Is it possible? The ultimate goal for my Skylark is to turn it into a killer pro-touring machine sometime in the future. My brother and I were talking the other night about the ultimate power goals for our cars and I think 1000 HP would be a nice even number. Now, I know it is possible to do in a race motor, but would it be possible in a street motor? I am talking about using all the goodies, a new aftermarket block and heads, top notch forged internals, EFI, and some big twin turbos. If a streetable 1000 hp BBB isn't possible, what would the limit be? I know a lot of the Supra TT guys like to brag about having 1000 HP and driving them on the street, so I don't see why it couldn't be done with a BBB and be even more streetable (and make a heck of a lot more torque).
In the new car craft there was a guy who did a early 60's buick touring set up. It had a custom made tune port like fuel injection setup. It also had a super charger and they did it with a production block and I think just a solid cam. It made like 750HP and insane torque I think.
Alan in South Carolina (North?) had been working on just such a set up for a while now (waaaayyyy tooooo loooong ), although I don't think it's headed for 1000hp. It's a green thing known as the Dinosoar. He's on the board; I think his username is "alan"
One opinion Well, having taken a short flight riding shotgun in the NA, 800+ horsepower Garrison "Street Car", I'm sure it is possible. If several people in the country have bested 800 with no power adder, you can surely get another 200 horses with a couple of hairdriers. That having been said, the wad you would spend trying to build a production big block to handle that kind of boosted beating would choke a hippo. But, you wanted something you could calmly drive halfway across the country on the power tour and then take on cruise nights as a driver for several years once you got home, right? Prepare to drop enough cash to choke several hippos. I'm no expert, but from what I gather, making mad power is cheap compared to making reliable power. Ask your machinist what he would do differently if you wanted your engine to last 75,000 miles as a good place to start. I'd also ask him how often he thought I would have to replace things as a part of maintenance. Just my semi-educated opinion. - Freed
Cool! Another pro touring fan! I'd love to see a Buick A-body done well in this fashion. You can only look at so many pro touring chevelles and imagine they were skylarks before having to take action. And twin turbos? Mmmmm... Oh hell yes. Here's Alans: http://www.thedinosaurgang.com/ Sooooo awesome. :TU:
I second that emoticon! Refer to the first quote! :laugh: I'm in it for the long haul but I seem to have more time than moola. I'm counting on the new block(s) to solve a few issues, also. The potential is unbelieveable!
I'd say a streetable 1000 hp beast can be done. I've seen blown Vipers with this level of power and drivable on a daily basis. I don't know if they make any cross country trips tho. Or you could do 800 hp off the turbos and add some nitrous. That's another way I've seen guys have reliable daily drivers that put down big hp/ETs. Isn't technology great.
I think that is a goal that is reachable. My GS makes over 600 hp to the wheels and 814 lbs of torque to wheels with only minimal boost after tuning. After constructing a ram air and leaning out my car picked up 45 plus horsepower and torque across the entire curve. This is with only seven pounds of boost. Of course this is a Vortech centrifigal supercharged car and not turboed, but you get the idea.
I'm glad to hear that this goal is possible. I'm sure it would probably be quite expensive, with just the EFI, turbos, and new block costing close to $10k. After hanging out over on the 350Z message boards the prices don't really seem too bad though since a turbo kit for it costs $7500 or so and would only put out what my mild NA 455 puts out. I would like it to be able to cruise cross country in comfort. If I do this setup I am thinking I could use an electronic boost controller to limit boost most of the time but still be able to crank it when I'd like to have some fun. If possible I would also like to incorporate some kind of traction control system to help put the power to the ground. I saw MSD's new 7AL (I think) that incorporates such a thing, but I don't know how well it would work with FI. Also, was your car on the '97 Hot Rod Power Tour Alan? I remember seeing a car like yours there, if that was you were you running the turbo system at the time? I was in my Skylark at the time, I went from St. Louis to Michigan.
I've thought very long and hard about this. Since I already have the EFI installed and operational, I think it would be quite simple to do this. Actually I would lean toward the supercharger setup for a few reasons, one of which is that I can take the belt off- with EFI I would just load a different program and be done. Plus I wouldn't need custom-bent headers and stuff. All I need to get the 1000HP mark on my engine is: - A supercharger or turbocharger and intercooler - Larger injectors, probably 83# or 96# - Change my fuel system a bit (larger capacity pump, etc.) - A 3-bar MAP sensor for the EFI - A boost-referenced adjustable fuel pressure regulator (in case I want to hit the nitrous while on the boost- nitrous is a fantastic intercooler!) Oh yeah, and I'd need a block that can handle it. But ignoring the block aspect, all I need is the stuff above and about 6 hours to install it. I already have the girdle, connecting rods, etc., etc. Piece of cake. Anyone want to sponsor me? A turbocharger setup would be just as simple, except I would have to the list things like custom headers. But there is no question that turbos would be a LOT cooler. You would want to consider some stuff like bearing clearances and cam design. For example a 1000HP motor would probably want very large clearances, but that wouldn't last too well on the street. I have even seriously considered loaning my block to Alan (green dinosaur gang) so he can get his setup going. Now about that tranmission... -Bob Cunningham
Bobc - Did you use the FAST / TA Performance EFI setup? If so, what do you think of the system? I would almost definitely use the new TA or PAE block, I would like the added security of not having to worry about cracking the block with that kind of power. A supercharger would be nice, but I like how with turbos you can run a big exhaust and keep it fairly quiet. I'm not sure which tranny I would run, I am currently installing a built 200-4r that could hold up to 10's, but I think I would most likely swap that out in the future for a built TH400 or possibly a 4L80E. To give a better idea of the goal of this project is to turn the Skylark into a car that would rival the new Benz S600 - fast, powerful, and luxurious, but do it all with Buick style.
Nope, but I always thought that would be fun to do. I wonder if you can take out insurance on something like that? :laugh:
Sounds like we were separated at birth! I really don't think that any 200R4 could hold 1000 HP. I don't even know if a TH400 could be built that strong. Anyhow, I LOVE the FAST system. Alan will be using the same setup on his car as well. I had my manifold converted to FI by a company in Florida (www.force-efi.com), right about when TA was coming out with their manifold. Unfortunately I was too far underway with Force at the time, and they also provided the FAST for me. The FAST works great with a turbo, I think it's biggest market is the turbo buicks. -Bob C.
