69 buick 350 reb

[kidatforty]

Brad, I must commend you on your knowledge and advice. I fully understand not running an rv cam , not very impressive. I will most certainly run the ta212. Probably a good idea to run ta lifters as well to match.ta1406. When I have the engine out, I will go hit the pick a part to match a distributor. Any recommendations on a particular model vehicle to look? when I mentioned bearing wash from too much oil pressure, I have seen (in german engines) high volume oil pumps cause bearing surfaces to be prematurely and excessively worn. A blue printed/ hard anodized stock pump has always been preferable. I have a th400 auto trans.(rebuilt/stock) I was planning to run a single muffler set up and I was going to purchase pre-made bends/piping and fabricate the system myself, flanging at various junctions. I dislike slip joints. If you think that 3" is still not going to provide any benefits then I may as well save a couple dollars although not significant. Is it worthwhile to run duals? Routing duals would be a challenge due to the fuel tank. It also would add to the cost a bit more significantly. Thanks again. Gary.

[ November 11, 2002, 08:16 PM: Message edited by: kidatforty ]

[J Series Trucks]

Thanks! I also learn a lot reading tech stuff here, and on other boards. Get a lot of good ideas as well watching folks talk about what they are doing. Are you doing a total rebuild on that 350?

Models that will have the Buick HEI are 75 up to somewhere in the 80s (I lost interest in most American cars in the 80s until the Grand Nationals came out). Skylark, Century, Le Sabre, Regal, Electra and the big wagons based on the aforementioned cars.
The little wagons got the Chevy 305(the "UNIwagons" that all GM divisions got in 78 for example that all look alike except for stick on brand name. You'll know the Buick 350 because of the front distributor in the timing cover, obviously just like yours. The 455 and 350 HEIs will swap if you put the 350 gear on the 455 HEI. (but then I'll be drooling over the 455) smile.gif

The best cap and rotor for the HEI is Blue Streak, BTW...

I see on the oil pump... if you are running a new cover this isn;t an issue, but Buick used an aluminum cover with steel gears in it, just like AMC, and there is a kit that is not high volume that adds a new wear surface plate to the oil pump, which requires longer gears. (it's all one kit) works fine... Too much oil pressure is not a problem in the Buick's bearings,(in fact the trick always seems to be getting enough!) but the issue is that it creates excessive cam gear loads. A nice mod is to drill the idler gear through to the shaft hole so that the idler gear shaft gets lubed as well. You can also add an adjustable stud to the oil pump to preload the bypass spring, and tailor your oil pressure. (See web site below)

Oh, i didn't realize that you were planning a Y pipe and a single muffler! In that case I see your point, and would opt to run the 3" as well, and the muffler you chose. I was unfortunately forced to exit the 3" in front of the rear wheels, which I hate, but did it for now out of necessity (again fuel tank) I am going to get around that by installing a Suburban 40 gal tank where the spare goes, and then run my duals out the back. I am probably losing HP due to the short exhaust system and the hot gases getting to the muffler so quickly. With the new tank, I'll be able to run the mufflers a lot further back, and will not have to shut off the truck everytime I go to a drive thru due to the 3" cannon pointing at the speaker! Another issue you may want to consider is that with GS/Skylark headers, the collector is going to point directly at the d20 yoke for the front driveshaft. Does TA make shorty headers for the 350?
I know they do for the 455. We had to bend my headers to clear the D20, but luckily they are so long that there was lots of length along which to bend them, and they did not kink or break the welds.

www.epix.net/~bradf/pics1.html (http://www.epix.net/~bradf/pics1.html)

somewhere in there are shots of the problem with GS headers on a J truck.

Brad Feick