1970 Buick Street/Strip Skylark Build

Twin Turbo Skylark said:
Those are waste gates.... At 20 psi it should make about 850 hp
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Wow!! I'm sure the Buick engineers never imagined that for their 350. With turbos it seems that basically it's risk versus reward.

I see the Formula Un cars this year are getting 600 hp from 1.6 liters or 98 cubes in our speak, with a turbo.
 
No I am sure Buick engineers never did intend on the Buick 350 being force fed with turbos... As of now with the research we have done so far the stock. Hick 350s are safe to about 550 hp with turbos. This is a stock worn out type engine that runs well but has normal wear, a fresh engine may not live under turbo boost unless the ring gaps are widened a bit. I feel the reliable old stocker engine is a great way to go when adding turbos.

With forged rods and pistons I feel the Buick 350 is safe to about 700 hp.

Above 700 hp we are really pushing things and it becomes less economically attractive to push further... Because I am obsessed with pushing the limits on these engines I am building a new engine with a block girdle, block filler, really nice rods and pistons and alum. Heads that are being produced soon. I expect about 450 hp without boost and 800 hp if everything works how I plan..

Here is a 630 hp Buick 350 that proves to be reliable:

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zktYYQhCtqU
 
Today I took 4 inch long eye lag bolts and after pre drilling in 3 stages I tightly inserted them into the doubled up 2x4 wood on my foundation then rigged up some hardware all rated for 700 foot pounds which is double my intended load. It only took 5 minutes and for under $50 I have a working solution to get my car in and out of the garage without a winch.







Once it was in the location I wanted it I jacked it up with a floor jack and put the ramps under the front tires and then let it back down on them. Sitting pretty!





 
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what ever it takes to get the job done...p.s. is there some sort of bylaw in that area that says you have to own a black truck lol:)
 
I put it inside for tonight and in the morning I will take it back out and work on de-greasing the engine bay, pressure wash under the hood and the underside or the car and then one more de-greasing, pressure wash, marine clean spray, blow down and then the POR 15 on the surface rust and Tremclad outdoor gloss black paint overtop.









The body is rust free, mark replaced the quarters, front clip from a 71, removed the glass, and built it properly.

Yes there is surface rust on the underside of the car and frame. Por 15 will work perfectly.

The paint is going to be 1970 GM Shadow Grey:

I think it will look very good once it is painted! Do you like flat hood hiding the twin turbos???


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Well, I got tired of hearing the little Audi 1.8L buzz around with 25 PSI of boost and although it was very fast for a street car I sold it for a profit... Made almost $4000 off this car as I had to fix it up to get it to this point before driving and selling it:







I had to take a break from working on the Skylark so that I could whip the garage and backyard shop into order... I needed to make my garage a functional place to work, and I needed to build lot of shelving and workbench space as well as free up some floor space so just to show you guys I have been busy here are some before and after shots:

This was the mess I was starting with, no room to work that is for sure (before picture):





View looking down to show that the engines are for the most part out of the way:







Out in the back yard wood shop I added another shelf 53" by 12" shelf at the upper part of the garage on the left. I need to center it between the supports, but it is 1.5" thick:



Added a drill press:



After adding more storage in the Shed I felt like the garage deserved a huge 4X8 hanging loft over the garage door. I just need to wait till I have a 11" wide by 48" long 3/4" plywood to complete the end:







Before picture of this corner:



The progress I have made in this corner:




The Garage heater was added a few months back and that will come in handy this winter!!!!




Now I can get back to work on de-greasing and prepping the Skylark for painting the underside and engine bay... Then I can start putting the car back together!
 
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Shane Buick Gaskin was born on Sept 25 2014 so that is exciting!!!







I got my truck ready for winter:



And I have done more in the garage to fix it up.... With that out of the way it is time to tear back into the Skylark.









 
Great garage shots and storage deals.

But, more importantly, congrats on a fine young son there and what a middle name to boot !!:)
 
PG409 said:
Great garage shots and storage deals.

But, more importantly, congrats on a fine young son there and what a middle name to boot !!:)
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Have to agree with the latter comment.

Pretty fancy cabinets for a garage too!
 
Thanks for the comprehensive update and, once again, congrats to you both re junior.
 
Nice car. Oil pressure don't look so good. Hope/assume it's just the gauge:). Question. I see the battery mounted right next to the fuel tank. I have to move the battery in a couple of my vehicles bet where I want to put them always seems to be not far from the fuel tank. I have been debating where to put them as, in a wreck, they can be a source of ignition should the fuel tank rupture. Am I being paranoid?. Been thinking of some sort of battery box perhaps mad of wood to reduce the chance of a short in the case of a wreck.
 
Hi Cody,

I need to look into the battery/safety rules so I can get this fixed up. I will use a dry cell battery, and I will use a NHRA battery box vented outside the trunk. The fuel cell will also need to be vented out of the trunk and I need a battery kill switch at the bumper...

Yes that gauge is disconnected right now as I was using one under the hood during my tuning of the adjustable oil pressure regulator.

I currently have 20 PSI at idle, 40 PSI at 3000 RPM, 70 PSI at 6000 RPM which is considered awesome for a Buick.

The factory oiling system is TERRIBLE in the Buick engines... An oil pump at the front of the engine sucks up through a long passage to the oil pickup close to the bottom of the pan.

I have a MUCH better plan for my new engine! Using a belt driven oil pump, custom oil pan, crank scraper, knife edged billet crank, forged rods, forged pistons etc:



 
I like how it looks like a gunmetal grey from certain angles and more silver in others. Did you paint the roof or is it vinyl?
 
The Big M said:
I like how it looks like a gunmetal grey from certain angles and more silver in others. Did you paint the roof or is it vinyl?
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I wanted a vinyl roof for looks but hate the high maintenance of them... So we did a rock guard roof painted gloss black after. I marked out where the chrome trim was to go and the painter did a perfect job. I completed the bodywork myself and had a friend paint it. Shadow Grey is the paint, came from a 1969 Pontiac Acadian we saw at a car show.

Here is some footage, at no time in this video did I floor it... This is just easing into the gas enough to build boost. As you can see it is instant power from this otherwise gutless piece of crap low comp 350. The windows rattle as I still need to put the weatherstripping and window sweeps on after the paint job and the spedo is not working...

I try not to get into boost in 1st gear because it has traction problems even with 20" wide drag radials. So I do my testing of boost in 2nd gear with the kickdown disconnected because it gets sketchy when going down the highway at 70 MPH and then you floor it and it goes to 2nd and does a burn out up till 100 MPH! I almost died!:eek:

So for this video it was just baby it in 1st then ease into the gas a bit in 2nd and let off before you are going too fast. 3rd gear pulls are great but WAY over the speed limit.

Enjoy:

https://youtu.be/qmdHBrNNOpQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl4riXM6o5E
 
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