At the begining of school I met up with my friend, and he tells me he just got his new exhaust finished. I ask him if its any quicker, and he tells me its quite a bit faster. I suggest we leave school, and go run our cars. We then proceeded to the parking lot where he turns his car on, and lets me hear his very nice sounding side exit exhaust. As of now his Buick skylark has a 350cid 3 speed with a holley carb, aftermarket intake manifold, aftermarket cam, headrs, and a 2.25" dual exhaust.

1st race: We hop onto the freeway, and the first race is at a 30mph roll he takes off, and then I follow, but I instantly put a car on him because his car was in 2nd, and we stopped around 80mph with me about a little over two cars ahead.

2nd race: we line up again for another 30mph roll, and up until 80mph it was dead even :eek: His car got faster aafter the exhaust.

3rd race: After turning back on to the freeway at the next exit we decied to take off from the on ramp. Around 30mph we take off, and he pulls my car off the launch but we end up slowing down for traffic.

4th race: One more time from 30mph we go, and still dead up until about 80mph when I start pulling him because his gearing.

5th race: Finally we catch a stoplight that proceeds down a two lane road which is devided from the other side by trees, and a sound barrier on the right side (perfect place to race besides a track) The light goes green, and I'm spinning my tires pretty badly, but when I shifted to 2nd I caught a horrible miss shift, but recovered and proceed to take chase. By 100mph I was pulling on him very well, and passed him even with the horrid launch.

6th race: One last time down the freeway was a 10mph roll just to see what car was faster without a dead stop launch. All the way up until 60mph I only gained a quarter panel on him.

He should be getting a four speed soon so I'll really be in trouble then. Hopefully by that time i have some boost.

Footnotes: Had a series of odd races with my friends 72' buick skylark. Off the line he's quicker, and we're dead even till around 70mph.

Edit: My car has a 7inch K&N, and a centerforce pressure plate/clutch/t.o. bearing with 110,000miles on the odometer.

Nice races. Your car is stock isn't it? Good races nonetheless. Tell us about the next race after he puts in his 4 speed. I'd like to know how that turns out. Late...

heh racin against a 350 and still bein about as fast as him...good times...lol

That cars got a big motor, but it's heavy. You have a small motor..but you're light. Kinda evens itself out. haha.

You gotta remember - a skylark is like a 3600-3800 lb car. So he is putting out good horsepower. Also, those old musclecars have terrible aerodynamics and above 100 are out of their element. Your SE-R definitely has a higher top speed.

It is a good (or bad?) thing he is running a '72 smog motor. If he had an '70 or earlier, he would be putting out alot more horsepower.

4-spds are alot of fun. You should suggest a Hurst Competition Plus shifter to him, they are alot better than the crappy stock shifters.

Boost vs. Displacement - the classic battle. Just hope he doesn't put a 6-71 blower on his 350, then you don't have any chance at all!

Andy

It is a good (or bad?) thing he is running a '72 smog motor. If he had an '70 or earlier, he would be putting out alot more horsepower.


His motor is not a smog motor. If i'm not mistaken the whole emissions deal started in 1972 so wouldn't 1973 models have emissions. Anyways he says there is no smog equipment on his car.

Didn't mean to downplay your friend's car. But, unless he took measures to up the compression, it dropped from 10:1 in '70 to 8.5:1 in '71 and later. The heads were the same from '68-74, so all it takes is a piston change to restore compression.

"Smog motor" is a loose definition. Compared to the '74 and later motors it isn't a smog motor, but in terms of stock potential the '68-70 motors are superior.

It is also pretty easy to dump the emissions stuff on a V-8. Just unbolt, plug any necessary holes, and throw away!

If only we could bring back the days of 68-70, when motors came stock with solid lifter cams, Holley 780 cfm carbs, and 10:1+ compression. The good ole' days.

Andy

Hmmm I don't believe I know what a 1972 buick skylark looks like...any pictures? Also, is there any chance that your friend coulda just dropped in a 350 crate motor? (would take the whole smog/non-smog motor debate out of the question).

If he puts in a new motor it will definantley be a big block. This is a 72' skylark but my buddies has the 15" polished american racing torque thrust D? wheels.. and the front bumper is gone.
http://www.bluemoongear.com/ClassifiedPics/Freds72BuickSkylarkSuncoup.jpg

His motor is not a smog motor. If i'm not mistaken the whole emissions deal started in 1972 so wouldn't 1973 models have emissions. Anyways he says there is no smog equipment on his car.


in 1972, the Buick v-8's had a tremendous drop in performance all the way through the scale.