D&S Performance Buick 455/462 V8

Thank God that I was able to SAVE a few hundred dollars by doing it all myself.
Also, regarding my 200-degrees engine temp yesterday;

I turned the fans on @ 180-degrees ... motor was almost 1/2 jug container LESS in antifreeze ... or the new Holley is running a bit lean/naah ... jets are still #80 in size.

 

You definitely had a learning experience. My head is spinning. Chris, please take this only as constructive criticism and I wish I would have caught what was going on sooner. I would have never pulled the intake. I've had the grommet do the same thing and just let it stay in there. It is rubber and worse case it makes its way down to the oil pan chewed up a bit or it does as you found and just sits in the valley which is what mine did and did so for many thousands of miles with no problem. More than once too. Those new grommets are tough to get broken in. That's all water under the bridge.

Now the problem with the intake pull. I'm sure you realized you made a mistake early on. From the looks of the antifreeze sitting in the water passages front and rear you never drained the radiator before taking the intake off. So the antifreeze went right down into the oil pan. At that point the oil should have been drained and oil and antifreeze would have come out mostly separately. That is why the milkshake after you started it with the antifreeze in it. If you never started it with the antifreeze in the oil it would never have milkshaked. When you drained the milkshake oil and replaced it you should have just used some cheap oil and cheap filter because you have to do it again, maybe even a few more times. Do some easy driving for a bunch of miles in one drive but get it good and warm so that the antifreeze will try to boil off which is tough. Then drain it again with a new filter and see what you have. If the milky oil is all but gone then you can install the good oil and filter and be back ready for action. One other thing is pop both valve covers off and check for milkshake in them. It will not come out on its own without wiping it out. You'll know when all the water is out of the oil when you take the VC's off and nothing is in them. Maybe you've already done this to clean it out. Maybe it cleaned out with one oil drain but I doubt it. Check your dipstick for milkiness. Check you breather and especially pull the passenger VC.

A couple of tips for the next time the intake is off or anybody else doing it the first time. RTV is ok around the water passages but around the ports I'd use it sparingly. Just some brush-on Hi Tack around the ports is fine on a fresh intake gasket. You can reuse the intake gasket if you clean it up thoroughly and then I use a thin amount of RTV around the ports if necessary. I don't use the end seals. I just run a thick bead of RTV on each China wall making sure it is just thick enough to get squashed a bit by the intake. If the heads and block have been milled enough the end seal usually get cracked at the ends because they get squashed too much. Don't bend the intake gasket in the middle. If you just align it right, push down on it in the middle, it will snap past the heads and spring into position with a bow in the middle. Popping the distributor cap and wires off opens up the front for easier access. That is a lot of black junk on the original intake gasket. I don't know how many miles you have on the engine since installation but I'd be looking into oil changes more often. No more than a few thousand between changes especially with a lot of city driving no matter what oil you use. How many miles on the engine since it was installed? In 2009?

Performance tip the next time the intake is off: Block off all your heat crossover passages on each head if you don't really use it in the winter. It may take a little longer for the intake to heat up on cold days but on warm days you won't be cooking your carburetor and probably pick up a HP or two because of the cooler intake.

All you have to do now is check the oil and you can consider it a job well done with only a loss of some oil and filter(s).

 

Good afternoon, ALL.

 

... short THANKS video;

 

Hey, No_Lift.

I appreciate your time, expertise, and help. I was looking for a reply from you.

Now I know regarding pulling the intake. Thanks much.
Bruno-D also told me that the grommet was NOT a problem ... can't get in the oil pick-up anyway, he told me.

Yeah ... it was a lot of black gunk. I had a bad/broken PCV valve grommet ... and a bad PCV valve. My intake manifold had a bad vacuum leak due to that. I also read that a bad PCV valve can turn engine oil black. My motor is 7 years old.
That oil valley intake gasket was a pain in the butt; it kept moving as soon as the intake manifold touched it. LOL

I'm happy that I changed the intake manifold ... it was fun.
I give my buddy "Eric" a SUPER thanks for his expertise, torque wrench, time, and loyalty.
Eric and Steve have been "true-blue" from the beginning to present time ... always authentic, helpful, and real.

I will block off the heat cross-over ports in the Edelbrock next time ... my buddy "Turbo-Steve" gave me the info regarding buying the 2 port plugs when I had the intake off the motor ... but listening to guys saying that I'll have cold start issues ... I didn't do it. After the intake was back on the motor, I found out the TRUTH.

I also hear you on the oil change ... changing the oil/filter again next week.
At the time, I didn't have the money to buy new motor oil/filter ... that's why I used the Brad Penn.

Changing my speedometer cable and the intake manifold gasket made me feel STRONG.

Thanks again, No_Lift.

Have a great week ahead.

 

This is the part number for the mechanical speedometer cable that works with any mechanical Auto-Meter speedometer you have installed ... in conjunction with a GM TH200-4R, TH350, or TH400 automatic transmission.

 

I always look for your updates, Chris. It's a breath of fresh air to see you having fun learning and the making the journey.

I think you have quite the "silent" following.

 

Good night, ALL.

On Friday, I toggled this Carter electric fuel pump on with the motor OFF ... fuel poured out of the boosters onto the intake manifold.
I did a bit of research, and finally found out WHY I was having fuel issues. This pump was pushing fuel PAST my Holley fuel pressure regulator.
I didn't have my glasses on when I ordered it. I still have the 6-8-psi electric Carter fuel pump in the trunk ... it's going back on the Regal tomorrow or sometime next week. My regulator is currently set to 7-psi.

LMAO.

Carter P4601HP
Electric Fuel Pump High Pressure with 100 gph at 14-16 psi Output.

 

... TA mechanical Street/Strip fuel pump use.

 

The regulator should be stopping the fuel at either the preset factory setting or where you've set it by adjusting the set screw on the top of the regulator.


The 14-16 psi the rating on the pump at max output.

 

Please, please have somebody adjust your carb fuel level the correct way. If you set the floats too low engine damage at WOT could result. While idling the fuel should be barely dribbling out of the sight holes. That is with the fuel regulator set CORRECTLY somewhere between 6-7 psi. Turn the screw CCW(I believe) until the pressure goes down(engine running) and then slowly CW to come up to the pressure you want. That regulator should easily regulate the high pressure Carter pump. Did all of this just start or did you just add the big pump?

The problem could stem from adjusting it with the previously used low pressure fuel pump. You may have had it set at a high pressure setting not realizing that a regulator will only regulate down. It cannot "regulate" fuel pressure to a pressure that is higher than the fuel pump can put out. With the older low pressure pump maybe you never were regulating the pressure because the regulator was set too high. You were just at the limit of the pump(s). The other problem I've seen is pressure creep with that style regulator when the engine is off and the pump is on. The fuel after the regulator is deadheading against the needle and seat. Fuel sneaks by the regulator seat and has no where to go so it continues to creep up. On top of that I believe your mechanical fuel pump holds the pressure between it and the regulator at 14 psi even after you shut down the pump. So pressure can creep up and overload the needle and seats even with the engine is off.

The above paragraph is tough to write out and probably tougher to understand what I wrote. Most importantly get the N&S set correctly. With your original electric pump and mechanical pump you really didn't need a regulator because neither are greater than 7 psi. The regulator is just a restriction in the way. I run a single Comp 110 electric pump set at 7 psi and no regulator and I'm running low 11's. You should be fine with the original electric(unless it is worn out) and the mechanical pump. If you want to run the big pump make sure you set the regulator correctly and never turn the electric pump on until the car is running. At that point if everything is adjusted correctly it should work fine. Of course if that regulator or pump was just installed then maybe you got some junk flushed up onto the needle and seats of the carb that needs to be cleaned out.

 

Hey, No_Lift.

I appreciate your expertise. You are, of course ... absolutely correct.

This is what I found out over a week ago;

I woke up that day ... my instincts told me to go straight to the garage downstairs ... and remove BOTH Needle & Seats.



Something told me to take the Needle and Seat assemblies upstairs ... 15 minutes later as I was flipping the Needle and Seat upside down and upright ... THE NEEDLE STUCK like glue. Blowing HARD into it didn't un-stick it either.

That's why I had the SAME problem with the new/rebuilt/modified Holley.

I bought 4 new Needle and Seat assemblies ... 2 new ones are in my Holley-950 CFM carb now. I adjusted the float levels ... NO more fuel pouring out of the boosters when I shut the motor off, nor at idle. This photo is of the secondary Needle and Seat after I changed it.


This is the primary Needle and Seat that was STICKING before, and after my Holley950 was shipped back to me.


The ORIGINAL/OLD/STICKING primary Needle and Seat I removed from my "NEW" Holley950.



Notice the ethanol powder on the old primary sticking Needle and Seat?




The NEW Needle and Seat assemblies I bought off an Ebay seller. Notice my old one on the left ... notice the Needle size on the new "110" Needle and Seats?




Notice how the fuel POURED out as soon as I removed the site-hole screw?




The black marker lines was my way of setting the new Needle and Seat inside my Holley950 as close as possible as to where this old one was set.


New 110 primary Needle and Seat and new gasket. I doubled-up on the primary Needle and Seat gasket.



Tightening screw for primary Needle and Seat.


My new 110 primary Needle and Seat is in my Holley950.