BUICK The Final Objective (Mission Accomplished, 7/23)

[307 Regal]

depending on your hp goals.

That's the kicker. I don't know what I "need." I have had plenty of fun in a Mazda 3 sedan just because it had a stick, but I also don't think that 216rwhp was near enough against my near-peers on race day in any setting. That's a big crease to iron out. And can I afford it.

The downside, the little stuff adds up and you’ll have an EFI learning curve (use an aftermarket ECU - 25 times easier).

The upside - LS’s will be plentiful for another 10-30 years imo. Motors are not expensive and a 5.3 in stock form is 300hp. Add the cam and headers - another 100hp. Reliable is an understatement. If you can manage to find a reasonably priced 6.0, then 450 hp is not hard to attain. And the JY is full of used parts.

I really like the idea of the 350 Buick, but if your crank is already .010 under and the block is over bored .030 now, then ………. you know the rest.

^Very good point. Really, if the timing of this were better, I would be all over an LS swap. I wanted one ten years ago. But I think that I still don't have the workspace or budget. I'm borrowing space, and the car has to be going again by spring. I guess I can take comfort in the fact that the LS engine will be around a long time. I can always go after one later. When I have a garage and a driveway.

 

[307 Regal]

Rock auto has a .020 .020 crank with bearings for $250

Stock pistons in .040, .050 and .080 oversize for under $100.

Cams are out of stock so can't get a price there.

Just get the block bored over and the cam bearings put in and do the rest your self and it will be fairly inexpensive.

Between you an Mr Sony's piston suggestions, I should probably stop looking at TA Performance. They're 335 bucks there.

I was hoping to do everything but the machining, balancing, and magnafluxing myself. I need to have my heads checked out too but wouldn't know where to begin.

 

[MrSony]

Could you share some links? I don't know what "3.0" refers to.

Already have those. My headers are the Poston A-body version I'm told.

Definitely going to check the new ones. Very valuable info on the 310. Trying to keep street manners intact.

I don't see the harm in it though. With the way I'll be driving the car I don't see the harm in having extra oiling volume. With autocross (and dare I say another track day) I can end up sustaining high rpm for one reason or another. It's actually something that I was looking forward to.

the thing about the oiling is you can do all the oil mods under the sun, but #1 if the shop ****s it up, good luck finding another block, and #2 the feed holes will still be a restriction. All that extra volume is still held back by the feed holes. its a lot more work than its worth, plus unless you g forged rods and pistons, keep it under 5500. The buick 350 has long *ss 6.385" rods, long *ss 3.85 stroke, and heavy pistons and just doesnt like high rpm. its up to you.

Buick 181/3.0 V6 flat tops, sold in sets of 6. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/uem-1734-030/make/buick
The part number for the singles are S1734-030 if you want to order all 8 yourself.


NorthernAutoParts stuff, straight from Sioux City, Iowa since 1979 https://www.northernautoparts.com/ProductDetail.cfm?ProductId=985
For that master kit the beefiest cam they offer is the 268 comp which i had in my first engine. it's a decent cam, likes compression, headers, and converter, which that engine did not have, but again comp and other brands seem to have lifter problems now, so be weary.

 

[MrSony]

You can just get a re-ring kit from Northern, pistons from summit, and a cam and lifter kit, front cam bearing, and .020 steel shim headgaskets (worth half a point in compression compared to standard aftermarket .042ish headgaskets) from TA performance. Seems like a cut and dry build to me for under $2,000.
However, if you go an additional .010 overbore, you can start fresh, get forged rods from TA, forged custom pistons and have that balanced to within a c**t hair of absolute true, and wing that b*tch to 6500 lol Or build it low compression with custom GN pistons with a higher comp. height (same bore, same pin diameter) to get 8:1ish, port the hell out of the heads, and get 420hp NA and 630hp with 5psi like a 17 year old on the v8 forum did a while back.

 

[307 Regal]

Well, goodbye 2022, goodbye 7/16" oil pickup passage, and goodbye to a very small but memorable chunk of skin from my knuckle.
After a lot of stressing out and plenty of nightmares & horror stories about the current state of hydraulic lifters, I got back to making progress on my old 350. The pickup passages have both been completely enlarged to 1/2". I think that I spent about 3 hours on it, using lots of december-garage-cold thread cutting oil and patience to keep the drill bits cool and sharp. I used a clutchless drill, which only hung up about 7 times, but the last time raked my knuckle across the oil pan rail. Certainly made a mess but I'll be having the block cleaned. I want to open up a couple more holes but I'll need to get the cam bearings out first, so I'll need a tool. I'll be using an adjustable oil pump (already have one from the last cam swap), and hopefully the bearings will appreciate the extra volume under hard use.

I'm leaning towards going with Johnson hydraulic lifters. I had considered solid lifters more so out of mistrust of hydraulics, but from what I read, solid lifters don't really have an edge until 6000+ rpm. Anyway, it seems that Johnson has a decent reputation. (if this engine still ticks when it's back together, I'm going to have a bad time. Minimum) I've made a few spreadsheets comparing various builds, and I'm still wrestling with the urge to go with aluminum heads. They're not cheap. And I would want to upgrade my rods and pistons if I'm going that far. I roughly kitted that particular build out at about $5,700 in parts after tax. Factor in another $1000 for things like honing, cleaning, and balancing. And after all of that, at maybe 360 to 400 hp worth of potential (major guess) I still have a 600 cfm carb and a T5! ha It's good to type this stuff out so that I can actually hear how I sound. There again, I'd hate to not go far enough when I've already got it all torn down and am recommitting to the platform. It might be the last time I ever mess with the engine if I do it right, here and now.

 

[307 Regal]

Small update post.
The block is ready for assembly, the rotating assembly is balanced, and I have all of the parts.
But:
I mic'd the rod journals and rod bearings (installed in the rods) and I don't have enough clearance. Thus far the first three rods I've measured show less than .00075" clearance or less. Need to finish measuring the other five. I did check out the #5 main and it is at .002" clearance. Small victory. Not sure how to proceed yet. These rods were reconditioned and have already had the pistons installed. Possible rookie mistake.

 

[64nailhead]

Are your bearings standard?

 

[307 Regal]

Are your bearings standard?

They are .010 over. The crank was turned .010 under a decade ago and was recently polished.

 

[64nailhead]

They are .010 over. The crank was turned .010 under a decade ago and was recently polished.

Without knowing what measuring tools your using, I'd get a second opinion. Haul the block with main caps and bearings installed/torques, rods and pistons with rod bearings installed and the crank to a machinist or trusted engine builder to re-measure. The worst thing that can come of this is a crank polish/minor cut.

I would NOT put it together too tight. And being tight is better than being loose - easy fix.

Have you tried checking the bearings with some plastigage to confirm you micronometer readings?

 

[olds307 and 403]

How did the orginal bearings look? Maybe incorrectly marked bearings? Were the rods resized, I assume? I know Buick 350 like tight clearances but that sounds really tight.