Need Info/Help from You 80's Winston Cup Nascar Guys

[Stg1Regal]

Been Searching and surfing the net high and low for info on the 80's Buick that were in NASCAR/Winston Cup.

I can find who drove them,what place they finished and when, and some pics.

But wanted to know if anyone knew of the specs or have close up pictures of the "flared" Fenders and Quarters?

And also the Specs or close ups of the rear wing?
How it was attached , and moved up or down for down force?

Thinking of doing my Regal in a tribute format to the 80's Winston Cup Buick Regal cars, but with my twist on a modern version.

Thanks

 

[billyjack]

I'll see what I can dig up. Being a Buick dealer manager during that time as well as a circle track nut, I have a bunch of posters from Buick's days of heavy NASCAR and Indy involvement during the 80's. Bodywork is pretty simple. Fenders and quarters were slightly stretched out at the wheel openings just enough to cover the tires. Rear spoiler in those days was just a simple piece of flat stock, riveted to the trunk's vertical surface and tilted back to whatever angle was allowed by NASCAR at that particular track. Rear spoiler heights and angles differed between tracks and car brands in order to equalize the competition. PM me with your email so I can send scans or pics once I go thru my collection. Related story; I was in Cobo Hall in Detroit in August of '80 or '81 for the Buick dealer new Car preview show. Junior Johnson made an appearance during the show, as Darrel Waltrip was on his way to winning the NASCAR championship that year in the #11 "Dew Crew" Buick. After the show, all the new cars are displayed on the floor for the dealers to inspect while we're feasting on food and champagne. The #11 Regal was parked among the new Buicks with a crowd surrounding, as most dealers had never seen a real Cup car in the flesh. Someone asked a question about the oil tank in the trunk. I spoke up with an answer, as I knew the Cup cars quite well and the display wasn't staffed by anyone to answer questions. Next comes another question, and another and another etc. It took me about 20 minutes to finally get away from the crowd to freshen up my drink.

Bill

 

[Stg1Regal]

billyjack

Thanks ahead of time for taking your time to dig the info up, your wealth of knowledge will be appreciated.

What size tire and rims were used ?my understanding is, they used pretty much a 27" tall tire and 10" wide in all four corners.

My tire size selection, would be 255/60/15... in all 4 corners, I'll flare out the fenders and quarter to do so, on a 15x8 or 10 NASCAR style rim, black, like a Bassett or Cragar Soft D. with red pinstripe on the outer lip (LIKE PHOTO BELOW)
But the radiused openings,,,, just don't know about that.

Has anyone ever fit that size tire in the front?

I want to paint it Sems Trim Flat Black,with a Flat gray inset on the side similar to the 82 Buick GN ( with the Shadowed BUICK logo on the rear Quaters), the NASCAR rear wing. And flat gray on the raised "V" portion of the hood, all trimmed in red,orange pistripe to seperate the colors.

A extended spoiler all across the front ,flat black, (LIKE PHOTO BELOW) and like the NASCAR photos show, chrome front and rear bumpers? ( dunno yet),I want to do a 86 GN grille.

SO far thats the plan..... I got a lot of suspension stuff and braces to back it up ... so what cha think?

BTW... Do have any pics of what the engine looked liked, more concerned about if they had a "cowl induction" style air intake system?

 

[billyjack]

Chris,
Got your PM. I'll send some pics as I dig some stuff up. RE: Air Cleaners, Cup cars used a flat hood, but a true cowl induction system. Air cleaner had a very wide snorkel that ran straight back to the firewall, taking in air from the area where the wiper linkage is located on a street car, the cowl plenum. The base of the windshield is a high air pressure area at speed, so there was some ram-effect to be had. On a stock frame car you'd have some clearance problems with the distributor, but Cup cars had the engine sitting lower in the frame. In the early 80's Buick was the hot ticket in a NASCAR body for a while. GM's policy of swapping engines in the late 70's allowed the teams to run their SBC's in any body that GM made. When the Monte SS came out a few years later, everything changed.
Bill

 

[pontiacgp]

Have you contacted Nascar to ask if they still have any rule books from that era for sale?.. I hold a Nascar pit license and Nascar seems to be very helpful for anyone that has intentions to promote the sport. The rule book would answer all your questions

 

[Stg1Regal]

billyjack and potiacgp

Thanks again guys....

As for the air cleaner set up, does it hafta go directly straight back or can it go to the passenger side of the firewall, I am A/C heater delete.
The orginal screened air intake I can re install, and then run some type ducting to a enclosed air cleaner set up.

Similar to this? This set up would work perfectly,!! Where can I get this set up?

 

[Stg1Regal]

ANSWERED MY OWN QUESTION!!

Nelson Rudisell at www.cowlplenum.com or http://webpages.charter.net/nelsonrudis ... photos.htm

 

[pontiacgp]

I hope you have sponsors for your project...those cowl plenums are $2395.00. We fab most of the parts in our race shop...the price of the stuff is the reason why...

 

[Stg1Regal]

pontiacgp

Yep need sponsors, but that ain't gonna happen.

I really need to spend that much money on those Like I need a hole in my head.
That $2,500 will go a long way in this project.

Kinda thought it thru in doning my version for G-Body, a Deep Aluminum Cake pan and some thinking I may come up with something worthy but at a fraction of the cost... I'm not going for the bling look, just the purpose built budget look.