Cars of all makes have been a life-long obsession and have always been a major part of my business and my life. Competition racing has covered a few decades with various makes at the dragstrip.
Buicks from early Valve-in-Head straight 8’s, Nailheads, and big-block V-8’s have been part of my experience. After my first ride in a 1986 turbo Regal, this began a passion that still exists!
My first 1987 T-type mainly sits in my garage after a couple years of racing, and then on the show circuit. With only 9,000 it is my most prized possession. The GN is very nice and the race car is lots of fun.
Having worked on Turbo Buicks since they first came out in 1987 they remain my favorite, especially the intercooled versions.
The race car, Whitey, now white and silver, hit the track years ago as a 12 second driver that quickly trashed a rod. The next motor got it to the low 11’s and it eventually went into the 10’s.
Since it was a race car from the start in the mid-90’s, it was not necessary to make compromises as you would a street driver. We used this car as our local “mule” to try items and concepts to evaluate their worth. This has given us a great learning experience and has been fun- most of the time!
One of the projects is the TA Performance aluminum motor. The alum block is one of the two prototypes originally made for evaluation. The TA heads are the first production runs of castings.
Track performance was as expected with times in the low 10’s with 16-17 PSI. The mid 9’s were easily attained with approximately 25 PSI boost. The suspension has undergone its best addition – a HR Parts anti-roll bar, HR adjustable uppers and tubular lower arms. This setup cured the twisting at launch and provides awesome traction under varying conditions.
Other specs on the car are:
[box type=”info”]- TA Performance Aluminum Block
- TA Heads- 1.94 inch / 1.60 inch valves
- BMS crank- 3.625 inch stroke
- Eagle SMC rods
- CP 3.900 inch pistons
- Comp Cams solid roller 236 / 236
- BB P-trim 70 turbo
- ArizonaGN headers
- RJC Race Intercooler
- TH-400 transmission with brake
- GM 8.5 rear with 33 spline axles
- 1 Bogart racing wheels
- XFI FAST system by Harline Performance
