Ohio native Dave Fiscus entered last weeks Lights Out 12 event on a high after scoring his first career Ultra Street victory at the U.S. Street Nationals in Bradenton, Florida in January. Fiscus also notched his career best elapsed time, a 4.52, in the process — a number that’s all the more impressive if you know what’s under the hood. And it’s certainly not hard to identify, because you can audibly identify that it’s not a traditional V-8 engine.

Fiscus’s ride — Jason “Cheeseburger” Waterman owns the car and Fiscus the drivetrain — is powered by a 274 cubic-inch Buick V-6 that once powered the famed Grand National production vehicles. Fiscus’ program is extra challenging when you consider that Buick has not produced the parts he relies on for 30-plus years; in fact, the factory heads and intake on the car are 35 years old. A 76mm Precision turbo pushes the little V-6 to its limits, and a Turbo 400 built by RPM and a PTC converter deliver the power to the rear tires. Taking it a step further, the Tin Solider Race Cars-built chassis still sports stock-style suspension with a Ford 8.8 rear end. Menscer Motorsports shocks and TRZ Motorsports chassis components help plant the power, which is dialed-in by Waterman and co-tuner Cal Hartline via a FuelTech FT600 ECU.

“I’ve been racing Buick’s for years; my mother bought a Buick brand new and I bought the car off her 30 years ago,” Fiscus tells. “She used to street race it before I bought it, and so I kept on racing it and ran that same car until a little over a year ago. I didn’t want to cut it up any further. We went 4.70s with it, which for a 3,300-pound car isn’t bad. So early last year Jason said ‘why don’t we take your drivetrain and put it in my car since it’s lighter and we can run Ultra with it”’ I said, ‘okay, let’s do that.’ We were able to take 750-pounds out of the car by switching cars.”

The combination has proven competitive in its first year — evidenced by its Braden ton triumph — and that could pave the way for another program of the same vein.

“Another reason we did this is we’re building a new car for X275 that will be lightweight and low to the ground, and we wanted to see what this powerplant will do with a lighter car…if we could even compete in X275. That car will be 250-pounds lighter and we can run an 88mm turbo,” Fiscus explains.

“When we won Bradenton, it was like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders, because we tried so hards last year and we tore up a bunch of parts. It wasn’t tuning..it was just the longevity of the parts,” he explains. 

Like anything unique in hot rodding, there have been and continue to be obstacles; in Fiscuss’s example, it’s been blocks, crankshafts, cylinder heads, and a depleted source of antiquated parts.

“We’re spreading that power over six rods and six pistons, and it’s hard on it. Last year we tore up a lot of stuff…we bent wrist pins, broke rods, broke a crank, broke heads. We went through four sets of heads last year, and when you’re dealing with heads that are 35 years old, you can’t just go online or pick up a phone and buy them,” Fiscus says.

Barker Machine does Fiscus’s engine work, and Tony Bischoff at BES massages the cylinder heads. BES also played a role in camshaft selection from the team at COMP Cams.

“This style of cylinder head is hard to find…it’s hard to find good ones, because they’re all used up. Most people may not be able to tell, but I can find all the tell-tale signs of a head that’s used up. We want ones with a thick deck and all. There’s still some out there, but they’re just hard to find,” Fiscus says.

Fiscus uses T&D rockers, aftermarket springs, and a solid roller camshaft, giving the valvetrain a needed upgrade in there otherwise dated cylinder heads. The engine also sports a rare Danny Bee belt drive system — sourced by legend Kenny Duttweiler 25 years ago — on the front of the block. 

A TA Performance re-cast aluminum block provides some assurance as other parts prove to be weak links. The heads and intake are both over-the-counter OEM parts. 

“We’re always finding the next weak link, and we try to fix it. But as I get older, when I find a part that fixes something, I have to immediately be thinking what is going to be the next thing to cause problems. And when you find parts, you don’t buy one of them…you get two or three, because you’re not going to find anyone in the pits who has something you’ll need,” he says.

The Buick brand is engrained in Fiscus’s DNA, and he’s determined to continue proving its merits, no matter the challenges he faces. After all, he could build and replace parts for an LS or a big- or small-block Chevrolet all day — but that’s not everyone’s cup of tea.

“I’ve always liked the Grand Nationals, and it’s interesting how much respect those cars still command today,” Fiscus says. “If the Buick V-6 hadn’t been as cool and as fast as it was, I don’t know if turbo technology would have trickled into everything else as quick as it did. Kenny Duttweiler, Lawrence Conley, these guys were my heroes back in the day, and it’s rewarding to follow in their footsteps. I tell people racing this car is like starting a fire by rubbing two sticks together — it’s not the smartest way to do it, but when you do it, it’s rewarding.”

“What’s shocking is that when we put this engine in this car, I thought the Buick guys are going to be mad, and the Mustang guys are going to be mad…but it hasn’t been that way,” Fiscus says in closing. “I don’t think I’ve had anyone question why we did it…they like that it’s odd, and people like to root for the underdog.”