Buick V6 Indy cars---

[Buick From Hell]

I've been posting on a boating board that I frequent that a reasonably built TR V6 would make a great boat motor...

Some guy says "Don't think it would last long in a boat. When they were using the buick turbos at indy, did they ever finish a race?"

Since I have no clue---did they?

 

[TylerDurden]

I do not know if one NEVER finished a race, but they were known to set qualifying records, but never win...

 

[broke1]

They lasted in circle track racing,dont see why they wouldnt last in a boat.

 

[S2V6RACER]

Some can't even make it a 1/4 mile.

 

[salvageV6]

Yes they lasted in a race.

Al Unser came in 3rd in one.

Probably would have won a race if he normally drove one for several years since he was a level headed driver that could drive just about anything.

On the other end of the spectrum is Roberto Guererro. He crashed the best prepped Buick on the pole during the warmup lap in the same race.

Not sure I'd want a turbo in a boat however, might be easier to do a Robero Guerrero type move.

 

[gn85]

Don't know the answer to your Indy question (is that info in the GNX book, may get up and look). As for a GN engine being in a boat.... not sure if I'd trust that. Unless you really worked on the tune. Seems our engines really love makin' that power, but as many of us know, you're also runnin' the ragged edge the Scott Simpson Head Gasket Club. I don't think my eye would constantly be on the knock gauge in a boat, like it is in the car. Keeping it up at high RPMs seems like you're almost asking problems. Just my opinion.

 

[broke1]

If were talking about 109 block,HELL NO!!!Id think the sustained RPM's that a boat engine would need would take there toll.Only Stage II.What kind of boat are you talking about building??

 

[denn454]

would it work, possibly, i don't really see why it wouldnt' as long as boost was sane and it was a s2.

but is it praticle? i don't think so. look at the money a good s2 engine costs vs. what a good sbc or bbc costs, the money saved could be put back into the motor to make up for the extra weight and then some.

 

[b231v6]

Originally posted by salvageV6
Yes they lasted in a race.

Al Unser came in 3rd in one.

Probably would have won a race if he normally drove one for several years since he was a level headed driver that could drive just about anything.

On the other end of the spectrum is Roberto Guererro. He crashed the best prepped Buick on the pole during the warmup lap in the same race.

Not sure I'd want a turbo in a boat however, might be easier to do a Robero Guerrero type move.

Very hard engine to race at Indy. A driver would have to know when to get out of it if The rpm's exceeded 10,000 rpm.Unfortunately Al sr.was the about the only one to accomplish that.Although Cheever and Lyendyk finished on the lead lap at different 500's

 

[odell4o8]

indy cars

Scott brayton, from coldwater michigan. was the fastest buick powered indy car, he got killed in a indy car few years ago,

 

[TurboDave]

Never won, but did quite well at Indy.
Also, they powered the Indy Lights for years.
AND, lest we forget, before it was the Busch series it was called Grand National stock car series. Powered by....yup you guessed it, V6's. Had to match the body, so lot's of Buick V6's raced through out the 80's in Nascar Grand National series.
Oh, almost forgot, don't forget ASA racing (dominated by Buick V6's) for years.

 

[Buick From Hell]

I'll elaborate--

As for the boat---I was thinking NOT about racing or sustained WOT operation (which is bad for ANY boat motor), but simply about powering a boat like mine, a 25' pocket cruiser that's currently powered by a 350 sbc.

--liquid-to-air IC, just setup to run stock rpm's around 350-400 hp/torque...

Should be a great holeshot motor, and with a 3500 rpm cruise speed, I see no reason it shouldn't have a decent life span(?)

 

[TylerDurden]

would a turbo powered cruising type boat even be worth it? when you accelerate and see lets say 12 lbs of boost due to the load, and then the boat reaches whatever speed for the throttle position you have set...would boost come back down to 0 or less?
in our car when you accelerate you always let off the throttle when you reach X mph...thus boost goes back down to vacuum...would be interesting to see how it works...just not sure its very common...i would imagine the turbo boats out there are racing boats....

 

[buickpower]

turbo boat motor

hmm, the turbo whistle may get kind of annoying after awhile . seriously though i would have my doubts about longevity, as boat motors are nearly always under a great deal of load, more so than cars.

 

[bruce]

Originally posted by Buick From Hell
I've been posting on a boating board that I frequent that a reasonably built TR V6 would make a great boat motor...

Depends on what your doing.
Prop or Jet drive?.
Prop, the greater the number of cylinders, means fewer degrees between each cylinder firing, and more load kept on the prop.. Might not matter as much on a jet drive.

What HP level are you looking for?, and how long do you want to run there?. If you need ~1,000HP and to run at minutes at a time, then doing that will take a stage motor, and lots of *routine maintance*. The lower the HP level, then the less motor is needed.

Given a specific hull, the the lightness of the TR engine would be a big plus, since you'd have less wetted hull area, which is a big deal.

Just guessin thou...

 

[fitz3820]

The Buick Indy cars did pretty well at indy where they could use more boost than the other non stock block motors.

Overall durability did them in.

 

[Buick From Hell]

bruce---as I mentioned above, my "theoretical" boat would only need about 400 hp total, and these should be absolute killer holeshot motors!

Durablility--Just a guess here, but I'm thinking that one of these engines would just barely be getting into boost (if at all) to keep a 5000 pound boat cruising about 33 mph (about 3600 rpm with the correct prop)...

With a 140° thermostat and all the coolant you could ask for, overheating wouldn't be a problem...

Nobody thinks the engine would hold up?

 

[salvageV6]

Kevin I think a N/A version would most likely do better.

Little higher compression and no turbo.

Prolly hum along just fine since they are torquey and like to run in their limited rpm zone.

How many V6 boat motors are there in the I/O or Inboard style?