This rear shot shows off a couple things. First check out all the rubber caked on the quarter panel. Most other weenie, clean handed sites would be begging Tom to clean it off. We licked it to make sure it was real. The stance is classic racer and the cowl hood really completes a tasteful, but aggressive aesthetic package. The paint was done by Jack Strob while the lettering on the windshield was done by Action Racing photos and Vinyl.

It took Tom five years to get the car where it is now and he’s not afraid to let it rip, in fact, he does it every weekend during the New England summers. Here he is heading the tires up getting ready for another low 10 second blast. (Photo credit Jay Spinella/Action Racing Photos) Tom wanted to thank his mom, dad, brother Jay, and his girlfriend Charlotte for their continued support at the track and in the shop. He also wanted to give thanks to Tim Boise at Tim’s Speed and Custom in Nashua, NH, his local speed shop and parts guru.

We’re sure your street car can do this too. Talk about hookin’ and bookin’! The suspension the car uses is brutally simple, but again, well thought out. In the rear, the stock 4-link style suspension uses BMR tubular control arms. A bolt on anti-roll bar from Hot Rod Parts-N-Stuff makes for these nice even launches. Taking all that abuse in the back is a Ford 9-inch style rearend by Moser Engineering. It is filled with a Detroit SofLocker, Strange 4.11 gears, and Moser 31-spline axles, and has Strange Engineering discs hanging off the ends. Up front, stock A-arms hold onto Moroso Trick Springs and Competition Engineering shocks. Stock spindles are used as well as stock manual GM steering. Wilwood discs handle the braking up front. (Photo: Jay Spinella/Action Racing Photos)

The first thing that catches your eye here is the custom air pan that Tom and his brother Jay made at their nicely equipped home shop. This pan seals the cowl scoop to the motor and keeps the air cleaner in cool, fresh, air to feed to the motor with. It is a nice touch and one more example on this car of how much thought has gone into maximizing the combination.

Here’s the straw that stirs the drink. It is a 489ci big-block Chevy based off of a GM Gen IV block and a Scat forged crank. Spinella estimates that it makes 650 hp on 93 octane, the only fuel it ever sees. All the bearings in the motor are from Clevite, the rods are Eagle pieces and the pistons come from SRP. Tom didn’t clue us in on the compression, but with pump gas being the fuel of choice, it ain’t crazy. Speed-Pro Plasma Moly rings are used to seal the slugs. The cam is custom ground by legendary cam guy Harold Brookshire. Tom spent a bunch of time on the phone with Brookshire going over his combo and how he uses the car. After fighting with valve spring breakage stemming from his last grind, Brookshire added some duration to ease the abuse on the springs. He described the profile of the last cam as being like a “cliff face”. The springs were getting hammered to death with all the street driving that Tom does with the car. Also used are Crower roller lifters, Comp Cams pushrods, and Jesel Sportsman Series shaft rockers. The cylinder heads are Brodix BB2-plus aluminum sculpture that house 2.25” intake and 1.88” exhaust valves. The intake manifold is an Edelbrock Victor Jr. 454-R. A single Pro Systems 1,000-cfm Holley sits on top. Aeroquip fuel lines are used throughout. Tom uses an ATI damper, Edelbrock water pump. Accel starter, and Moroso vacuum pump. The motor was originally screwed together by SK Racing Engines. Tom leaves the starting line on the converter at four grand and stops the clocks at 6,500 rpm. The best run to date is 10.09/131mph.

Its kind of a tight fit, more because of the big Hooker headers than anything. Note the dimpling to get the primary tube around the steering shaft.

MSD products make up the ignition system with a Digital-6 box mounted under the dash, a Pro Billet distributor bolted to the motor and a Blaster HVC coil ramping up the charge. Taylor wires send the juice to NGK spark plugs.

The hood and the front and rear bumpers are fiberglass. After that it’s the steel that the boys used at the Fisher plant when building the car in 1970. This car is pushing 3,800 pounds. The cowl hood is necessary to clear the motor and makes the car look even tougher. The grille is a real 1970 GS piece that Tom scored for a song a few years ago.

Triangle Engineering built the custom fuel cell and it’s a big one. All that fuel is necessary because this car is actually street driven and has only seen the hook one time in its life when a valve spring barfed at the track. This has the hallmark Buick massive trunk. It’s so large that even though the big fuel cell is in there we had to clear half of Tom’s life possessions out of the back to get this nice clean shot of it. There’s enough room to camp out in there.

The interior is a mix of race stuff and stock Buick appointments. The back seat was just about the first thing to go when Tom started tearing into the car. It’s not a mini-van, so moving people is not a big concern. Hauling ass is the order of the day. The rollcage was built by JRS Race Cars (Bellingham, MA) and is a 12-point piece made of 1.75-inch mild steel.

The factory dash is all there with the Barry Grant EGR meter on the left side and all the customary gauges across to the right. Don’t think this car is used a lot? Look at the down bar of the cage. Tom is in and out of it so much the paint is wearing off the thing.

This naked shifter is hooked to a Turbo 400 built by Automated Transmission of Lawrence, MA. It uses a 2.48 first gear and a 4,500 stall converter built by Ultimate Torque Converters. The transmission has a TCI manual valve body. The custom driveshaft was built by DL Engineering of Wakefield, MA.

Spinella runs Weld Draglite wheels on all four corners. The fronts are 15x5 and are shod with BF Goodrich Radial TA tires measuring 215/70-15. The rear wheels are 15x10s and wear 295/65-15 Mickey Thompson Drag Radials.

Spinella runs a Barry Grant EGT meter to keep an eye on the motor while driving. Melting aluminum pistons would be a bad way to end a race day or long distance cruise.

Wash this rubber off and Tom will cause you bodily harm. This is as real world as it gets.

Where’s the boost gauge? There isn’t one. This car is old school in the B.P.A (Before Power Adder) way. We dig it.