Wouldn't you rather have a Buick?

That was their ad for a lot of the '70's, and admittedly it was aimed at luxury buyers. But believe it or not Buick actually had a performance image back in the '50's and early '60's. In 1955-when the biggest V8 you could get in a Chevy or Pontiac was 265 or 287 cubic inches-The Buick Roadmaster had a 322 inch V8. The classic 1963-65 Riviera was available with a 401 or 425 inch version of this same "Nailhead" V8-with two Carter AFB four-barrels if you wanted. As years passed they got more into the luxury segment-but there were some great performance Buicks built in the '60's and '70's. I'm assuming anyone reading this is restoring a 1964-77 Skylark, Century or Regal, ( The "A" body-i.e. Chevelle, GTO, Monte Carlo cousins ) or a 1963-73 Riviera. These are the only two cool bodystyles they had in those years, and the only ones that had performance packages offered on them. Like their Olds cousins there's only two engines were concerned with-the 350 that was built from 1968-77 and the 455 that was built from 1970-76. Here's why-the 401 and 425 V8s that were offered until 1965-66 were based on the old Nailhead design that dated back to 1949. The heads don't breathe well, and there's very little replacement parts available. I wouldn't spend a lot of time chasing down a 400 ( 1965-69 ) or 430 (1966-69 ) unless your restoring a GS Skylark or Riviera of that vintage to the nth degree. There's nothing wrong with these engines; if you have one already in the car or can buy one cheap then by all means use it. But they are pretty scarce on the used market. This leaves the 455, which luckily was put in just about every Buick built in that era, which was millions. As for the small-block engines I wouldn't mess with a 300 or 340 Buick V8 even if I had one in the car. There's practically zero parts availability, and the later 350 will make way more power and torque even in bone-stock trim. And their a lot easier to find. # 1. Bottom end. The cranks and rods are fairly tough but the oiling system on Buick V8's just sucks. The oil pump is mounted kind of externally off the timing cover-and even with a supposed "high volume" oil pump they always seem to have low oil pressure. For this reason I would redline a 350 at 5,500 and a 455 at 5,200. Spare me the letters from the guys with 10 second GS Stage 1 or 2 Skylarks or GSX's. I've been a mechanic for 35 years, and I've seen Buicks blow up that were driven by little old ladys who never saw the high side of 4,500 rpm because of this oiling system. If you want a big-block Chevy that you can spin 7 or 8 grand then go buy one. Like their Olds and Pontiac cousins Buicks are "torque" motors anyway. When you have 500 lbs ft of torque at 2,500 rpm, you don't to have to rev to 6 or 7 grand. # 2. Cylinder heads. Use the heads that came on your engine. With a redline of 5,200 rpm, you don't need to spend a ton of money here. ( Although Edelbrock and T/A performance do offer aluminum heads for Buicks if you want them. ) Power comes from filling the cylinders properly through the head and cam design. Think of it this way-if your filling a one-gallon bucket with water from a five gallon bucket-when the one gallon bucket is full, it's full. Doesn't matter that there's more left in the other bucket. If your Buick engine's redline is 5,200, and the cylinders are fully charged at 5,200 rpm with the stock heads and whatever cam your running-why do you need heads that breathe to 7 grand?  # 3. Cams. Lunati, Kenne-Bell, and T/A performance all offer performance cams for Buick engines. Follow their guidelines for timing, and gearing and torque converter recommendations, and you won't go wrong. Pick a cam that accentuates what the factory did-build big torque at low rpm. # 4. Induction-the factory Q-jet intakes for the 350 or 455 are more than adequate for the rpm range you'll be running in. If you want a little more oomph or just want an aluminum manifold Edelbrock and T/A performance offer high-rise intakes. # 5. Exhaust. Same as with the Olds engines- headers help immensely, and headers or not I'd use at least a 2 1/4 or 2 1/2 inch exhaust system and low-restriction mufflers. Let me say again-spare me the letters and 10 or 11 second time slips from you hardcore Buick racers-you know I'm speaking the truth here-stock or modified the Buicks don't make as much power as their Chevy, Olds and Pontiac cousins, and they cost more to build. But if you have or want one of these cars, that's the way it is. Don't get me wrong; a properly built Buick either small or big block will go plenty fast; but you won't throwing fear into hearts of any Z/28 or LS6 Chevelle or W30 442, or Ram Air IV Judge owners.  Kenne-Bell and T/A performance sell parts catalogs and books for getting the most bang for the buck from a Buick engine.  Sorry Grand National owners-the Turbo V6's are a whole other ballgame and several books unto themselves, and you probably have them anyway. Mastermind