Buick Engine - Bulldozer Torque

Automotive Machine employed serious modifications to bring the intake port cross-section to the maximum size, given the constraints of the Buick's architecture. The pushrod pinch point was sleeved, as was the central head bolt boss, as part of the all-out porting effort.

The chamber side of the T/A heads reveals an open chamber configuration, with a deep, central, plug location. Automotive Machine made the most of the available space with a 2.250/1.750-inch valve combination.

Buttoning up the bottom end is a fabricated aluminum oil pan from SRE Fabrications. The pan features a built-in windage tray. No further crank windage control was deemed necessary. The pan features a single external pick-up.

The external pick-up from the pan feeds a high-capacity billet oil pump from Scavenger Oil Systems, which feeds oil to a remote-mounted oil filter assembly. The lubrication system performed flawlessly. Mike reports strong oil pressure from idle through maximum rpm.

Adding needed buttressing to the relatively fragile stock Buick bottom end is a massive cast-iron lower block girdle from T/A Performance, which ties the mains and pan rails.

Working opposite the chambers in the modified heads are a set of custom JE pistons. The pistons are custom JE pieces, with a reverse-dome configuration giving a 23cc dish configuration.

Pulling the pistons out of the bores, we find a conventional high-performance ring package from JE, consisting of 1/16-inch compression rings and 3/16-inch low-tension oil rings. The piston pin is a Chevy-spec 0.990-inch diameter part.

Long 6.800-inch Eagle H-beam connecting rods help reduce the cylinder loading on the factory Buick block. The rods are off-the-shelf units for a big-block Chevy application.

Looking at the bearings shows the tell-tale black sheen of an anti-friction coating. All of the bearings used in this engine are coated sets from Calico.