215 Buick/Olds V8 & '64 Buick 300 Heads Combo Thoughts?

You'll have to cut the valve guides down for retainer clearance with that cam.

 

Yes. I will talk with the machine shop and figure out what needs to be done with the valve guides and seats, new valve options, etc. first. I want to say the valves were fairly sloppy in the guides before I removed them, and considering one of the stems was so flared and mushroomed over it hasn't even been removed yet, it's a good bet the heads will need a full refresh.

 

TA has replacement valves. 64 Buick 225 V6 and 66-71 Jeep 225 V6 are the same. The slightly larger exhaust valves in the 65-67 300/340 work too and are the largest those seats will take at 1.375". I usually cut down the guides for .530 Viton seals and remove the tension springs on exhaust seals, from Alex's parts. Bronze liners also.

11/32" X .530" Viton Valve Seals, 11/32" Fixed Body Valve Seals, VSS-284V, set of 16 - Alex's Parts Sales (alexsparts.com)

 

This is a good deal on the exhaust valves, last one:

New Elgin E1611B Exhaust Valve Set Fits Buick 225 300 340 Engines | eBay

 

Thanks. I think the seats on my '64 heads are still good, so we'll see once the heads are off to the machine shop. Larger exhaust valves would probably be a good idea, anyway.

I saw 215 engine mounts were back in stock at RockAuto (they seemed to be out of stock everywhere I looked online), so I ordered two Westar brand mounts and they arrived today. I'm impressed with how cleanly they are molded, so just glad to have found a pair for a reasonable price:





Also got the 215 and 300 starter nose cones swapped, so I was able to use the 300 starter I bought, for the most part. Still need to remove some material from the nose cone for bellhousing clearance, but not much:

 

Picked up some NOS rocker arms from the UK, part numbers are the same as the '65 pieces, as are the steel contact pads at the tips...maybe '64 shape, I can't recall which off hand. All of the used rocker arms I have show significant wear inside the bores where they ride on the shafts-- not great for oil movement through and around the engine. Just need to collect a few more... and new shafts to match:

 

We converted Chris' stroker to pushrod oiling over 10 years ago. Hollow Smith Bros pushrods and later 350 Buick lifters. Just have to make sure the rocker oiling holes are clear. Use a wire and spray WD40 through. Shims under rocker stands to block shaft oiling holes. Ebay has new shafts.

 

I am fine with the stock oiling system, just need to replace the excessively worn original parts. This engine will be a three seasons street cruiser, so a mix of stock and aftermarket parts should suffice.

I did read a few posts on various Rover forums about the lack of quality on the aftermarket Rover rocker shafts, so I will steer clear of those. I saw this eBay seller offers various new Buick rocker shaft arms: https://www.ebay.com/itm/142988470617 Both sets of shafts from the '64 and '66 300 I have are really worn, and I wouldn't consider reusing them.

 

The interesting thing about the stock rocker shafts is that no matter how worn they get they never really stop working. If you'll notice, all the wear is of course on the bottom and that is the contact point, the wear point, and the point where the oil naturally goes. It's also where the oiling hole in the shaft is so it never wears out in a way that allows the oil to escape and hurts oil pressure. So you could probably run them until the rockers actually wore through in the bottom as long as the lifters had enough preload to take up the slack. (Yet another reason to not skimp on the lifter preload)

Jim

 

Sure, they could be reused, but looking at the scoring and heavy wear, would that be a good idea? Not for me.

 

When I rebuilt my first 215 I went through six sets of used stock shafts and rockers and sorted out the best for my motor. The next motor I switched to pushrod oiling and never used shaft oiling again.

 

For pushrod oiling your rockers have to have a hole from the pushrod tip to the bore. That is pretty common but it is best to check.

Jim

 

I will stick with the shaft style oiling for now. Even on the worn 300 I reassembled, using the best two of the four rocker shaft and best rockers arms, I had good oil pressure and flow up at the rocker assembly when I spun the oil pump over with a drill. I will be fine with new stock style shafts and rockers, crank and cam bearings, lifters, etc.

 

Don't forget the steel thread inserts for the rocker shaft hold down bolts.

 

I hadn't thought about that to be honest, but with the added valve spring pressure, it is probably a good idea.