Hey everyone, I'm new here.. Been on team buick for a while..Im looking for someone to do a valve job and possibly porting on my 66 401...The heads were completely gone through roughly 7,500 miles ago but i'm beginning to realize that the individual who worked them 20 years wasn't so knowledgeable with nailheads... (valve seal umbrellas installed on exhaust valves) etc....Exhaust valve guides are visibly worn off to one side..I was losing massive compression on cylinder #5 and #7 and was also getting some exhaust gases in the radiator, this is what led me to pulling the heads off.....(also had the layered head gaskets installed)......I'm looking for someone good with the nails and maybe within a days drive of Omaha Nebraska....Dr. from the team buick website said that Bob from St Louis is getting good flow numbers.....Does anyone have his contact info? Other suggestions appreciated as well.... Thanks everyone Mike
you might not be able to use your old heads. if new exhaust seats were put in, and your losing anti freeze then the heads are toast. Bob would be the guy to go with, he knows the heads as good or better then the high price guys. pm Bob with your information.
Actually...new seats in nailheads aren't the end of the world. Not strongly recommended or needed, but... Doing 80+ Detroit Diesels a day, each with 4 exhaust seats per cylinder and every one getting new seats that were almost always cutting into the water jackets at some point and the fact that they were fairly shallow to begin with...we saw less than 1/10th of a percent of leakage on the machining line and very close to zero in the field. Our pressure test tank was next to the seat installer and loctite was used for each seat, despite what you read about that. If leaky, that seat was popped out in seconds and another one tried with more goop, or if stubborn some silicate type product gooped into the water jackets and set aside with an air hose chucked into it for a while afterwards. Think about the full throttle, high psi boosted and stacked against a turbo exhaust temps an over the road or gen set engine has to endure....for a million miles or more. It isn't suggested for Nails but if a shop has a failure doing it, they are ill prepared to be handling that.
Bob goes by 66gsconv here on the board, but you'd have to remember he's a hobbiest, and his turn around time could be years. I know he's got some heads ahead of yours, and his own car to finish... You might want to talk to the Martins at Centerville Auto in Grass Valley CA and see what they can do for you.
I suspected seat failure when water showed in the combustion chamber. Turned out it was cracks in the head around some valve guides.
The valve seats don't look bad, no burned valves or anything.....The valves do look a white/olive green color on only cylinder 1 and 2 like they might have been getting some anti freeze in there but the radiator coolant level never went down.....I rigged up and old radiator cap with a brass fitting and a rubber hose going into a bottle of water, that's how I figured out I was getting just a little combustion into the coolant system.....The exhaust valve guides are worn off to one side probably 1/32nd of an inch and I was only getting 90 psi on cylinder 7, 125ish psi on cylinder 5, 150 on 3 and 1 and roughly 170 on all 4 on the driver side....The pistons still look like new and the cylinders still have the cross hatches....I'm willing to bet that the heads were messed up from the get go back in 96 because I've always had an overheating problem with the car but just blamed it on the NH600 cam....She ran hot A LOT back in my younger years when I didn't care so much (it was my first car).....BTW, its a 66 Lark GS, NH600 poston cam, double row timing chain advanced 2 degrees, eelco dual quad intake with carter comp series 600 CFM carbs, eelco valley cover and valve covers, Toms mini starter, T/A full length headers, 2 1/2 inch straight pipes, SP 400 with 3,000-3,500 stall, tranny cooler, 8.25 out back with auburn posi and 3.90 Richmond gears....
nice to have you with us Mike. no fluid loss that is a good thing. the car must be fast with your mods.
It used to pick off most v8 firebirds and GT mustangs but ive noticed in the past 10 years or so that she's losing power and never knew why..I started noticing a slight miss on the passenger side bank a while ago but never dug into it because it still ran ok...Now I know why it started to miss.....Its nice to talk to other nailhead lovers out there....
So, after several phone coversations with Bob (great guy BTW) Ive decided to go with chevy valves, beehive springs, telesco valve guides, solid lifters, and have him do a full porting job on the heads and clean up my eelco 2x4 a bit. I would love to be able to afford a set of roller rockers right now as well but that is going to have to wait until September'ish. How bad are the solid lifters going to tear up my stock rockers and Tom's guides in less than 500 miles? I wont put anymore then that on it before I get the rollers and also curious if my T/A adjustable pushrods will work ok with the solid lifters temporarily. Has anyone tried this combo? Also wondering how Tom is coming along on the revamped rollers (chime in if you'd like Tom)....You guys think Ill be able to do all this minus the roller rockers for $2,000 or less? Thanks Mike
Joe, Bob said that you are running 12.3's in your 65 with 3.23 gears and the SP 300? You have the eelco 2x4 intake as well right? What carbs are you running? man, if you are running edelbrock or carter 600 cfm carbs I need to get your jet sizes please .
Keeping my eyes on this post, as I wrap up/build my short-block. Beehives are in my build-plan too, but the secret comp part numbers for them are kept close to heart by the few that've done this conversion it seems.
yes 12.38 with 3.23 and 2-speed. yes 2x4 600 edelbrocks. i think i went one size smaller on all 8 jets. next time i have the carb apart i will write it down and post jets and metering rods size for you.
Joe, did you have to do any modifying on those T/A roller rockers before installing them or were they a direct bolt on?. I only ask because I couldn't get their mini starter to work with my headers and they claimed it should work.
yes, on after market valve covers, you have to grind out the two hold down bolts, grind towards the intake side so valve covers will pull more to the exhaust side. dont need that much maybe a 1/32 to 1/16 of a inch.
I am the originator of the "Mini's". ALL others are a copy. They say the biggest form of flattery is when someone tries to copy what someone else has spent soo much time designing/building. MY MINI DOES FIT & OPERATE AS INTENDED. Weighs 6lbs. 12ozs. IN STOCK!!!! Tom T.
TOM!!!!!, how's it going? YES!!!! your mini bolted up and worked without a glitch...No mods, nothing....Its a powerful little thing. Thank you for loving and spending so many hours on these "nails" Tom. How are you coming along on the new batch of roller rockers? I'd love to be able to buy a set of yours to go along with Bob's head work. and I kick myself in the butt for not getting a set of yours years ago... Thanks Mike
