Okay now Mike is saying the HEI has the module just no cap with coil. If you can't find one at the swap meet, I'll probably buy his.
No luck. I'll keep looking. Although last Friday I did purchase a Grand National posi rear end. Hows yours coming?
Other than external block cleanup and drilling the manifold bolts, nothing else has happened. My headers should arrive Wednesday and I should have the bolts drilled out by this weekend. I haven't pulled the V6 out yet so I'll probably do that this weekend then tranfer all the brackets and accessories over. I did get another starter off an 85 GN so I'll see if that turns over the engine easier. Thanks for looking for me. MARK
Any luck finding the valve covers. I might get the chance to drop that engine in this Sunday if all else goes well. Noone around me has those low profile type valve covers. Are you going to put that posi rear end in your Regal? Take care, MARK
Well, I thought I would have gotten it all done today but ran in to a lot of road blocks. You have probably overcome these things but if you could help me through this stuff, maybe someone else reading who is doing, or going to do, this swap could be prepared. I removed my A/C, alt, etc. brackets from the V6 but they won't attach to the new motor because they are a different thread. I see Buick 350 bolt kits on eBay, is that what I should buy or what did you do? I found out my water pump has about 4 broken off bolts on it. I didn't notice when I bought it but it didn't leak water when it was that way. Anyway, that pump had to go because the pump on there won't work with the pully and belts. Also, when I attached the water neck to the alum intake, it cracked the aluminum. Dude! I thought I would've been cruising down the street by now. Instead, I'm going to the parts store more stuff. $$$ MARK
Mark, Sounds like a rough time. I just went through my bolt box till I found the right size bolts for the bracketry. It should be common stuff at a hardware store. Are the waterpump bolts that are broken the little ones that go into the timing cover, or are they the big ones that go into the block? Remember, your V-6 waterpump will fit the 350. I hope the aluminum that cracked is the waterneck, not the intake. I got an extra neck. If its the intake that cracked, you'll need some advice from someone who's been down that road. I think everyone thinks they'll be cruising their project car before it actually happens. Your time will come.
It was the intake right where the water neck screws in (the top bolt). As soon as I felt the bolt giving way, I stopped turning and saw a small crack. I know there's some way to weld aluminum so I'll look in to that later. The broken water pump bolts are the little 7/8s ones. Not the long ones (1/2). On a good note, I got my headers painted a nice shade of black and my motor is a cool blue. I have to get some new pictures.
Do you or anyone else know if that gasket on the waterpump will hold if some of the smaller bolts are broke off? I know there were no leaks before but I didn't see the engine run for any period of time. Basically it was started and rev'd a couple times. Some of the bolts look like someone tried to drill them out but they were drilled crooked. MARK
I've had several Olds's and Buicks in my past that have had one missing small waterpump bolt. No leaks. I'm in the house right now, so I'm not looking at an engine, but if I remember correctly isn't there enough room behind the timing cover to drill through and use a nut and bolt on some of them? I bet those four big bolts that go clear through to the block will do, but I can't say for sure. Are you having any good luck?
Some of them I can drill through. The car is up at my dad's house but I'm going up tomorrow morning. I'm going to do the same for the exhaust manifold. I'll let you know about the luck thing tomorrow. I think I'll throw luck out the window and get on my knees tonight.
WATER PUMP I've had them go both ways. The last time I wanted to change the water pump and ended up changing the timing cover because of broken bolts. It may be a good thing to do anyway because Buick nylon gear timing chains have a tendency to go out with no notice. I've had cars with both low and higher miles 60-130k when the chains go so I automatically assume to put one in as well as rebuild or add a higher volme oil pump on any car I get. As you will find out there is not a bunch of room in a regal with a 350 to put a chain/pump in later so my advice is to do it now if it already hasn't been done. Eric
Thanks Eric, I may take your advice. But in the mean time... There are only 5 bolts that aren't broken off, 4 of the long bolts and 1 small bolt. I can drill through the top ones and probably will. The lower 2 bolts are broke though and I can't drill through them to add a nut/bolt configuration. I thought about drilling them out and then re-tapping them with new threads. MARK
Well,......you allready have the drill out for drilling the exhaust manifold bolts so you might as well drill the waterpump bolts. Drilling bolts outta aluminum isn't very easy. The drill will keep wanting to go to the soft metal. Also, you may not wanna force it as hard as you will when your drilling into the heads. I hope things work good for you.:TU:
V6 coil will work in one of those nightmare large cap V8 HEI's, no problem, but the question is...WHY? There is a much better way to do an HEI for a Buick, small-body HEI, built into the stock points distributor core. At the very least with the large cap HEI junkers, get that coil out of the cap, use a good oil filled performance coil, like the NAPA IC12, and MSD 8401 HEI coil cap adapter, and get that piece of trash epoxy coil out of the cap. And, while you are at it with the large cap piece of dung, put a new pickup in it as the old ones can break the feed wires, replace the worn out bushings, hard chrome the mainshaft back to stock to remove the wear, new restricted vacuum advance so it doesn't overtime the engine, and curve it to match the engine as it was NEVER designed for any sort of early engine of any performance level, but only for later emissions ones. Yup, that sweet $75.00 initial price for that blob of grease, scraggaly, worn out large cap HEI soon becomes over $200.00 to do it right.
I appreciate the comments but I AM working on a budget here and my extremely tight budget is tapped out. I would like to put the best of everything on this motor but that's just not going to happen. Maybe someday it will. My main focus now is just getting it dropped in the Regal so I have something to drive to work again. Believe it or not, this car, as it is, will be far more reliable than what I'm driving now. As soon as I get my radiator in the next couple of days (yes, it's a used one and it's only 2 core) I'll be ready to drop the motor in and get this thing back on the road. Probably the only other thing I'm going to add to this project, unless something else fails during installation, is a set of oil press. and water temp. gauges. And that's only if I can find a nice set of used ones. Anybody have some? Thanks again for all the comments, MARK
My intent was to show the costs that will come about in correctly refurbishing a wrecking yard large coil-in-cap HEI, doing it right, vs. a correct and proper, better small body HEI conversion. If your budget is so small, as mine always is, keep the points and don't ask for no dollar magic fix systems that neither one of us can afford, convert to whatever later. As far as budget is concerned, I am dead sure mine is much less than yours is, as I always seem to not have any extra fundage for any of my projects.
