Bob Stillwell and myself decided to go to the first annual BPG Nationals in Ohio. I was very interested to meet fellow members who you only know by email address or nickname. We left from Tampa Airport to Cleveland and then got a rental car (a 2004 Regal, of course!) for 4 days. It is only about one hour from Cleveland to Salem which went smoothly. Bob and I passed time counting the roadkill, ahhh, not much else to do! We counted 7 raccoons and no deer on the way to the track! The track is located about 10 miles from our hotel and we drove through some beautiful countryside with steep hills and a lot of corn fields. Even saw a couple older Corvettes parked next to and behind a barn!
We got to the track about 2 pm after stopping for some lunch. Weather was very nice, overcast, cool with a light breeze. I was surprised at the amount of cars for a Thursday afternoon, quite a few racers and vendors. I got to meet Frank McIntyre who is reproducing the radiator overflow tanks for 70-2 Skylark/GS models. I saw the translucent top 70 versions, they are very nice. He is also looking into reproducing the 68-72 floor shift cables. The current version offered by many aftermarket firms is too long and does not work. Frank said he should have some numbers by mid-September and should be a simple item to make. He is also going forward with making the 70-2 455 fan shrouds. He had some preliminary numbers, I think he said it would be $200-225 for them. I got to meet some other members there since I recognized their cars and some others were not near their cars but I would eventually meet up with them during the event. The track closed at 6-7 pm and we headed back to the hotel.
Awoke Friday to another overcast day and very light rain, more like a mist than rain. We went for some breakfast and headed to the track. Definitely was not going to sit in the hotel room and wait for the mist to clear. Got to the track and noticed everyone was doing the same thing, walking around and putting faces together with email addresses or nicknames! I even ran into my friend Reg Thompson from Canada who came down for 3 days to check things out. The mist gave everyone a chance to catch up on what was happening as well as discussing changes to the cars and the attendance for a first time event. By noon, the clouds disappeared and the sun was intense. The track was conducting tech inspections while racers were getting the cars ready for some strip action. Bob and I checked out some parts for sale as well as some cars for sale. There seemed to be a good selection of GS and GN parts, both new and used. I spotted a green 71 GS convertible drive in as Reg and I were talking about convertibles. He was looking to buy one for a friend. I made a quick joke about the car being a Stage1 4spd car and it looked like it needed a new owner due to its poor condition. Reg just laughed at me and handed me a Molson beer to quench my thirst. Later in the afternoon, the clouds moved back in to cool down and provided some great racing weather. Cars were running well with some racers stating the best times for their cars and others saying they were one to two tenths slower. I got a chance to finally meet Duane Heckman and talk to him about all kinds of Buick info. He definitely knows his Buicks. Also, got a chance to talk with Brad Conley who brought his GSX prototype which was parked in a tent with Duane's 70 GSX-camino. There were quite a few very nice cars around with some mint condition cars present which we would see on Saturday during the car show. I finally found that green 71 GS conv and it was a Stage1 4 speed! Bob said I never seen so many 4 speed cars at a Buick event!
Wow, Saturday got off to a great start! Crystal clear with a very light breeze, high of only 80 and the hotel parking lot packed with Buicks! This was going to be a great day! As usual, Bob and I got some breakfast and headed to the track. I was surprised at the turnout since many Buick owners from the local area appeared for the event and some left late Friday from the surrounding areas/states to make the drive to the track. As I walked around I spotted Brad Conley the car show coordinator and we spoke about the turnout. He said he did not plan on this many (over 100 including 13 concours cars) and was asking for some help for the car show. Race cars were also present in the show. According to Jim Haas there were 250+ race cars for the event.
I also ran into Dennis Manner(lead Buick engine engineer, 1959-94) as he spoke to Bill Streeter and his wife about their trip to Ohio from Florida. Dennis also stated he just purchased a 72 Stage1 coupe for himself and was in the process of rebuilding it. He currently owns a 70 Riviera. He said it was interesting to finally open up a 455 for the first time since 1975. He stated 1975 was the last year for 455 work/development since Buick/GM stated 1976 was the last year of 455 production and all his work was completed in 1975. He then moved on to the V6 231 development since they new Buick V8 engines would soon be phased out of production. He retired from Buick in 1994.
Bob and I left the track to get some lunch as we knew we were going to be there late Sat since we were going to leave on Sun. We got back to the track and checked out all the show cars. Some fine Buick cars from 1930's up to 1990's. I wanted to make sure I did not miss out on the Buick V8 engine development session hosted by Dennis Manner and followed up by a Buick TH400 BB session by Mark DeConti. Duane Heckman was also hosting a restoration/numbers discussion using Brad Conley's GSX prototype and an unrestored 71 GSX Lime Mist car.
It is always a pleasure listening to Dennis discuss his development and the ideas they had for Buick engines. We were all there because of our performance ideas and Dennis stated his development was focused on torque since LeSabres/Electras/Rivieras which would use the 430-455 the most were very heavy, 4500-5000 lbs. His development of the 400-430-455 was a direct result of the information they learned from the early V6 days and the early 300 V8 engines. The crowd was about 30-40 people who got a chance to ask questions after Dennis went over a quick review of engine development and ideas they had that never made it into production.
Here is some of the questions/answers he covered:
Oiling system we complain about now was never designed to go over
5500 rpm.
Buick cranks with "N" cast onto the first counterweight are exactly
the same as ones without the N. The reason for the N designation was for
cranks cast at the Defiance OH plant. Previously, all Buick engine parts/blocks/heads
were cast in Flint by Buick
Reason for aluminum heads and intakes phased out in the 60s was due to cost
In order for the GS ram-air hood to be functional, the scoops would have
to be at the leading edge of the hood, at least 1.5" tall. (similar
to the 442 from 70-2) He stated they did aerodynamic testing for a "true"
ram-air hood and that is why the Stage2 scoop is 4" The current hood
we all know is purely a marketing design and does not provide any "ram-air"
effect.
The reason for the 455 having 5 valve cover screws, 2 on the bottom, 3 on
the top, was due to limited space for placing screw bosses since they were
close to the valve springs
They were going to produce an actual Stage2 production car for limited production(race
car use only) but Buick/GM management wanted him to keep compression low,
8:1, his original design was for 12:1 and since he said no use making a
drag car with low compression when you want a performance engine. So, all
the Stage2 parts were offered as dealer over-the-counter items. He was also
supplying Benisek racing and Kennedy-Bell with Buick race parts for evaluation.
There was no idea for a Stage3 engine since the gas crises put an end to
bigger engines.
His biggest performance competition was not from Ford or Chrysler as many
have thought. It was the Olds 442 and the Pontiac GTO.
All Buick engines before 1990 are off-set engines (the center of the bore
does not line up with the center of the crankshaft rod journal). This was
an interesting note since it was something that was carried over from the
late 50's V6 engine development. He stated all GM V8 engines were off-set.
In the late 80's they were mandated to design a non-offset engine to meet
emissions and mileage requirements. With a center-set engine you have less
friction (better mileage and less emissions due to less heat). He said the
best engine he was involved with was the Buick V6 Series II.
Immediately following the engine session, we walked over to a table
with Mark DeConti who had a BB code Stage1 TH400 valve body next to a stock
Buick TH400 valve body. Mark then pointed out the differences and Dennis
Manner looked on as he stated he was an engine expert not a transmission
expert and Duane Heckman stated the transmission worked like "magic."
The valve body plate for a BB Stage1 has a small hole drilled in it for
fluid flow to modify the Buick shift pattern. The key ingredient was the
1-2 shift valve. The valve is unique for BB Stage1 TH400s since it has an
additional groove cut into it. This prevents the transmission from shifting
out of first. Dennis Manner then stated he had a heck of time with Hydromatic
(GM trans division) in making the 1-2 valve. Dennis stated his reason for
such a special valve was if you were driving along at 35-40 mph and that
pesky 442 or GTO wanted to race from a rolling position, the TH400 would
down shift to first gear and stay there to 5000-5300. No other transmission
would do that from the factory. The special 1-2 valve is not being reproduced
but you can make one from a normal 1-2 valve on a lathe. Mark also showed
the additional clutches found in a BB trans and got to answer some questions
on modifications. We had to cut the session short as Mark was needed for
some other important event by Brad Conley.
I did not get a chance to listen to Duane Heckman's session for some reason
I can not recall at this time. I did get a chance to go over a car with
him at the A&W drive-in Thursday evening which was hosting an all-Buick
event. I think most of the cars from the track went directly to the A&W
for some bench racing and some great joke telling. Jim Ramsey from Massachusetts
bought a very nice, well-worn, 70 Stage1 coupe. He drove it to the event
and even raced it. While at A&W, Jim opened the hood for everyone to
look at an all original car and somehow, imagine that!, a tech session started.
Duane( I think he knows everything about the 70-2 Skylark/GS models) started
pointing some things out. What was nice about this group, was there was
about 7-8 of us asking questions, pointing things out and asking Duane for
more info! I finally got some answers to questions no one could answer.
First question I asked was why there were two different dipsticks in 1970.
Duane stated the 70 dipstick-alone was for manual brake cars. The cars with
dipsticks w/tubes were on power brake cars so the dipstick would not hit
the master cylinder when removing it. Second question was the 70 fan shroud.
Jim had one on his car without the hose hook. Duane stated this was a service
replacement unit probably swapped by the dealer due to damage. He said the
shroud would be correct for a show car since it was an acceptable item for
that year. Duane then went on to point out all the date codes on the car.
Surprisingly, all the items on Jim's car were correct. Duane stated this
was one of the most original, well worn cars he has reviewed. Duane also
stated 1970 was the last year to use production codes in the form of week
and day such as 12 4, which would be the 12th week and 4th day. In 1971
all stampings went to a Julian date system with the actual day of the year
such as 47 being stamped on the parts. Reason for all "this date coding"
was for warranty information and not for show car or authentication determination.
He even opened up the GS ram-air cleaner showing the date code on it, stamped
in yellow ink.
I think the most interesting event at the meet was one of the Boston Buick members had his 350 engine blow (#7 rod came out the side of the block) in PA. They left the car on the side of the road and made it to the meet to borrow someone's truck and trailer to get the car. Believe it or not, this guy was focused on getting his car to the strip to race. So, he bought a 455 at the meet that was complete less carb and a big block swap was underway. This all started on Thursday night! The installed frame mounts and dropped in the 455 from 70 Electra. Upon fire-up, there was a knocking sound from the engine. Everyone one thought the worst but turned out to be a dented oil pan contacting a rod. Apparently during transport the engine was set inside a wheel and it got dented from the long drive. An engine hoist was borrowed from Jim Weise and they pulled the engine up so they could remove the pan knock out the dent. Back in it went! Finally, Sunday, he got a chance to race it and ran consistent 14.1-14.2. Was nice to see fellow Buick members helping this guy out! Team Work!
Event dates are the same for 2005, 8-13 to 8-16. I am definitely going to be there! Was nice to see a Buick event put on by Buick people and everyone having a great time! Attendance exceeded everyone's expectations and this looks like it is going to be an event to attend every year!