Welp, pulled the pan of the transmission to get it ready for the valve body only to find metal shards the size of my pinky nail and clutch material a good 1/4 " thick on the bottom of the pan. When driving it wasn't too much of a hassle. sometimes would take a moment or two for it to go from Park to Drive and on longer trips or highway trips, it would slip out of third and go into second then back again. Sometimes it would hunt for a gear. All tell-tale signs of a gummed up or stuck valve body. Maybe im lucky in finding it at home and it not finding me on the highway miles from home. Anyone know of anyone in Georgia with a 2004r?
So i finally pulled the pan a few weeks back on the transmission and with so much material in the pan realized it’s in dire need of a new transmission. I’ve been looking and can’t find a 2004r or a th350. I’m pretty surprised about this and when i call around i get a **** ton of pushback when asking for a 2004r. Didn’t expect finding a transmission would be so difficult
I have a few BOP TH350s but I'm in MD. You'd be better off prob. w/a 200R4 but if you get desperate, lmk. I was just going to sell them w/the 350 engines they're attached to but would separate. Maybe look on the Turbo Regal sites for the 200R4 (or 4R - I can never remember).
I have an oddball TH350 or TH375 that would need rebuilt. You can have it for free +shipping. I think it has a long tail. My friend took it out of his 72 GS455 to swap in a built BB Trans and I have been moving it around my yard for 8 years. If I can't get rid of it I guess it's headed to China to be melted down and sold at Harbor Freight as a sub-standard tool or something. Converter goes with it. Nothing special just a stock converter.
I could not find a single 2004r in my area. I tried a massive Craigslist search around 700 miles not one came up lol. I wish i could find one i could put in.
If you get into the engine at all, go for AT LEAST TRUE 10 to 1 or higher, 350’s love compression. Lol, I had the same issue! Just think of the year 2004 then add the R
Hey Demko! which way is best to get the compression would you say for these motors? I know of a bunch of ways and wouldn’t mind hearing what you might think is the best for the 350. also, as for an update, i gave up on looking for a 2004r. I ended up rebuilding the th350 trans and putting a shift kit in it. Then the car started dying out on me and not turning on. The electrical issue was putting me through the roof. Everything was new on the charging side. I mean just about everything. Nothing worked. New battery, dist cap, coil, wires, straps, plugs. To the point i started putting on old bits and taking off my additions. And by luck i had found an extra heavy duty connector for tach and power to the dist that i forgot about. I cut the power only Walmart connector and spliced, shrink tubed the new power and tach one. It starts up better than before and idles rock steady. Not sure if there’s more to it as some said it could be a dist. Gear but i never dealt with that sort of problem before and am unfamiliar with symptoms.
Hey Demko! which way is best to get the compression would you say for these motors? I know of a bunch of ways and wouldn’t mind hearing what you might think is the best for the 350. also, as for an update, i gave up on looking for a 2004r. I ended up rebuilding the th350 trans and putting a shift kit in it. Then the car started dying out on me and not turning on. The electrical issue was putting me through the roof. Everything was new on the charging side. I mean just about everything. Nothing worked. New battery, dist cap, coil, wires, straps, plugs. To the point i started putting on old bits and taking off my additions. And by luck i had found an extra heavy duty connector for tach and power to the dist that i forgot about. I cut the Walmart one that was on there and only for power and spliced, shrink tubed the new one. It starts up better than before and idles really well
Custom pistons. Have your machinist do all the measurements for the rods, deck height, etc. Have HIM fill out the order form for the custom pistons. ask for 0 or .005 “in the hole” max. Go for 10.0 to 1 TRUE comp ratio, you’ll have to know you combustion chamber CCs, head gasket volume. Do the calculations BEFORE ordering pistons, not after to see what yah got. You could cut the block deck or mill the heads, BUT then you get into intake alignment issues, needing shorter pushrods, etc. Originally Buick changed compression ratios with piston changes.
I saw one at the west side pick a part last week. Already out, and on the ground. Unknown condition. Left it be, too far away from anyone who might want it. Already have too much to sell. Told a few people about it. They turned up their noses. Most around here will try and beat you down to nothing. Edit - still there Thurs 12/21. Another reason - current price at this yard is now $186 for a transmission. Then you have Core, and Tax, and Enviromental. Now your'e close to $250, out the door, if you don't have a Core. Hard to resell, and get ahead, if your'e into an unknown unit, at that price.
That’s insane. Honestly these days from what I notice, folks that have these cars just want over the top parts and driving to and from shows and the strip. Folks now like myself that essentially daily drive and enjoy my car are few and far between. A lot of streetable and daily driver fun parts are no longer sought after. Like right now, i don’t want to do an insanely big cam just something slightly bigger than a gs350 cam. Which I believe i found in a crower level 2 cam. When i showed to a local car show they told me that it’s not worth it. How in the heck is it not worth getting more power without losing all the goods the car already has? some folks either wanna go all out and not drive it or do nothing. Lol. i don’t mind listening though. I value everyone’s opinions when it comes to cars. There’s so much you can do, good to hear what others do. This is the came i was looking at: https://crower.com/buick-hydraulic-flat-tappet-camshaft-9.html
Guy in Talladega AL on the “Ames” Pontiac forum states he has two. $400 Each. That is a tough sell at that price, maybe they could be “teleported” to the east coast for an easier sale.
Yeah i spoke to him about them a while back and I agree. Was too much for what they were. None the less i rebuilt the th350 and happy with it. I just can’t find quality HEI stuff. I feel as if the module keeps going out or somethings going on. I’m just about ready to take a step back and switch to points to see if it’s actually been the hei stuff all along. Anybody got one that’s willing to let go of one for cheap?
So another bad wire and bad terminal and bad connection were some problems. I sanded and cleaned the terminals and cut out an inch to make a fresh connection. The connection from the hei module and coil had a fray from the bottom i couldn’t see and saw it just the other day. Checked module and it was dead too. Probably from the connections. Replaced the hei module and included high end thermal paste and not that tiny bit that comes with the module. took the car about 3-5 miles without issue and missed hearing the car to be honest. It’s at stock timing but will be advancing it up, back to what I had before. About 7 degrees. it’s dirty and haven’t washed it for the past few months but the ceramic wax is doing its job
I believe i was fuel locked today. I have a K&N pglass fuel filter just to keep an eye on fuel and today at home depot when i tried to turn the car back on after literally driving it all week without a problem, it didn’t start. Kept spinning up but no ignition. Come to look at the glass filter, zero fuel was in it. Even after multiple attempts. i pulled it out and put on a regular metal/paper filter and within a few seconds it fired up without issue. I may replace the mechanical fuel pump with a new one and should drop the tank as my fuel gauge always reads full and see how i can get my gauge to read properly. little problems here and there but it’s a heck ton of fun. I also have an exhaust leak somewhere near the manifolds. Hopefully i can fix it without too much issue
New issue arose today. Maybe one of you guys know. I’m assuming it may be a power steering pump issue. When i apply the brake pedal it gives me a clack…clack in the pedal. I believe it might be the power steering vacuum failing. It doesn’t squeal and seems just fine otherwise. The belt to the PS pump is loose as heck though. That may be a new issue. I did ceramic wax it the other day. See photo.
