I was wondering if anyone new how much you can deck the block in the buick 350 without piston / valve clearance problems ? this is useing the 10.2:1 cast pistons from ta and a ta 212 cam (stock rockers) and with a decked blocks (i wanted to deck it .050) would I need new pushrods or just ajustable one's? thanks ahead of time -Ryan
Ryan - What you are looking for is a final piston to deck clearance of between -.005 and .000 (zero deck). The machine shop will need to do a trial assembly to find out what your current clearances are. Make sure you have this done AFTER the rods have been resized (balanced too). Re: stock pushrod length - If the combined amount of resurfacing on the deck and the heads is only .050", you could just use Chevy lifters (which have the plunger .050" lower than the Buick). If you already have the cam & lifters, you will need to have the pushrod length checked. You'll probably need either custom length pushrods (shorter) or adj. pushrods. You should be shooting for .030" - .040" preload on the lifters. It's critical that whoever does your heads, keeps the valve stem tip heights 1) the same height (+/- .005") and 2) the correct height. I'm not sure if the 350" also has a 2.080" tip height or not. The shop should measure that BEFORE they start in on the valve job!!:Smarty: Make sure they pay attention to whether there has been work done before or any recession. If they look stock, they should be able to get a good idea what the tip height is. If you haven't seen this in other posts, it's EXTREMELY critical that the oil clearances are kept on the tight side!!!:Smarty: Rod & main clearances need to be kept in the .0017"-.002" range. Only exception is the rear main, which can be an extra .0005".
hmm, sounds like a plan do you happen to know what the stock deck height is on a buick 350 ? and what kind of compression raise i could expect out of a zero deck block (flycut pistons is nessacary)?
Hi Phaxtrix, sounds like your on top of things I have the Sterling H522NP pistons with valve reliefs, in my 350, they're suppose to be 9.25 to 1 at a deck height of .020. Most stock 350's have the piston .055 in the hole. Do like GXSMEN said and mock everything up. I put 1 piston in each corner and measured, 4 times I think, just to be sure, then decided to have the deck cut .050 to achieve .005 deck height. I then put my heads on, WITHOUT head gaskets (my heads were milled .030) installed my cam (TA's 310, with 515 lift with 1.6 roller rockers and 232 duration at .050) and checking springs with clay on the piston tops. The valve to piston clearance was good:bglasses: Im also using Chevy style lifters. Im not sure what my final compression ratio is, but it runs great with 93 to 94 octane pump gas. Im sure the 310 cam has something to do with it being able to tolerate pump gas with no detonation, but decking the block to near zero deck height does all good things for the engine, and you!! Mark
hmm, ok so i should be fine, but i will definatly do a mock set up before final asembly i did not know you can use chevy roler rockers, can someone explain how one would do this, because i want roler rockers, and if i could use chevy ones i could get them a lot cheaper than from ta
No...it's the Chevy lifters that we're able to use. The Buick uses a shaft mounted rocker system...the Chevy uses individual studs/rockers....incompatible, unfortunately.ou: Maybe on the new alum. 350" heads!!!:TU:
yea that was the impression i was under does anyone know if the alum heads are actually in the works, or if its just a myth ?
Supposed to be sometime this year. The aftermarket 455" block is their 1st priority!! That should be any time now.
