Hi all, I am pretty new to GM/Buick engines and have some performance questions. First the motor is in a 72 Centurion conv. I will only be cruising around , but would like to jump on it occasionally. So what I am thinking is, Heads: stock, with light porting ,polishing , 3angle valve grind, and probably go to the larger valves Intake: B4B or performer Exhaust: would like to get headers, but is the header headache worth the time. How well do the stocks flow? Either way will have 2.5 pipes (no resonators) and performance mufflers. Ignition: am switching to HEI from a 74 estate wagon Cam: Looking at a Crower or the TA212. I only want slight bump up from stock. Withy the weight of this boat I need all the low end grunt I can get. Carb: stock 800cfm Qjet. rebuilt and tweaked. Tranny: stock converter with BM tow shift kit. Well what do you think? I think this should give me a nice semi sleeper. I may not win the race, but I'll surprise the hell out of the other guy! Any and all suggestions/comments are welcome and thanks
Sounds like a good mild steet engine combo! I'm no expert, but here's some thoughts... On the HEI, you can rebuild `em for about $50. Put in a good adjustable vaccum advance and clean up the shaft bushings. If the weights are at all wobbly on thier shafts replace `em. Carb rebuild, pick up Doug Roe's book, or send it out to John Osborne (use the Search button to fins a phone number) and you'll get a great carb. If you go to the larger valves, be sure to have them unshouded. Otherwise the larger valve aren't doing much for you. I'd spend some time in the rear end before looking at exhaust or expensive upgrades. A good 3.73 posi with a dog engine will out do a tweaked engine with a 2.56 one-legger many times.
Using an old distrubtor is OK, I guess, but bear in mind that the '74 distributpr is 30 years old, and the bushings are probabaly worn out. That can give you some odd idle behavior
Valves I don't know the vin off the top of my head, I will find out tonite and repost. Also I miss spoke about the dist. I bought a new dist (HEI) from Autozone that is for a 74 estate wagon. All parts are new and shoul slide right in.
Although it won't really add hp, these things may "free up" hp you should be getting but aren't: good spark plugs- I have tried the bosch platinum +4s and although good plugs, are not worth the money in our cars. The plugs work great, just no noticeable difference, even in mileage A lot of guys use NGK. big plug wires- help your plugs get spark if you can. I'd check around and see if there's anything to be gained in say, using 8mm wires instead of 10mm. If it won't matter, don't waste the money. good air filter- K&N make good lifetime units that you can clean and re-oil With headers, my primary concern was the fact that my stock manifolds were rusty, leaky, corroded trash. Headers were nice, cheap, convenient, new, AND a HP gain. Plus, since a lot of Buicks from our era seem to not use donut gaskets on the exhaust, they seal better than any manifold I have had. You'd never know my car had headers, it's so quiet. I recommend full welded mufflers- I have blown up two mufflers so far that were pinch welded. You may also consider transmission upgrades, or getting a higher numeric rear gear
best improvement would be a quality switch pitch t-400. The heavy cars love those with 3:42 gears. You can keep stock intake, a nice cam like KB118 and that car will pull like a freight-train!! my '72 electra ran mid 13.0's with similar set-up and suprised alot of people.
Re: Valves DISTRIBUTOR CAP, ROTOR AND COIL SET for a 1974 BUICK ESTATE WAGON HYPERTECH 4050 $79.99 This one? TIA
