race car for Kenne Bell or even Reynolds Buick but one would think that it would have least left the factory with all the bigblock and heavy duty GS parts. In the old KB catologs there was a picture of a car that was supposed to be Buicks only attempt at Pro-Stock racing but I'm sure it would have been a 4 spd car and the one in these pictures has an auto in it.
Starting with any car manufactured from Jan. 1, 1968 forward, the US government mandated any/all cars intended for sale in the continental U.S. be equipped with a defroster [heater]...thus an export car [Hawaii, Guam, Middle East, etc] could be exempt. A good friend of mine in Hawaii runs across old heater delete plates from time to time...same firewalls, just a plate covering the hole with the corresponding "lip". That's been one of my questions in regards to Pure Stock/FAST: what are the rules in regards to heater deletes & export options. If you allow heater deletes on anything, then that implies stuff built for export is fair game, which is a Pandoras box [like the early '70s L88 emissions exempt/export car I referenced earlier].
A "special" Buick built at Fremont in 1970 would really be a surprise since it was not just a Buick plant and all the really special Buicks seem to have been built in Flint in '70. My bet is that it's someone's old racecar and the person just welded and smoothed the firewall. Until it's been stripped of the paint or we see pictures of the naked firewall under the dash, I would be skeptical about the whole deal.
Ditto with Oldsmobiles in Lansing...All W cars, all Hursts, special fleets, etc were built there only. Pretty sure Pontiacs were that way, too.
