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Thread: 1952 Roadmaster

  1. #1
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    1952 Roadmaster

    Long story short, I gave in and bought the car I've been wanting for years now, a '52 Roadmaster...I've been haunting this forum for quite some time and am wondering what members feel the best way is to get a little more power out of the 320 without extensive mods. I very much want to keep the engine and Dynaflow although I've seen all kinds of things done that'd probably get more cojones (tranny adapters/torque tube swap, etc.) out of the engine...any suggestions?
    I must also say that it does my heart good to see that there are still people out there that seem to love these cars.
    Last edited by krinkov58; 02-01-2009 at 06:44 PM.

  2. #2
    Just to start you off, there is an article in the reference section that suggests you can take up to .125 off the head. That would be cheap, easy and give a real compression boost!


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  3. #3
    You can actually take .250" off of the head, with no valve to piston problems. You will have to shorten your pushrods also that amount. This is assuming you have good cam timing and a stock cam. There are edmunds, and 41 dual carb setups also that help.

  4. #4
    Quote Originally Posted by Bob View Post
    Just to start you off, there is an article in the reference section that suggests you can take up to .125 off the head. That would be cheap, easy and give a real compression boost!

    I agree with Bob, I took .100 of after reading the article he is referring to, and my 263 has a lot more guts. I also upgraded to a Pertronix ignition and Flamethrower coil for better spark.

    Congrats on the buy. I saw that car on ebay and almost jumped at it myself (The girlfriend wants a Buick of her own.)

  5. #5
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    Yeah this is the one on eBay recently...drove through a blizzard on Saturday to the Canadian border and bought it, will be coming down this week.
    Thanks for the info so far...yeah I know compression is an issue...has anybody seen or used Ross or Egge pistons?

  6. #6
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    $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

    I've seen and used both Ross and Egge pistons. As with most modern custom piston manufactures Ross is fully computerized for R and D and has full CNC machining capabilities. They Make damn good pistons. They are expensive. I would figure at least $100 a hole with rings and you will probably have to reuse your existing wrist pins in this application. Egge is stock replacement only. So your stuck with the same compression ratio and a really undesirable and outdated ring package. The sad thing is that the Egges are not really that much cheaper. A quick look at their website reveals that they get about $318 for the pistons, but they get $260 for the rings. You probably will get new pins with them but this price is damn near a crime in my opinion. I realize that it is supply and demand, but this is ridiculous. Again, in my opinion. I have seen balance issues with Egge pistons also. That would be my only other complaint with them. If your engine does not need a rebuild then I would not advise replacing the pistons as a way to add compression. I'd do the head mill and pushrod modification. Getting more power from the straight 8 is the same as getting more power from any engine. Better ignition, better breathing, etc. What it unfortunately boils down to is your expectations and your commitment and your budget. Do you have experience with old Buicks? Is the one you just bought performing up to par? Maybe it just needs a real sharp tune up to get everything working like it should. This is a real problem with cars that are pushing 60 years old. They may start and run through the parade ok but in all reality are not performing anywhere near where they were when they were new. I don't think going to an open drive line will give you the boost you are looking for. It will be expensive for sure, but will not give the engine any more power. You could try going for some deeper gears in the rear end, but you would trade mileage and wear for the extra pep. What kind of performance do you need this thing to have to make you happy? That last question goes to the expectation part of my earlier statement. It is what it is, an old, heavy, underpowered ( by todays standards), outdated piece of machinery. That is also classy, cool and a great representation of what made America great in the 1950's. If you're committed and you have the bucks$ you can make this little jewel into a hell of a road car. If ya ain't committed and ya ain't got much bucks but you still have high expectations for going fast in a Buick I'd maybe think of trading it for a later model with a big V-8 in it. I'm not at all trying to be a smart *** or a ****. But we get this question a lot. And I think with an attitude adjustment you can learn to love this car as is. It's a car that has paid it's dues and shouldn't need to prove itself by roaring past everything on the highway. It's a grand old Dame that can prove itself by being what it is, big, classy and beautiful.

  7. #7
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    straight 8

    If you read back thru the straight 8 forum, you will get a lot of info from mild to wild on straight 8,s. Some like to tinker and do a few things and some want to make them full house tire smokers.
    Some of us go off into lala land thinking of ways to make em scream but in the end the engine being a long inline 8, has its limitations mainly RPM,s. that long crankshaft gets the wiggles when its spun up too fast and thats when things can go wrong. In reality you can do the normal little performance things and they respond well as they are basically a mild torqy engine, that has a rep for being a dependable engine. If its not smoking to much, using oil,or water, has decent compression, still has some power then you may not need pistons, you could tear it down for a rod, ring n valve job, pull the caps on the crankshaft to check the bearings, tighten up the mains, and your on your way,just like the old days. You might want to shave the head for some more compression no more than .125 is needed. maybe hogging out the carb base for a bigger carb, and an electronic sparker would make it run pretty strong.

  8. #8
    I found my 1952 Buick Super (Bob) was a great road car with plenty of power and operated fine on regular fuel. The Super has a smaller 263 cubic inch engine and with your 320 cubic inch and 4 barrel carburetor you should be even faster than my Super. I did find that it was slow taking off but if you take the time to shift into low for start-up it springs out into traffic like any other car. I have done this for years and never had any transmission problems.
    Jim Carmichael 55 Buick Special & 65 Buick Riviera GS

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    Straight 8 "Show and Go"

    Check out the article in this week's paper in the little town of Laurel Montana. It's about twenty miles away from us, but they heard about the cars and the editor drove over last Friday and did a nice story. Unfortunately, the Salt Cat pictures on the back page don't come up on-line. The complete story does, however. Doug www.laureloutlook.com

  10. #10
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    that car is really nice and an example of what can be done to an old straight 8. I think supercharging is the best way to go on them as it adds torq which is what the str 8,s are built for. It doesnt have to have a bunch of boost to give you some pretty good performance,and a supercharger will do it, with less fuss on a stock engine without revving it too much.

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