Interesting Historical Use of Nailheads

[cwmcobra]

Interesting piece on installation of a very historical nailhead in a 63 Wildcat convertible.

https://www.thedrive.com/news/40294/cold-war-engine-swap-meet-the-1963-buick-wildcat-with-an-a-12-archangel-start-cart-engine


Enjoy!

 

Chuck

[Loren At 65GS]

Thanks for posting this Chuck.

 Loren

[cwmcobra]

And the original engine from the Verde Howitzer is probably still powering the sawmill in Washington state where it was transferred years and years ago!

Chuck

[elagache]

Dear Chuck, Loren, and mid-60s Buick historians,

Indeed thanks for sharing!  It was an unusually thorough and well-written article.  The one puzzle I'm left pondering is why the nailheads were replaced by Chevy engines instead of Buick or some other luxury car engine.  Presumably, the nailhead was selected in the first place because of its low end torque.  It appears that the Chevy big-blocks weren't as well suited to the task in part because they couldn't as easily deliver the torque needed to spin up the jet engines.

Cheers, Edouard 

[option B9]

 Thanks for that great story Chuck, Years ago I took my Family to the Intrepid air, sea & space museum docked on the west side of Manhattan. On the flight deck they have many famous aircraft including a SR-71 Black Bird complete with the starting cart . I read the plaque that was attached to the cart and learned that the Buick Nailhead motor played an important role in that aircrafts history. That most definitely made my day even though children did not seem to interested.

                Tony 

[campfamily]

After getting my BS in Physics back in the late 80s, my first job was with the Skunk Works in Burbank, CA. The SR-71 was still active in the USAF inventory at that time, although it was about to be retired. I remember seeing a few of the start carts on some of my visits to Palmdale. However, this was before I owned my GranSport, and before I was aware of what a nailhead really was. The story, though, of how the team was able to acquire the engines without telling anybody what they would be used for, and who was actually buying them, was pretty fascinating.

Keith