Need help working out bugs before I decide to rebuild (?)

As far as the wheels go, I'm still undecided which route I want to go. Definitely something custom. I saw a old chevy truck with a similar paint scheme with baby moons and fat white wall tires that I loved! When I first went to the drawing board I had a vision for a pro-touring stance with modern staggered wheels, see pic. I'm still thinking I'll go in that direction. I have contemplated Buick rally's but I don't think it fits the paint scheme at all. I'm on a budget as well so I'm just browsing CL and seeing whats available.

I have some oil retainer clips so I'll have to get those on and fire it up.

 

Those wheels would be sharp on that car. Show us a bigger picture of your car please.

 

Those wheels are for sale locally for pretty cheap. I probably need to jump on them. If you scroll up in this thread there are some more pics.

 

those look aight

 

I have the valve cover off. Where are the head casting numbers on these SBB heads?

 

Theres really not much difference between heads.

For the most part a 350 head is a 350 head.

The most usefull info is the two letter code on the deck surface.

 

There is a massive difference between the different heads from 68-80 Buick 350s:

Casting numbers are under the valve covers... And you need to remove the one cover to find that "tick".

-The 68-69 heads flow great but often crack and have the rockershaft oiling system with the solid pushrods
-The 70-72 heads flow great but often crack and have the new pushrod oiling system with the hollow pushrods
-The 73 heads are the mystery heads. I have no flow numbers for them but they never crack and also have the new style oiling. It is on my "to do list" to flow a set of these heads so we know if they are as good as the early heads. If they are then they are the best due to the performance without the cracking.
-The 74-80 heads suck for performance even with porting and they never crack either.

The reason the 73-80 heads do not crack is because Buick added an extra coolant passage in the heads.

Numbers here:

http://www.gesslerheadporting.com/g...8464cf4d587de6d085256e47001720b1!OpenDocument

 

My head casting #...1382546, It was just hiding behind the valve train. Maybe numbers matching to the block but not my car. Now for this ticking....

 

Just protect the car from oil splash and start it up. Look for one or two pushrods that are not spinning at idle.

 

Just fired it up. Where should I be looking for oil flow? I saw no oil flowing at all around the valve train. The ticking sounds like it's maybe coming from the #4 or #6 area.

All pushrods are turning, some faster than others, but they are turning. At one point it got quite while inspecting, then came back.

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These rockers that are shaft mounted are self adjusting? I'm thinking of going ahead and looking at the pushrods.

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Think I'm headed to get some gauges. Where's the best place to connect the oil pressure gauge on these?

 

It is not the oil you are looking for it is the noise that you are trying to narrow down. Normally it is easy to see something wrong if something is broken however for a sticky lifter that comes and goes there is not much you can see. If I were you I would order a Q jet from Ken (vendor section), bolt it on, take it for a 3 hour cruise and i would be suprised if the ticking was still there.

Keep in mind that many oiling issues at idle come from a poor idle which causes poor oil pressure. With a good running carb it will have better oil pressure.

 

Just drove it around the block a few times. Ticking was not there but lots of "pinging" (as if in the timing) even at part throttle acceleration. I'm pretty sure all my tranny fluid is leaking out in the driveway right now. :TU: Trial and error.

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On a positive note I got stopped by a cop (no license plate) as soon as I pulled out of my driveway. ray: He made sure I knew I wasn't suppose to be driving, said it looks nice and drove off. VICTORY!

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Well, I just checked and it's eng oil. I checked the oil before I drove it and it looked very full. I recently changed the oil and filter and added 5 quarts, which I understand is the capacity. It's appears to be leaking from the rear of the oil pan. Hmmm. And the dipstick still reads super full. :shock:

 

You said your timing it was all in by 1900 RPM which is a bit early. I would bet $1000 that your ping is due to being too lean with that carb. Toss on a stock Buick 350 carb and I bet your issues would be gone.

 

That sounds easy. LOL I'm doing some searching now. Do you recommend a quadrajet specific for a 68-69 Buick 350?

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Or will others from the same era work?

 

With respect Sean.

No, there really isnt.

Differences yes, but by no means "massive" by the wildest stretch.

With Chevy, Pontiac, Olds, and Ford changing heads from year-to-year and even car-to-car will change the entire engine.

Buick 350 heads all have basicly the same CCs, valve sizes, and port design.

So what heads you have on a 350 Buick borders on meaningless power wise, unless they are ported.

 

Cool. I was originally asking about the difference in the location of the casting numbers. I just needed to dig in a little further with a flashlight to find it.

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Sean, so I would correct the timing coming in too early by getting heavier springs right?

 

The head castings look to be '68 '69.

But you still need the two letter code to know year/compression.

Im not getting into another carb argument, but...

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD!!! If you do let yourself get talked into a Q-jet, buy one from Ken or some other guru.

Do not be fooled by the people on here that swear by the things and think you can just go buy any 'ol Q-jet and have anything but a doorstop.

Most of the Q-jet faithfull never build/cant build their carbs and dont know how fragile/weak the things are.

I have built many of the things and I know what piles they are, and how many hard to find parts are always broken/worn out.

But if thats what you want, spend the cash and buy a good one.

Who knows it just might rebuild your engine for you

 

Where is the 2 letter code? Behind the exh manifold on the eng block, between 1 & 3 cylinder?

I'm still undecided on the carb deal. I have very little experience with the q-jets. I have the holley 750 that I'm waiting to get back with a replacement fuel bowl. I also have an edelbrock 750 on the shelf that probably needs rebuilt. I'm not stuck on any one carb since the motor is not original to the car. I just want to get it running right.

 

Its on the head/deck surface.

The head will have a scallop exposing about a 1''X 2'' section of deck.

Youll probibly, need to scrape the gunk off to see it.

Im holding back my jugdement on the ''pinging'' untill I know what year your engine is.

On the ''ticking'', what weight oil did you use?

 

10w30 synthetic. Had I known it was leaking all over the place I wouldn't have ran the synthetic. I'll just call it a good flush.

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I found the location and cleaned it up. No way I can read what the code is. I can maybe make out a letter C on the far right side. Not sure of the digit before it.