What vacuum can I expect from a TA 288-94H cam?

Boston :laugh:

I have has to do things for my folks this week, plus I had a Wake to attend and it's been raining.

Today I double check my rocker arm/pushrod contact (I pulled the rocker arms off to spin the motor easier, and I want to make sure the pushrods are seated correctly), put my ignition back in, and fire it up again. It should run fine.

I had to toss the cam in 4* advanced- I had no way to turn the crank counterclockwise while having the degree wheel also able to revolve- that requires more than just bolting it on. i have seen the adapter, it looks kinda like a steering wheel puller. So I again had to reject the degreeing procedure. I know, it's the right thing to do. Put me back in time a month and put a few extra hours in the day and I'm all over it. Right now it's Christmas time and I must do other things. the car's got to get mobile and get stored for winter.

I should be driving it again today, hopefully the sky will clear, right now it looks like night (9:36 am)

 

All I can say Chris..........

I hope the Pats have your kinda luck today against Cincy. :laugh: Whhooo who! :TU: :bglasses: :laugh:

 

Well, it started right up...after I replaced the battery

Better idle, more vacuum at idle now, just under 15" Hg at about 850 rpm, runs great.

So, now I want to drive it. Wrong again.

Tranny fluid is leaking out of the radiator, at the upper fitting, which is stripped out now. So, I get to price radiators again, which I did five years ago.

I call one place up, they answer the phone, and I tell them what I want.

"455? Oooo!" the guys says
"Yeah, I guess. I want a Modine 4 row radiator for that. What can you give me?"
"Well, I dunno...I don't think they make parts for that anymore"
" (No kiddin? I think to myself) Uh, yeah, GM stopped making parts for it in 1978. But Modine makes a radiator for it"
"...OK, so that was the Oldsmobile GS?" (I'm not joking here, folks)
"No. Oldsmobile never made a GS. You're thinking of the 442. But whatever, it's the same radiator, just make it a four row"
"Yeah, I was thinking 442. So you want a used one, right?"
"No. Absolutely no used parts go on this car if a new part is available"
"So you want a used part, right?" (again, not joking)
"NO. ABSOLUTELY no used radiator is going in my Buick."
"Well, we sell used parts here..."
"Your ad says 'new and used parts' "
"OK, I'll check our distributors" (thanks, sparky)
"Would it help if you looked up a 4 row Chevelle SS radiator for 1970?"
"No, that's ok, Skylark will do, it says"
"Skylarks didn't use a 4 row. My Skylark with a 350 used a two row. The GS didn't even have it available, I think there were no four rows. Listen, can I just give you the Modine number? The tag is still on my radiator."
"uh, um...ok, Chevelle, 1970...they show a four row for the SS454"
"Great. how much?"
"238 dollars"
"...o..k...when can you get that in?"
"Three days"
"Three?, thanks, I'll get back to you" ou: top dollar AND a three day wait. WooHoo.

He was the most knowledgable parts guy I could talk to today. The other ones were actually worse. Tomorrow the real radiator and Auto parts stores are open

 

Chris,

Why not just use an external cooler only instead of replacing the entire radiator?

I know there are opinions about doing this or not doing it, of course.

 

Hey Chris.Still having fun I see.. A good rad shop might be able to provide you with a new cooler for your existing rad.You bring them the rad and they remove the tank and cooler and replace the stripped cooler.Mind you if your present rad is questionable or a 3-row,a 4-row is the way to go.I would consider using an external cooler hooked into your rad after you fix/replace it.Not hard to install and not too $$.You are using a bigger stall correct?? Just my .2 cents.Later,Tony.

 

I think 1nadrag had a couple for sale on this board. Radiator shop is the next answer. Then modine.

 

I need the least time spent. Saving 100 bucks is not the 'driver' here. Expediency is.

I think sometimes it's easy to forget that while a lot of guys have places to work inside on their cars, I don't, I'm out in the weather. It's going to snow. I'm sick of working on this in the rain. I'm cold and often laying in a puddle of the fluid-of-the-day. My tools are cold. Hoses are too stiff. It gets dark too early and the halogen worklights are very harsh. I cut my hands too easily in the cold. I track too much cr@p into the house. My clothes are always dirty. What time I don't spend at work or under this car is spent at my folks' house, working on various things. A typical day was like Thursday: up at 5 am, start work at 6 am. Work till 2:30 pm, drive until 3 pm to get to my parent's house, where the car is. Work on the car until 5:30 pm. Have dinner. Start working at my parent's house and do that until 8:30 pm. Go home, wash clothes for the next work day if I can (wsher and dryer aren't always unused when I get home), do things like pay bills or clean up, then go to bed and get up at 5 am. Time is not on my side. The roads are going to be salted. The car gets stored a solid hour away from my home, and I can't spend the money (and will not suffer the indignity again) on a flatbed. This repair is not and hasn't been a leisurely thing; this isn't lovingly restoring a car, this is begrudging myself every second I must spend cleaning something because I will not compromise on the quality of the work I attempt. It doesn't come out unless it's cleaned, and it doesn't go back in unless it's cleaned and or repianted and prepped. I simply cannot slap things together, it's not something I can do by nature, it's got to be as right as I can make it.

Sure, replacing the tranny cooler is definitely an option. Can they do it while I wait? :laugh:

I also can't wait for a radiator to be shipped to me, I need one tomorrow or Tuesday, at the latest. The radiator I can handle. The place I bought this one from just wasn't open Sundays. There's always the NAPA in Foxboro, those guys know what they are doing, and there are plenty of Legit radiator shops around.

My luck is definitely 'in' with this engine now. First I had the one in a million problem to begin with, then I had the "O" lifter issue, then I had the rocker arm thing, then that bolt came out, then my 1,000 CCA big deal bulletproof battery kicked the bucket, then my radiator decides to take a holiday...I'm not sure there's anything left to go wrong.

 

Chris,

An external trans cooler seems like a good way to go then. Run it by itself for now, then when things warm up you can get a new radiator and run them in series (or not if that's your preference). You should be able to get one at the local parts store, in stock. I got mine from Schuck's (Checker/Kragen) and it was the one I wanted, sitting on the shelf.

 

How will my stock lines go the cooler? I have repro lines that are just the right length and have the correct bends...I think I'd have to make new tranny coolant lines if I went that way. Have you ever tried to even see the tranny lines where they go into the tranny when you have headers?

I can see them..if I use a mirror :laugh:

It's an option, though. How would I get the tranny fluid out of the cooler that's inside my radiator if I went the extreanl route? Anyone have any ideas? i think a plug will just leak. I know the top fitting is stripped out, and I assume the bottom one is on the verge

 

Hey Chris.As Steve and Larry have stated plugging the fittings at the rad and using a stand alone cooler would probably be the quickest way to get you going.I would still consider...in the spring maybe to hook it in series with your rad cooler.Good Luck.Later,Tony.

 

I completely understand where you're coming from...been there under the freezing car more time than I care to recall.

Since it's freezing, you could bypass the trans/rad cooler for a day or two, and avoid those Mass-type burnout starts. Would recommend doing ot for long though, even in the winter.

More cooler is always better, I "spliced" mine inline with the trans/rad cooler by cutting one of the lines right near the radiator, and connecting the extra cooler there. Keeping both coolers has worked really well for me here in the blast-furnace summers, even towing. :TU:

 

Gonna check out the external cooler today, after work.

 

I remember reading that the trans cooler in the Radiator helps RAISE the trans fluid to operating temps when in cold weather

 

Well, there has to be a 'proper' heat range for the tranny. Whether or not it would see too cold a temp for too long in cold weather with a trans cooler to do anything bad...I dunno. I never had to do this before


I can get the mostest heaviest dutiest unit for 79 bucks, or the next to the mostest heaviest dutiest unit for 59. Apparently at 3900 lbs, I'm in the in-between area for which unit is the one I need. My gut says the 79 dollar one

 

Well, that was easy

10 minute install.

So I could drive it again. I am very confused. now I know, the cam should be degreed. But I have installed it 4* advanced from the last time I drove it, just over a week ago. I have more vacuum at idle now, I know that the 4* has been an improvement.

It still has exactly the same power as last week, which is to say: not nearly enough.

I don't mean i should have gone for a bigger cam, I mean something isn't kosher. I swapped in a TA 288-94H, which replaced a TA RV12, and I took off smog heads with huge chambers and small valves, and put in Stage1 aluminum heads with large Stage1 valves and small combustion chambers

That should be about a 70 hp increase. The car feels as if it's lost power compared to the RV12 and the smog heads

that isn't right. it moves along fine, but it has the git up and go of my Mom's 2000 Sable

I installed a 2000 rpm stall converter as well

Not degreeing the cam didn't rob me of 70 hp. Something else is going on

I know that my carb should be re-jetted to reflect these changes. Putting the proper jets in won't get me 70 hp back.

The car is a dog . I don't have a compression tester, but when I had the engine apart, there was no cylinder wall scoring. In fact, I can still make out the hone marks from when I had the block bored and honed ~50K miles ago

Also, I cannot keep an idle speed. I set the idle, and then I shut the car off. When I re-start it, it's at another idle. I don't mean fast idle, either, I mean it's as if my throttle stop has actually moved, which it hasn't

can the throttle shaft wear out the bore and do this? It's a AFB clone made by Weber and sold by Edelbrock, an 800 cfm unit

I have a pair of Q-jets at 800 cfm to choose from to send to John Osborne

 

Check to make sure you are getting all of your advance in the dist..

 

Does it come on strong if you bring the R's up? Maybe the 2000 stall isn't enough. What rear end gear do you have? That isn't exactly a small cam- has 7 degrees of overlap @.050". The combination might be really off if you don't have low-mid 3 series gears, and possibly a 2500-3000 stall converter. Also, if you haven't degreed the cam it still might be off, but I wouldn't think it would be the main problem considering your vacuum and idle. It's probably close. You might have been better off with the TA212, since you're used to having a torque combination with the iron headed RV cammed motor. Timing might be off too, like leo said. I've seen where other people have lost bottom end torque going to better heads. Maybe it's just the tune? My guess is not enough stall. Good luck.
________
HAWAII MARIJUANA DISPENSARY

 

I'm worried it's the converter, myself

the rear end is a Chevy 12 bolt positraction 3.31:1 unit, so I thought I was pretty safe with the rear gears. I can be having some ignition curve issues as well. Also, I probably need to adjust my oil pressure under load, it's most likely too high, I'm seeing 40 psi at a stop sign, hot, and about 50 psi driving down a 30 mph street.

Maybe it's just a combination of things, but I'm pretty disappointed considering I thought I had researched this out well. My combo of parts just doesn't work well together is what I'm thinking at the moment.

I chose the cam after careful consideration and seeking very knowledgable advise. If the cam needs to be degreed, the ignition curve is off, and the carb is wrong, I can see that potentially costing me significant power

It's good enough to get it put away, which is the important part, I suppose

 

I'm not sure that it would be the converter and gears.

Right now, I've got a 288-96H and some really good heads that flow well beyond the size of my cam. With only 2.56 gears, my car still feels really strong! I do have more stall in the converter, but if I had a few hundred rpm less I couldn't imagine characterizing the car as being a dog. I'm pulling 14" of vacuum that is really steady.

It just seems like something else isn't at its best - and its likely a combo of a couple of things, like you said. There's no automatic 50 horse switch in your motor. Without a dyno or at least a track to set some numbers, it's hard to tell. At least you can put it away for now.