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Spinning My Tires is one man's view of the world of cars. Random thoughts, ideas and comments pop up here, all of them related to owning, driving and restoring cars. I've been doing this car thing as long as I can remember, and have enjoyed a great many car-related experiences, some of which I hope to share with you here. And I always have an opinion one way or another. Enjoy. E-mails are welcomed--if you have thoughts of your own to share, please send them. Additional Spinning My Tires editorials can be found on the Archives page. 4/1/04 Last week, a friend of mine called with a real gem of a find and thought I might be interested. Somebody was selling a project he couldn’t complete (sounds familiar to many of us in the hobby), and offered me first crack at the parts. So my buddy and I went over there last night and took a look. Well, it turns out that this guy has a fully sorted Buick Nailhead motor with an Electromotive stand-alone EFI system, attached to a 700R4 automatic, a custom-built torque-tube, ending in an independent Dana 44 from a C4 Corvette. The aluminum was all polished, and the thing looked awesome. He also had the suspension to go with it, though it was already bolted onto a frame he was working on. He said I could have the drive train for whatever I thought it was worth. Jokingly, I said, “I’ll give you $750 for it if you’ll throw in the suspension.” “Done,” he said. Stunned, I asked him if he was sure. He explained that he was in the midst of an ugly divorce, and his wife was suing him for the “investment” that she’d put into his project. He was obligated to give her half of whatever he sold it for. So I guess money really wasn’t his primary interest. It also changed my mind in a lot of ways about my own project. Sure, I was excited about a restoration, but this hardware he has could be the foundation of an incredible rod. I haven’t done anything on my Century yet that would preclude the use of these pieces except for maybe powder coating the suspension parts. But I haven’t invested in engine rebuilding or frame powder coating yet, so perhaps this was a sign that I was doing the wrong thing with my Century. I’ll admit that I’ve always wanted to build a rod. The craftsmanship of one-off parts always impresses me, and I’ve been wanted to “color outside the lines” a little bit on the Century but always got reeled in by the restoration bugaboo. Now perhaps I can have it all. And since it’s an all-Buick drivetrain (pretty close to what the Blackhawk show car used), I think it would be pretty trick. No goofy Chevy 350/350 combination, but a real Buick engine driving a car with all the style of a '41 and the creature comforts of a modern piece. I took some preliminary measurements to see if the torque tube would have to be modified to fit in my Century, and it turns out that he was working with a 128-inch wheelbase. No problem. I can move the engine a little forward in the front and let the axle take another inch of travel towards the rear. Nobody will ever notice that inch. I don’t think I’ll cut the body except for maybe a power sunroof. I’ll definitely upgrade the seats and convert everything to 12-volt. That big speaker housing in the middle of the dash would be a great place for an LCD display or a stereo/HVAC stack out of a newer car. I’ll do the power windows and locks, and probably shave the outside door handles and some of the trim. I don’t like the total “black out” look of having a car without trim, but I think the trim alone the bottoms of the doors and around the windows could go without hurting the lines of the car. Thinking about it, this will probably save me a bunch of money in the long run, too. The hard parts (engine and suspension) were practically free. Now I have a bigger load to spend on paint and upholstery, and even then, I can probably use the already-upholstered seats out of a more modern car (maybe out of a Cadillac CTS or something upscale like that). Then I can just trim everything else to match that. And think of how much that original 320-inch motor and transmission combo is worth—that could easily pay for the rest of the interior or most of a paint job. So I’m sure I’ll start getting some E-mail about this new direction for the project—after all, even I have been on the restoration-to-original bandwagon for a long time. But somehow, this just seems right. I don’t feel like it’s sacrilegious making these modifications, the way I do, say, when I see a ’32 Ford 3-window coupe powered by a mundane 350 Chevy. An EFI Nailhead will really wow the crowd whenever I pop the hood. I’ll have to see about finding a really badass looking scoop for it, though, one that just pokes out of the hood, just a touch… Do I have mixed feelings? Not many, to be honest. I don’t feel like I’m betraying myself by changing the project, and it is just a Buick, after all. I never started believing that it was ever going to be a super valuable car no matter what I did with it. And rodding is what I have always done. I know how performance and EFI and modern cars work. It’s the carburetors that befuddle me. And as my buddy pointed out when I was thinking over the purchase: “You’ll never find parts for a stock motor if you break down in the middle of outer Mongolia.” He’s right, you know. I remember being stranded with my father in the old cars, and it was a less than happy experience. With that in mind, I'm going over to the guy's house on Saturday with a flatbed to pick up the parts and bring them home. I'm anxious as ever to get started on the frame and rebuilding everything from the ground up. The anticipation is different, now, too: before it was just looking forward to working for working's sake; now it's about creating something. I’ll keep up the log, of course, but I wonder if the interest in this particular web site will diminish because of the change in project focus. We’ll see what happens. If nobody’s reading, I guess I don’t really have to keep writing (though I do enjoy it). Maybe some of you out there can do me a favor, too: Before you write your hate mail (or even your Hallelujah! mail), sit down, take a few deep breaths, and look again at the date at the top of this page. Maybe then your heart will slow down and the half-formed curses will die down a bit… Enjoy. See you next month. E-mail me at toolman8@sbcglobal.net This page accessed Thanks, Fidget! |