1977 Skylark S/R

Discussion in 'The "X" bodies' started by notanova, Mar 12, 2015.

  1. notanova

    notanova Active Member

    Thanks for the tip! Yeah I'm going with a four bolt main Chevy 350, I'll post the build plan soon (expensive!)
     
  2. notanova

    notanova Active Member

    Okay, I have a tentative build plan made.

    -Boss's 4 bolt 350 $100
    -Bore it .030 over Need to call Machine shop
    -This kit with Hi-Rev lifters & oil pump shaft, 214/224 cam http://www.northernautoparts.com/part/ek-ek1900 $432
    -A set of junkyard 5.3L Vortec heads $280
    -Intake http://www.summitracing.com/parts/edl-2716 $216
    -Holley 600 DP https://www.holley.com/products/fue...le_pumper/classic_double_pumper/parts/0-4776C $453
    -Air Cleaner https://www.holley.com/products/accessories/air_cleaners/parts/120-102 $44

    $1,525+

    Still need to research headers, need to look for ones that work with these heads that will fit this car. I know plans will change with time, all depends on funds and how long my boss will let me keep the Skylark in the shop. Also I'm sure some of you will tell me I'm crazy and should do something else smarter and cheaper, which I'd greatly appreciate! :grin:
     
  3. TheSilverBuick

    TheSilverBuick In the Middle of No Where

    I do hope you mean Vortec 350 (5.7L) heads and not 5.3L heads, which are LS series heads and won't work for several reasons.
     
  4. notanova

    notanova Active Member

    Thanks for catching my mistake, I need to stop assuming! I heard from an instructor that Vortec heads work and I guess I don't know enough about them so I assumed 5.3, live and learn! Thank you
     
  5. PaTerry

    PaTerry New Member

    [​IMG]

    Tamaroff was a buick dealer i think it is Art Moran buick gmc
     
  6. newmexguy

    newmexguy Well-Known Member

    "vortec" chevy heads (96 - 02 in production vehicles) have a different mounting bolt arrangement, the attaching bolts are vertical like many Ford engines, and require a specific intake that will not be the same as earlier engines. so unless you are starting with heads that are "vortec" there will be a mismatch.
     
  7. skylarkgp

    skylarkgp Member

    I was going to post that as well but I looked at his link for the intake and saw that it was a Vortec intake. The traditional sbc intake manifold has 12 bolts to mount it and the vortec uses 8. Also worth mentioning is that fel pro makes a "problem solver" gasket set (ms98000t) that has a great lower intake gasket but I haven't found it separately.
     
  8. notanova

    notanova Active Member

    Lots of things preventing me from doing this project, mostly my own doing but some of it is a car I've been rebuilding for a loved one. Once I'm done with that, I need to jump on getting rid of a parts car to free up shop space and do a 5 speed swap on my daily driver. THEN I'll be able to start building up the 350 haha. Still haven't found any Vortec 5.7L heads.

    Happened upon a guy wanting to get rid of a couple Q-Jets, and I'm thinking of picking one up and using it for the skylark. He's asking $20 each, and for a carb that sells for 250/300 remanufactured, I think that's a good deal. Especially considering the fact that a rebuild kit is only 30-40 bucks. This way, I wont be out $450 for a new carb. All that can go towards the heads.

    Of course I'll have to get this spreadbore intake instead,

    http://www.summitracing.com/parts/edl-2116

    but hey, I think it's what, $10 cheaper than the squarebore? Score!



    In other news I have the floor pan and carpet, that's probably the first project I'll tackle once I'm done with all these Hondas. Goodness
     
  9. skylarkgp

    skylarkgp Member

    I bought a 57k mile 4 bolt 5.7 vortec engine for the short block. I won't be needing the heads. I would take $200 for them. If you are interested I will pull them and send you pictures. I am in Grants Pass, OR. PM me as I don't check in real often.
     
  10. notanova

    notanova Active Member

    PM sent!
     
  11. newmexguy

    newmexguy Well-Known Member

    Happened upon a guy wanting to get rid of a couple Q-Jets, and I'm thinking of picking one up and using it for the skylark. He's asking $20 each, and for a carb that sells for 250/300 remanufactured, I think that's a good deal. Especially considering the fact that a rebuild kit is only 30-40 bucks. This way, I wont be out $450 for a new carb. All that can go towards the heads.

    A smart decision. a double pumper would be way overkill for that combo. (Auto Trans w/ most likely either a 2.41 or 2.56 rear end) Quadrajets, when properly set up, tuned, and rebuilt if necessary make excellent fuel mixers.
     
  12. notanova

    notanova Active Member

    Thanks for the input!

    I found out one of them is an 800cfm (larger primary bore), and it was my understanding that they were rare and worth a lot but upon further research I couldn't find any supporting facts. It was missing a lot of parts so I took the 750 anyways. Oh well.
     
  13. Bigpig455

    Bigpig455 Fastest of the slow....

    I like the Q-jets a lot, and use them on all my cars..

    the 800 CFM's aren't all that rare - if you need a divorced (manifold mounted) choke, then any 71-73 Buick 455 carb will work, the last 3 digits of the carb number will end in 540 or 240 for the easiest ones to find. A rebuildable core on e-bay will run you less than 100.00.

    But the 800 CFM carb I like even better is any 2nd generation M4M 76-79 Buick Quadrajet, no matter what it was on. These generally go for pretty cheap as people consider them emissions carbs. They will have a hot air choke set up, but are easily converted to an electric choke. These will require some recalibraton from an expert like Ken from Everyday Performance (Techg8), or Mark (Carmanx?), but are a better design than previous carbs. I look for 76 240 carbs, or 77-79 247 or 249 carbs.

    IMO, if you drive your car anywhere these are better choices than a Holley, and will support a car running well into the 11's in basically stock configuration with no trouble at all.
     
  14. notanova

    notanova Active Member

    Thank you for the info and advice! Carbs Unlimited showed that the Quadrajets I have originally came off of Chevy trucks, one of them also had a "Marine" application designation, but I'm sure this guy pulled it off a 78-79 truck. The one I'm using is a R4-4MV, number 17058213. The 800cfm (supposedly off a truck 454) had a lot of missing bits and supposedly California emissions standards.

    I'm excited to rebuild it and put it on the 350, I've always wanted to experiment with Q-Jets and for some reason I thought I'd never have one, but here goes!
     
  15. notanova

    notanova Active Member

    Slowly getting through some things in the way of this project. Home life, work and other projects still require more attention, but I'm feeling like parts of it will clear up soon.

    Haven't heard back from skylarkgp yet, but still planning on getting those heads. Talked with the local machine shop, who is going to try and compete with the price of a Northern Auto Parts engine kit (ek1900) if I bring them the block.
     
  16. notanova

    notanova Active Member

    Ended up having to do the ultra cheap intake and carb swap, used 2101 intake and a rebuilt Qjet (plus waterpump etc.). Change of plans I guess, no time or funds. I have a couple questions;

    Any ideas on hooking up the kick-down cable to the throttle linkage on the 4MV Qjet?

    How do I remove the seat-belt guides on the upper sides of the bucket seats?

    Before
    [​IMG]


    After
    [​IMG]
     
  17. notanova

    notanova Active Member

    Sucked in the rear bumper, I feel proud of my work. Those nuts and bolts get fricken rusty!!

    Before (never had the plastic piece to begin with)
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]



    The end result
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  18. notanova

    notanova Active Member

    Okay, having a bit of drivability issues here..

    Before the intake and carb swap, the 305 would at first stumble and nearly die with hard acceleration. Now, with the Quadrajet & EDL 2101 intake, it does the same thing, but only when it's cold (it also backfires out the carburetor). Even more disappointing, when it's (the engine) warm, it doesn't like acceleration at all; it won't stumble and die, it just has terribly slow acceleration. Sometimes it backfires through the carb and sometimes not, but it really bogs down and takes its time getting up to 30/40 MPH. Does this symptom sound like anything super obvious? The carb is balanced/tuned, no intake leaks, timing is at about 10*BTDC, vacuum advance is advancing, I'm at a loss. Don't get me wrong I'm going to do more research and tinker but I thought I'd give asking the forum a shot. Thank you

    Edit: Also worth mentioning is the 305 has new plugs, wires, cap and rotor, recent fuel pump, new water pump and thermostat. The Quadrajet was rebuilt before installing
     
  19. No Lift

    No Lift Platinum Level Contributor

    Pretty much sounds like a normal operating 305. :grin: Just had to say that.

    I'd pop the valve covers off and look at each rocker arm as it is running to make sure that all of them at least look like they are lifting up about the same as all the other ones. It will be easy to notice if one or more is not the same after you stare at them for a while. You can do one side at a time which will cut down on the oil flying around. That era's engines were notorious for worn lobes on the cam. Also I'd be looking into a fresh timing chain set even if the cam looks good. That chain is probably stretched a good bit which retards the cam making the engine sluggish and a 305 is already sluggish. If the cam is bad you have to make a decision because at that point I'd be looking into any 350 that doesn't smoke and doesn't have a worn out cam. It is just not worth it to keep spending money for performance parts on a 305. Intake/carb is one thing but having to open the engine is another. If you do need a cam get a SMALL cam for it. Something just one step above stock is all you need. That will keep the low end torque and again the 305 needs all it can get especially with a stock converter and lousy highway gears. I'd like to know where the idea that you need an 800 cfm carb for that engine came from. The only reason it works with the 750 is because of the controlled secondary opening. Hopefully the secondaries aren't popping open too fast at WOT and causing it to sputter or bog. Toss a 1" 4-hole spacer under that carb to get a better draw out of the carb which will perk up the bottom end also.

    You haven't mentioned recurving the distributer. If you haven't done so, do it. 10* timing initial is good but if the mechanical advance in the distributer is too much then the total will be too much and that is not good either. Getting a correct recurve will help with any mods you do. You've got no real chance of top end power with a mostly stock 305 so you need to beef up the lowend and midrange to get the most out of it.
     
  20. skylarkgp

    skylarkgp Member

    Use a piece of bailing wire through the spark plug hole to verify that you are on tdc and see where the balancer is pointing. The ring may have slipped on the balancer and you could easily be quite retarded in your timing.
     

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