Emissions & power upgrades

Good afternoon guys. Brand new to the forum & have spent hours looking through all of the posts here about working on our Buicks. I've gotten some ideas & I'm sure this is a beat to death topic.

I just purchased a '72 Skylark Custom 350 4bbl. I'm looking to know what emissions related things I can get rid of to get me some more power.

Also looking for any ways I can get some more power out of her for a while before I rip out the motor to rebuild it. I've read about the Pertronix ignition & some other items.

So basically just looking for some easy upgrades I can do at home myself before the motor tear down in the future.

Thanks,

Kyle

 

Welcome from WV
You could recurve you distributor, that's A cheap way to get more power .

 

Definitely a rear gear change will wake that thing right up! It probably has a 2.56 or a 2.73:1 rear gear in it right now, a 3 series will get you moving a bit better.

What are your plans for the car, will it be a daily driver, a street/strip, pleasure weekend cruiser, what?

 

Planning on it being a decently powered street car, 400ish HP, posi rear, ETC yet being able to be a reliable frequent (not quite daily) driver.

 

Any plans on installing an overdrive transmission?

If so, starting with the rear gear and moving forward is a good strategy to feel seat of the pants gains for the lesser amount of $$ than rebuilding an engine after each mod, while saving to do the most expensive upgrade(the engine) for last.

If your engine already runs good the above strategy makes even more sense because you can do a gear or trans change in a shorter amount of down time with the car.

Man, where the flock are all these stock sbb 350 unaltered unmodified cars coming from? I thought most of them had a 455 stuffed in them already? Or at least an overdrive trans in them?

Very cool that you have a car like that you can alter the way you want!(didn't think there were as many left 50 + years later that have been on here lately, very cool)

 

Will do Larry. I should have the car back mid week weekend at the latest. As soon as I get it back I will update you.

 

If your looking for 400ish hp. , your starting with rebuilding engine, higher compression, zero deck, rebalancing. A lot of head work. Big valves. Or turbos. Start out little like what has already been mentioned.

 

Not currently. Going to stick with the TH350 but with plans to make the innards more stout.

Would like to get some use out of it over the summer, then during crap months in CO. I can work on some of the drivetrain & other items.

Found it on Craigslist. Seamist Green, green vinyl top, & green interior(in great shape). Planning on keeping it stock looking with the exception of losing the front drums, rim, & tire changes.

 

Cool, so a rear gear change to, at the most for a non-O/D trans that wouldn't make the RPM to annoying on the freeway would be a 3.73:1 rear gear.

The TH350 and a 3.73:1 is a good combo, 2.52 x 3.73 = 9.3996:1 1st gear torque multiplication ratio which is a very very nice ratio from a dead start! BANG for the buck seat of the pants feel it gain right there! If you have a 2.73 gear now it would be 2.73 x 2.52 = 6.8796:1 1st gear"..........".(kinda lack luster for a small block)

Then save $ for the engine if the trans runs fine for now run it.(why fix what is not broke) An engine build to get to your goals will be a lot of work and some $$ to get you where you said you want to go(400 HP) but you can get there with a sbb 350. GL

 

If your car is a '72, as indicated by your handle, does it have an EGR system? Some '72s did, IIRC. Disabling it can give performance improvements but may lead to detonation. Show us a couple pictures of your engine, and more appropriate recommendations can be made.

 

With iron heads and good street qualities, 400 hp is unlikely. An experienced high performance rebuilder may get 350 hp. When the new aluminum heads are released expect 400 hp.

 

400 HP is VERY doable with good street "qualities" with a sbb 350 with cast iron heads.

Here is a build that achieved 422 HP @ 5,300 RPM and 449 ft lbs of torque @ 4,800 RPM, are the naturally aspirated dyno numbers;

http://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/the-dyno-numbers-are-in.200499/

You more than likely will NOT achieve those numbers with factory rods or cast pistons though, also adding 20 more cubes would help out a whole lot like they did in the thread in the link.


The engine in that link was actually built to run boost so the compression was only IIRC around 8.5:1! If you do a similar build but go with 10:1 with a bigger cam you will more than likely make even more power if you can get similar head flow numbers like they got for that build.(which shouldn't be to hard from a decent head porter)

 

Will do guys. I'll get some pics up & we can start making some progress.

Should have the car back mid week.

 

I have a '72 Skylark custom 350-4, I removed all A/C componets and installed an A/C delete cover so that I still have use of the heater, I think that save about 60lbs right there. Then I removed the smog pump, EGR valve and as Larry suggested the Transmission Controlled Spark Advance system. I left the PCV valve and the fuel evaperator canister hose to the air cleaner snorkel. I did refill the canister with new charcoal and new filter and noticed a improvement in gas smell under the hood. I did leave the idle solenoid on the carburetor. It works great to lower the idle when you shut the engine off to keep the engine for running on.

I still haven't installed my correct rebuilt 1112109 distributor and power timed it yet but that's coming.

I have no drivability problems other then a pesky vacuum leak the I couldn't find for a long time that is causing rough idle but lucked out when I took my car in for some front end work and the mechanic found that the power brake booster is leaking. I'm going to change that out myself.

One of the best thing I did when I frist got the car was to just give it a good tune up. Plugs, points and condenser and timed it to factory specs. After the car was running good I moved on to other things.

90% of what I learned is from the people on this forum, great bunch of guys!

I dig reading about the more advance stuff the other guys do here gives me inspiration and I sure to you too Kyle

Brad

 

I agree with the fellas above about gears, and a decent torque converter will unlock some potential as well. A distributor recurve with a well balanced electronic ignition, and a warmed over calibrated Qjet. Of course before anything is touched I would ensure it is running tip-top in its current setup. It is no fun chasing old demons after installing new parts. But that is my internet opinion for the day.

 

I concur. As soon as I get her home I will be changing all fluids/filters, PCV valve, spark plugs, wires etc.

Would like to do electronic ignition upgrade (will keep points in car just in case). Thinking of a Crane XRI. Anybody have any opinions between Crane, Pertronix, ETC?

Also any suggestions on plugs & wires? Was going to use ACDelco double platinums & ACDelco wires.

 

Here ya go guys a few pics of Seamist Sky.

 

Nice!! Looks all to familiar actually.. right down to the seat covers.