Hello People, Firstly, thanks for letting me jooin your group. I am a long tem Ford guy (no booing or hissing please) who recently aquired my first Buick: 1973 Century/350 CID. I must say that I was quite impressed with the power after giving a needed tune up. Since I am not familiar with GM you can imagine my disdain when I discovered that this Buick 350 was not like a Chevy 350, or Olds, or just about anything for that matter. I plan to use the Century as my everyday/cruising car, so I need paint, an amp on the 8-track and a 350 with a little spice. I wanted to know if you could spare some general 350 advise and/or some links to performance manufacturers. Thanks
galaxie I've been using the search function. So many questions have already been answered, it makes it really easy.
howdy Hey there Galaxy. Normally we put our real names in our signature. Were on a first name basis around here. anyways...feel free to ask any questions no matter how dumb that you think it is 99.995 percent of us are pretty friendly around here we're pretty open to other makes. Just dont call our skylark/gs a chevelle and we'll be ok. anyways.. since I haven't ventured to far into the 350 performance area YET so I dont know of many of the aftermarket performance companies. But, I do know of www.taperformance.com. there are some other cam manufactures out there as well that major suppliers sell so another company is northern I hope you find us a friendly group and let me welcome you to the board. Nate
Any basic mod you make to any V8 would apply to the buick 350... as common sense would say. They, by default, make more torque than the other 350's because of a longer stroke, and take more carb than other 350s, so don't be afraid to put a 750 on even a stock Bu350 because... it can handle it. Good luck :grin:
CompCams makes a few cams for the Buick 350. If you don't already have dual exhaust, it's worth it. Also, if you're on the cheap, you can port the exhaust manifolds instead of getting headers.
porting headers John is there a good website or photos of a ported manifold? I'm looking to do that. Nate
Nate, I don't know if there is website or not. I'm certain it would much the same as porting an intake manifold. You should be able to do it with a die grinder. Personally, I'm thinking of having a machine shop do mine, since I need to fix a leak anyway. Do a search on Google, for Exhaust Manifold Porting, you'll find a lot of general info.
Hey Galaxie, How close are you to my old stomping grounds, Ft Polk? I sure would like to visit LA again. Of course I need to hide my northern accent so I don't repeatedly hear, "You ain't from around here, are ya boy?" Anyway, if that 350 has points, you may want to upgrade to HEI. Its a cheap, effective mod. The Century 350 that board moderator Mike Garrison used to own posted some nice 1/4 mile times in the hands of Its new owner. Those things are no slouch.
Re: howdy Hey Nate you must have found a secret page or something. Your link end up at some writers info page. http://www.taperformance.com./
Hey Dan, Chalmette is next door to New Orleans; I'm about four miles away from the French Quarter, nowhere near Ft. Polk - I live in an over-sized suburb subsidiary of the big city. Thanks for the advice on the points. I was messing with them last night and could not get them right: I get get the best timing when it is at idle or accelerating. If I give it a little gas it misses - stomp the pedal and I BOOK - sit at a light and wonder if the motor is still running because it is so dern smooth. You're right about that car not being a slouch - I am very impressed at how that Buick moves - I don't know about you guys but Rice Burners are like bees around here and I love to diss' em with old school rods. Coming off a full-size Galaxie ragtop, the Century seems excessiveely light and agile. And hey again... If you could send me a link and maybe a little insight on the ignition system you mentioned, I would really appreceate it. How does it advance? The only car I ever had without points had old school electronic ignition. Thanks for all the replies and advice I have received so far, guys.
Help me Can any of you tell me the timing marks for the 215 ci v8 made in 1962 ? are they 12 and 12 or 6 and 12 oclock please be specific for me.
Byron, The HEI is the factory "hotter" ignition that started showing up around 74. It requires a HEI distributor, HEI plug wires, a larger plug gap, and a 12 volt key on source. Your cars fusebox will most likely have a 12 volt port ready for a wire to plug in since the HEI was an option(correct me if I'm wrong Buick guys). I put an HEI in my 72 Skylark. The results were very good. The points system had the timing at 4 degrees initial and 12 total. The HEI let me time it at 15 degrees initial and alot total (my balancer only goes to 12 so I'm guessing 28ish). Now my engine is the lower compression 2v engine so you may not get that much initial timing. You'll have to experiment. Good luck!
