So I've been busy checking and getting ready to replace my oil pump. The car was running and I drove it to my friends house (he has a lift) Sunday with no issue. I have the pump, cover, booster plate, gaskets. On inspection it looks like a need a new timing chain cover and water pump. I got everything apart on Sunday and this is what came out: So there is my oil pressure issue. Not a big deal really, but that's not the worst thing I found... I took the front motor mounts out to lift the motor up a bit so I could get the oil pan out. That's when my day got really bad: It was getting late, and I only had time to pull one bearing, the middle one, it was spun. The journal doesn't look damaged on that bearing. I need to get the rest pulled and checked later this week. If all the journals look good, I'm hoping I can just replace all the bearings. The bearings have numbers stamped on them but the numbers don't cross reference to anything I can find online. Who sells stock bearings for the 350? Part#?
It would be best to measure the journals to be sure they are standard. You'd hate to find it is a .005 clearance and still have horrible oil pressure. I'd also check some rod bearings while you've got it that far apart for piece of mind.
I would check cam bearing. I seen worse oil pumps . Is that stuff in pan plastic teeth? Or metal. If you spin a bearing, rod is out of round and crank probably is too. Double check the bearings, looks like your pulling that engine
Its all metal in the pan. The timing gears (original) are intact, but I'm replacing those and the chain anyway while I'm in there.
Slide Pump gear sides lightly on piece of glass, 600 grit, pump cover needs 200 or 400 grit then 600 to finish. It'll work. Shim accordingly. Check all main/rod journal sizes and get new bearings, there're cheap.
Your pump cover look pretty damn decent, I see no issue there. Are you sure the thrust bearing (#3... middle one) spun? If it did spin, the oil hole would be covered, oil pressure would increase, and the crank journal would be toast, and you would have had all sorts of nasty noises.
It was running and driving with all that crap in the pan for who knows how long. I've owned it for 3 years and never saw anything during oil changes. When I finally put real gauges in, it had 2.5psi oil pressure at hot idle, and well under 10psi per 1k rpm (I confirmed new gauges with a mechanical gauge). That's how this whole journey began. Also since I've owned it, it's had a rod knock but only above 35-40mph which got progressively louder the faster i went. Still barely loud enough to hear over the exhaust, but it was there. I had already bought a TA pump, cover, booster plate, gasket kit. While I had all that apart, I wanted to check the timing chain and gears. I broke off a couple water pump bolts in the timing cover, and I also broke off a bolt hole in the cast water pump. Both of those are toast and need replaced. At that point I removed the pan and found the metal. I did remove the middle bearings. The think the tabs are gone from the rod bearing. That main was gouged up but mostly intact. That's about as far as I got. I haven't removed any other bearings. I'll take some pics of the middle bearings tonight and post them. Maybe someone can tell something from that. I think the amount of metal in the pan is way too much to have come from anything I've taken apart so far. So something other than the thrust bearing is also toast.
Chances are someone has been inside that engine before with all that rtv on oil pan . I’m sure the front cover bolts can be extracted. You are best off going they everything so you don’t have any more issues. My guess is with that low pressure and metal floating around the cam and lifters have a lot of wear along with cam bearings. Do some oil modifications with bigger 5/8 pickup tube. Do thing right the first time. Going cheap can cost you later.
I'm right outside of Detroit. There are several local performance machine/build shops. I've contacted many of them and have not received a reply or been able to talk to them, except one. I left several messages with Finishline (Bob) but never got a call back from them either. I'm just beginning to study the internals of a Buick motor. I'm starting to get a grasp on what I should know (and questions I should ask) going forward. I spent all day Saturday and Sunday looking through posts here, and going to vendor websites trying to build up parts and combinations. I made an excel laundry list of parts from other people's 350 builds for a general reference. I want around 400hp and run on pump gas. (93 octane is available here but its all 10% corn) I may need a new stall converter, but I want to keep running my TH350 trans and 3.73 gear. I want to lose the 8.5:1 pistons for 10:1 I woke up last night at 1:30am thinking about rods, pistons, cams, offset grinds, zero deck (or below), head work, hydraulic or roller, etc.... All the things I want to know before I send it out. I understand that it may change once someone gets it torn down, but I need some kind of starting point, what's going in it. I also called and talked to Jim at Tri-Shield. I would have to crate & ship the motor to him ($360 round trip Fastenal) but his experience with Buick's makes it worth the ride. I'm just waiting for him to get back with me on the specifics of the build.
Just a little info: Bobb (Finshline) is very tied up running two businesses at the moment. Ketchup Machine is a company started, and until recently was run by Bobb's father-in-law, Geoff Ketchum. Due to health issues, Bobb is running both that shop and Finishline solely. Finishline has always been a 'second shift', fully equipped and very proficient shop run nightly after long days at Ketchum. Ketchum recently suffered a devastating fire so things have been hectic for Bobb, to say the least. Just to let you know Bobb is not being slack, he's just so darned busy. If you can get with him, you'll be happy with his work.
I didn't know that. Thanks Jerry. I understand that many shops won't even deal with Buick rebuilds. Many others who might are looking for those $10k+ super builds, so I'm the small potato's guy who gets the end of the line, unfortunately.
Good running 350's can be had for not a lot of money. I bet you can get a strong runner for about $500. Something to consider.
I second Jason's idea. I would consider buying a 350 to put in to keep it running and driving while you build the other one. Around here they are cheap, cheap, cheap. I threw one in a Skylark a few months ago which I bought it for $300 from a guy parting out a 71 LeSabre.
Good running 350's can be had for not a lot of money. I bet you can get a strong runner for about $500. Something to consider.
I saw that one in the classifieds. I also remember the one that was built carb to pan go for $1700 last year. The problem in my mind, is if I did get a decent running 350 swap I probably wouldn't do what I've been wanting to do since I bought it. I really don't want to throw another anemic 350 back in. It's money better spent doing an upgrade. I bought the car not knowing exactly what the previous owner had done, other than a generic description. I was told it had a mild cam and valves replaced. It ran ok so I bought it. Now that I'm at this point, I want better.
