I guess this question would work on any engine, so here it goes! When starting an engine buildup, what would be the first place to consider on a 300. I know there are no aftermarket intakes, only one set of headers available, and no engine shop knows very much about these engines. I have a 65 skylark, I'm going to use a 200R4 trans and either 3:73 or 3:55 gears on tires that are in the 26.5" in height. I plan on building a decent, well rounded, street car, odd trips to the track and weekend cruises. I'm just curious where to start! My engine needs a complete rebuild, I was thinking of getting all the machine work (boring, align hone, magnaflux, etc.etc...) getting the heads cleaned up. After the heads are cleaned up would it be an idea to get the flow checked and have that info ready when I order a cam, & then see what compression the cam grinder recommends for compression. Will the cam grinder want to know the header tube size, the size of exhaust used, etc. Any help or direction to a really good web site would be really appreciated.
There are a hoard of parts out there for the 300. The most common upgrade is the '64 aluminum heads and 4 barrel Intake. I have a 25 over stock cam, hi rev lifters, dual valve springs, high pressure oil pump, chrome molley 0.30 over pistons, rods, gasket matched everything and the list continues. Good affordable suppliers for engine parts are maybe the most obvious ones: TA Performance (AZ) 480-922-6807 Poston Enterpriese (Atmore, AL) 800-635-9781 PAE Enterprises (El Paso) 915-855-6009 ask for Jim - amazing tech knowledge of the Buick V8's Northern Autoparts Warehouse (Sioux City) 800-831-0884 Kenne Bell (CA) 909-941-6646
Thanks for the response and the list of suppliers!:TU: Sounds like you've been down this road before, does your 300 move along pretty good, I have heard that poston has rereleased their headers for the 300, and also that there is MSD ignition system available! I guess I'll have to do some home work on compression and talk to some cam companys about options. I plan on keeping the stock 4brl intake, mostly because i've kind of took a liking to the buick green on these motors!
Yeah the 300 moves along good, especially with the TH350 vs. the 2 speed. I think you'll find a good selection of cams from Poston (noted above) for the 300. When I built mine (about 2 years ago) they had 4 hp choices. I decided to go w/ the 25hp over stock because I didn't want the idle to get TOO rough and the with the 35hp Poston said it would be a rough idle. The 25hp certainly has a respectable lobe and sounds mean as hell - for me anyway the 35hp would have been too much. If I remember correctly the 25hp over cam created 0.49 lift on the valves which is pretty decent (that's w/ the aluminum heads)
cam question I have a question about the cam you are using, What does it idle at and are you using a stall converter. i am going to be doing a cam swap soon and i was thinking about the possibilities thanks Adam
The cam I'm using is is from Poston. It is rated at 25hp over stock spec for the 4bbl. 300 V8. I have the car idling between 800-850 which for me isn't bad at all. It's not a stupid idle at a stop light if that's what you're worried about - but it does make the family in the car next to you look over (well that might be the Flowmasters too :grin: ) I do have a stall with the TH350 and quite honestly, I'm not a big fan of it. I had Jim Burek of PAE Enterprises build me a 2000 stall. His workmanship is great and I have no complaints about that, but I'm considering going back to a normal converter. (hint, hint - less than 500 miles on mine if you're intrested) It plants the car good with minimal wasted tire spin, but I cruise my car around more than I go to the track. I "want" more spin off the line. I know that makes no sense, but I'm a big fan of the black strips off the stop sign line and then the second gear chirp marks about 50 feet later. The neighbors love it too! well, not really
cam thanks alot so you think you will be able to put the stock converter back with out the car stalling when put in gear. I am in the same boat i really do not race alot either so i understand perfectly. I love the sound of a choppy idle but i do not want to run a stall converter or have a real high idle. I am not going to be doing this till this winter so i got time to think about it. Let me know how it works out with the stock converter. thanks Adam
Hey GRNLRK! Just curious what flowmasters your running, how load they are & if you would go with louder/quieter system. What are you running for a system, true duals, single plus dual outlet!
I'm running 2-chamber aluminized Flowmasters. I think they call them something different now like 40 Series or 50 Series or something. You can just call Jegs or Summit and tell them you want 2 chamber mufflers. I put the mufflers on the car back in '96 and back then they catogarized them by chambers. The exhaust I have now is just a custom bent 2.5 inch aluminized from the cast manifolds back. In the next week I should have my headers back from being Jet coated and I'm going to put in the Flowmaster 2.5 mandrel bent kit with an 'X' pipe (which by the way is very easy to make and is SOOOOO much better than the 'H' pipe - sound and performance)
I realize I didn't address all your questions in the thread above..... I don't think it's too loud at all. When you cruise it shuts right up and is quiet, but when you hammer on it, the neighbors will definitely hear you coming. I think it's a perfect sound. In fact over the years many people have told me that my car sounds better than any car they've ever heard. It really is true - the 300 with 2 chamber Flowmasters is a great combo. Heck, every Ford guy agrees that the 5.0 Mustang (302) with 2 chamber Flowmasters is a perfect combo too. I've attached a pic of my tips here. I custom bent them to look identical to the exact way the stock single exhaust was from the factory.
Well I for one really love the sound of a 5.0 with flowmasters, so if a 300 sounds the same, I guess I have figured out what I'm going to use for exhaust! That flowmaster system should work well, and I plan on getting a pair of the headers that poston has just rereleased. Those tips you have look great! Resto look with street rod sound, I'm sure your lark turns heads, looks good:TU: Have you ever had your car to a track, what kind of gas mileage do you figure you get.
re exhaust That is another question i was going to ask i was plannig on running the two chamber flowmasters with the mandrel bent exhaust plus i already have the headers. I was on the fence about the h or x pipe i believe the 5.0 have an h pipe factory but you believe that the x sounds better thanks adam
In my opinion the 300 with the 2 chamber Flowmasters actually sounds better than the 5.0 302. As for the 'H' vs. the 'X' - well the 'H' is known to cause reverberation in the car due to the turbulence it creates from not being a direct flow. Mustangs Unlimited (one of the biggest Mustang suppliers in the world - 5 minutes from my house) recommends the 'X' pipe for that reason. I simply bought (2) 90 degree bent DynoMax pipes and welded a clean 'X' together myself. It not only sounds cleaner, but it gained 9 hp on the dyno. I'm no rocket scientist, but the concept alone makes sense and it seems to work.
So you had the exhast with the flowmasters on and then added the x-pipe and it added 9hp. Was that on a chassis dyno? Well i am sold i have a 67 with a 300 in it. I have a 4 barrel intake for it and i am planning on putting in postons 20 horse power cam. I have the poston headers (which are great by the way) and i have a MSD 6A iginition. Thanks for your info i was kinda of undicided on which flowmaster system to use and weather to use the x pipe or h pipe but you cleared that up. Thanks Adam
9 HP on a dyno! Cool:TU: If you don't mind me asking what kind of numbers did you turn on the rollers, and what kind of mods have you done to your 300. , compression, porting etc.. not trying to snoop, just looking for ideas when I get around to rebuilding mine.
I have the 65 cast block obviously, 64 aluminum heads (which were NOS) and aluminum intake. I polished the heads, and decked them slightly. The pistons are .030 over chrome molley as are the pushrods. 25 hp over stock cam, high rev lifters, dual valve springs, gear drive timing, high volume oil pump w/ pressure plate - which by the way is fantastic At idle at a stoplight w/ 20/50 oil I hold a consistent 40-45 lbs. of pressure. The motor has been balanced and and fully gaskets matched. Clearly I've ditched the points and am using the Pertronix set up w/ an MSD ignition and flamethrower coil. I am still waiting for my headers to come back from being jetcoated, but those will shortly be added as well. I hogged out the cast manifolds as much as I could. The chasis dyno showed 298 at the wheels which I assume is 325-330 at the crank. No too bad, but the 455 is soon coming - maybe next year - I just don't have the heart to take the 300 from my 65.
I didn't thinck that you could put the aluminum heads on the cast iron block somebody told me that the was an extra water passage the would cause a leak if they were swapped. Did you have to do any modifications to get them to go on. That sounds like a super sweat set up have you ever taking it to the track if so what did it run. You said your runnig a turbo 350 tranny right. Also what carb are you using. Thanks Adam
My 64 originally had a cast iron block with the aluminum heads and intake. If I would have known then what I know now I wouldn't have given the motor away for free.
Wow! Sounds like you have the exact set-up that I'm looking to build. Almost 300 HP to the wheels is exactly what I'm looking for! Did the dual valve springs come with the cam. If you are ever to consider selling your engine, please let me know. I still have a ways to go before I get into the engine rebuild stage. Just had my frame blasted and painted and am saving for suspension parts, springs, sway bar, and a full rebuild front end kit! If you don't want to sell it, I hope I can pick your brain from time to time for some ideas and tips on building an engine like yours! Your 455 looks pretty cool too! When I first looked at it( thinking it was a 300) I thought, where did he ever get those cool pulleys, the fuel pump looks different than mine, and its red? Thank god I figured out it was a 455 before I read your next post! I would've been cast out of buickdom for stupidity, would've had to join a chevy forum!ou:
