A guide to building the lil guy. The Mighty 300

I think a square shoulder would have been better but that would have meant machining the cam itself and any later one swapped in afterwards. I didn't want to do that.

Today I begin final cleaning and installation of the rings and circlips and then the main cap stabilizer plate. Hope to have the bottom end buttoned up soon.

Jim

 

Desktop Dyno of LT4 Hot cam specs with 10.5 compression at flywheel. Probably a little optimistic but the TA aluminum heads are as good as most aftermarket Chevy heads. Love the TQ curve.

 

[QUOTE="Mart, post: 3294835, member: With my Pankls, I had to cut into the rod bolt thread some. [/QUOTE]

Correct for mine too. Got into the 2nd or 3rd thread in the rod just a bit. But the bolts were untouched.

Jim

 

A lot depends on the exhaust. I probably have the only MGB with full length balanced headers for a Buick engine. Most are running shortie headers which are a little better than an iron manifold but have no scavenging effect. The difference could easily be 50 hp in some cases. So Mike's 300 rwhp is reasonably close to desktop dyno's prediction. Plus it's a 300, not a 346.

Jim

 

Recently I picked up an aluminum intake and aluminum heads for one of my 300's. The intake has a couple of broke off bolts that need to be addressed. The heads have been rebuilt and the valves and ports look great. BUT, at some point somebody Way over tightened one spark plug and stripped it out. I inspected the rest of the plug holes and they all look good.
And that brings me to today. I just picked up a third little "Wildcat 355" out of a neighbors 1964 Skylark. His plans are going the "Pro-touring" route. Tubular control arms, bigger tires, LS engine swap, 4l80e transmission. I swapped him my 2 naked seat frames and $100 for it. Now I have 3 engines to play with. One in the car, and 2 in the garage for spare parts and/or rebuilds.

 

Keep in mind that if you pick up a set of late Rover heads and use those in the build it opens the door to a direct swap later on if you like for TA heads as the chamber volume is the same.

Jim

 

Here is a link to the MGE posts on the 300:
https://www.mgexp.com/forum/mg-engine-swaps-forum.40/comprehensive-300-buick-build-thread.4463289/

Jim

 

For my birthday I got a 4 axis digital readout for my milling machine and just finished installing it. Still need to calibrate the scales but my first job is going to be the pedestals for the Chevy paired roller rockers that I bought to use on the TA/Rover heads so that will be happening in the upcoming weeks. I'll post photos as soon as I have something to show.

Jim

 

Aweosme

 

Need help from the small block guys. Anybody know where I can get a set of Cam bearings for a 64 Special with the 300 engine?
Clevite Brand SH 1360S seems to be the right part number but I cannot find that anywhere.
Maybe other options?

 

Clevite MAHLE SH1360S: Cam Bearing Set Buick 1964-1967 V8 300/340ci - JEGS High Performance

 

Yes sir, tried that and they are out of stock, no anticipated timeframe for being back in stock again. Like many of the rest of the suppliers there is no anticipated time when they will be back in stock again. My builder is at a standstill. That is the right Clevite part number, found what was supposed to be a set advertised on ebay, turns out it's for one bearing not the set and they are out of stock as well.

Anyone know if a Rover cam bearing might work?

 

Buick 215 and 3.5 Rover can use the same cam, so ID is the same. OD and width may be different.

 

Rockauto lists Sealed Power also same as Buick 215 and 3.5 Rover:

1964 BUICK SPECIAL 4.9L 300cid V8 Camshaft Bearing | RockAuto

 

Jim, Thanks for the information. I'll try the Sealed Power bearings, looks like that could work.
Thanks again!

 

Just got an email from Rock Auto and they are out of that Sealed Power bearings as well. The search goes on.

 

Have you tried TA?

Stock Replacement Cam Bearings, 215-300-340 STOCK CAM BEARINGS, TA_1564 | TAPerformance.com

 

Yep, Tim said there is a national backorder on these. He has had 10 sets on order for the last 6 months.

 

Summit lists a bunch of them:

BUICK 5.6L/340 Buick V8 Cam Bearings - Free Shipping on Orders Over $99 at Summit Racing

 

Yes, I checked them out. They are all special ordered or est back in stock Dec and Jan. I have my name in with TA Performance, he said his supplier said Nov.