Customs 1942 buick as early nascar type modified?

I’ve always thought Mexican Roadrace or Pan America theme builds are cool

 

Right. At 20, 30, 40, even 50 years of age, I never gave that a thought. Now I'm like, "Do I REALLY want this thing?" There are cars I'd like that I've never had, but I'll buy them, not build them.

 

On the other hand, when I was vintage racing, I knew a couple guys whose father had raced a '39 (I think) Buick coupe in the dirt modifieds back in the day. That car had a hopped-up 320 ci Roadmaster engine in it with 4 or 5 97's and was a consistent winner back then from what I heard. I never saw the car run, but I saw it when it was in storage then, and it appeared to be the real deal. All of the old-timers back then said this was the absolute truth.

Also, I used to run with a guy who had a couple of crude "track roadsters" with 320 Buick's in them. One was an original and the other was a pretty good reproduction. Those things were fast, water pipe roll bars, Model "T" frames, and all. They had 5 carbs (97's), high-lift rocker arms and I heard they were bored out 1/4" and used IH tractor pistons and were 356 ci. This was when the "BIG" motors were 331 Cads and Hemi's, 303 Olds Rockets and such. The story was that the original car had killed 3 drivers and had been put together again after each tragedy.

 

Howard manufactured intakes Chev and GMC’s have 5-2’s and Buick’s were made with 6-2’. Dry lakes racers used them too. Good luck.

 

The manifolds on the cars I am referring to were definitely homemade. There was also a guy who ran 5 or 6 97's on a 6 cylinder "Ranger" powered sprint car.

 

you see a rusty old car I see a beautifull and rare custom (with a nailhead) If your not into it there are a lot of people who are. Buy some old Ford/Chev/Dodge for the old NASCAR fad.

 

Thanks for all the info guys, I've got a 41 chevy ww2 truck im about to finish. I like the pre war stuff so I'm going to hold onto her probably do a nailhead from some of the projects I've looked at since starting this thread. I'd like to keep her looking original on the outside with some updated drive train.

 

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That's, (sort of), what I'm planning to do with my 41 Pontiac Streamliner. It already had a 74 Nova front subframe installed when I bought it. It didn't have an engine or trans when I bought it, though.

However, instead of finding an original Pontiac six cylinder, I'm installing a 1950 GMC six from a grain truck. I was really lucky finding the GMC engine. It's a 270 with a "H" head.

I also used a steering wheel and column from a 1949 Pontiac, along with the stock Nova steering box.

By the way, is your Buick a Century? It looks like the original engine has factory dual carburators and air cleaner. Not many built with those.

 

Sweet, and yes it was the factory dual carb setup.

 

By the way, those Buicks make nice customs. Here's some photos from one that was For Sale on Craigslist, a while back. It was made into a hardtop, with the B pillar removed. There was a thread here on The HAMB about this car. Here's a link.

Customs - 42 Buick craigslist find | The H.A.M.B. (jalopyjournal.com)