So you have to drill from the front of the block down to the pick up tube hole? Isn't 5/8 a little to big since it's only 7/16 from the factory? I know the 71 on up BBB is 5/8. I was thinking on opening it ut to 1/2. What size is that pick up tube. I haven't checked that out yet.
drill the block passage at 1/2"...it should match the timing cover as well. If you use a newer v6 cover the hole is already 1/2".
I will start a help list to show people when we put this 350 Skylark to the test on the drag strip and on the break in video so just to show how most of us Buick guys stick together. The way it's going I hope we have enough space on the car. I have recently talk to a stocker guy and he agrees with most of you guys but still has more ways of saving money and getting more power. He said yes to the 5/8 oil feed and he said a couple of places sell the pick up.
Based on how far your pistons are in the hole I bet your pistons have a lower than factory compression height. Stock specs as far as I know: 1.81000" piston compression height Piston should be 0.0580" Down in Bore (30 thou more on the later blocks) Buick 350 block deck height= 10.18"
I have Three sets of .02 Steel Shim Head Gaskets if you need them. I can send you a set if you want. Think of it as my contribution to your project. I built up a '72 / 350. PONCH I used a set of 10:1 V6 Pistons. And No, I didn't leave 2 Holes Empty.
Ponch I Pmed you. Does anyone have a 3 way double roller timing set? I found a Melling on Ebay for 20 bucks.
The 20 thou steel head gaskets only work on the 68-71 engines and will not work with the 77 engine... The reason is the extra coolant passage on the later heads. I use the billet true roller timing set, a bit of $ but it is reliable and consistent. Regarding the pistons, Venolia is the best priced quality forged piston you can get: http://www.venolia.com/ I have the Diamonds, which are a wonderfull piston but a bit more cash.
Thats cool Sean, I was thinking that the 455 was the same way with the shim gaskets but if it helped with the 350 I would check it out. If some one wants to help thats great but if we can keep shipping cost down that is also great. Don't let that stop anyone from helping cause that is why we are here to make Buicks go fast! You guys Rock! ---------- Post added at 02:19 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:18 AM ---------- Let's talk rear main seal. I don't want it to leak.
I have a set of headers you could borrow but shipping would be a bit much I think. I wrote the how to install the rear main instructions... I use the ford 460 rear seal which is the same one TA sells. Just remember to use the stock little blocks and pins on the side of the caps and be sure to off set the seals so they do not meet at the bottom of the cap. http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.p...-Replacement-Instructions&highlight=rear+main
Cool Sean but I have some good news! Gary Hersche the engine builder for Chris Stevenson 74 Apollo stocker now running 11.40's has come up with a set of .040 stocker pistons and cap screw rods balanced that have some valve nicks in them that he will sell me cheap. I will get them and see what the deck height is with those and go from there. I also put a plug to Gessler head porting about the heads to see if he can help. He sells 350 heads ported to your needs so if the guys wanting aluminum heads needs to contact him for a nice set of ported cast iron heads. The price to me sounds high but I don't have any money. Oh I got my cam from Crower but I don't like the lobe not looking fat but you can tell the lobe centers are close. I will take some pics and put them on here. ---------- Post added at 05:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:09 PM ---------- Oh I checked the heads and they are B1382546K on the other car so definetly 1968 by Gessler's chart. The block between 1 and 3 is 521.
Yes Gessler ported my heads and they ran 11.08 in the quarter NA with about 370 cubes on a Buick 350. Now with LOTS of boost they should make some good power! There are some less expensive options for head porting like: -finishline motorsports (bobb mackley) -Jim W the owner of this board -you could also just have your local shop do a $500 porting For a full out max effort job gessler is the way to go however $ for HP there are other options to keep costs down. Great news about the pistons and rods! Use the 68 heads for sure, or find another set of early heads for porting. Toss those 77 heads away, just keep the 1.55 exhaust valves for the other heads. Before you even send them away for porting take a head gasket and raise the top of each gasket by about 1/8" using an exacto knife or something, then port match the intake and heads to the gasket. Then when you are done have them ported. Raising the roof of the intake runners helps huge. yes you loose a bit of low rpm velocity due to more volume but it is worth the high rpm gain when using a large cam. If you can, mill the heads about 60 thou depending on if you mill the block and then use some shorted pushrods. if you do not square the deck of the block then go with a adjustable pushrod as all 4 corners will be different. Some tips from the NHRA guys: Look for 2% or less on leakdown when done degree the cam to fine tune the cylinder pressures look for 14-16 foot pounds to rotate the engine over without the plugs installed index the plugs and gap them max 38 degrees timing, normally 34-36 all in by 2200 RPM use a high stall converter use a tall tire use 5W30 oil as long as your oil pressure is ok, add some thicker oil to fine tune the pressure windage tray if possible crank scraper if you can And some other tricks: use a 4" open carb spacer if you have the room/scoop add a baffle to keep the oil from sloshing away from the pickup use a holley 850 carb or a 800 cfm q jet from a 75-80 350, the 455 versions have too much idle air smooth the rods and remove stress risers use the ta grooved cam bearings buy the northern auto parts rebuild kit run as large and short of an exhaust as you can, and the largest primary headers you can find these engines LOVE large exhaust and oversized headers
Here's some pics of the cam. I would have liked to see a wider section at the top of the lift. Maybe I will get out the 7XR and show what it looks like. Gary said his cam has more duration but less lift. :3gears:
Well I checked my records and the cam you have there made 580 HP at the crank with a single plane intake and 10.7:1 compression. Their custom grind became a catalogue option. This was with ported heads and some tricks but at least we know it can make steam. This is only the 3rd cam ever made with this grind! They ran it for years in the dirt oval racing hemis and BBCs with a huge displacement handicap!
I knew lots of duration helped when I heard a v-6 Buick at the points meet pull up and it sounded like my 455 but with less cylinders. It ran 11.80 I think and the anouncer said yea thats a Buick V-6 in that race car. I just shook my head and said wow That's a Buick for ya!
That is the trick for the NHRA guys running 11s without head porting... MASSIVE duration cams, stock lift, and cars set up to make 100% use of the tiny 375 HP they make. A quote from Garry H. "Matching the torque converter with the camshaft is critical".
Actually the steel gm's work through 71. We had planned to use them on my build to get the compression near our goal and the 72 block with the 70 heads poured coolant out everywhere.
nhra guys run gears in the 4's and their trans/conv's costs are $4000-8000 !!!! there is no mickey mouse or cost cutting with them. you wanna play...your gonna pay.
My 350 is a '72 and the Head Gaskets work fine. I put them up against a set of '73 Heads and they look good too. If it's the extra coolant passage that's messing you up, punch a hole in the gasket. PONCH
