BUILD Quarter Life Crisis. It's a thing. v.GN

[v6buicks]

I was going to blast a header tonight, but noticed the moisture was out of control. I decided to quit being lazy and begin installing the new filter/regulator. I found some anchors which I will use to mount to the concrete wall, but my hammer drill is at work. I'm also out of the particular air fittings I need... So shit. I guess I'm not getting this done tonight, but I will at least get a head start by removing and tapping the side fitting.

It's been a very long time since I've cut NPT threads this nice!

I will run a 90 off this, to pex, to my filter/regulator, and then to the system. I'll keep my original 1/4" regulator and QC on there since I don't have any other QCs in the basement.

That's all I could do though, so I moved back to the engine. Time to make a valve train organizer.

Ta-da! I wanted to buy a purpose built plastic organizer for years until I shopped for them. They're all incomplete in some form or another, easy to spill, or insanely over priced for something I may use twice in my life. Rags with sharpie are usually fine for smaller jobs.

Driver side head is off. I would have had a hell of a time undoing a couple of those head bolts in the car so this pull is already paying itself back. The block is also cleaning up really nicely. It shouldn't need much paint.

 

[Mr_Roboto]

If you are doing while you're at it's if you can find em those nylon rocker buttons are a good idea to replace. They used to be cheap.

 

[v6buicks]

If you are doing while you're at it's if you can find em those nylon rocker buttons are a good idea to replace. They used to be cheap.

I haven't ordered any yet, but I plan to. Word on the street is that the ones you buy from ebay or the parts stores are too small. I'm going to call TA and order theirs. I'm sure if anybody has the right ones it's them. Any reason to buy a new cam bumper? Mine has grooves worn into it, so I was planning on it.

 

[v6buicks]

All done.

And I'm really loving it. This Rapidair filter/regulator catches way more water than I expected. I have a big dehumidifier in the basement which makes the air pretty dry as-is. I'm impressed and very happy with the purchase. Upgrading from the dinky 1/4" pipe regulator and QC as my main supply to a QCless 1/2" was noticeable too. The compressor kicks on a lot quicker, but the media flows a lot more too. If I was going to be doing media blasting regularly I'd strongly consider a compressor upgrade, but the efficiency drops off right around the same time that my neck needs a break from looking straight down anyway. I took a few breaks so that the compressor could catch up and cool off in the three hours I spent down there. By 9:00 I was ready for bed, and my patience was running dry anyway. I'm calling these good.

I'm hoping some grey VHT will make these look really nice. I have to get the crossover pipe blasted, but then I'll need to switch over to glass bead. Before all that, I'm hoping to finish up the cylinder heads.

 

[Mr_Roboto]

I was going to blast a header tonight, but noticed the moisture was out of control. I decided to quit being lazy and begin installing the new filter/regulator. I found some anchors which I will use to mount to the concrete wall, but my hammer drill is at work. I'm also out of the particular air fittings I need... So shit. I guess I'm not getting this done tonight, but I will at least get a head start by removing and tapping the side fitting.
View attachment 146006

It's been a very long time since I've cut NPT threads this nice!
View attachment 146007
I will run a 90 off this, to pex, to my filter/regulator, and then to the system. I'll keep my original 1/4" regulator and QC on there since I don't have any other QCs in the basement.

That's all I could do though, so I moved back to the engine. Time to make a valve train organizer.
View attachment 146008
View attachment 146009
View attachment 146010
View attachment 146011
Ta-da! I wanted to buy a purpose built plastic organizer for years until I shopped for them. They're all incomplete in some form or another, easy to spill, or insanely over priced for something I may use twice in my life. Rags with sharpie are usually fine for smaller jobs.
View attachment 146012
Driver side head is off. I would have had a hell of a time undoing a couple of those head bolts in the car so this pull is already paying itself back. The block is also cleaning up really nicely. It shouldn't need much paint.

I will say that organizing valve train parts is something that drives me absolutely batshit having taken a bunch of heads apart in my time. I am thinking I want to use a combination of PVC with 3D printed extras or something to make something.

 

[sktchy3.8]

What in the little baby compressor is that? Is that a 30 gallon with a halfway real pump on it?

 

[v6buicks]

I will say that organizing valve train parts is something that drives me absolutely batshit having taken a bunch of heads apart in my time. I am thinking I want to use a combination of PVC with 3D printed extras or something to make something.

Making one definitely seems to be the way to go. I've considered making one out of wood, but I have no interest in storing that either. Lol. I like my quick and dirty disposables!

More progress today. I discovered a leaky valve on the other head, so I decided to lap all of them. The "done" head is actually done now.

This was the worst seat as you can see in the splotches.

I called it good enough at this point.

I tried using a suction cup tool, but it wouldn't stick at all. I quickly gave up on that and chucked the valves up in the drill being careful not to side load them too much.

These cylinder head stands which we're about to get scrapped at work came in handy though.

I'm confidently done now. This head is going on as you see it. Now I just have to do the other side which I hope goes much quicker. Finally installing these will feel like a huge win.

 

[sktchy3.8]

Drill trick ftw.

 

[v6buicks]

It's been a frustrating couple nights, but one good thing is that I'm done with heads. They are both torqued down and the block is partially touched up. I can finish once the timing cover is on. I'm still waiting on parts for that, but I can start.

These things have rope seals like its WW2, so it's time to update that. First step is to remove the retainer by cutting the punched tangs off and pushing it out.

Step two is not installing the seal yet, but I tried it anyway.

The bore apparently needs a lot of cleaning to be made round again because those punched tangs warp it. I put a barrel sander on the Dremel to fix that, but now I have to wait for a new seal.

I guess I'll move on to something else!

I've been avoiding pulling the cover off and replacing the chip, so I went back to the Powermaster. I needed to clean up the new motor housing and brackets if I was going to put it on the car.

Brackets were blasted and clear coated. Steel wool on the motor was good enough. Then I hooked everything up, filled with fluid, and hoped for the best.

Nope. My pressure switch closed as indicated by the light, the solenoid clicked on the motor, and the smoke started rolling. This made me the kid of pissed where I refuse to quit fucking with it until I learn something. I cussed a few times and went to grab my original motor from the basement. I was going to attempt to rebuild it.

It's really not a difficult system. There just aren't any fucking parts and this permanent magnet motor really doesn't seem like a rebuild job for the DIYer. I was able to rig the brushes back with the wires but the armature and body/magnets are almost impossible to install without goofing shit up. I ended up breaking a brush in the process.

This is may be the end of my powermaster struggles despite my burning desire to force this thing into submission. It's driven by a lot of spite at this point. I'm tired of Kirban being the only place that has parts and only selling complete units for $1500. That's bullshit. They also still sell the diagnostic book as if anybody can fix it themselves despite no parts for sale. Gee thanks.

Whatever. I guess I need to get over it. I have shitty vacuum brakes, but they work and always will. The failmaster has finally caused me enough grief that I'm feeling unconfident in their ability to stay together. That's right... I'm even calling it by it's proper name now. Perhaps I am a real turbo Buick guy afterall.

I'm meeting a guy in Homewood tomorrow. He's supposed to sell me a good unported intake manifold for $150. That'll make me feel better if it goes as planned. I might drill into the back of it so that I have a cleaner booster hose installation. I always thought the billet block with the fitting on the throttle body was cheesy/ugly AF.

 

[Mr_Roboto]

Could always do an Astro Hydrobooster.......

 

[v6buicks]

Could always do an Astro Hydrobooster.......

I've considered Hydroboost because it would at least feel the same as a Powermaster and allow me to brake boost with added reliability. It's just a ton of work and money for such a trivial issue. Even sourcing the parts from junkyards is a chore if you don't want to spend the big bucks.

 

[Mr_Roboto]

Another thing you could do is get some check valves and dig up a Volvo vacuum pump/switch setup or one of the other OEM ones. There's a whole category on Ebay for them and you could piece together a setup for $100ish probably. I'm thinking one or the other will be obligatory on my setup. Leaning pump, since I have a lot of work in the line lock/prop valve setup.

 

[v6buicks]

Another thing you could do is get some check valves and dig up a Volvo vacuum pump/switch setup or one of the other OEM ones. There's a whole category on Ebay for them and you could piece together a setup for $100ish probably. I'm thinking one or the other will be obligatory on my setup. Leaning pump, since I have a lot of work in the line lock/prop valve setup.

I actually need a new one for my C30. It might be worth playing with to see if I can make it look nice.

I was also wondering if there was anything I could do to combat that the huffing sound every time I step on the brakes. I'm reading that it might actually be because of a defective booster? I was willing to accept that because I've only ever heard this on old cars with original boosters. New boosters seem to be quieter. Maybe it's worth getting rid of the junk yard booster and getting a new one? That sound is the worst in my otherwise very quiet car.

 

[v6buicks]

I came home from my weekend trip with a good deal.

It's ugly, but it's stock with no cross-threads or helicoils. I think this will look pretty nice after some elbow grease and bead blasting. I was a little concerned about the damage below until I realized that there were still a bunch of threads below it and it just holds on the fuel rail. It could be fixed relatively easily, but there's really no reason to mess with it. It won't be visible once it's all dressed anyway. At $150 for all this stuff, I really couldn't complain!

Now I'm a little unsure about how to proceed. Yes, cleaning is good, but also mods. Half the point was to NOT have a ported manifold, but I'm wondering if it's worth cutting out the EGR tower like my old one. I can't find a lot of information about that, and I have a feeling that doing so would actually mess up the air distribution that my "power plate" is supposed to correct anyway. Other than that, I'll probably drill and tap a hole in the rear so that I can have a nicely hidden fitting for the brake booster.

 

[v6buicks]

I needed a break from the forum, so I took a week off. I'm still probably going to limit my time here to direct responses for a little while. Too much time spent on the internet is bad for you mmmkay. All this time off the internet has allowed for more focus in the garage which means I need to update this now If I ever want to catch up.

My TA order arrived which allowed me to rebuild the rocker shafts and oil pump.

The TA buttons fit really nice. I'm glad I chose theirs.

10mm socket and a hammer sent them home.

Valvetrain installed for good!

This again. Yuck.

Once again, TA makes good stuff.

Then I read this eye straining instruction sheet about blueprinting my oil pump hoping that my measurements don't lead to any additional action items.

As it turned out, I was good to go. This pump looks great and it's well within the tolerances for installing a booster plate. No shimming necessary.

Packed the pump with more than enough petroleum jelly.

And sandwitched the plate between the cover and the filter housing.

I purposely left the oil cooler adapter off, spun on a cheap filter, and got ready for paint.

Finally installing the timing cover was a big win because it allowed me to finish painting the block. Dry paint on the block meant I could install everything else.

Everything else includes these fancy new poly mounts from HR Parts

I bought a brand new water pump for the Buick 350 I had years ago, but never ended up doing anything with that engine. Those pumps are identical to the V6 pumps, so I guess it's a good time to paint it and throw it on. Who knows. Maybe it will fix the mysterious accessory squeak.

My minty stock valve covers look gungy against the freshly painted engine now.... not sure what I'm going to do about that yet.

The starter motor is still the huge and heavy stocker. I'm just not ready to drop the money on a mini starter when this one looks and performs fine. Plus, it kinda sounds cool to me.

Then my intake came back from my machinist buddy. After the baking, none of that tan stuff budged. I ground a little portion down a bit to find that it was only on the surface. Odd. We determined that a shitty powder coating must hove gone bad and got stained by fuel and oil. Painting this would be the only way to pretty it up.

I wasn't too happy about that. I hated painting aluminum parts because it traps heat and tends to look like shit. I figured I would give it a try. It was only $150, so if I didn't like it, I could sell the repaired and modified intake for more than I had in it. If I liked it, I would score!

Heater pipe bolt hole fixed.

EGR tower removed.

Did some more cleaning in the parts washer and took the stuff home to paint. After doing a bunch of online research I decided that Dupli-color DE1650 was what I wanted to try. I saw examples and liked that it was made specifically for cast aluminum engine parts. It wouldn't have a blue or beige tint like others or have a cheesy chrome or silver finish. It was supposed to look factory. I must say that I was very impressed.

Before/after

So here's a more fair comparison at least for Buick parts. I obviously can't spray the intake without doing the valve covers which kinda sucks, but it was to be expected. There's a clear difference here, but it's mostly just in uniformity. Look at the the spot on the nearest valve cover closest to the intake. That's not overspray, That's just a great match where the aluminum still looks clean and uncorroded. That's how I realized that there was no point in holding back. I would have liked to keep these valve covers uncoated with the original sticker, but they simply don't look that great anymore. Time to update.

First, the plenum and a little demonstration of how goofy this paint is. It's super runny, but the only way to fix it is by spraying some more on top of it. It makes no sense. Plus, the runs come out looking black. See all the dark spots? They completely disappear after a second coat.

Paint showed me just how damaged the plenum is too. I don't know what happened here. It looks like somebody beat it with a hammer? I guess there will be no rib polishing. Oh well. That's more work than I wanted to deal with anyway. I'm too excited to finish this thing up for reasons I'll explain later.

I don't have enough gaskets to put this stuff on permanently, but I find it easier to store stuff in their homes when I can. Here's the RJC power plate for stock plenums.

Longer ARP plenum bolts are just sitting there for now, and the Racetronix EGR delete plate is installed with RTV. It's kinda odd that there's no information on this. I thought you would just use a gasket, but the plate isn't keyed deep enough to accept a gasket and the one bolt is the only thing holding it down. I'm surprised that's adequate. A couple guys mentioned tapping and plugging the holes, but then why have a delete plate? Plus, the exhaust hole is square. The other idea was tapping the intake hole for the vacuum booster which is a nifty idea, but I wasn't sure I could actually make it look nice while properly plugging up the exhaust side.

I've seen pictures of the bottoms of the intakes filled with some sort of epoxy, but I'm surprised that holds up to exhaust temps. I'm going to see if I can tap the round passages on the bottom side. It seems like the most secure way to at least soften the blow to the underside of the block plate.

Valve cover time. So long sticker.

It came off super clean so I super glued it to my stronghold of random stickers. lol I started questioning myself right about the time I took this picture. The valve cover looked pretty good after a nice degreasing and wipe down. Did I really want to do this?

Yep

Same treatment for the accessory bracket

You can see here that I have the crank pulley and intercooler fan installed, but I am very unhappy with their conditions. For some reason all the bolt holes on the crank pulley are stripped out beyond repair. I can loctite the bolts and torque them to 10 ft/lbs but that's it. The intercooler fan looks like shit too which is a shame because it's a worthless but quirky little feature that I would like to keep FOR the looks. I can't have this, but restoration has been incredibly frustrating. The steel hub was originally yellow zinc plated, but this one was rusting before I bought it after the racoon incident. I tried painting it black to hide that but it didn't hold up at all.

 

[SpeedSpeak2me]

I needed a break from the forum, so I took a week off. I'm still probably going to limit my time here to direct responses for a little while. Too much time spent on the internet is bad for you mmmkay. All this time off the internet has allowed for more focus in the garage which means I need to update this now If I ever want to catch up.

My TA order arrived which allowed me to rebuild the rocker shafts and oil pump.
View attachment 149416

The TA buttons fit really nice. I'm glad I chose theirs.
View attachment 149417
10mm socket and a hammer sent them home.
View attachment 149418
Valvetrain installed for good!
View attachment 149419

This again. Yuck.
View attachment 149420
Once again, TA makes good stuff.
View attachment 149421

Then I read this eye straining instruction sheet about blueprinting my oil pump hoping that my findings lead to no additional action needed.
View attachment 149423
View attachment 149422
As it turned out, I was good to go. This pump looks great and it's well within the tolerances for installing a booster plate. No shimming necessary.
View attachment 149424
Packed the pump with more than enough petroleum jelly.
View attachment 149425
And sandwitched the plate between the cover and the filter housing.
View attachment 149426
I purposely left the oil cooler adapter off, spun on a cheap filter, and got ready for paint.
View attachment 149427
View attachment 149434
Finally installing the timing cover was a big win because it allowed me to finish painting the block. Dry paint on the block meant I could install everything else.
View attachment 149436
Everything else includes these fancy new poly mounts from HR Parts
View attachment 149438
I bought a brand new water pump for the Buick 350 I had years ago, but never ended up doing anything with that engine. Those pumps are identical to the V6 pumps, so I guess it's a good time to paint it and throw it on. Who knows. Maybe it will fix the mysterious accessory squeak.
View attachment 149440
My minty stock valve covers look gungy against the freshly painted engine now.... not sure what I'm going to do about that yet.
View attachment 149441
The starter motor is still the huge and heavy stocker. I'm just not ready to drop the money on a mini starter when this one looks and performs fine. Plus, it kinda sounds cool to me.
View attachment 149442
Then my intake came back from my machinist buddy. After the baking, none of that tan stuff budged. I ground a little portion down a bit to find that it was only on the surface. Odd. We determined that a shitty powder coating must hove gone bad and got stained by fuel and oil. Painting this would be the only way to pretty it up.

I wasn't too happy about that. I hated painting aluminum parts because it traps heat and tends to look like shit. I figured I would give it a try. It was only $150, so if I didn't like it, I could sell the repaired and modified intake for more than I had in it. If I liked it, I would score!

Heater pipe bolt hole fixed.
View attachment 149443
EGR tower removed.
View attachment 149444
View attachment 149446
Did some more cleaning in the parts washer and took the stuff home to paint. After doing a bunch of online research I decided that Dupli-color DE1650 was what I wanted to try. I saw examples and liked that it was made specifically for cast aluminum engine parts. It wouldn't have a blue or beige tint like others or have a cheesy chrome or silver finish. It was supposed to look factory. I must say that I was very impressed.
View attachment 149447
Before/after
View attachment 149448
View attachment 149449
So here's a more fair comparison at least for Buick parts. I obviously can't spray the intake without doing the valve covers which kinda sucks, but it was to be expected. There's a clear difference here, but it's mostly just in uniformity. Look at the the spot on the nearest valve cover closest to the intake. That's not overspray, That's just a great match where the aluminum still looks clean and uncorroded. That's how I realized that there was no point in holding back. I would have liked to keep these valve covers uncoated with the original sticker, but they simply don't look that great anymore. Time to update.
View attachment 149450

First, the plenum and a little demonstration of how goofy this paint is. It's super runny, but the only way to fix it is by spraying some more on top of it. It makes no sense. Plus, the runs come out looking black. See all the dark spots? They completely disappear after a second coat.
View attachment 149452View attachment 149453
Paint showed me just how damaged the plenum is too. I don't know what happened here. It looks like somebody beat it with a hammer? I guess there will be no rib polishing. Oh well. That's more work than I wanted to deal with anyway. I'm too excited to finish this thing up for reasons I'll explain later.
View attachment 149451
I don't have enough gaskets to put this stuff on permanently, but I find it easier to store stuff in their homes when I can. Here's the RJC power plate for stock plenums.
View attachment 149456
Longer ARP plenum bolts are just sitting there for now, and the Racetronix EGR delete plate is installed with RTV. It's kinda odd that there's no information on this. I thought you would just use a gasket, but the plate isn't keyed deep enough to accept a gasket and the one bolt is the only thing holding it down. I'm surprised that's adequate. A couple guys mentioned tapping and plugging the holes, but then why have a delete plate? Plus, the exhaust hole is square. The other idea was tapping the intake hole for the vacuum booster which is a nifty idea, but I wasn't sure I could actually make it look nice while properly plugging up the exhaust side.

I've seen pictures of the bottoms of the intakes filled with some sort of epoxy, but I'm surprised that holds up to exhaust temps. I'm going to see if I can tap the round passages on the bottom side. It seems like the most secure way to at least soften the blow to the underside of the block plate.
View attachment 149457

Valve cover time. So long sticker.
View attachment 149458
It came off super clean so I super glued it to my stronghold of random stickers. lol I started questioning myself right about the time I took this picture. The valve cover looked pretty good after a nice degreasing and wipe down. Did I really want to do this?
View attachment 149459
Yep
View attachment 149460
Same treatment for the accessory bracket
View attachment 149461
You can see here that I have the crank pulley and intercooler fan installed, but I am very unhappy with their conditions. For some reason all the bolt holes on the crank pulley are stripped out beyond repair. I can loctite the bolts and torque them to 10 ft/lbs but that's it. The intercooler fan looks like shit too which is a shame because it's a worthless but quirky little feature that I would like to keep FOR the looks. I can't have this, but restoration has been incredibly frustrating. The steel hub was originally yellow zinc plated, but this one was rusting before I bought it after the racoon incident. I tried painting it black to hide that but it didn't hold up at all.

Spectacular work sir!

 

[v6buicks]

This time I surface prepped, carefully coated just the plastic parts in petroleum jelly, rust converted, engine painted, cleaned with soap and water, and...

I apparently wasted my time. I emailed a plating company near me to see if there was anything they could do to a part that's encased in plastic, but I'm not getting my hopes up. My buddy has one that's at least not rusty but the coating isn't great either. I'm open to ideas.

Until then, I need to keep moving. I like this color enough that I'm willing to ruin this slightly rare factory intake manifold for personal gains.

Measure once. Center punch three times.

Yep. I went full send with the vacuum booster. This will not be visible when the car is together, but the hose to the booster will be short and direct. I looked at vacuum pumps for hours, thought of a few different ideas for mounting, and never managed to come up with a solid plan. First of all, I had no idea that these pumps were standalone. I always thought that the pump was between the engine and the booster and by itself with a vacuum reservoir. The idea of not hooking up engine vacuum seemed like defeating half the point of the conversion. I'm sure with a tee and some check valves, the pump could work in parallel without a reservoir, but that could get super ugly considering that a lot of pumps require a separate low vacuum switch as well. Second of all I wanted to make it stealthy. I could have gotten one of the big ugly things and hid it between the bumper and the wheel well, but it would probably end up with jank bracketry similar to my alky pump, and I'm not sure how I would sneak the hose or wires through the fender. I also looked into one of the small Volvo style pumps. I thought this would be neat because it could be tucked under the master cylinder like a Powermaster pump. Again, mounting. All the small pumps have mounting isolators for the pump to be mounted vertically, so fuckery would be pretty obvious. Supposedly they can be mounted in any position, but the vacuum master cylinder doesn't have any great mounting points on it except the booster anyway.

K.I.S.S

I don't see the point in complicating this. A new dual diaphragm booster less vacuum leaks and correctly spooling turbo should be enough to fix my issues anyway.

I've been holding out on you too.

Or maybe I haven't.... It's not a PTC. In fact, this is a factory D5 converter housing. I'm pretty stoked about it though and I'm very happy to have gotten with the right people.

Many on turbobuick.com suggested I call David Husek in New York. He's the East coast 200-4R go-to and claims that the guys the Midwest go-tos are chumps. I'll take his word for it because all my friends with built 200s seem to have way too many issues! Anyway, he also builds custom converters. I figured he was the guy who could take all the information about my car and goals to sell me something that would actually make me happy.

I thought it was super cool for him to sell me a much cheaper option than his custom 245mm. He thought the smaller converter would be way too much for my tiny turbo on the street and take 6-8 weeks to build anyway. Instead he remembered there was a guy who wanted this custom D5 made but never paid up. It's got an anti-balloon plate and custom 2600 stall stator. It's supposedly good for deep 11s and perfect for a TA49 or slightly bigger turbo with E85. He also agreed that just about anything would be better than the blue thing I'm removing.

So that's neat, but I'm making this thing too nice. It makes all my rusty or otherwise shitty hardware very noticeable. I really wanted to do something about it, but the initial research I did was depressing. I'm a total nerd when it comes to hardware, so seeing stainless hardware kits that replace all my water pump and timing cover flange head bolts with fuckin socket heads and washers for $100 is more laughable than the dingbats of facebook marketplace. I may have found a solution though. Allen's Fasteners has all the good stuff. I can get stainless metric flange head bolts for less than a $1 each which makes me wanna... The rusty water pump pulley bolts, miscellaneous incorrect hex head bolts, rusty throttle bracket bolts, and intercooler fan bolts are all getting replaced with stainless flange heads. The hex heads and washers holding the bellhousing to the block (WHY THE FUCK) are getting replaced with flange head grade 8s. I even got a bellhousing set for the buddy because I remember cussing at the same shitty bolts and washers when installing his trans in KY. Best of all, that whole order only cost me $55 including tax and shipping. Screw those ebay crooks.

I cannot friggen wait to get this car moving again! I mentioned earlier that I need to get my rear in gear. The reason is because the GSCA club president asked if I was busy on Feb 25th. I guess his daughter is having a baby shower and he's looking for an excuse to come help me with my car. I thought that was super cool of him considering he's so far away, so I need to get some work lined up for us to knock out in an afternoon. The goal is to have the engine and engine bay ready for the big drop! I'm pretty much there already engine-wise, but I'm waiting on an oil pan gasket so I can just prime this damn thing already. A PCV grommet would be nice too because I'd like to install that with the intake off the car. I noticed that the old one was never fully fully seated. I'm trying to be patient, but the parts availability problems for this niche shit is getting tough. I've been waiting on a heater fitting and fuel pump assembly for over month now.

Hoping to start remediating this engine bay tomorrow.

 

[Mr_Roboto]

Very cool big progress. I have to say on the Buick 350 water pump you sure that works? If the pulley for the water pump is not grooved it should be reverse rotation.

 

[v6buicks]

Very cool big progress. I have to say on the Buick 350 water pump you sure that works? If the pulley for the water pump is not grooved it should be reverse rotation.

Thanks! Yup. Same part number and rotation. The 350 had V-belts, and all GN accessories are grooved. I remember buying this part for the 350 first knowing that the GN could use it too so I wouldn't have to feel bad about it going to waste. Lol

 

[sktchy3.8]

Sometimes you just gotta focus on what your doing and let the rest work itself out, been doing some of that myself lately. Awesome to see it coming along man.

 

[v6buicks]

This was not a fun time.

I wasn't quite prepared to expose a bare frame.

I rust converted the parts that needed it, and moved on to other things. I really didn't want to have to pull out fender liners and a bunch of lines, but I may have left myself with little choice. I don't like overspray.

At least it's clean ish. lol

Now to do some more painting. I pulled the compressor housing off the new turbo. I don't do polished stuff anymore. It's impractical and this part wasn't even done very well.

It was kinda humorous and sad to see it all frosted white, but I didn't get a picture of that. While I was waiting for that paint to dry, I made another discovery that set me back about a day.

The paint on the valve covers was flaking. This is exactly why I didn't want to paint anything in the first place!! However, I quickly remembered that I never bothered to blast the covers because they looked so clean. I failed to realize was that paint doesn't like to stick to oxidized aluminum. Despite my dismay for doing a job twice, I knew that now was the best time to start over.

The new can was very runny to start out. So I had to do some repairs. lol

Much better!

Round two! They're going to dry all day, but they'll need a serious wipe down before they go back on the engine. The amount of media that gets stuck on shit is baaaad.

I'm starting to get a bit uneasy about a couple suppliers from which I bought parts. One I know isn't going to screw me. It's Racetronix. They're good, and make great stuff. However I mentioned in my previous post that I've been waiting for stuff from them for over a month. Yeah, I just looked through my emails and it's actually two months now. I should be just fine making the fuel pump installation my last step if it comes down to that. In fact, I can probably get away with my current pump for just cruising around. What I'm really not digging is the miscellaneous stuff I bought from another supplier (not going to name names yet) taking a week to ship parts that they have in stock. They happen to have a less than stellar reputation so I'm taking a bit of a risk by giving them a chance. The particular parts they need to send will keep me from priming the engine which means I won't want to install it.

I'm going to the beach all next week, so it would be really really nice to be at a great stopping point with the car before I leave. I also want to be off the internet for most of the trip, so I need to make some detailed notes here. I want to relax to the point that I forget I even have a drivers license let alone a semi-stressful fully open project in the garage. lol

 

[v6buicks]

I noticed that the supplier I was stressing about yesterday was shipping my parts from Connersville, IN. I was scratching my head a bit because I thought that they were located in North Carolina. Whatever. I decided to email them and ask if I could just make the drive up there and pick the parts up because Connersville is only an hour away. Sure enough, I got a call from a North Carolina number letting me know that this was perfectly fine!

I drove up straight from work, and pull up to an old industrial building that looks WAAYYYY too big to be a little G-body parts supplier. Sure enough, I saw a tiny little sign that said "G-body Parts" and a windowless man door that's propped open. I walk in, see a bunch of boxes and shelves full of parts, and yell "hello" a few times. Nobody hears me. Given the way I entered and clearly being in a place that doesn't have regular visitors, I'm reluctant to go poking around. There was a lit window nearby to what looked like an office so over there, open a couple doors and find a woman working who appeared a bit shocked to see a stranger. This will soon make sense, but she perked right up when I tell her why I'm there and start making small talk. She radioed her husband (the owner) to let him know I was there. I ended up getting a tour of the whole facility and BSing about cars and business for the next hour and a half. Out of respect for the owners and their business, I chose not to take any pictures of this visit, but man was it something!

I guess G-body Parts is in the middle of a slow move from North Carolina to SE Indiana which has had some expected and very unexpected pains. Help has been extremely difficult to get, and the help they end up with either stays just long enough to get unemployment or puts themselves in jail. Break-ins and burglaries are happening regularly. I was even told a story where the owner recently had his gun drawn on a burglary in process. Scary stuff. Needless to say, don't drop by unannounced! Brian and his wife were super friendly, but I did feel a bit wigged out knowing that somebody from North Carolina said I could just drop-in after working hours when all this craziness has been happening!

There are some BIG long term goals for the building, but it's freakin' awesome as it sits too. I learned (and later confirmed) that Cords were assembled there! Now do you understand how big the place is? I'm geekin. This place has a hell of a history. The facade has changed beyond most recognition, but a lot of stuff is still there including tracks that incomplete cars would be guided on.

ANYWAY, I feel like I made a couple friends who I look forward to visiting again some time. I also walked out with a cool history lesson, a new understanding of what's involved in running a business like that, and some critical parts from my order!

When I got home, I first shoved the factory PCV grommet in. For those who don't know, these are a big ol' pain in the dick. I needed a long punch and screw driver to get it fully seated. When I pulled my old intake off, I found that the one I put in a few years prior was not fully installed. I don't see how it's possible without removing the manifold. Dumb, but that's one reason why I refused to torque this manifold down.

Then I flipped the engine upside down for the last time and managed to find all the oil pan bolts.

I cut the timing gasket flush with the surface, and aviation sealed all the cracks.

Boom

I filled the valley full of oil, primed the pump, and without delay, saw the pressure rise up to 40 psi. I am new to this process though, so I was a slightly concerned when I noticed that oil was only dribbling out of one rocker. After thinking about it for a bit, I'm guessing that I'll need to rotate the engine a bit while the oil is pumping so that the rocker holes are aligned with the push rod.

 

[Dr. Jimbo]

Ok, who the fuck moves from NC to IN?!

 

[Mr_Roboto]

Getting closer to making some horsepowers.

 

[v6buicks]

Ok, who the fuck moves from NC to IN?!

Lol she's originally from the area, and they were kind of sick of the southern work ethic. Sounds like that second part backfired though.