small additions

August 9, 2008

I added in a few factoids to the Buick site for those interested in this technical stuff.

Specs page update

Added the exact wheelbase, overall length and height measurements as provided by the original pace car booklet.

FAQ page update

Added a link to the Wikipedia article on the Buick 350 engine. There are several differences compared to other GM 350 engines. Definitely a good read.

Below are a few other things I read about. They won’t make an appearance on the Buick site because it’s not particular to the pace car so I’ll just keep it here as a blog post.

Other Buick V8 VIN engine codes

The ‘75 pace car replica Buick only came with the 350-4bbl V8 denoted as J as the fifth character on the VIN.

These are the other Buick engine codes (with J being the only one that ever made it into the pace car replica):

H . . . 350-2bbl V8
J . . . 350-4bbl V8
K . . . 350-4bbl V8 (Gran Sport)
U . . . 455-4bbl V8 (Gran Sport 455)
V . . . 455-4bbl V8 (Stage 1)

It is unknown whether there’s any significant difference between the 350 (J) and the 350 GS (K). Unfortunately the Wikipedia page doesn’t shed any light on that subject.

It could be that K was specifically reserved for Gran Sport models. And as people who know the ‘75 Century are aware, “GS” was never applied to the car other than in-title-only for the blackout appearance on the grille and filler under the tail lamps.

For those interested in the dry weight difference between the 350 and the 455, the 350 is 450lbs, the 455 is 600lbs.

The 231 V6

The 231 is a direct result of the 1973 oil crisis. The 1975 Century Special (not a pace car model obviously) did in fact have this engine in it. The story of this engine is also a very good read – especially the part about the uneven firing patterns of that particular engine and why it happened (which wasn’t fixed until 1977 by the way for an “even-firing” V6).

And since I listed the other weights, the 231 has a dry weight of 400lbs.


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