Buford the Buick

[copo69]

Really neat car, Wayne. I've always enjoyed your magazine articles, particularly the copo Camaro clone buildup series a few years ago. Never did see it complete and always wondered what happened to it. Looking forward to your internet venture.

[markjohnson]

It is good to see you here Wayne! I've always enjoyed your writing also and hav your "How To Build A Chevrolet Street Machine" book. That's actually one of my favorite books to this day. Your old Black '69 Z/28 Camaro with the Orange Houndstooth is owned by a member of this site. It's been all restored back into a stock Z/28 but I always kinda like what you did with the car instead. The current owner has even posted pictures of it on here, but for the life of me, I can't remember his name. By the way, sharp Buick! I really like it. I've built up a couple of Drag Radial "G" Body Drag car myself and your really looks top notch.

Hey Guys ...thanks for the responses. My Buick has been a mix of ideas that I've had for years (OK - decades <g&gt. It's not a legal drag car -- no cage or roll bar. Instead, it was supposed to be a modern version (and my own interpretation with a GM bias) of Addison's Silver Bullet. That car influenced me greatly over the years. So basically, like Addison's Mopar, the Buick was put together with the best hardware I found that was somewhat streetable. It really is a cool car, and I suspect it will really rock and roll with just a simple 572 crate motor.

My old black 69 Camaro haunts me regularly. It's one of those cars I wish I never would have parted with (the other is a for real 1971 LS6 Corvette that I regrettably sold in 1974). The truth was, I had a big tax bill that had to be paid. I had a new EFI Firebird drag car in the shop (NHRA B/Stick Stocker that Tim Bishop now campaigns). The 'Bird was giving me the opportunity to make an income while the '69 was sitting still. So I pulled out the L88/Turbo 400 combination and sold the Camaro to a fellow back east. The L88 was sold to a guy in Oregon who passed away before he could use it. Kip Martin did the machining on the L88. It was a (really) nice piece -- it was more or less an NHRA stocker style engine. FYI, drag racer, Ken Reich was the original owner of the Camaro.

If you folks ever want to see more pix of the Buick, let me know. The suspension is really neat and so is the rear end assembly. My old racing partner, Mike Pustelny narrowed the housing, fought with the concept of fitting the stock mounts in place (with the narrowed width and the huge by large M-W housing ends) and back braced it. Mike does really, really nice work. You should have seen the raw TIG welds.

But I digress. Like I said before....you guys rock and thank you for letting me ramble about some of my old heaps.

Wayne Scraba

[thumper83]

Love that regal !I am a g-body lover also strated with an 85 ss then on to the new baby a black 86ss. Grey one is a project / drag car in slow progress lol. Keep it up beautiful car !

[flyingn]

its a sin what you did to it. Its a turbo Buick for Gods sake, build up the turbo 6.. 600 hp is easy with those motors. Why didn't you use a garden variety regal which could have been bought for a whole lot cheaper and it would not have been sacrilegious what you did. What you did is basically grab a mint low mile 1969 SS396/375 and tore into it and but a Big Block Buick in it You should be ashamed of yourself.

You did a nice job on it tho..

[olredalert]

-----Wayne,,,You have good taste in chassis guys. I used Mike P to do a bit of much needed work on "Red Alert" many years ago and he is one of the best. Looking at one of his full tilt Super Stock cars is like looking at a Mona Lisa in the drag race world!!!.......Bill S

----And Frank,,,Turbo-Schmurbo !!! Plenty of them to go around,,,A nice, healthy 540 roller motor and loose converter would give any guy on this sight the shivers in this Buick

[ QUOTE ]
-----Wayne,,,You have good taste in chassis guys. I used Mike P to do a bit of much needed work on "Red Alert" many years ago and he is one of the best. Looking at one of his full tilt Super Stock cars is like looking at a Mona Lisa in the drag race world!!!.......Bill S

Hi Bill! Mike and I have been pals for a long time. If you recall the White and Blue Firebird that Mike Saye raced (and won the NHRA world championship with), that car was originally mine (and Mikes). We were partners on it wayyyyy back when. FYI, that car was originally a low mileage, GM of Canada Player's Challenger car they used to pace race events....oh well. When the $$$ ran out, we sold it to Saye. Mike is one of the good guys in the biz. Plenty of folks don't know his influence either. More than a little of the new Dodge Challenger race package is due to MPR. And I suspect, since he is pals with Brian Wolfe, he had a wee bit of influence on the CJ Mustang as well. Right now, I'm trying to track down some pix Mike took of the housing. When I find them, I'll post them. He builds art.

Wayne Scraba

Hi There GN guy. I had a big long response written, and then I did a double take on your screen name. Your suggestion that 600 horsepower is “easy” could pretty much be open for debate. If you approached that horsepower level with production six cylinder Buick hardware like a block, crank and rods (even on a hopped up, cheating dyno), I have a good hunch the connecting rods would likely be laying on the ground. And even if you did somehow manage it, I really doubt you’d be able to sustain that horsepower level without eventually driving over some engine pieces.

By the way, the dripping, leaking (did I tell you how I had to chip two inches of cooked oil crud from the transmission bellhousing to get at the bolts?) V6 went to a good home. It’s powering a real GN that, uhm, for a short period of time had one of those wicked power engines you’re talking about <g>.

As far as hacking up cars, I’m definitely guilty – I’ve chopped up a number of them. Some were even factory pilot cars with plenty of zeros in the VIN sequence. I have a hunch a couple of other guys on this board have hacked up muscle cars too. And quite a few of us old farts did it when those cars were two days old. Or less.

And finally, I have the stock 6 banger frame mounts sitting here if someone buys the car and absolutely needs it powered by one of those nearly stock 600 HP Buicks.

Take care man…

Wayne (the Buick Butcher) Scraba