Editing But We Kept It Open Longer

[https://www.alamy.com/stock-photo/gym-changing-room.html alamy.com]<br>Buick in the 1960s was one of the last marques to enter the muscle car sweepstakes. But patience is a virtue, it's been said. When the "old man's car" finally did flex its muscles,  [http://blueheart.or.kr/bbs/board.php?bo_table=free&wr_id=166830 Prime Boosts] it turned out that there were plenty of them to show off.  By "muscle car," we mean the classic conception of the type: an intermediate-class car with a powerful engine and other performance-enhancing gear. In Buick's hands, this meant the Skylark-based Gran Sport. The whole movement had been presaged a few years earlier by a spate of full-size specials with big mills and custom trim. Then came a major turning point in 1964. Pontiac snuck a big-car engine into its mid-size Tempest and created the GTO. Its popularity was nearly instantaneous and just as quickly, the "Goat" had imitators. That same year, Oldsmobile responded with the 4-4-2, while those who favored a hot small-block engine under the hood could opt for the new Chevrolet Chevelle Malibu Super Sport or Mercury Comet Cyclone.<br><br><br><br>Meanwhile, at the outer limits of performance, there were marginally street-legal dragstrip specials: Dodges with a new-generation "Hemi" engine and a few Fairlane Thunderbolts with Ford's 427-cid V-8. If Buick was going to jump aboard this new bandwagon, in which of these forms would its entry be? The problem for Buick was made more vexing by General Motors's insistence on a maximum of 400 cid for its A-body intermediates. Cliff Studaker, head of Buick powertrain engineering at the time. There was a 300-cid V-8 available for Buick intermediates, but it was far too tame for a muscle car. The next step up was a 401-cid engine, the 325-bhp "Wildcat 445" V-8, but, according to the edict, that was too big. Buick answered the problem elegantly; the division renamed the 401 a 400,  Prime Boosts Reviews stuffed it into an A-body Skylark, and created the Buick Gran Sport, which arrived as an option package part way through the 1965 model year.<br><br><br><br>Nelson Kunz, who worked in Buick engine development for 46 years. For [https://wiki.anythingcanbehacked.com/index.php?title=The_Best_and_Worst_Whey_Protein_Powders Learn more] on the Buick Gran Sport engine, continue on to the next page. According to Dennis Manner, who was in charge of Buick engines at the time, "We had to make changes." Specifically, the exhaust manifold had to be rerouted around the Skylark's frame. The exhaust valve was smaller than normal for that engine," added Kunz. "It was too small. But we kept it open longer. We used overlap with the cam. Buick cars were typically heavy because of their high option content," said Manner. "We concentrated more on torque than horsepower because of the heavy weight. It didn't help with NASCAR, but on roads and freeway ramps it was great. Torque is what moves the car. In typical Buick fashion," wrote Marty Schorr in GNX Buick, "the Skylark GS was more conservative in appearance than the GTO and did not benefit from extensive performance and dress-up option lists.<br><br><br><br>Some people might think a whacking big 400-cubic inch, 325-hp Wildcat V-8 alone is worth the price of admission to a Skylark Gran Sport. Not us Buick People. When we designed the 400 to replace the 401, not a part was interchangeable," said Manner. "The distributor was in the front, not the rear. It drove the oil pump up front. The first was breathing flexibility. The earlier engine featured vertical valves with a pent roof combustion chamber, necessitating a valve actuating mechanism in which the pushrods passed through bosses drilled in the cylinder heads crossing the valve guides with the rocker arms and doubling back to [https://www.shewrites.com/search?q=actuate actuate] the valves. Valve and port sizes were limited in this arrangement. Since the industry trend seemed to be away from the classic wedge chamber, [https://operation-digital.digital-tycoons.com/2025/06/20/page-3/ Check this out] was a surprise as well. But the domed chamber with small quench area had a significant feature and represented the second important reason for the change. It boasted considerably less surface area in relation to displacement volume than the conventional wedge. Probably feeling the 'Skylark' tag might be too much for the birds, Buick folks 'officially divorced' what is now the GS-400 from the Skylark series. It's a great car -- but just a little rich for some people. So we set to work and designed the Buick GS-340. It has a smaller engine (but it weighs a lot less). Its interior isn't quite as sumptuous (but it's clean and simple and tasteful). It has its own exterior paint: a broad rally stripe, and contrasting hood scoops. And its own ornamentation and the full complement of GM safety features. We ended up with a car that does indeed cost less than the GS-400.<br>