Swap out 4.11 Spool for TRACTION LOCK with NASCAR 3.33 in NODULAR FORD 9"

BMW AUTOCROSS OFFICIALS GIVE DRIVERS MEETING

SOME FUN LAPS AFTER THE CIRUIT ACCROSS THE ROAD

BIG BUICK LEANS ON THE DRAG SPRINGS SETUP (NO TIME TO CHANGE TO ROAD RACE SPRINGS)

BMW CLUB MEMBERS JOE AND MEL. MEL DROVE WITH ME ON MY FIRST LAP

HONDA GT 2000s WERE VERY COMPETITIVE

THE RED BULL CAR SHOWED UP DURING THE LUNCH BREAK

#47 WAS THE BUICK ELECTRA. ME FIRST, THEN CHAMPION RACER ROY HOPKINS, WHAT A WILD RIDE THAT WAS!!!

MEETING OF TWO HOT PURSUITS!!! TROOPER ROE STOPPED BY OVER LUNCH TO WITNESS THE GOINS ON! HOT '99 Z-28

REAR AXLE HOUSING LEAK CAUSED US TO TRAILER THE BUICK EARLY. DID SOME VOLUNTEER FLAG/EXTINGUISHER WORK AT LAST TURN ON THE COURSE THEN HEADED FOR HOME.

The saga continues, from the drag strip to the autocross and now on to the road race course? It must be nice to be just a set of springs and suspension tune away from the ultimate goal... the variey of applications for the Faithful Pursuit makes it that much more of a legend in the making. You must have a heckuva log book already. Best part, you've been very safety conscious while sorting 'er out. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

We drove the car to the weigh station Saturday morning. It was good to have 3.33s and cruise at 70 in OD turning 2,800 instead of 4,000! In a navigator plus drive Silver State Mode we previously weighed about 5,100 lbs! (Estimated) Our base weight on high precision scales is about 4,450 lbs without gas or driver. We wrote that up some time ago with the actual photo of the scale readout. It was 4,555 4,450 or some other "Buick" number. Two occupants, fuel, gear and there you have it 5,100 lbs or more! Top speed estimated at 170 mph!



A little weight loss goes a long way. We removed some heavy parts and got the weight down from 4,700 to 4540 lbs with driver in. Roy and I in the car would be back up to 4,740lbs but in drag trim she is 4540.


Here is a photo of 1 Lap of America Champion driver Roy Hopkins and his racing BMW M-3. If you go back in the archives, you'll see the writup I did on our laps at Watkins Glen! Exciting isn't the word! He drove the Faithful Pursuit last weekend and did some amazing things with her!!! What a wild ride, caught on video!

During WWII, GM Designer Harley Earl had a vision of a "Super" car that was far advanced of current Automotive technology. This BUICK was the sleek forerunner of things to come. Supercharged V-8, convertible top rain sensors, radio, and a whole host of other goodies that would not be seen on production cars for many years.

How much did it cost to make this one super special, and I mean special motorcar, you ask? 50,000,000.00 yeah, thats right! 50 Million back in 1951 dollars. They nicknamed the car the "Star Buster" as it was superior to the three pointed star bearing Mercedes, pride of the Third Reich.




Five star General Dwight D. Eisenhower, WWII Supreme Allied Commander, and his staff are pictured with the technilogical marvel.

This car visited the Watkins Glen area, within 15 minutes of where the Faithful Pursuit received her coachwork modifications, on a special tour with its designer, Harley Earl back in 1951 or so.

<img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

Wow convertible top rain sensors in 1951! My brother and I were talking a while back about how quickly automotive and aerospace/aviation technology has advanced in the last 100 years. It's mind bogling to say the least. But just like with your faithfull persuit it had to start with a dream, a concept, then ALOT of hard work to become reality. When I look at photo's of cars like the Buick Star Buster for the time they were created I just think, man there really is no limit to the imagination, and creativity of the human mind. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Another thing that makes me wonder is in 1970 Buick started their stage3 development when they cast a handfull of 4 bolt main blocks but then abandoned the project when musclecars died off. Where would factory Buick performance have ended up?

Buster,

Perhaps the last chapter of Buick performance has not been written yet. Hot Century's of the '50s, Wildcat's, Gran Sport's, and others in the 60's and '70's; the Grand National in the 80's; and the Supercharged 3800 Regal's of the 1990's! Buick always seems to come up with something unexpected every decade, I can't wait to see what they come up with next!

If we were able to continue development of the big block, we might have seen an 800 hp turbo 455 with fuel injection by now! Too bad those dreams only exist in the minds of Buick enthusiasts like you me and others who tap into this thread.

One thing is certain, Buick is good for its word. "When better cars are built Buick will build them!"

God Speed,

Michael,

Thanks for continuing this thread and branching out into some more history. You cover at least 4 of
my passions by doing so: Buicks (especially '69 Electras), WWII Army Air Forces, P-51 Mustangs, and
Packard (re-designer and builder of all "Packard-Merlin" Rolls Royce V12 engines used in the P-51
and other WWII aircraft). Also of particular interest is your connection with the Tuskegee
Airmen, a part of WWII history that I've only been exposed to in anecdotes and passages in various
books.

I'll share the following from "The Wild Blue" by Stephen E. Ambrose:



Just thought I'd share a couple of gems that you might not have seen yet.

Dear Friends,

The Tuskegee Airmen are more than just a name on our racer. We are their
racecar and I am proud to carry on a bit of their legacy every time the
Faithful Pursuit visits a racing venue, a church, or other program where
we can spread their news.

It saddens me to inform you that one of our supporters, a WWII Signal Corpsman,
Lt. Whittie English passed away last Friday. He had a wonderful funeral
service this past week at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in New Jersey.
Whittie was one of the airmen that voted to support our race car in 2003.
A successful realtor, he loved cars and drove a black V-12 S600 sedan for
many of his last years.

Let us never forget the people behind the sacrifice for our nation's
security. The men and women who came home to be teachers, doctors,
laborers, factory workers, who are the backbone of our society.


"Woody" we will miss you!

Look in our past post for a photo of Woody and me #197797 - 12/21/03 07:34 PM
OBIT:http://www.northjersey.com/page.php?qstr...nFlZUVFeXkxMg==

I'm very sorry to hear of this. May he rest in peace.

502 crate motor Vette

50's Oldsmobile

70's Olds 442

60's Ford Custom Job

1957 Chevy

1969 Chevelle SS 396

1970 Buick Electra 225 Custom Coupe, 20 K original time-capsule

50's T-Bird

Hot Trucks

1930 Buick
[img]http://photos.aaca.org/data/500/313702006-09-10_049-med.JPG[/img]
1969 Electra Gran Sport eXperimental
[img]http://photos.aaca.org/data/500/313702006-09-10_004-med.JPG[/img]
Starboard Aft
[img]http://photos.aaca.org/data/500/313702006-09-10_007-med.JPG[/img]
Winston CUP NASCAR 5 Bar
[img]http://photos.aaca.org/data/500/313702006-09-10_021-med.JPG[/img]
Honoring the 332nd Fighter Group and their big P-47 "Jug" fighter, The Tuskegee Airmen. [img]http://photos.aaca.org/data/500/313702006-09-10_006-med.JPG[/img]
New Display Setup
[img]http://photos.aaca.org/data/500/313702006-09-10_023.JPG[/img]
455 STAGE I by Scotty Guadagno & the old Brooklyn, NY Pee Gee Performance
[img]http://photos.aaca.org/data/500/313702006-09-10_003-med.JPG[/img]
Look out for Scotty's New Shop in Florida!

Fantastic pictues!! Scotty's new shop wouldn't happen to be located in Orlando would it?

The 36th Fighter Group P-47 Thunderbolt Reunion was held in Corning, NY a couple of weeks ago. There was a Mark Twain impersonator, Andrews Sisters impersonators and the Faithful Pursuit. Here are a few photos.

My P-47 Thunderbolt display and models were on display as well. The group was there to honor the uncle of a friend of mine who was killed in WWII.

At the end of their program, the hotel curtains were opened and we fired up the Faithful Pursuit which had been in her trailer the whole afternoon. It was dark so photos did not come out well, however the effect was great. The Buick sounded
like a P-47 Thunderbolt starting and idling. One of my aero buddies said it was cammed just right and sounded a lot like the old Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engine that the Jug used. The men and women of the 36th FG were very pleased and I received a very nice letter from the nephew of the 36th FG pilot who was killed in combat back in '43.

The Tuskegee Airmen and I are pleased and proud of the decision to Award the Congressional Gold Medal to the surviving WWII Tuskegee Airmen. There were over 900 original pilots, 450 went overseas and saw combat. Over 13,000 other Americans of African descent, both civilian and military supported the effort.

http://veterans.senate.gov/index.cfm?Fus...2005&id=252


Here is a good Buick story for you. Below is an interview with one of the Airmen, Lt. Colonel Herbert Carter. Herb and his wife Mildred live in Tuskegee, Alabama. I visited them there many years ago and had dinner with them. After dinner, Herbert showed me the photos of his flying days with the Tuskegee Airmen and his pride and joy, a red 1955 Thunderbird!

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/11/13/eveningnews/main2177871.shtml

I had driven my 1969 Buick Electra about 200 miles to their home from where I lived in Georgia. (I got 19 mpg going and 20 mpg on the return with the 430 powered convertible.)On the way back to my hotel in Tuskegee, the old fighter pilot gave me and my Buick an escort part of the way there!

I saw Herb and Mildred last year at the convention in Orlando, Florida and they looked great! It was good to be there with the Electra GSX and show so many people our passion for Buick and the Tuskegee Airmen!

http://photos.aaca.org/data/500/31370101_1677-med.jpg

God Speed,

BqUICK, thanks for the links and the photos on the Tuskegee Airmen. It's extremely great that they are getting even more recognition by congress for their highly successful contribution to this countrys success in the war! The photo of the Faithful Persuit at the air base looks soo in fitting! <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

THE CHARIOT RACE (from "Electra")
by: Sophocles

THEY took their stand where the appointed judges
Had cast their lots and ranged the rival cars.
Rang out the brazen trump! Away they bound,
Cheer the hot steeds and shake the slackened reins;
As with a body the large space is filled
With the huge clangor of the rattling cars.
High whirl aloft the dust-clouds; blent together,
Each presses each and the lash rings; and loud
Snort the wild steeds, and from their fiery breath,
Along their manes and down the circling wheels
Scatter the flaking foam. Orestes still--
Ays, as he swept around the perilous pillar
Last in the course, wheeled in the rushing axle;
The left rein curbed,--that on the dexter hand
Flung loose.-- So on erect the chariots rolled!
Sudden the Ænian's fierce and headlong steeds
Broke from the bit -- and, as the seventh time now
The course was circled, on the Libyan car
Dashed their wild fronts: then order changed to ruin:
Car crashed on car; the wide Crissæan plain
Was sea-like strewed with wrecks; the Athenian saw,
Slackened his speed, and wheeling round the marge,
Unscathed and skillful, in the midmost space,
Left the wild tumult of that tossing storm.
Behind, Orestes, hitherto the last,
Had yet kept back his coursers for the close;
Now one sole rival left -- on, on he flew,
And the sharp sound of the impelling scourge
Rang in the keen ears of the flying steeds.
He nears, he reaches -- they are side by side --
Now one -- the other -- by a length the victor.
The courses all are past -- the wheels erect --
All safe -- when, as the hurrying coursers round
The fatal pillar dashed, the wretched boy
Slackened the left rein: on the column's edge
Crashed the frail axle: headlong from the car
Caught and all meshed within the reins, he fell;
And masterless the mad steeds raged along!
Loud from that mighty multitude arose
A shriek -- a shout! But yesterday such deeds,
To-day such doom! Now whirled upon the earth,
Now his limbs dashed aloft, they dragged him -- those
Wild horses -- till all gory from the wheels
Released; -- and no man, not his nearest friends,
Could in that mangled corpse have traced Orestes.
They laid the body on the funeral-pyre;
And while we speak, the Phocian strangers bear,
In a small, brazen, melancholy urn,
That handful of cold ashes to which all
The grandeur of the Beautiful hath shrunk.
http://www.poetry-archive.com/s/the_chariot_race.html

The Electra

I hope that you enjoyed the poem about "The Race". It reminds me of a story about a Buick Electra racer who crashed into an overhead train trestle at extremely high speed. In the late 1970's while at school, we would often get back on Monday and talk about our racing exploits over the weekend. About then, there was a curious phenomenon of Buick Electra "Sleepers" whose brief reign of terror stunned and fascinated many rodders of the day. It would blow our minds to see an immaculate 1969 or 1970 Electra roll up to the line, whisper quiet, and blow away the fastest big block race car there that night. Every once in a while things would go awry. One of my friends witnessed some street race and the horrific crash. He said of the Electra man, "He was 6 foot 4 when he jumped into that Buick and 4 foot 6 when they cut him out!"

Typically, Electra's had a reputation for being indestructable. Many people, including me, owe their lives to the legendary toughness of the Buick. Even a Buick has its limitations however!

Last summer we just scraped the surface of the 12s. We have about 500 HP on the engine dyno which translates to about 425 HP at the wheels, give or take a few HP. When the Electra GSX concept was initially developed in 1979, 500 HP was a big number and very few cars could run on the street and get into the 12s with slicks, let alone consistent low 13s in street trim. The performance calculators show that 12.85 @ 105 is possible and with some ram air work I believe we can do it with no other power adders.

Based on the calculator, I feel confident that the suspension is working as it should. We are converter limited to a 2,800 rpm stall however. I asked EDGE to develop a converter that could push a lot of air at 170 mph, our main goal of sustained high speed, without losing a lot of RPMs and at the same time give us a decent launch for the quarter. As I am not made of $dough$ I had to use the "one Converter Fits All" method!

It appears that we have an opportunity to develop another motor with a bit more kick to it. When the Faithful Pursuit concept was finally drawn up in early 1982, it called for a Paxton Supercharger; however the cost of building a blower motor was out of the question. It would have blown our schedule, pardon the pun.
The 430 we are building in Florida is the original engine for this body.

As you may remember from the frantic 2002 - 2004 effort to ACTUALLY BUILD the thing, we had no time and lots of problems. Our chassis guy died in 2002 (Which was the traumatic start of this thread!), Our electronics guy died in 2004, we had a major garage fire just a month or two before the roll out, our painter changed his mind about doing the job and we had to scramble to find someone else with only six weeks to go...Between the funerals, working most nights at the shop till midnight, neglecting the family, and perhaps my own health, it was a tough road. I have to thank my wife Deborah for being a real trooper through all of it, including her accepting the many dollars and sacrifice it took to make my design of the Tuskegee Airmen's rolling P-47 Thunderbolt a reality!

We finally had a successful roll out on 24 April 2004 and had our NY Chapter of Tuskegee Airmen brought 300 miles to the Wings of Eagles, Elmira Regional Airport, to witness the Faithful Pursuit unveiling by Major General Michael Hall, United States Air Force, retired. Mike said (I'll paraphrase) "We are here to dedicate two things to the Tuskegee Airmen. One will stay here and the other will GO AS FAST AS IT CAN!"

We will stay true to the General Hall's words!


455 STAGE 1 Powered 1969 Electra GSX "Faithful Pursuit"

Michael receiving an award from the Tuskegee Airmen, inc. Claude B. Govan
Chapter for the Faithful Pursuit unveiling event/fund raiser he coordinated.

Oh yes I enjoyed the poem! <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> You're absolutely right about the Electra's being tough, or buicks in general. I remember from going to demo derbys in my youth of how the 57-58 buicks were outlawed because the sheet metal was WAY to thick <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" /> to give other automobiles a competetive chance. So a 430 is in the works, another great Buick motor! <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

The Faithful Pursuit was originally conceived with the 1969 Buick Electra 225 Custom Sport Coupe as the baseline. The motor selection came from my research into what was the most powerful standard motorcar of what is commonly referred to as the "Muscle Car Era".

The GSX was the obvious choice as it was third only to the '66 427 Cobra and '67 427 Vette in straight line 1/4 mile. Cars with similar weight and the same 427's were no match for the brutal torque of the Buick 455 STAGE 1.

I thought, "Why not take the Electra, the flagship of the Buick line, and build a version of the GSX. Gran Sport eXperimental meant that a standard Skylark could be taken and modified with performance extras. The original concept for the GSX called for a much stronger and lighter car, so I have heard.

My Electra GSX has custom paint with stripes, 455 STAGE 1, posi, racing suspension, sport mirrors, agressive stance, ram air induction, functional Cruiseline Ventiports (You can actually feel the air blowing out of them with the electric radiator fans on!) The best part is she is faster than a Skylark based GSX and can pull serious G forces!

BqUICK, you're absolutly correct! As much as muscle car enthusiast of other brands may contest this, 455 STAGE 1 powered cars were the most understated and underated cars on the muscle era. Here's a vid link I found while surfing the web from the popular speed channel program Musclecar: http://media.putfile.com/Muscle-Car-Flashback---1970-Buick-GSX-Stage-1 ENJOY!!

The upstate New York weather has certainly gotten cold, sometimes down
to 4 degrees. It will probably go down to negative numbers before long.

The Faithful Pursuit is going through some upgrades this winter and I am
going to discuss other things for a moment.

It has been interesting to watch various programs on TV that feature
Cadillac's, Lincolns, and Oldsmobile's doing great things. I am pleased
that the American Luxury Grand Touring Sedan is getting some respect in
the world of motor sports. If the big car thing catches on, it would be a
good thing. I look forward to seeing more big Buicks drag racing, road
racing, high speed racing, auctions, monster cars, hot rods, pro street,
etc.




Here is a photo of me and a faithful pursuit of another kind. Well
over 1,000 horses on tap with a blower and a V-12 Packard-Merlin!
She is the last flying P-51C with the colors of the 332, the
Tuskegee Airmen.

God Speed

Now there is some serious muscle, definately a real man's machine <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />! Winter can be a real bummer, especially in the climates both you and I live in. But that's when some have alot more inventive thinking for upgrades and improvement which I'm sure you do all the time anyway. From what I see in the performance car hobby there are ALOT more big cars being built nowadays simply because it's becoming the cool thing to do. I think it is. <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

On 13 February 2007, we hosted a reunion of two WWII Tuskegee pilots who have not seen eachother since 1945. They were both being recognized for their accomplishments in engineering at a luncheon in Corning, New York. One man, Herbert Thorpe worked as an aerospace research engineer and the other was a civil engineer who worked on the original World Trade Center. The coordinator of the lunceon knew both men and realized that they both had received their wings at Tuskegee in 1945 or so.



We drove escort for thier limo to the museum in the Faithful Pursuit

Major congradulations to both men!!!! <img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Absolutely fantastic!!

Buster,

Thank you for your interest in this activity. I always appreciate your
writing back with your comments on what we are doing with the Faithful
Pursuit.

It was a real thrill getting the call from the security officer with their
limo telling me where to intercept them. It was probably 14 degrees outside
and the Faithful Pursuit has not heater core, to save weight. I sat at the
exit near the off ramp as the limo pulled off the highway. When it stopped
at the light, I then smoked it across and took a position ahead of the limo.
The Faithful Pursuit led the limo about 1 mile to the Wings of Eagles, where
the press were waiting. There was a cameraman on the limo and he captured
some escort footage.

The press interviewed the men and their wives. The two tv news stations,
18 & 36 were present and taped the interviews. The Elmira Star Gazette did
an article as did the Corning Leader.

Both men were surprised when they recognized each other earlier that day.
They had not seen each other since 1945. Burton kept saying, "The last time
we saw each other we were 19 and now we are both 84!"

It was wonderful to be part of that experience. The cameraman said he
liked following the Faithful Pursuit with the American flags fluttering
just ahead of the limo. I have not seen the footage yet but hopefully we
produce our second video soon.


God Speed,

The Faithful Pursuit and I participated in a benefit for a co-worker friend of mine who suffered a severe head trauma as a result of an accident. We pulled the trailer out of the snow bank and drove to the LOCAL 1000 Union Hall in Corning, NY.

There were two bands, lots of pasta, and a couple hundred friends and well wishers. They gave away tee shirts, had a auction, and raffled off a LCD TV!
<img src="http://forums.aaca.org/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />
His air lift ambulance bill was $8,000.00 and NOT covered by his insurance! Well, we raised a sight more than that and had a great time doing it! I hope he has a complete recovery.

Good luck Jeff!!!