so after finally getting the basics put together and rockers snugged down , ignition stuff set , motor oil and coolant in , gear oil etc in - cranked her over , ok - go to start it - no dice . no signal at coil or dist or #1 plug etc ? so for about a week I have been spending time just tracing and checking the electrical end of it . so finally i remember that I had not set up the neutral switch connection . hit the key , started up pretty good , ran it for about 10-20 seconds and shut it down . couple dbl checks . restart , adjusted idle up a little , volts were up , oil pressure got up to about 30+ range with a little rpm . no coolant temp yet obviously . exhaust a little quieter than i thought it would be . shut it down , a little too many fumes for me . lunch time . "65 special , '69 RP engine , all stock just reringed it and new bearings , TA 212 cam lifters and springs , the usual oil pump setup , Mallory unilite , stock 4bbl intake with a Kenny G/Everyday Performance carb + 1 inch spacer , basic valve job , a little port match work , stock exhast manifolds with TA down pipes going into 2-1/2" pipe back to walker super turbo mufflers . so next non humid day i'll open up shop doors and do a better warm up on it . crawl under and double check crossmember bolts , check for fuel leaks , check control arm stuff , make sure nothings gonna fall off etc . oh yeah , have to put some brake fluid in it ! then get it down off the jackstands . edit : pics added . one of carb linkage . interior shot - yeah some more electric dash spaghetti to finish up and get button'd up .
Super turbos aren't loud. But it may sound better once they burn out packing inside. Was the special a v6 car? They had 3.08 gears. Any mods to use accelorater linkage on Quadrajet?
yep - was a V6 three on the tree car . now Muncie m21 and 31 spline ford 9" from moser . 2 centers , one 3:55 and one 4:10 in a currie 9+ housing . I actually picked the supers because of the flow test results I happened to come across . better than the bigger buck flowmaster mufflers . the flow directors may have helped a lot . kinda common sense idea i think . should sound nice once "broke in" .
new cam , lifters , springs , TA cam bearings and a good basic steel timing chain set . yeah , had to kinda make carb linkage from carb back to firewall bracket . i'll post a couple pics when possible .
That sounds a lot like the setup we are planning for my son's '79 Regal except we are probably adding headers and we are starting with a '68 long block. I'd love to hear it if you can post a video clip of it running. That will be a lot of fun with the 4-speed. Ken
ken . I've tried uploading video but won't let me . probably too large of a source . on your regal - not sure about header fitment , availability . and watch right rear valve cover to heater/ac box clearance . I actually dropped this motor into an 82 regal originally . never finalized , sold shell . then I disassembled this 350 and did a basic rebuild carefully . well , as carefully as I could . took it slow , checked a lot of info .
Thanks for trying. I have an old set of Skylark 350 headers that I'll make fit if I need too. The last time I done this it was on an '87 Regal, didn't have too many problems. I did have to use the stock valve covers to clear the ac box, the TA valve covers I had would not fit. Ken
quickee update : had time today to get it running for a longer period of time , fluctuated idle up n down . I was smart enough ( THIS TIME ) to run a fan to kick fumes out ! topped off coolant , installed new fuel pressure regulator ( leak . new reg is preset at 7 lbs and right there but dropped to three after warm up ? ) , lifter start-up tick gone , opened heater controls - hoses warm and temp seemed to be holding at 170-180 , electric fan seemed to kick on n off , adjusted oil pressure reg up a little - warm idle about 23-25 or so climbs to about 40 with idle up a little . i'd like it a little better so i'll adjust up a little and drop the 5w30 oil , new filter and maybe try some 20w50 . so next I guess is checking n adjusting fuel pressure and then slipping it into gear and getting the trans and rear a little rotate time and recheck them . and it does seem to have a little healthier sound to it after running a little .
20w50 is really to thick. Thickest I would go is 15w40. And if temperatures drop below 50 go back to 10-30. But if you get 40 at say 1500 rpm you should be fine with out 20w50
So new cam and lifters, did you run it up to 2grand for 15 minutes when you first started it to break in cam/lifters? Always thought that was standard op on a fresh engine or cam lifter swap/upgrade. Jim
Yes , some 15-40 might be a good choice . Parked inside , no real cold weather runs . Cluster is out and my tune/tach box decided to not work so I'm going to guess I took it right up to about 1500+ for awhile after I initially got it going . Today about same except I would drop to fast idle for a minute or two then back up .
Del, we've discussed oil pressure here so many times. The adjustable regulator only limits the MAXIMUM pressure. Has no effect on low pressure. Also, putting thicker oil in to raise your pressure gauge reading is backwards. The thicker oil is harder to push thru the oil galleys, that's why the gauge reads higher. Its deadheaded into the bearings. put 90 weight in it and have great oil pressure reading on your gauge and seize all the bearings from nothing flowing to them.
X infinity!! Leave the thin oil in it. All this starting up and shutting off is doing the cam and lifters no good
Original start up was 5w30 , zinc and some Lucas on rockers , cam , lifters . Bearings were coated with usual engine assembly lube . Cam got cam lube . I was extra careful with pump assy ( good used housing , new stock gears , plate , TA regulator and shim gaskets , packed with Vaseline ) . Left reg as TA sent it . I did give it the 15-40 and new filter yesterday . Did not care for results . So I think next , per your recommendation , I'll bump it back to 10-30 , zinc , new filter . And I'm not just starting and stopping , I let it warm up and fluctuate rpm , mostly higher . And I'll back the reg setting off to where it was originally . My other concern is the guy that did the crank . Good guy , excellent rep , did homework , didn't just pick a guy down the street . and by that I mean he's like 50 miles from me . But he is a SBC dirt n drag motor guy . But that was awhile ago and I'm not sure and he probably won't remember . Bought the crank here from board member , prepped at .0010 I think . Looked nice . Crank guy said he just wanted to polish and true it up ? That's going from long memory . This was not to be a final big buck ( relatively ) motor . I wanted to run it awhile and do the autopsy before attempting #2 . Maybe sooner than later !
couple things - today : 10w30 , zinc , new filter . hooked up a tach quickee for temp use . turned my oil pressure reg in a couple turns and closed choke a little ( a little too much as it turned out ) . restart . I was pretty close on my rpm before , seems like I was in the 1500-2000 range . sounds good , responds decent , oil pressure is ok . 10-15 at idle , up to 35-40 when up in the 2000-25000 range . i'd prefer it a little higher but I think my truck pressure spoils me - 40 at idle , 60 at cruise . let it run today for 15-20 minutes at 1500-2000 approx. . temp ran about 180-195 ( flex fan plus electric fan , new standard replacement radiator) . sounds like it needs a little timing etc adjustment , plugs clean , starts decent . I think I dbl checked clearances with plastigage . memory . cut the original oil filter apart - no junk inside ! clutch in , slipped it into first ( no noise ! ) , let clutch out slow , rear wheels going ( no noise again ! ) . ok . fuel pressure still drops to 3 lbs after warm up ? does not seem to run dif . but that'll be a question for the "mixture" area guys .
