So, my car came with a box in the trunk with a ton of receipts dating back to who knows when, but it appears to be a pretty accurate account of all the work the car has had done in it's lifetime. Underneath those receipts, however, were a few magazines and one of those magazines was the June, 1976 issue of MotorTrend.
In this issue, there was a section going over Buick's slightly speckled pace car past. A few years previously, they campaigned a regal with a 455ci V8 that had trouble getting up to speed, and so the engineers at Buick were looking for some other options.
Coincidentally, or maybe not, a local boy scout troop had come together to make a project out of turbocharging one of the Buick V6 engines that had originally been relased in 1962. Furthermore, a Buick engineer was a volunteer for that troop and had been offering assistance. It turns out, the little rayjay turbocharged 231ci. worked well, and that engineer told another engineer, who told another guy, and so on and so forth, and suddenly Buick had a possible answer to their troubles.
The compression on the engine was dropped to a meager 6.0:1 and that little rayjay turbo was working overtime pulling fuel through a quadrajet while pumping out 22-25psi.
To make a long story short, Buick brought this car out as a pacecar for the series and the authorities were so happy, they asked them to come back with a similar setup next year.
In summary, it's surreal to think that the car that many of you have made a lifestyle, and I have just recently stumbled upon came up almost accidentally by a troop of boyscouts looking for a fun project.
In this issue, there was a section going over Buick's slightly speckled pace car past. A few years previously, they campaigned a regal with a 455ci V8 that had trouble getting up to speed, and so the engineers at Buick were looking for some other options.
Coincidentally, or maybe not, a local boy scout troop had come together to make a project out of turbocharging one of the Buick V6 engines that had originally been relased in 1962. Furthermore, a Buick engineer was a volunteer for that troop and had been offering assistance. It turns out, the little rayjay turbocharged 231ci. worked well, and that engineer told another engineer, who told another guy, and so on and so forth, and suddenly Buick had a possible answer to their troubles.
The compression on the engine was dropped to a meager 6.0:1 and that little rayjay turbo was working overtime pulling fuel through a quadrajet while pumping out 22-25psi.
To make a long story short, Buick brought this car out as a pacecar for the series and the authorities were so happy, they asked them to come back with a similar setup next year.
In summary, it's surreal to think that the car that many of you have made a lifestyle, and I have just recently stumbled upon came up almost accidentally by a troop of boyscouts looking for a fun project.
