My grandpas, then dads, now mine, 65 Buick Wildcat 4dr Hardtop... Ive decided i need to do something with this old car or get rid of her... seeing as none of the previous owners are around anymore, and it really is a slick looking car, i kinda want to keep it.

Its no slouch in the get up and go department, but of course, id like to have some more. So i just figured id give it a shot and see if anyone here moonlights as a closet Buick builder haha.

I got alot of inspiration from the movie "hit and run", nothing quite so wild, but a little. 400-450hp, more agressive stance, nice modern wheels with some lower profile tires, DEFINITELY not LOW PRO... just a little less meat than the 235s, thinking 40 series maybe, and nice muffler to round it out, louder than it looks but quiet enough to be deceiving

Also really want some sort of an over drive transmission in it... that would be a big plus.

 

245/60/15 front 295/50/15 rear always looks nice and you could do dual 3" to mufflers with dual 2-2 1/4 out, that would quit dual 3 but still have good flow+ sound

 

Was thinking along the lines of 255/60/18 rear and along the lines of 225/60/18 front. Basically looking for like a 30/31 X 10-12 rear, 17 or 18s and a 29/30 X 8/9 front if i go staggered.

Exhaust will probably be something along the line of: Long tubes, equalizer 2.5"I X 2.25"O mufflers. Both lower quarters are smashed up pretty good, so was thinking of having some rectangular tips poking out of the quarters behind the tires.

Biggest short-coming of the nailhead is the head. For what they are they run better than they should, but the heads dont flow, especially the exhuast, and they have itty-bitty valves. Something like 1.82 I 1.5 E. So they will be sent off to a nailhead speed shop for porting. Will order up a pretty aggressive cam, stock nailhead cams are pretty wild anyway, but it needs all the help it can get to breath. To take advantage of the new air i probably should pick up a dual quad intake.... but im not sure if i want to deal with the hassle, vs say a 800 thunder series. Convert to electronic ignition with a hot coil and hope for the best. The stock dizzys have a really sweet curve to them, so i can actually leave that alone.

All in all it should be a good runner. Im aiming for 425, but ill probably land around 400 with a single carb setup. Due to the small valves these things produce massive torque, but run out of go around 5k. Hoping to keep the power band pretty low which especially running the single carb, should be too bad. Plant an OD trans with 1500 stall lockup converter and i should have a respectable car that isnt too terrible on fuel. Currently it will pull 14mpg hwy, i think it would do alot better with OD, as long as it can manage 15mpg @ 60/65 ill be just fine with it.

 

Not mine, but same exact car, dont have any pics of mine. Paint is a little faded in a couple repair areas, RR quarter is caved but odly is not really noticable, LR quarter is dented at the bottom. Other than that, identical minus the front sidemarkers.

 

are 285/60R18 close to range you looking for

rear
275/65R17 = 30.1x10.8R17
285/55R18 = 30.3x11.2R18
265/60R18 = 30.5x10.4R18

front
235/65R17 = 29x9.3R17
245/65R17 = 29.5x9.7R17
225/70R17 = 29.4x8.9R17
235/60R18 = 29.1x9.3R18
245/60R18 = 29.6x9.7R18

 

Sweet car, man. It'd look great with some really dark windows.

 

Ya it is definately getting some tint. Undecided yet on how dark. Ive had dreams of making it a hardtop convertable.... but that is a serious project even by my standards.

 

Go to www.v8buick.com and there is a nailhead specific section. You can't put an OD trans without an adapter ($$), but the good news is your trans is the Turbo 400 (used 64-66), not the 63 and earlier dynaflow. T400 may be a switch pitch, which means it has two stall speeds. Look on side of trans if it has a one or two pin electrical connector. One = std, two = switch pitch. Switch pitch is desireable. All 364-401-425 nailhead have the same bellhousing bolt pattern, which is unique to nailhead. All T400 have electrical for kickdown, not mechanical cable or linkage. Best option for OD is to put a Gear Vendors.

Great engines and you can get good performance out of them with good exhaust and intake. Factory had 2 four barrels on Gran Sport models. You can get aftermarket alum 2x4 intakes, most popular is the 401-425 version. 364 has different deck height, so make sure your intake is 401-425 size. The small 264-322 versions are even more different.

Also look at TA Performance, they are buick specialists and have some nailhead parts. Your car also has the high desired alum finned drum brakes. Popular for hot rods.

 

Awesome, info. Ive been looking for a 2-4, but was kind of thinking of porting the stocker if its aluminum and running like a 850 thunder series. I knew about the electric kickdown, and about the "mod" to put it on a switch for instant passing gear. Not huge on aux OD for it, but that might be the only way. Was thinking a more modern OD with lockup, and go with a little higher stall to help it rolling and not kill mpg. Will definately check out this "switch pitch".

Found Ta and buick nailhead and emailed martin, not sure thats the best source for parts, definately has good info though... at least alot of it.

Who knew the drums were desirable lol... all i know is i have to order larger wheels as standard 15" wont fit lmao... had to eat that $500 bought a set of chevy ralley wheels to put on it and that was a no go

 

I have a freshly machined, balanced forged piston 455 that a buddy was going to put in a pickup. its complete and ready to assemble if you want a swap and shelf the nailhead for resto later. Its expensive to build a 401.

 

Appreciate the offer, but whatever i cant afford or dont do now i will later. The car needs restored, but is in plenty good enough shape to drive. Likely i will just drive it and fix it up as i go, start doing some interior work then sheetmetal work etc. Then when its almost ready for paint, yank the engine out, do the engine, engine bay and slap it all together. Wont bother me one bit for this to be a 25 year project. With the exception of some bolt on go fast parts hehe. Probably going to just do some basics. Carb, intake, headers, good exhaust, for the engine, maybe a shift kit. Need to level out the suspension, put some wheels on it, throw some tint on there, fix the trunk latch release and the trunk latch and drive it. Need to start doing research on chevy junk which irritates me... have to google everything and its getting old.

 

I didnt climb under it, but there are two wires headed to the transmission so it would seem to me that i have the Switch Pitch.

Secondly i had to bleed the brakes so i took a look at the drums. While they are finned, the fins are iron not aluminum. They have just as much rust as the rest of the drum.

 

Well now this is fun.