Yea, I always thought it would cool to put a set on the Little Joe car and have it more period correct { with steel heads} than with the old T/A aluminum ones on it now, but the cost factor has a lot to do with it. Larry.
What I meant by serous is if they would’ve introduced the NEW 400-430 for 1965 just like Chevrolet introduced the 396.
What an awesome thread! I read it front to back and couldn’t leave my phone. Thanks for all the info and the video of Richard beating the GTX.
Oh ok, meaning the same year as the new 1965 396 Chevy. I also believe if even the new 400-430 came out one year earlier in 1966 the Stage 2 option would be available in 1970. They were so so close to making it a option. It would also make a 65GS kinda rare?? as a one year Nailhead GS.
Dennis sent me a picture of the letter that shot down the Stage2 production car. They planned to produce 50 to conform with NHRA’s rules for the minimum of production built to legally compete. keeping the thread alive…
Yup i'm itching for more!! Somewhere out there someone has factory memo's, letters, pics and other goodies. Maby even more dealers have boxes with parts in a attic way way way in the back.
Anybody notice the extra flange on the Mickey Thompson headers? Right where the tubes enter the collector. Could these be prototype Super Scavengers for the Stage 2 heads? Wonder where they are now!
Huh…interesting. And the production stage2 Kustom headers had a slip fit collector which was a lot longer. Custom Kustom headers, or custom MT’s?
I have a new set of Poston reproduction Kustom slip Flip fit headers, I bought them back in the late 80s because the original Kustom headers we’re beat up and leaked when driven on the street. Will have pictures Sunday They will be on display at Nicks car show this weekend.
Cool.yes, take some pics! I do have two sets of the early TA slip fit headers. One on my GSX race car the other an no’s set. The nos TA’s were advertised as Kustom because that’s what the sell thought they were. When I went to pick them up, look at them and saw they were the early TA. The seller really believed they were Kustoms just because of the slip together fit. Me knowing that I still bought them because of the price. Didn’t know Poston made them. What do the head flanges look like on those? Straight across the top? Or designed to clear the vertical boss like all the Kustoms?
The Poston headers look identical to the Kustom headers they’re just missing the 2399 stamp on the flange, I had them ceramic coated silver.
I believe I paid like $600 for them back in the late 80s. I thought they would have been a set of welded up headers. They didn’t have any pictures in your catalog at the time.
I'm sorry, I wrote he sent me a picture. I meant he mailed me a copy of the letter among other interdept Stage2 Docs. Try to dig them back out and post em.
So it sounds like there were actually 175 sets of these? 75 Buick made and 100 more cast by Kenne Bell in the original Molds?
Cool letter Gary, thanks for posting it. That's the first question that popped into my mine too, did KB follow through and cast the these additional Stage 2 heads?
I have read that there were more like 150 to close to 200 working sets, not only the 75 we hear about, whether they were counting the maby cast KenneBell ones I don't know? I might of read it here as it's really the only Buick forum I follow..
I don’t believe Kenne bell ever cast Any stage 2 Heads. KB had the blueprints the TA performance used to cast there first version of the aluminum Stage 2! Heads.
The letter suggest they have the tooling which could produce up to 100 units(sets)... I wonder what that actually means and what happened to it if they never used it.
