Use it like a doctor's stethescope. Sometimes I use a long screwdriver......just put one end on the block near where you are checking for noise and put the other end against your ear lobe. You'll be surprised at the different sounds you can hear at different points on the motor. Just use caution around moving parts. uzzled:
Well, you put the hose..... nyahhhhh, I can't do it! :Brow: Seriously, use about 2 feet of hose, any size will do. Hold one end up to your ear, and the other end just above each rocker. It'll isolate and carry the sounds straight to your ear, like a "poor man's stethoscope". :TU:
I live in Washington, its usually around 30-50 here in the winter. The car has 10w30 in it right now.
Phillipe, sure 5W30 is the way to go for cold starts but driving 85 in any temp it will not provide enough cushion IMO. It is really just 5 weight oil wil viscosity improvers. I'd run a block heater and no thinner than 10W30.
I think early in this tread it was suggested that you install an oil pressure gauge to see what your actual oil pressure is-have you done that? Hoses to locate the source of 'clicking' (damage) is fine, but will likely be caused by low pressure. The early 400-430-455 and even the later 455 have oiling issues. I run both the nailheads and later engines. I think a submerged cast iron oil pump will be better that an aluminum/iron setup with a long suction pathway. To this day, folks are still working on better parts to correct the basic design situation on this better breathing, but (IMO!) flawed engine family.
I'm with you on that one, Dan. For all the time and effort spent on trying to redesign those motors, I can't understand why someone hasn't come up with better flowing Nailhead heads. uzzled: Carmen offered to put larger valves in my heads for better flow, but I didn't want to risk having trouble down the line. I wonder if anyone has ever tried that and had success?
Flawed engine family??? Sure a submerged oil pump will prime quicker but the external 400-430-455 setup IF setup with proper clearances obviously can and is getting the job done. It has the advantage of external control of pressure..... Interesting that no one has developed an in-pan pump for them though. Or a gerotor type like the V6s. Fact is that there are lots of 350-455 motors out there with original timing covers and pumps priming up just fine. Alot of blame is put on the oil system when worn/ increased bearing clearances are the root of the problem. Regular oil changes and 200K is easy with the "flawed" motors. :laugh:
I'm sure that's true if the proper maintenence was done and it was well taken care of.......and certainly never overheated. I'm sure there's also someone who had a Vega with a good motor once too. :Brow: On the other side of the coin, I've seen and known of many Nailheads that have had the crap beaten out of them that were disposed of still in running condition. Before my dad gave my '66 to me with the 425 in it, it was driven for nearly 50 miles with no oil pressure registering on the guage. (it was the middle of the night 30 yrs. ago before convienience stores were open 24 hrs)...................that motor still ran for another year before I rebuilt it without any bearing problems although the cam was nearly wiped out. I don't think a 430 would even have made it home. :bglasses:
Yet another opinion! :bglasses: Hi Guys, Nailhead has a superior oiling system, that really seems to be agreed upon by most Buick guys. 430-455 heads flow way better, thats a given. The heads and valve train set up really are the problem area when it comes to the Nailhead, and these are not easily cured. An interesting story; had a 40 Chevy Street Rod for sale this past summer. Two seperate guys came to look at it and saw my Blue 63 Riv. Both of them had raced Nailheads in the 60's and absolutely loved those engines! They were tough, ran strong and rarely ever broke! If they did break, repairs were easy to perform. Who knows where the Nailhead would have ended up if the engineers had used a different design on the rocker arms? I think they are a neat engine, have super visual appeal and run out great. As far as which is faster, an older friend of mine said "horsepower costs money, how fast do you want to go?" We should be happy that Buick was able to come up with two V8 engine designs that really have made a mark on automotive history. Each one has it's good points and bad, but both can show the competition what "Powered by Buick" is all about! Gotta love that Nailhead though! :3gears: Take Care, Tim McCluskey
I found a gauge. Did most of you guys who installed aftermarket gauges run the wire through the existing wire mule where the original for the idiot light went, or did you do something else? I don't think I'll be able to push a wire all the way through the mule to the firewall. I know a gauge eliminates the useage of the idiot light. How do I set up both? Do I just connect the ring terminal on the original pressure sender to the new pressure sender for the gauge?
Howdy, I think you can run both by using a street elbow, nipple, and a tee. The sender in one side of the tee, nipple in the opposite side to the engine and the ell facing the direction needed for the guage. A picture is worth a thousand words but I do not have one.
AAArrrgh, this danged Internet Exploder 6 keeps crashing, hopefully I can get this posted (again!) before it craters (again!)... All you're doing is plumbing both sending units to the block, so you can keep the idiot light as is, and add the electric (or manual, for that matter, but I like electric gauges...) sending unit. Then you'll need to run an extra wire from the electric gauge sending unit to the gauge head, but you can run it anywhere you want... I used a pipe nipple coming out of the block, to a "T" fitting, then put the sending units into the "T", like so: (pardon my incredible lack of computer drawing skills...)
