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Guy, Ok, OK, you have a good point! If I had to choose between a STOCK 455 and a 430 for a good all around street and track motor, I'd choose the 430! I performed some timing trials on the 1970 455 "SF" CODE BLOCK, after a ignition timing and distributer check by Tom Wagner of the 11.70 sec. 455 STAGE I '69 Wildcat Wagners! The short answer is that my 455 is not as fast as my 430 in an Electra. The 455 car get about 17mpg while the 430 got 19+. Here is the long answer! Hang on! Last Friday, 100 Octane Aviation low lead and fresh tune was good for a couple of tenths on average. Last year I ran mid 16s and my best on Friday night was 16.2 @ 85. Single wheel peel, single exhaust. This is a young 20k mile original 455 car that still has the original brake shoes, shocks, top, and paint! She even still smells new! Had to granny her off the line, but it was enough to take out a 5.0 fuel Injected Lincoln Mark VII on Mustang night. That was fun! I "Romanced the tree" with a .510 R/T Holeshot! The fact is that the 455 '70 coupe weighs 100 lbs less, has 35 more cubes, is a fresher car but still cannot match the 430 1969 convertible's 15.5s with single wheel 2.56 mileage gear! At 97K miles the 430 is truely amazing! I run AC R45TS plugs at .035 in the 430. Now...as to why I did not go to a 430 for the Faithful Pursuit...! Scotty Guadagno, Faithful Pursuit's engine builder, knows more about making Electras go fast than anyone other than the famed "Uncle Buddy" or "Pop" Kennedy or even Jim Bell for that matter. Uncle Buddy is probably dead by now, no one knows; Pop passed a couple of years ago. When I call Cali to ask Pop's old partner at Kenne/Bell and I ask about Buick Electras, Jim Bell says "talk to Scotty Guadagno!" Based on Scotty's say so I used a 455! It has 11:1 CR, Forged Pistons, Balanced, severely worked heads and carb, Blueprinted to Scotty's own special recipe for performance in the 500 HP range. The bigger STAGE 1 valves are more effective in the bigger bore 455 in Scott'y s "Intimidator Motor". Scotty now works for Pat Musi in Jersey and is their top Dyno Man. A reworked 455 can out power a 430 with little work. Its just a question of gearing it for the 455's fatter low RPM torque curve. With the wimpy 2.56 or 2.73 and no traction the 455 cannot use its torque. You wind up getting a better launch form a 430 motor because it wont break loose as easily off the line. A big car 3.23 gear posi and slicks would probably have the 455 beating the 430 every time! Also, you can build a 455 to even more HP than a worked 430, Chevy 454 RAT, 440, 426 HEMI, for less money, up to about $8,000. After that we dont have the blocks, heads, and the thousands of add on part to match the Chevy and the others. (We are working on it however, word on the street is there is a totally new Buick 455 block being developed. PAE Enterprises confimed this to me and I have seen photos of the new prototype) My dream motorcar is the fabled 1969 Electra 225 Sport Coupe with "PX CODE ELECTRA PERFORMANCE OPTION" 3.91 posi A/C DELETE. There is no substitute. Arguably, this PX code Electra and a 430 STAGE II dealer option is the fastest American luxury sedan ever built. I do not know if one exists but the paperwork indicates it was possible to order one. You could had a "HONO-DRIVE" overdrive installed back in 1969, like the Baldwin Motion 427 powered 4.88 geared Camaros, bring your ratio back down to about 3.0. A 430 powered Buick with such options could blow away most other "factory" muscle in the quarter mile and up to 145 mph on the open road including 427 Chevelle SS, 426 Hemi Belvederes, any 440 big body, and 454 big body, and still get 20 mpg to the track and back!

55PackardGuy, The Buick 430 is perhaps the most under rated of the "modern" V-8s . There is no other big block in that range as cubes that is as versatile. 20+ mpg is not uncommon as you well know. Back in the 70's I remember the raging controversy about which motor, the 430 or the 455 was actually more powerful! The 430 develops its max HP at 5000 rpm and the 455 did it at 4600 rpm. Was it possible that top end was actually where the 430 could beat a 455? The factory numbers are probably wrong but we do know that many racers used a 430 STAGE I and 430 STAGE II, as amazing as that may sound! (STAGE II cam & dealer add ons, STAGE II heads were not available until after the intro of the 455.) As far as regular fuel having more BTU's than premium, I really do not remember the details from thermodynamics class. I do know that at higher compression ratios, more energy can be released with the appropriate high octane fuel. Remember that the 430 is actually a higher compression engine than the 455. We like to think that the 455 is just a bigger version of the 430, but it is not. The bore to stroke ratio, compression ratio, torque and horsepower curves are different. My stock 430 powered 4,700 lb. convertible runs 15.35 at 90mph. It has 99K miles and has a 2.73 posi and dual exhaust. Do you think a 427 Chevy, 427 Ford, or even a 426 Hemi could push 4,700 lbs that fast and still get great gas mileage to and from the track? No way, those blocks are obselete 1950's technology with big advertising campaigns and scores of power adder options to prop them up. The humble 430 beats them all! My dream car is a Regal Black (A-CODE COLOR) factory "PX" Code 1969 Buick Electra 225 Sport Coupe with A/C Delete, PW Delete, Power Seat Delete, and a dealer optioned 430 STAGE II. (Mickey Thompson Super Competition headers, Edelbrock B4B Aluminum Intake, TRW 11 to 1 Forged Pistons, and more came with the STAGE II dealer option) A 2 door coupe optioned in that way would be a high 13 second to low 14 second car with the specially optioned PX 3.91 positraction! This nostalgia factory hot rod would outrun any luxury/performance car made in that period, including the 454 Monte Carlo SS with a 4 speed! MPGs would go out the window but think of the fun you'd have! The Electra GSX "Faithful Pursuit" is based on the "PX" Code Electra that was available for 1969. I do not know if any were actually built the way I described. God Speed!

All, We had to wait to get the spoiler worked into Putman's schedule. We have both 1970 and 1969 GSX type spoilers which will be merged into one BIG Electra GSX spoiler . This spoiler will look like the "GSX Prototype" spoiler that comes in three pieces, if I remember correctly. The two ends stay on the fenders while the center section is attached to the trunk. We will "adapt and over come", to borrow a Dave Machuga phrase. John Harris ( www.electra225.com ) came to visit from California last Saturday. He and his buddy Allen jumped into my '69 Convert and drove out to the shop to see the Faithful Pursuit and "Janine", my 20K mile survivor 1970 Coupe with "SF" Code 455. They took lots of photos, as that is John's thing. You should see his site, it is only one of two true Electra enthusiasts sites out there. Now there will be three Deuces on his site that belong to your's truely. Dave Machuga is sheduled to have the car back in early June to race prep the Faithful Pursuit. We will do parking lots with cones, then drag trials, then Watkins Glen International Raceway in early September. Stay tuned! God Speed.

Jessie, I probably answered this on other occasions but if you are still out there here is some unofficial data for you. In the early 1990s I performed 10K+ miles worth of MPG tests on a 1969 Buick Electra 225 Custom Convertible equipped with the non-posi 2.56, radial tires, Good Year Polysteels, and 430 v-8 with stock duals, resonators removed. 60 mph was the highway speed. A baseline of several thousand miles was done before SLICK 50 was added. The results indicated 15 mpg on a 40 mile daily travel over several weeks which was 25% city and 75% highway. Highway driving indicated 18 mpg with no A/C and cruise control on over a distance of 200 miles. SLICK 50 only impacted the low end fuel economy. In other words, it enhanced the city driving portion by about 10%, making the combination driving bump up to 16.5 or so MPG. CITGO Race gas at 100+ octane raised highway MPGs slightly to 20.5 mpg over about 400 miles on the average. I have even run out of gas on the highway trying to squeeze the most out of her and get accurate readings on actual fuel in the tank. High thermal efficiency, low rotating mass, short stroke, may all be reasons why the BUICK 430 is a great engine in this regard. This car still runs 15.3's at 89mph with 99K miles. My friend Tom Wagner races an "A Code - Regal Black" 1969 Wildcat with a FORD 9" and 455 STAGE I, It runs 11.7s. Tom visited a couple of months ago to help me tune my 455 STAGE I powered Electra GSX road racer. Tom said that 430s have trouble because there is a bushing in the distributor that sometimes falls out and ignition induced damage can occur. Based on my time slips, the car was running as it should, he noted. We confirmed that the bushing was still securely in place under the distributor. I keep her in good tune and now run a 2.73 posi which has changed my MPGs some but I do not know how much yet.

Last Friday I planned to go racing. I ususally race a 1969 Buick Electra convertible but I did not have good tires on that car and my Electra GSX project car won't be ready for time trials for another month. I figured I'd get my reflexes back in tune for the beginning of the season by running my Riviera nicknamed "MouseR". She got that name when I took out a Nova a few years ago (written up in another Buick forum somewhere). It thunder showered most of the day and the electrical storm knocked out some electronics I was working on at work . Well, in the evening it cleared up and I drove 75 miles to my "local" drag strip, New York International Raceway Park . I dont know if they are NHRA or IHRA or whatever, I just go for fun on test & tune night. 5 minutes into the trip there my power window stuck in the down position. I should have taken it as a bad omen and stayed home but I dont believe in omens. My car is a 1996 Buick Riviera with a supercharged 3800. It is rated at 240 HP and has run 15.53 at best. The track only had 90 or so vehicles and only 30 or so raced! I got 5 runs done in less than an hour! Most times I dont get that in 4 hours! My first run was against some unknown Japanese buzz bomb, my R/T was 1.617 against his 1.061; my 60 foot was 2.302 against his 2.496 and my 1/8 mile was 10.250 against his 10.719. The Riviera tends to really level out power wise and just crawls out the last 1/8 mile, finished first at 15.989 against 16.686, 86.48 versus 82.67, respectively. Not too bad I thought. I drove down and to the staging lanes after picking up my slip and casually lined up against a Fiero that made some wicked noise but could not stand up to the Buick. I launched with my left elbow out the window, one hand on the wheel, at 2000 rpm, just as casual as you please! My R/T 1.219, 16.061 speed 86.63 against his 16.830 at 81.78 mph. As I turned into the return lane I noticed a Grand National pulled over to the side. The hood was up and the owner was struggling trying to get the induction hose between the intercooler and the intake manifold plenum on. You know how they can blow off sometimes. It was some kind of aftermarket inner outer hose affair that was hard to get the inner hose on and the outer hose to slide over it. It kept on buckling so you could not get the hose on. I had an '87 GN so I was familiar with the layout. This GN was not stock and had lots of polished aluminum and chrome do dads unde the hood! I suspect some kind of nitrous or water injection as the intake pipe had two injector-like things going into it. With some racers its "dont ask dont tell". I did'nt ask and he didn't tell! we got the hose on and went on our way. I ran another race and won again, three in a row. Great, I thought what a good night after all. Well then I raced this VW GTI who was running 15.318 against my 16.902! Now you get the picture, I'm running slower with each run! I drew him again the next race and lost to his 15.357 with a 16.755. By the end of the night my R/Ts were .813 & .853 with one red light at .390. I had pulled my elbo inand raced with two hands, really getting back into the spirit of the thing. I suppose I pissed a few guys off beating them one handed while driving like I was pulling onto a highway on ramp! Engine light came on "Service Engine SOON" Uh Oh! I had to actually let off about 3/4 of the way down the track racing that GTI as MouseR started to burble and stumble! I guess that's what I get for being a wiseguy, there is always some one who can take you out, no matter how empty the track is. I limped home 75 miles cruising at 65 feeling lucky I made it home! I pulled the decrepid plugs with the following gaps: (Spec is .060") Mitotoyu Digital Vernier Calipers OLD NEW AC AC .0720 .0600 .0640 .0600 .0765 .0650 .0875 .0600 .0645 .0600 .0685 .0650 I spent a good houp re-gapping the plugs as they were off by up to .009 from the factory. I figured I could live with +.005 max. The local Buick dealer gave me the following codes on Monday. :Error Codes P0102 MAF P0300 MISFIRE P0336 CRANKSHAFT SENSOR This is where I need help! I suppose the mass flow sensor should be replaced by now. Although the car is more responsive with the new plugs, it still hesitates as it did at the track under high load. I pulled the Mass Air Flow sensor plug and it runs much worse althoug the same kind of hesitation. I just can't go more than 20 mph unplugged! The engine RPM really see saws too! I'll change the MAF and we will see what happens. Ideas? God Speed,

In case you have not yet heard!!! http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=336943#post336943

Good News! Roy Hopkins came on 1st in class in the One Lap of America race! He raced his BMW M-5 to victory in the Luxury Class. He came in 10th overall in a field of 82. Roy is our Faithful Pursuit driver for the 2005 Silver State Classic. He has helped us with the details of the Faithful Pursuit during her construction at Machuga Chassis and was on hand during the unveiling two weeks ago. Congratulations Roy! http://www.onelapofamerica.com/ http://www.onelapofamerica.com/About/about.htm God Speed

Bigdawg, 245mm on a '73 Riviera is no problem. I did that years ago with a 71 which has basically the same wheel house configuration. 8" or better rims are recommended as per tire manufacturer specifications. If you are racing a big bad Riv, make sure that your tires are SPEED RATED for MAX GROSS VEHICLE WEIGHT! Make sure that you have the proper ride height and that the tires do not scrub. Remember, anybody can tell you go ahead and put them on but its up to you to check it out for yourself! My 1969 Electra runs on 335/35/17 Pirelli P-ZEROs. She has been narrowed 12". P-ZEROs can handle the max gross weight and maintain high speed safety. God Speed,

PHOTOS: 1. On trailer from interior shop going back to the paint shop for roll cage install. 2. In the Wings of eagles museum main display hanger. We drove onto the tarmac and a tanker truck dove up and gave us 22 gallons of 100+ Low Lead Aviation fuel. And yes you could see the needle on the tanker go down as the Faithful Pursuit sucked down the good stuff. She already had 10 in her before that! 3. Rear quarter shot after the stripe was applied and before the 99th PURSUIT SQUADRON SHIELD WAS APPLIED. Note, the rear GS swing away plate, correct for 1969 was not yet applied. Just one more thing we ran out of time for. 4. GSX Emblem on sides of roof, perhaps correct for this year if it were a Skylark GS. 5. The family shot, including my wife who was my girlfriend when we bought this car during our last summer before college! (25 years ago) 6. Lt. Col Clayton Lawrence, WWII Tuskegee Airman and pilot. 7. Electra GSX Road Racer side shot. Intakes under the front and rear bumpers are for engine and transmission oil coolers respectively. 189mph Y rated Pirelli P-ZERO SYSTEM tires, custom mage PS Engineering Kidney Beans. Looking long and low. Rides like she's on rails! 8. Nice shot of the Faithful Pursuit as it drives out of the hanger amid the cheers of about 150 people! I had surprised my wife by telling the audience that we had not driven the car together in 22 years plus. I then invited the wife to join me as we drove into the sunset, literally, out of the open hanger door! 9. Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. members and I line up in front of the display that museum volunteer Ed Flesch and I helped to build. Ed did the lion;s share of the work and it turned out great! 10. Saying goodbye to remaining Airmen as they prepare to fly out. I was wearing the same old blue blazer that I met the Doolittle's Raiders with back in 1992 at their 50th reunion! The jacket was my dad's and he gave it to me back in the 70's. Note the BUICK TRI SHIELD PIN! 11. Here is the super rare 430 STAGE II option sticker. My car has a 455 STAGE I built by Scotty Guadagno back in 1997. It has less than 2 hours of total run time!!! God Speed,

J, We are not going to show the Faithful Pursuit for a long while to come. We go to Machuga's mid May for the balance of the suspension mechanical work. Then its back to Putman's for the custom fabricated spoiler and stripes! After that we will be working on the track performance. Pylons first, the Glen, some drag work, then comes high speed gear ratio selection! Showing the Faithful Pursuit is secondary to obtaining peak performance. It was designed as a competitor first and only looks like a sedan, that's the beauty of it. I cannot emphasize enough how specialized and lenghty the effort was to achieve this effect. Dave Machuga said it took twice as long to integrate all the features into a stock chassis. Typically, he removes the body and body panels are cut off, a tube chassis is fabricated from scratch, and the panels are fitted back to the chassis on outriggers. That would have been easy compared to what we did! Also, I love your '32, the venerable Deuce. As you may know the Electra is also known as the Deuce, referring to the "2" in in 225! Its the big Deuce Coupe! I like the '68 Riv too. I think that year has the "backbone" chassis and a really sweet 4 link rear suspension, many people are not aware of how special the Riviera is. Take a look under one and ask a road racer about what you've found! Panhard rod, anti sway bar, tubular 4 link and a backbone with the drive shaft running through it! We almost used that setup for the Faithful Pursuit, but that discovery came too late and we fabricated our own setup. I will be happy to arrange a showing for Buick people most any time! Just let me know. maj2nd@aol.com God Speed,

55 Packard Guy, Thanks for sharing details of your dad, Tony. The B-24 guys did a wonderful job during the war. Once, back in 1992 or so I sat in on a meeting of the "WW II Round Table" a group of Air Corps vets who served in WW II. Most of the guys were heavy bombardment and Frank Beadle, a B-17 pilot and Mary Rice, General Jimmy Doolittle's personal war time secretary, ran the meetings. Well, the B-17 guys had been having their say for a while, apparently, and it was now time for a B-24 Liberator man to extoll the virtues of his machine. The pilot outlined the complete experience from releasing the brakes under full throttle to climbing to altitude, to the bomb run through the flak, and landing and coming to a stop. He really gave you a feel for the experience. Naturally there were some kind hearted jabs back and forth about whose bomber was actually better. The B-17 was supposed to be tougher and more survivable and the B-24 was faster and could carry more load, etc., etc. I enjoyed those days in the '70s, '80s, & '90s when I got together with many Air Corps/Air Force people and often went to parties with the men and their wives. Through my academic background at the College of Aeronautics and involvement with the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. Deborah and I met many great WWII people. A few of the famous people I have met or listened to at functions were Robin Olds (P-38 Pilot), Frank Beadle (B-17 Pilot), Frank Morgan (Memphis Belle Pilot), Jimmy Doolittle (Leader of the Tokyo Raid), Francis Gabreski (Top P-47 Ace in the 56th Fighter Group), George A. Vaughn (WWI Double Ace!!!) General Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. (commander of the Tuskegee Airmen!!!) Alot of these people are dead now but their legacy lives on in the freedoms that we have today as Americans. I have a great deal of respect for the men and women of WW II, who did every job from ditch digging to general, as well as the many civilians who contributed to that effort. ...Lest we forget!!!

Guy, The Faithful Pursuit was designed in 1982 to honor the all black 99th pursuit squadron , part of the all black 332nd Fighter Group , commanded by then Colonel Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. Col. Davis, since promoted to four star general passed away on July 4th 2002. General Davis' Fighter group provided escort for the heavy bombers of the 15th Strategic Air Force, United States Army Air Corps. under the command of General "Hap" Arnold. This was the only black US fighter group of the war . And the only group never to lose a bomber to enemy aircraft ever! Pictured here from RIGHT (Front of car) to LEFT are members of an organization called the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. The non profit organization was founded by WW II fighter pilots after the war and incorporated in 1972. They work to preserve the history of their outstanding contributions to the war effort which were largely left out of the history books because they were black. 1. George S. Reed, Original WWII Tuskegee Airman, Military Policeman, MP. 2. Tommy Tyndall, Original WWII Tuskegee Airman Figher Pilot, 99th Pursuit Squadron, 332nd Group flying the famed Red Tail P-51 Mustang. 3. Ruby Bostic, Secretary, Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. also a Civil Air Patrol Commander and a pilot for 30 years. 4. Richard Brathwaite, Historian Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. Richard is a "Torchbearer", a new generation of airman. 5. Howard Bragg, WW II Original Tuskegee Airmen mechanic. Trained men to maintain and repair fighter aircraft during the war. 6. Michael A. Joseph, II Aeronautical/Mechanical Engineer and Designer of the Faithful Pursuit. Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. "Torchbearer" new generation of Airman. When I developed the WW II theme "Faithful Pursuit" design for "Ground Superiority" back in 1982 , I could only dream that some day I would meet the people from the WW II squadron the car was developed to honor. At the time, I did not know if there were any of the Tuskegee Airmen or 99th Pursuit Squadron left alive. All I had to go on was an old black and white photo of their insignia, a winged panther, and rumors of Black men who flew red tailed fighter planes in WW II. There were no books, articles, historical references, to them. It would take me years after I designed the car to actually find them. The Electra GSX Road Racer, the "Faithful Pursuit" was designed with a bit of a Tuskegee Airman P-47 Thunderbolt or P-51 Mustang Fighter Plane theme . The venti-ports are functional like the ports of fighters with in-line engines, it has underslung intakes for both the engine oil cooler, under front bumper, and transmission oil cooler, under rear bumper, like the P-47 Thunderbolt . Eventually you will see a red tail (GSX Spoiler) currently specially made for the '69 Electra. The big Electra is like the big P-47 Thunderbolt Fighter Plane the men flew for a short period in 1944. The people that you see are affiliated with the specific WWII Pursuit Squadron and group that the Faithful Pursuit project drew its inspiration from more than 20 years ago. Last December as the project was nearing completion after 10 years of design and fabrication, I went to the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. in NYC and asked if it was okay for me to paint the car in scheme that honored them. They loved the idea and voted to support my racing efforts by coming to Corning and giving a presentation to a group thereby helping me to raise money to finish the car. Since I needed my company's corporate plane to transport the Tuskegee Airmen and sponsorship money to help pay for the event, I could not accept any monies from the event. To do so could be perceived as favoritism or worse . Once we realized we could not do it ourselves, instead of cancelling the event we decided to do it anyway and give the proceeds to the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. Scholarship fund. The Faithful Pursuit received recognition, the airmen told their story, and everone had a great time! What you do not see is the 99th Pursuit Squadron insignia that was just affixed temporarily until the spoiler and stripes could be affixed. There is still a lot more work to do, but now that the "Faithful Pursuit" has had an official coming out party, it wont be long now. We will shake down at Watkins Glen, New York International Speedway, and SCCA events this summer and prepare for our first run in the annual Silver State Classic in 2005. God Speed,

What a weekend! The Tuskegeee Airmen flew in and all things came together finally for a great event. The car was not finished and she developed a leak on the display floor, her battery died, but by display time she was ready! Lots of Wings of Eagles museum volunteers helped us get Aviation 100+ low lead (She took 22 gallons, 2/3 max capacity of 32) They cleaned her after her trailer ride from Putmans, lots of work! Pic will come over the next few days!!!

Wheew! What a day!!! * Satin inserts painted into hood * Trucked the car 20 miles to Flyboyz Custom Rod Designs * Vinyl Top Installed * GSX Emblems placed on sides of top, correct placement for 1969 GS * Headliner installed * Internal trim paint completed * Carpet arrived. Just in time!!! Tomorrow: * Truck the car back to Tim Putman's * Roll cage Install(painted last week) * TENZO R Rally seats. * Pin Striping Stainless Trim * Black out Grille * Cleaning and detail Saturday * Deliver to Wings of Eagles Museum for unvieling I think the 1969 Buick Electra is one of Buick's best offerings with luxury great looks and low 15's out of the box and potentially high 14s with the super rare PX Code Electra. Lots of people are taking notice. Some might say "I guess you can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear!" The Electra has always been number one in my book!

Roberta, It would be great for you to come by. Just let me know when and I will look forward to it. Also, the car will have much work still to be done over the next year so there will be a lot of other fine details to see in 2005. Good luck with your car, I wish I could be there! Michael

Guy & John, Thanks for your messages and votes of confidence and encouragement. Smartin will post some photos shortly of the latest. I'll be pretty busy over the next several days so you may not actually see the photos of the show until the next week or so. There are so many parts that have to come together! Yeah, I'd be happy to show the car off to anyone who is interested. John, May 22nd is fine. I appreciate the many people who have come by, including Roberta Vasilow & Tom Wagner long time Buick racers. Best regards,

Wow, T-5 Days till we must be ready to show. Actually the show is next Sat but we have a safety margin. * Paint is 95% done * GSX Ram Air hood looks FACTORY! * "Cruiseline Ventiports" are now functional!!! * 99% of Stainless Steel trim has been polished or replaced as of today * Stock Interior panels will be dyed today. (Custom set will come in a few months) * Diamond Auto Glass is scheduled for Tuesday * Top and headliner to be installed by Flyboys Hot Rods Wednesday * Carpet was delayed till Thursday (Roll Cage cannot go in until headliner and carpet are done) The custom GSX spoiler cannot be completed in time for the unvieling but we will work to put in the stripe, approximating its final position. The Faithful Pursuit still has about 6 months of qualification runs, instumentation installation and calibration, yada, yada, yada before her hard target of Septemebr 2005 competition in Nevada. Consider April 24th to be like a "Christening Ceremony" or Launching of a ship! There is always more to do after she slides down the weighs!!! Here are my past and present Electras! As you can see, I love them! 1969 Electra 225 Custom Coupe, Crystal Blue, Code D (now GSX) 1969 Electra 225 Custom Coupe, Lime Green, Code H 1969 Electra 225 Custom Coupe, Antique Gold, Code Z 1969 Electra 225 Custom Coupe, Burnished Brown, Code B (Discs) 1969 Electra 225 Custom Convertible, burnished Brown, Code B (Low 15s stock) 1969 Electra Limited, Coupe, Regal Black, Code A (Posi) 1970 Electra 225 Custom Coupe, Antique Gold, Code Z 1970 Electra 225 Custom Coupe, Bamboo Cream, Code (19K original) 1968 Electra 225 Custom Sedan, Burnished Brown Code B (Posi) Favorite saying: "A 455 STAGE 1 powered Electra is like...well...picture chrome plated brass knuckles!"

All, T-6 Days! Still painting! Looking Good! 2:25am!

Today I brought my wife to see the car for the first time since paint was applied in spots. She seems to be getting excited about the Faithful Pursuit . There are some alignment issues to be resolved as the body is positioned for best front clip/bumper/frame alignment. Tim looked over a super pristine 20K original 1970 Electra 225 on the premisis I had trucked in to help with these fine details. Electra's have varied fits of panels which have to be present if the car is to look correct. Some factory flaws were left in, ie quarter panels are slightly sucked in where the wheel wells are mounted. I wanted a "factory" looking job on this Electra GSX. Wait till you see the wild ram air hood! The final wet sanding of the primer is going on and it sure look sweet! The bad news is my "Star Wars" air cleaner will not fit! I ordered some solid motor mounts from PAE that may help drop the STAGE I "Intimidator" some but who knows? We have lots to do before the April 24th unvieling but its looking good so far! Thanks for all of your interest and spiritual support out there! God Speed,

Yo! The <span style="font-weight: bold">Faithful Pursuit</span> has some Blue Paint. The trunk, door jambs, rockerpanels and doors are painted! Tim Putman says the balance of the car will be painted this coming week. "We will be rocken and rollin' here!" The chrome and stainless trim is about 40% done. My buddy the "Buick Doctor" is getting me the stainless trim pieces I needed for the trunk. The cage is a stumbling block for the <span style="font-style: italic">Flyboys Streetrod Design</span> interior guy. We will work it out over the next week. <span style="font-weight: bold">We need another GSX spoiler to make one that will fit the Electra. Anyone out there got a crappy one cheap???</span> <span style="font-style: italic">Energy Suspension, Inc.</span> makes no hard bushings for this car but they sent me a few samples and one was close. With some machining we could get it to work. They sent me the last three this week for free! Thanks John! Thanks <span style="font-style: italic">Racers For Christ</span>, those late night prayers are paying off! Our event is shaping up too. 7 <span style="font-style: italic">Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.</span> members will be at our unvieling and Wegmans is handling the ticket sales. We expect about 300 people, on April 24th at the Elmira-Corning NY Airport at the "Wings of Eagles" center with all the the money going to charity! (The Airman's Scholarship Fund) God Speed,

Smartin, Thanks for posting some old pics of the original car and parts aquisitions. The photo of my Crystal Blue '69 Electra 225 was taken by me with a Kodak 126 Instamatic back in the fall of '78. Here is a VERY abbreviated summary of activities the pictures illustrate. * 1978 Purchased the car. * 1979 Car was damaged in a bad accident that winter. * 1982 Took car off the road and began dissassembly. * 1994 Bought parts car from Colorado with rust free body & disk brakes. * 1996 Original body was junked. Chassis was stripped and painted. * 1997 Pee Gee Built the 1970 "Intimidator" BUICK 455 STAGE I in 1997 493HP/535 Ft-Lbs on Scotty's Dyno. * 1998 GT Performance, Inc. FORD 9", NODULAR CASE, MOSER AXLES, STUDS * 1999 Competition TH375, Redline Comp. Clutches/Allison Converter * 2000 Chassis was narrowed by late motorsports Hall of Famer Gary Shaw * 2002 Machuga Chassis takes over after Shaw's death, September 2002 * 2003 Suspension, Cage, Cell, Floor, Body mated back to chassis * 2004 February, runs under its own power for the 1st time since '82! * 2004 March, Tim Putman begins paint. T - 4 weeks to deadline! April 24th Unvieling at Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. Event at Wings of Eagles Museum, Elmira-Corning Airport. http://www.stargazettenews.com/local/Thlocal4.html God Speed,

Hi, Its Friday night and I'm helping my 10 year old with a science fair project . We are building the first optical disk drive which was developed in the late 1950's by a US Air Force research group called RADC. Its about 3 feet long and about 10" in diameter! The Faithful Pursuit is at Putnam's and they "stick sanded" the body . The fenders were stripped, straightened and getting primed today. They will be ready to paint door jambs, trunk, inner fenders in the next week. I picked up all the stainless and chromed pot metal trim and have it in the van. We will polish it over the next two weeks in my little shop in the basement. I bought a variable speed buffer and have been working on the larger pieces of trim. QUESTIONS: Why bother with all the trim stuff on a high speed car you ask? Wont it slow you down? Wont it add drag? ANSWER: There are enough skimpy rockets out there. We wont cut or compromise the Electra concept of luxury grand touring. We will go fast with class! God Speed,

Buick Girl, If I remember correctly I paid about $100 for 20' of braided stainless line. In my setup there were a lot of expensive Russel AN fittings applied to make it really flow properly. New JAZ 32 Gallon Fuel Cell, Holly Fuel Pump, Regulator, etc, etc. It was not really easy. I had racer fabricator Dave Machuga with 30 years of experience to make it look easy. I liked what the previous poster said, basically find out what's wrong and address the main issues. Also, if you have a "dream" for this car and nothing on God's green Earth can dissuade you... then YOU GO GIRL! Find drag racers, circle trackers, hot rodders near you and ask them to show you how its done . Join your local Riviera, GS, or Buick Club Chapter and get involved. Apply your skills and help the local outfit with organization, writing, etc. and in return you will learn all the ways you can build your car without spending a fortune. (Never pay full price unless you have to! ) May God Speed you on your way in a Buick...

Buick Girl, Option 1, the Faithful Pursuit, Electra GSX Road Racer has had all of its steel fuel lines lines replaced in favor of #8 braided stainless steel outer shell and resistant polymer core with NPT fittings. That is the most robust option and perhaps the most expensive. Option 2, you may want to go with the stock replacement however. My suggestion is to make contacts within the Riviera Club (on the web) and see who knows what sources there are for OEM line dimensions, NOS parts, and installation instuctions. Option 3, you can also go to NAPA with dimensions from your old lines and have them select for you the individual lines that can be spliced together to give you very close to original. If your Riviera is functioning fairly well and ther are no leaks, then your lines are not rotted through . You should be careful however and replace any line that you suspect is at risk . The stakes are too high . God Speed ,

All, The original body color was Crystal Blue Code D with a White vinyl top. As you recall this car was rebodied with a brown body. My original 1969 Chassis was modified to accept the Ford 9", Gear Vendors overdrive, and dozens of other improvements. I am most proud of the Pee Gee built BUICK 455 Stage I which was built in 1997 and has less than 2 hours of total run time! Here are some parting thoughts tonite. "The American, by nature, is optimistic. He is experimental, an inventor and a builder who builds best when called upon to build greatly." John Fitzgerald Kennedy Announcing his candidacy for President of the United States (January 1960)