70 Stage 1 Timing Cover Removal Questions

Finally had a chance to try and button this project up. Paul Massicotte was not only helpful enough to take time out of his busy life to come help me numerous times - ultimately working late into last Friday night - but also gave me the extra long bolts I was in need of to attempt to get this thing running again. That's where I hit a snag....

One of the 4 long bolts broke off flush with the block (I may have mentioned that earlier) and Paul was finally able to get it out - 4 drill bits later. That was a stubborn little bastard.

Today, the first thing I did was install one of Paul's bolts. The thread caught but just didn't feel right. It was in and secured but I wasn't confident about how secure it was. Anyway, I moved forward with the rest of the resurrection.

A little while later, after a few turns of the key, it came back to life. The timing is off and my friend unwittingly left his timing light at home. Not a good practice for a busy shop owner. After running for a few minutes, there it was - coolant leaking at the head of that bolt...

So, that's where I'm at as of today. I had to walk away from it before I had a raging breakdown. I'm off again tomorrow and will get back at it then. Paul came up with a couple great ideas for that bolt/threading that I'll attempt tomorrow. If those don't work, I'm going to have to think long and hard about what I'm going to do going forward for this season...

 

Obviously, one of the long bolts on the drivers side. I would take it out and put some pipe joint compound on it and screw it back in. The two bolts on the drivers side go into coolant so you need some type of thread sealant otherwise they'll leak at the bolt head.

Big question- when you buttoned it all up, did you look at the workbench and see the oil slinger sitting there? You not a real Buick guy unless that happens. Your also not a real Buick guy until all the skin gets removed from your knuckles trying to adjust the points with an allen key. I just love the noise the fan makes when it contacts the knuckles- BBBRRRIIIINNNGGG!! A split second later the curing starts....SONOFAB......

 

Bahahaha!!

No - the TA unit was plug and play. For the most part, anyway.

I needed to get away from it today. I'll be back with a clearer mind tomorrow.

 

My concern is that when the bolt was drilled out, the threads might have been screwed up and the bolt is only going as far as the "screwed up" threads. It's just not tightnening as it should. It's snug but that's the extent of it. Maybe it just needs to get past the faulty threads and then it'll catch? I don't know...

What you say about the coolant passage makes sense and I'll goop the hell out of the bolt tomorrow. My fear is the thread in the block needs a helicoil.

 

Lock Tite and Permatex did the trick.

Got everything buttoned up and squared away today, put a timing light on it, got it perfect, started it up with the Q-Jet and it ran like it was starving for fuel and had a skip. Something was amiss.

Compression test checked out okay; pulled the valve covers to see how things looked while it was running and that was fine as well.

I put that old Holley back on - that clearly needs rebuilding - and it started and ran as smooth as it did before. Done.

I'll be in the market for an 800 cfm Holley very soon.

Success!