Author Topic: When horsepower exceeds street limits.  (Read 3867 times)

ghost28

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When horsepower exceeds street limits.
« on: May 17, 2014, 09:53:20 AM »
I had a guy call me the other day seems he heard about my buick roadster project and wanted to trade me out of it. His trade item was a new 638 cubic inch merlin big block chevy that he built for mud racing, the only thing missing was the rather large blower in the 1431 range. I talked to a few people and with it running on alcohol and with the blower it could possibly make in the 1,900 horsepower range. With this engine in anything I could build for street use it would be like driving on snow. Too much for these old bones, but it would be fun....John
« Last Edit: May 17, 2014, 09:56:24 AM by ghost28 »

cocobolo

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Re: When horsepower exceeds street limits.
« Reply #1 on: May 17, 2014, 10:36:36 AM »
Fun until you broke something...which would then cost you an arm and a leg plus a mortgage on your firstborn to fix!
Let him build his own car with 1,900 ponies and discover how much it costs per mile to drive!  Of course if you win the lottery and can hire a full time mechanic, a couple of spare engines, take out shares in the oil companies and the tire companies you'd be good to go!   :P
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sammons

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Re: When horsepower exceeds street limits.
« Reply #2 on: May 17, 2014, 10:38:32 AM »
Ghost, my freind and I were just talking about that last week. People spending tons of money for these huge displacment engines, with what I call unusable horse power. If you are not an experenced diver and have 400+ hp in a 2600 # Rod, you are looking for trouble. As you said it's like  running on snow/ice.  I knew a guy 5/7yrs ago, not what i would call an experianced hi-perf driver at all (average joe). He always had some sort of Rod he had bought (good job and lots of money), usually a normal camed sbc. He was constantly trading, but ended up buying a ZL 1 (may have been called a Z 04?) manual trans Corvette. With in two weeks he was screwing around and it got away from him. Not much damage. The second time he totaled it. Bought another new one (convertable), it got away from him when he passed another car on the straight road when he mashed the gas to hard. Lucky no one was injured, totaled it also. The next time I saw him he had purchased a new p.u. and called it good.
« Last Edit: May 17, 2014, 10:55:18 AM by sammons »

sixball

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Re: When horsepower exceeds street limits.
« Reply #3 on: May 17, 2014, 11:54:59 AM »
That is exactly why i'm building a 4 cylinder for my roadster. I want to be able to drive the crap out of it and not kill myself. It'll be quick enough to be fun.
The probability of life originating from accident is comparable to the probability of the unabridged dictionary resulting from an explosion in a printing shop.  Edwin Conklin

28chevyguy

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Re: When horsepower exceeds street limits.
« Reply #4 on: May 17, 2014, 12:30:32 PM »
oh my.......ghost please i know you wont but don't let that buick get away, truly one of my fav builds on the whole net.

unrelated..... i actually found a few cool sets of rear fenders on ebay and thought of ya.  anyone idenfy? ones an olds the other with belt line not sure
 
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1926-1927-1928-1929-1930-1931-Chevy-Ford-Dodge-Plymouth-Buick-Rear-Fender-Pair-/231210646219?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item35d53a7acb&vxp=mtr

olds fenders pretty banged up
http://www.ebay.com/itm/1928-Oldsmobile-rear-fenders-RATROD-/110936821270?pt=Vintage_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item19d4598e16&vxp=mtr

ghost28

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Re: When horsepower exceeds street limits.
« Reply #5 on: May 17, 2014, 01:22:53 PM »
Naw the Buick is staying where it's at, I like horsepowerbut there is a limit. i drove a 71 chevelle that had a stout 427 in it and I didn't like the feel of it under full throttle. (Makes me nervous)

cocobolo

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Re: When horsepower exceeds street limits.
« Reply #6 on: May 17, 2014, 01:29:46 PM »
Naw the Buick is staying where it's at, I like horsepowerbut there is a limit. i drove a 71 chevelle that had a stout 427 in it and I didn't like the feel of it under full throttle. (Makes me nervous)
Glad to hear that...but I was pretty sure you weren't going to go for that trade anyway.  You'll look great in the old Buick!
Specialty Vehicle Association of B. C. Director, Kamloops district.

sammons

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Re: When horsepower exceeds street limits.
« Reply #7 on: May 17, 2014, 01:43:35 PM »
I had a '69 Vette, stock 350/hp 350/4sp. I owned it for 20 yrs and had pushed it to all limits, and new exactly what it would do in any situation. On year 18, I went through the whole car and decided for a lttle more horse power. Upgraded a lot, cam etc. Gas milage went way down, noticed right off. Once it was broke in I really put my foot in it, and scared the crap out of me. I had to re-learn the power curve, it really became to touchy for me. You had to think before you stood on it.

TFoch

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Re: When horsepower exceeds street limits.
« Reply #8 on: May 17, 2014, 08:00:25 PM »
John, Glad to hear you're going to hang onto the Buick.  That is too cool not to get to drive it.  I've had the fast cars and bikes in my younger years.  Now I just want something that is more dependable and less work.
Tom
Spending time with my grandkids gets in the way of finishing my car but I don't regret it!

Kiwijeff

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Re: When horsepower exceeds street limits.
« Reply #9 on: May 17, 2014, 08:06:41 PM »
Glad your keeping the Buick. Did anyone see the vid of the yellow Willys Coupe that crashed in an industrail area a few years back? The 52 year old driver was a drag racer, who borrowed his dads 1000 hp Willys, and got on it and lost it. Some young fellas had to pull him from the burning wreak. Its not nice to watch, but serves as a great example why to much power can be dangerous.
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ghost28

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Re: When horsepower exceeds street limits.
« Reply #10 on: May 17, 2014, 08:34:35 PM »
Glad your keeping the Buick. Did anyone see the vid of the yellow Willys Coupe that crashed in an industrail area a few years back? The 52 year old driver was a drag racer, who borrowed his dads 1000 hp Willys, and got on it and lost it. Some young fellas had to pull him from the burning wreak. Its not nice to watch, but serves as a great example why to much power can be dangerous.
I saw that video. It was great that they got him out and the car was a total wreck.

YBNORML

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Re: When horsepower exceeds street limits.
« Reply #11 on: May 29, 2014, 12:47:22 AM »
Good to hear you're keeping the Buick, it's one of a kind. I've come to the point in life that the motors I put in my trucks/cars are more about reliability and a sweet sound. I have a Victory hammer if I feel a real need for speed;)

 


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