Hello Buick fans, this is the week I get to enjoy the pleasures of puttin my 455 togeather. This is my first engine I rebuilt myself, except for the machine work of course. Anyway,any tips would be GREATLY appreciated. I have all of the torque specs gaskets and stuff, she's all ready to go eccept for the carb which i will finish next week. I just want to be certaint, i dont to have to do a job twice or ruin something ya know, "measure twice cut once" hee hee. So whats the best sealants and where do I and dont I need to use it? Do I need sealant on the head gaskets, I dont think I do? Someone told me to use a copper spray on the head gaskets and head bolt threads. Do i need to put sealant or thread lock on the head and intake bolts? Do I seal 1 or both sides of the intake manifold? Also, my block was decked .0010 and my heads were milled .006 a total of .0016 off. I'm using the stock .0042 thickness head gasket. I was going to use the chrome moly push rods from poston i ordered but their a little shorter than stock size, about thickness of a quarter and i was never told this i descovered that myself. so they told me to find a .0020 head gasket and ill be fine, fine but i cant find a .0020 gasket for buick so im go ing back to the stock rods for my build. They should be fine for my set up. Since the valve train is'nt adjustable how do I mesure if their the push rods are at the right clearence when I put them in so I dont have any Problems? Thanks for any tips ~VINNY~
Vinny, You may want to consider using either adjustable pushrods, or a set of adjustable roller rockers. With what you've taken off of the block and heads you won't be anywhere near a stock pushrod length, and that adjustability will certainly come in useful later on! As far as I know you don't need sealant, or thread locker, but maybe best to hear from those that have more experience. I've never used it myself changing heads, or on my buildups. You seal both sides of the intake, a good bead of RTV is the common use. Hope that helps!
I agree with Clint, get adjustable pushrods, or borrow one and get the proper length to have a set made. Disassemble and clean each lifter, right down to the little check valve on the bottom of the plunger. If your lifters have the little flat disc check valve get rid of them and get a set with the ball. Prime your oil system before you put the intake on, be sure every lifter is holding. Be sure an degree you cam IAW the cam card, don't skip this step, if you install it straight up your likely giving away free power and driveability. Buy good composite intake gaskets, with the decking you did you'll need more than the sheet metal stock setup. Good Luck.
Hey Clint, I really didnt want to go with adjustable push rods. I was hoping to use solid pushrods to be safer so I dont have to adjust them later and besides I have no experience using them. My machinist told me to install the rods, set the lifter for that rod at the base of the lobe on the cam and check the travel of the lifter plunger. He said from the plunger to the top of the inside of the lifter should be .0060 optimum, but in between .0040 and .0080 no more no less. Can any one agree with this? He also said that what he took off the block wont affect intake to head matching, or piston to valve clearence but never said anything about the pushrod clearences untill I thought about it. Len, what do you mean by I'll need more than stock sheet meatal set up? I'm using feelpro intake gasket and the valley pan. ThanKs! ~VINNY
The stock intake gasket/valley pan is a single piece, works real well with the stock intake and heads in the original configuration. When you deck the block and heads you change some of those original angles and it may be more than the thin metal gasket can accomodate. Safer to go with composite intake gaskets and a seperate valley pan/tray. Many ways to do it and most work as well as the others.
Thats what I plan on doing, installing the valley gasket then the seperate intake manifold gasket and gooping it all up for extra sealing
Go easy on the gooping! A thin smear that you can see through is all you need, any more and the extra will squish into the engine! Lately I've been using High Tack from NAPA. http://www.napaonline.com/cgi-bin/n...t?prrfnbr=15622340&prmenbr=5806&usrcommgrpid= I've also used gasgacinch. (at the bottom of the page) http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive/perftools.html
it will probaly run just fine even if your pushrods are a little tight, but if you want to get the most power out of your moter you should go with adjustables, rollers are nice but alot of $$$$. once you set the adjustables you wont have to touch them agine. just remember when the pushrod is just a little tight your valves are opening early and closing late, in turn this effects engine profomance.
I don't claim to be a master engine rebuilder, and I have little experience with BBB's (except Nailheads) but on any engine I replaced headgaskets on, I always spray a coat of copperhead sealer on both sides of both head gaskets. I use it on intake gaskets as well, both sides, and a THIN smear of blue silicone around the water passages never hurts. (if a thick coat of silicone sets up before you tighten it you can crack the manifold) I also use the red tacky spray on valve cover and oil pan gaskets, water pump and timing cover. On head bolts that go into blind holes I just oil the threads a little, on the holes that protrude into the water jacket I coat the threads with brown "indian head" sealer in the little bottle. I also use that on timing cover threads that go through to the water jacket or crankcase. It's also a good practice to smear an extremely thin coat of silicone near the rear seal mating surface on the rear main bearing cap. Those seals should also be coated with a thin film of grease to lubricate them. Again, I am not an expert on engine building, but pushrods that are .030 shorter would not worry me, especially after your motor was decked and heads milled slightly. If they were longer, than I would worry. IMHO, adjustable ones are just one more thing to screw up and have to worry about. Your lifters should take up the slack, even though stock length would probably be better. One more thing, never use sealer on a carb gasket. However, if you want to keep it from sticking, spray it with silicone lubricant, like garry's "it" or something comparable. This way you may be able to use it over if you have to remove the carb before everything bakes in. Most important of everything here, make sure your camshaft rotates freely.........and USE PLASTIGAGE ON ALL YOUR MAINS AND ROD BEARINGS AND CHECK THE CLEARANCES. The crank is the first thing that goes in, and if they are off, don't go any further. That is where I messed up on my last rebuild, I wish mine were a little tighter. I hope my advice helps you.......my Nailhead was also my very first rebuild back in 1976. Each time you do it again you get a little better at it. Good luck, Vinny!:beer
DAMM, thanks alot for the info Joe. Its a great reassurence to what I had in mind before I started putting it togeather. The shop put the crank in for me and i did the rods. The only thing i messed up on was i oiled the bearings, installed all of the pistons and rods first to keep them safe till it got warmer in the garage and I could torque everything. So then I had to take out the bearings clean off all of the oil and then check them,, What a nightmare
kind of like doing chevy rockers,with the lifter at its low point,you just tighten them till you just start to feel resistance as you roll them with my two fingers then i snug down the nuts, you just want them so they dont rattle.
Pay close attention to the rear main seal. A leaking engine that is brand new is a REAL disapointment. Also, if you are installing a performance cam be sure to index it. Mike D.
Vinny, You may want to adjust them later. As the valve train wears the pushrod clearance will increase and preload will drop. You'll get a nasty valvetrain noise and up your maintenance. The pnly real worry with the adjustables is breakage. The older ones were prone to it as I inderstand, but most of the ones available now are fine for a medium buildup. They're very easy to use and adjust later. Might be best to look around online about thier construction and you'll see how they work. The composite gaskets mentioned here are also a good idea. Here's a link to them: Parts page with Composite Gaskets Hope that helps!
I agree, I've got a few hundred miles on mine now and there's a couple that could use readjustment, nothing big just nit-picky stuff.
