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Betting on the Buick: The Nailhead

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by Jive-Bomber, Aug 28, 2012.

  1. Jive-Bomber
    Joined: Aug 21, 2001
    Posts: 3,753

    Jive-Bomber
    MODERATOR

  2. zman
    Joined: Apr 2, 2001
    Posts: 16,730

    zman
    Member
    from Garner, NC

  3. belair
    Joined: Jul 10, 2006
    Posts: 9,013

    belair
    Member

  4. Curt Six
    Joined: Sep 19, 2002
    Posts: 992

    Curt Six
    Member

    ...and they're nearly bullet proof, too.

    Don't forget one of the coolest nailhead builds in recent memory - 401-powered "Strange Bird".
     

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  5. christopher 78
    Joined: Jun 24, 2012
    Posts: 136

    christopher 78
    Member

    I think the nailhead is the next hemi. Hemi's are over priced and getting harder to find! Thats why we put the 401 in the 30 coupe. Plus they look way better imo!
     
  6. Brog
    Joined: Jul 7, 2011
    Posts: 207

    Brog
    Member

    Nailhead's are too cool, they're really growin on me
     
  7. boozoo
    Joined: Jul 3, 2006
    Posts: 556

    boozoo
    Member

    Ditto.... I just picked up a 401 for my '27. Or maybe for the Hudson. It's nice to have options. :)
     
  8. You know my favorite...

    I like Ivo's way of thinking; If one's good, four is better!
     
  9. EZ Cool
    Joined: Nov 17, 2011
    Posts: 265

    EZ Cool
    Alliance Vendor
    from Slaton TX

    The nailhead is my choice for the Company Hauler
    [​IMG]
     
  10. titus
    Joined: Dec 6, 2003
    Posts: 5,145

    titus
    Member

    I got bit by the nailhead bug in 1996, it was my freshman year of high school and i started shop class, in the back corner of storage room in the shop was a red buick nailhead with chrome valve covers and a 4bbl intake, i knew i had to have it but had to figure out if it was obtainable. So i set up to talk with my teacher about it, he said that they were planning on using it as a learning tool buy taking it apart in front of class. i asked if it just had to be a motor or if it had to be the nailhead? he said, i dont know why? i offered him a 305 i had in trade for it as id love to have the motor to put in a hot rod in the future, he said yes! so i got my first nailhead when i was 15 years old! it hid out in the garage for a few years as i really didnt have a car to put it in yet but i was in the process of building a T-bucket with my dad, fast forward to 2000, i had finished my t-bucket and had it at back to the fifties, got a wild hair to put it for sale as i knew of a 31 tudor, well the car sold in the first 3 hours i had it for sale, now i had a bunch of cash burning a hole in my pocket! come sunday morning id find a part that would set my nailhead and speed equipment obsession in order, i found a wieand drag star 6x2 intake for my motor, a deal was stuck $180 for the bare intake. later that week i went and purchase the 31 tudor and of course it got the nailhead with the 6x2 intake. the rest is history, since that point ive always loved nailheads and have used them here and there in cars and i collect any nailhead speed part i can find! i was 18 when i build the 31 tudor.

    JEFF
     

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  11. buikwag
    Joined: Apr 21, 2005
    Posts: 472

    buikwag
    Member
    1. Buick Nailheads

    My 322" pulls my wagon around with power to spare.
    [​IMG]
     
  12. I've got a 322 that will go into a new Ford 5-window w/5-speed and open drive banjo that's on the back burner once I get my avatar straightened out and a 40 p-up I have in the works built!
     
  13. czuch
    Joined: Sep 23, 2008
    Posts: 2,688

    czuch
    Member
    from vail az

    I've had one in the classifieds for a while.
    63 401 from a Wildcat. I cant use it.
    They area very pretty motor.
     
  14. tommy
    Joined: Mar 3, 2001
    Posts: 14,757

    tommy
    Member Emeritus

    The first hotrod I saw in person was a 46 Ford business coupe with a Buick of unknown size to me. I was a kid. It was my cousins car. 4 years older than me, he chased me around the garage with a Vertex magneto with the cap off and just the "dick" sticking up. I quickly learned that a magneto does not need a battery to throw a spark. This was between 58 and 60? I can't remember any other Buick speed equipment on the car but that Vertex is stuck in my brain. Part of that time he drove a 55 Buick 2 dr. HT 3 spd on the column as a daily driver. I loved that car too...black with a white top.

    I bet a Buick Vertex would bring a pretty penny today.
     
  15. robertsregal
    Joined: Oct 2, 2008
    Posts: 743

    robertsregal
    Member

    nailheads rule, a cool motor indeed.
     
  16. desotot
    Joined: Jan 29, 2008
    Posts: 2,036

    desotot
    Member

  17. Stevie Nash
    Joined: Oct 24, 2007
    Posts: 2,999

    Stevie Nash
    Member

    Just picked up a 401 for the Nash! They are out there, but you gotta look hard and be patient. Check craiglist in your area daily, talk to everyone you know and put the bug in their ear that you are looking for one. They may know someone...
     
    Last edited: Aug 28, 2012
  18. Jkustom
    Joined: Oct 8, 2002
    Posts: 1,686

    Jkustom
    ALLIANCE MEMBER

    I've been a nailhead junkie since 1996 when I bought my 56 wagon.. Now I have 5 nailheads in my shop waiting for cars to be built around them.. haha.
     
  19. I heart nailheads... by far my favorite motor. I have two, and want more.
     
  20. Deuces
    Joined: Nov 3, 2009
    Posts: 23,751

    Deuces

    Radical!!!!...:cool:
     
  21. My son has a 364 cu in 300 hp nailhead engine stored in his shed just waiting for the Ford 302 to blow up in our model A.
     
  22. Sgt._Grumpy
    Joined: Feb 17, 2009
    Posts: 126

    Sgt._Grumpy
    Member

    Just picked up a 401 to go in my 32 roadster project. Love the look!
     
  23. desertdroog
    Joined: Nov 16, 2001
    Posts: 1,020

    desertdroog
    Member

    My project is languishing until early next year. Picked up a dual quad Edelbrock B262 for it a bit ago.
    [​IMG]
     
  24. flamingokid
    Joined: Jan 5, 2005
    Posts: 2,200

    flamingokid
    Member

    I had a '63 LeSabre as a winter beater back in high school.445(401) Wildcat motor.Great top end,torque out the wazoo.
     
  25. mj40's
    Joined: Dec 11, 2008
    Posts: 3,303

    mj40's
    Member

    401 Nailhead was my choice in my 40 pickup project. I need to get this thing fired soon.

    [​IMG]
     
    EVL401 likes this.
  26. grapejuice1998
    Joined: May 3, 2005
    Posts: 142

    grapejuice1998
    Member
    from Dallas, TX

    I just built a 401 for a '66 Buick Wildcat. It wasn't my favorite motor to build until I drove it for the first time. WOWZA! That thing pulls like a freight train!!!
     
  27. czuch
    Joined: Sep 23, 2008
    Posts: 2,688

    czuch
    Member
    from vail az

    Got one cheap.
     
  28. george775
    Joined: Sep 29, 2006
    Posts: 85

    george775
    Member
    from Nor Nev

    425-nailer.jpg

    Make mine a 425!
     
  29. owen thomas
    Joined: Jun 15, 2008
    Posts: 186

    owen thomas
    Member

    I kind of remember E.J. Potter at the Stanton/McBride drags with a nailhead Buick powered ’53 or ’54 Chevy, maybe around 1958. Then he told us he was “going home and put a Chevy V8 in my Harley”. Sadly he’s gone now. Anyone else remember EJ’s Buick powered Chevy?
     
    Last edited: Aug 31, 2012

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