I think Tommy Ivo should pen a book on nailhead speed secret's for the rest of us buick junkies. Stroker combo's ect. plus cool old stories. Have I missed it? has it already been done? The well's of knowledge are fastly disappearing. Thanx
I agree. Its been reported many times that he did alot of his own head work, I'd like to know more about that, since it's the Buicks weak link. Marko
Not exactly what you are looking for but an interesting article on some of Toms history. I enjoyed it. http://www.speedhunters.com/2009/07/guest_blog_tony_thacker_nhra_museum_gt_gt/ Ross
It was 1965 and my fellow senior in High school, Doug had just bought a white 63 Buick rag top. There were 3 of us in the car, drinkin a little beer while riding around in Doug's new Buick. I gotta say I was totally impressed when he jambed that thing up to 120 and then hammered the brakes. WOW! It decelerated as fast as it accelerated and with no drama...just pure, smooth power in both directions. That 401 was quick for its' time. A buick engine is on my list of engines-to-someday-run in one of my cars...HMmm, maybe a 401 would fit my little 57 Lloyd Alexander?
Would be nice to here form the experts, i have two of them a 56 with 3x2's and a 65, 401 just rebuilt waiting to go in the 47 merc,my burning question would be why didn't anyone ever make a single 4barle alum intake for them, the story i always hear is because the big heavy thing "must weigh 20#" flowed so well,if they were to make one i would be in line for one
I agree but this looks to be the next best option. I just purchased a copy of the magazine, "Hot Rodding the Buick" I'm still waiting for delivery but it looks like it has some "performance secrets" from Max Balchowskys Old Yaller and Tommy Ivos Dragster. Ross
For racing, you can add a more aggressive camshaft, up the compression ratio, even stroke the crank for more displacement. But considering the airflow restriction due to the ports and the small valves, (which you can't do much about) the best thing you can do for a Nailhead's breathing capabilities is to add a supercharger. On the other hand, for street use, a non-supercharged Nailhead...especially the 401/425 with roughly 400hp and 500lbs of torque in stock form...should be enough for nearly anybody. In fact, there are those who believe that the smaller ports and valves are largely responsible for its awesome torque at low rpms, because of the resulting higher velocity provided for the air/fuel mixture, as opposed to the high volume provided by larger ports and valves. So you're gonna feel the power of a Nailhead in the rpm range that a hot rodder would likely be running on the street...anywhere from just off idle up to a reasonable 4,500 to 5,000 rpms. A perfectly bad*** hot rod engine that doesn't have to be spun to the sky to get some power out of 'er.
Here's the first nailhead I put in my '50 Chevy Sedan Delivery. It made that boat haul. It was my first nailhead and I'm hopelessly hooked on them now.
The Jalopy Journal
