I'm finally sending a set of 69 350 heads in tomorrow to get freshened up. I've never done this before and any expert advice would be greatly appreciated! I don't plan on anything radical but a nice clean rebuild with a little extra would be nice. They will bolt up to my 68 350 and will have a TA212 cam. Any advice on what I should tell the shop to do to these heads? So far they told me to just remove the rocker assembly and leave the valves when I drop them off. This is my first step. And I haven't purchased any new parts yet. Wanted to see what some of you guys had to say. Thanks in advance! Matt
You shouldn't need hardened seats. Unless they are damaged. But even then oversized valves will get you into new metal. What head gaskets do you intend to use? The factory steel ones are thinner than replacements. I would shave heads .050 -060 and get shorter pushrods. With the steel gaskets that could net you Alittle over 9 to 1 real compression and the 212 cam will really show. Make sure you got correct 68-69 lifters. They oil rockers different then 70 and up. Get a 2000 stall convertor. Jet carb up 3 sizes
It's imperative to make sure they maintain the factory tip height (distance from spring seat up to top of valve tip).
Great advice thank you! Yes springs will be bought. Ill see what TA suggests for that cam. Ok, factory tip height. Check Hardened seats not needed. Check Shave .050-.060 with shorter push rods. Check Which brings me to another question.. Is it fine to stay with factory rocker oiling? Or better to swap for oil thru pushrods? Factory steel gaskets good to use? So if theses valves aren't damaged will they be ok to use? Budget does play a roll here too.
If valves are not damaged yes they will just resurface them. Stay with the oiling thru head. Unless you can't get the right parts. The change requires 70 lifters. Plugging passage in block too heads. Conversion pushrods. And doesn't add any advantages. And yes get steel headgaskets. Seen son on eBay or just get from ta performance
Also have them cut down the exhaust guides to run a seal on the exhaust valve. Buick didn't use seals on the exhaust side:Smarty:
Not to sound like an ass, but if the shop is any good you don't tell them anything. Simply discuss your needs and write the check. Double check as much as you can when finished.
I hear you 8ad-f85, I just wasn't sure if there was any good tried and trued tips for the buick that I could request of them. Sounds like I have a good path to take now, I appreciate the help guys.
I don't disagree with that the shopp should know but most want to do ford/Chevy builds and are no help with directing a Buick build. I have had several shops say something like "put a Chevy 350 in it" and " rebuild a Buick 350 and you just have a Buick 350" . so knowing what direction you want or need will help you out. These shops near my never helped me build a decent Buick engine. I Was not happy and they didn't try.
^^and that's exactly what I am afraid of Alec296. Thats why I felt the need to ask. Thanks again for your time
Hope to help. These engines get overlooked . I believe with that cam and if you do shave heads .060 and tuning. You will be impressed with the change in power. Then finish the combo with a 2000-2200 stall and a 3 series rear end you will be happy with the performance change.
Awesome. I'm excited to get some work done here! The 3 series rear is sitting on my garage floor ready for its gears too, I have a couple sets, 3.08 and 3.43. I do a lot of hwy cruising so I'm not sure which way to go yet.
X2 A lot of shops do fine work, fine enough for a Chevy, but not quite right for a Buick, they figure "it works for a Chevy, why not a Buick" Machine work is machine work, BUT it needs to be specific for each vehicle. I paint cars for a living, if I were to paint a car 800J (GM pearl white) and then had a Nissan that was pearl white (QAB) and painted it 800J it wouldn't look goodp Yes they're both pearl white, but they're different pearl whites:laugh:
Dropped them off this morning! Showed him my notes and he liked it. Very easy to talk to. He asked about the numbers off the cam ill be using and what head gaskets. He will tear them down, clean them up and get ahold of me In a day or so to discuss the plan of attack. Feeling comfortable so far... Fingers crossed.
The SBB respond VERY WELL to porting. End up with MORE power/performance at a minimal cost. Even "pocket" porting helps significantly by increasing volumetric efficiency.
I guess my point with my raw sounding comment was that at the time of a discussion with a shop, you should know whether or not they are a match for your needs. I was also considering the above responses included with my comment. It has little to do with building Chevy or Fords vs. the special needs of a Buick. Buick is far from the only engine with "special needs". They are telling you to build a Chevy because they are taking a risk on your castings being junk and not getting paid. As mentioned above, shafted rocker engines require the valve tip height to be held to a closer tolerance. Every shop knows this. Keep in mind that is time consuming. What if you have a few badly worn valves or seats? Are going with all new? They also know that you can't take too much off the deck surface without raising concerns with the lifter pre-load. Tolerance stack up requires corrective machining or different parts. That means they get unproductive phone calls and hassles at assembly time. Whether or not your castings are suitable to reach that IS the discussion. How much you are willing to spend on correcting them or if there are more cores available if they are not suitable? They want to clean, cut, and cash the check. They don't want to do the job twice and get paid once and have an extra set of heads laying around the shop. They don't want to stop part way through to get permission to put in valve seats because there just isn't enough material and then have to sell the benefits of the hard seat to get you to open the wallet. Shop rates haven't changed much since 1980 or so, forcing most shops to do business the way they are. A la carte machining is a dying business. If you want good work done, please don't price shop them. (Not that "that" is a part of this thread, but to know 90% of their calls are about price) If BOTH of you understand each other's needs, the chances of success are much higher.
Seems like we are on the same page so far. He was cool with all the info I gave him and me bringing him my TA parts. Taking my chances, we'll see how it goes.
You have a decent start on your project. As fas as cam installation. Are you doing that yourself? Do you have a new timing chain set? Do you have cam break in lube(additive). Can you degree cam? I think most are liking this cam with 4 degrees of advance. I suggest a double roller chain set. Will have 3 keyways. 1 for 4 advanced . 1 for zero. And 1 for retard 4. Also ,if you set timing marks on harmonic balancer to zero and measure how far piston is below top of block and get the head chamber cc'd or measured by shop. Then with those specs and gasket thickness we can figure a compression ratio for you. If it comes up to my estimates you should have a 45 cc chamber after shaving .060 . with steel headgasket(.020) and assumed .090. Piston depth you will be at 9 to 1. It should be a strong engine.
Wow, I'm learning a lot here, thank you! As for the cam, I've had the cam on my shelf for about 6 years now. Ordering lifters with my new head parts from TA. Never installed or degreed a cam before but with some guidance I dont see why I couldn't! Replaced the chain 4 years ago. Cant recall if it is double roller. But since their cheap enough might as well grab one when the time comes.
