Hello everyone! I'm new to the forum with my first nailhead question. I saw a picture in a magazine last year of a nailhead with fuel injection setup and I just had to have a motor like that for my streetrod!(Well, I can't afford the fuel injection, but two fours.....maybe!) I found a '67 Riveria that looks like it has a nailhead. The valve covers set horizontal and it has a single barrel carb. Am I looking at a nailhead? What years did they make the nailhead and is there any other distinguishing features of a nailhead that I should look for to get an ID on the engine? This engine is going to cost $185 (is that a good price) and I have to pull it, I just didn't want to go to all that trouble if its not a true nailhead? Looks like it has 82k miles on the speedo. Thanks! Don
Hi Don, The easy way for the novice (myself included) to identify a nailhead is the rear mounted distributor, the valley pan under the intake, and the horizontal valve covers. Chances are, you are looking at a '66 Rivi, which looks almost identical to the '67. The engine should be a 425, which is a pretty good deal for 185 if it turns over freely. The fuel injection that you saw was probably a Hilborn, which looks great, and will run around 1000 for a complete setup minus surge tank and pill. There were two nailhead versions, and the one with smaller diameter bores was better for street application. Too, the front cover pump setup is virtually impossible to find, and won't work well with a street car. The Gilmer drive pump setups are almost as hard to find, but allow waterpump and belts to remain stock.They look great, but are best used in racing applications, as they are very UNstreetable, unless you are willing to fiddle with the mixture(pill), and butterflies. I think you would be better served for looks and performance with the dual quads, which will run around 700-800 without the air cleaner(which looks dorky on a rod, anyway) Hope this helps. Dan
Don that would be an excellent price for a "Nail". Pop the air cleaner and see if it has the Quadrjet on there, very hard to come by and a one year only item that is said by many to be "the" hot setup for our cars. If the trans is with the car get it too. In "our" circle you have found a gold mine. I can be there in half a day if you pass on it:TU:
Dan and Doug, Thanks for the replies and the information you supplied to help me identify a "Nail." I'll go back tomorrow and checkout the vehicle again. I was pretty excited about finding the car that I didn't really notice anything but the engine, but I think it still had an automatic trans attached. The air filter was missing and I know it had what looked like a reman single barrel carb (not the original carb), I know it had the valley pan under the intake, and I remember the spark plugs seemed to be angled towards the middle of the head from both directions (I think?). I'll take some pictures tomorrow and try to post them so maybe someone can verify if the engine is a 'nail.' Thanks! Don
