Me thinkst we'll switch the thermostat to manual and let the furnace have a "runaway" for a while. Thanks guys; easy peezy! Bill in TR
So I finally got an answer from an authority on the subject, just in case anyone else ever has to go through this... "The 350 and TH 400 used different gas pedal assemblies and the bar is different. It does appear that you have a TH 400 pedal there. The 350 one had a another tab on it for the detent cable. I also have no idea why the resistor is there, that is not factory.. it is just a simple switch." Can you believe it? A 350 mount with a 400 pedal bar and a 400 KD switch welded to the mount ??? I still find it hard to believe not only the PO butchering this together, but GM making so many variations of a universal part. Bill in TR
I have all the confidence that you will figure it out. Use the bracket I sent. If you don't need the pedal, let me know. UticaGeoff
As you well know Geoff, this thing is like putting a 1200 piece jigsaw puzzle together UPSIDE DOWN! I wanna compare that bracket, and pretty sure the throttle arm is an earlier model rod style. Just a lot of little pieces that need some TLC. Hope things are OK upstate. Bill in TR
I can sell you a 400 gas pedal,I have them for a BBB or a SBB.In your case the SBB will be better,as the gas pedal has a black retainer ,the BBB has a yellow,shorter retainer.The pedal I have for the SBB is the same as the BBB,I just will take off the tab that supposed to hold the 350 downshift cable.I will include the solenoid with 2 wires attached,all you have to get or buy is the bracket that holds the solenoid.Mike Garrison is a member here and he ropops those brackets,you can get in touch with him at: mrbuick.com.BrunoD.
Thanks Bruno... by solenoid I am guessing you mean the kick down switch? From what I gather, right now everything I have should work, and just needs to be trouble shot electrically. At this point it may be something as simple as the switch position, or a bad connection at the switch or solenoid in the trans. A few guys have confirmed that I do indeed have a 400 pedal assembly on a home made bracket with a switch. Its just a matter of getting all my ducks in a row. Gotta go... step son is at the hospital having a baby :shock: and Pat (his mom) just left here to be there too; gonna be a longggg night! Bill in TR ou:
It was a BBBBB at around 1422 hrs yesterday. Dad proud, Mother wants taco belly ache. Hmmm... ws BTW... that's a BIG BLOCK BUICK BABY BOY
Sooo.... one of my mentors here was good enough to loan me a switch, bracket and pedal assembly to check for fitment/geometry... I would've driven over to get it but its like 1500 miles, so we let the mailman handle it... It was a longgggg walk. For the sake of conversation, and if youre ever gonna convert from a 350 to a 400 turbo heres the deal; This pedal is out of a 1966 (?) GTO. It was a rod operated throttle (pre 1968 cable style) and has no limit travel pin that fits in the oblong hole in the mounting bracket. Im now gonna be able to confirm/change anything on mine so they are equal in the geometry department. I also understand about "cocking" the switch. Once its cocked, its done. PERIOD. This one had been attempted to get reset and broke the casing, glued, and broke again. Some one didn't get it. Kind of a poor design. Id have made the bracket slotted and mounted a switch accordingly. The actuation on the cocked switch travel is about 1/4" for the On-Off yet the Un-cocked switch travels a good inch. No reason for that. Between the bracket, a new switch (maybe) and correcting some vacuum lines, and checking circuitry, sticky governor, and downshifting solenoid operation, we should be on the road to perdition! Bill in TR BTW... Thanks again Geoff!! The little nub on the brown plastic plunger is what keeps the switch cocked or will break the housing un-cocking it. Hmm... Notice travel limiting slot in center of bracket... GTO pedal with no sign of contacting the switch; probably a 4 speed unit, rod style linkage, and no limiting pin for slotted mounting plate. Pretty informative day today eh? ---------- Post added at 02:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:55 PM ---------- OOH, OOH !!!! What year is the GTO pedal? Exspurts?? I had a 66 Bonneville, 389 x 1 4V with a bench seat and factory four speed and this pedal really reminds me of that car! That one was jet black, with HURST mag wheels and really ran good... sold it to a kid that managed to wrap it around a tree within 2 days; 1973. Bill in TR
Just a few minutes before the Hoffmans try to run a 60,000lb loader through the super saturated jungle floor... Getting some handrails ready to install before the double knee job in 2 weeks and managed to correct a few issues with the vacuum line routing. Re-ran the last 4" of trans modulator line and installed in the OEM port, installed the heater control line from the carb to the pod on the firewall, and moved the PCV hose to the choke stove as instructed (!) and of course that bolt twisted off and I managed to drill and tap it in situ with success! I though it was gonna become a nightmare! Bill in TR Levity is good in the face of death!
Bill: I had a boss over 35 years ago who used to say, "How do you eat an elephant?" - answer: "One piece at a time." You are making wonderful progress and should be proud of what you've done in such a short time. UticaGeoff
Whats gray and comes in quarts? Elephants. What made me think of that? Hmm.... Thanks pal! Right now all I wanna do is get the stuff done that I wont be able to in a few weeks and yet be ready to do some car show stuff this summer. A few years ago was a shoulder rebuild that kept me in a sling from April till August... that really sucked. Old age leaves something to be desired. Tomorrow looks like some under the dash work while we ride out some mid 30's with freezing rain. That and probably install the handrails. Our bedroom is in a finished basement, with varnished oak steps which are a death ride in socks! Rail is really gonna help before I have to spend a month on the couch upstairs! Beats the alternative. ONWARD!!! Through the fog... Bill in TR Whats better than a Chicago style hot dog??? One from Bugtussel Al.
Oh man...sorry about the bolt, but you have it going on now! Mod line + PCV look good. Couldn't hurt to put antisieze on that bolt. Dump the washers on the carb base bolts. If the bolts are the right length, you don't need them. They look like lockwashers and will dig into the base plate. You really don't need much torque to hold the carb down. Nice job on the "cane". THAT's what you should be working on...making a cane for YOURSELF!
I dont go too far with out that shelaly! That screw BTW was a 12-24 (3/8" wrench) and I new it was gonna bust... Blaster, heat, tapping with a punch and a 3/8 ratchet, she let go. It was pretty wasted from the heat so I fully expected it. I keep meaning to pull them lock washers out and will certainly use a steel rod to check for length. This had that screen plate under the carb that was at least 1/4 thick. I used the same bolts. The choke stove works really well, and hope it stays that way. If the others break so be it... Ill be prepared. I still need to check the connection underneath...After all this, I just remembered that I didn't tighten the manifold nipple. Easy- Peazy. ALWAYS use anti seize and retap holes to be sure they are clean. When I do a rebuild, I sit with a cordless drill and a set of taps and run through all the holes, then blow them out clean. Cordless has way less torque and doesn't usually break taps; USUALLY. Common sense and two steady hands prevail. So tomorrow Im gonna listen for the solenoid to click and check the switch and bracket and all the other accessible stuff. All the work so far has been correcting the PO's sense of accomplishment. Really a nice guy, but a lousy mechanic. A FOOTNOTE! Im still looking for some black floor mats that are not gold plated. Theres GOTTA be some laying in a junker somewhere! Is this a turbo charged GN?? LOL Bill in TR
Just trying to wrap up a few things before the big cut. Pulled the home made bracket out today and there is a substantial difference. Look at the offset in the pics. I don't now why, but there were some issues with my switch. Using an OHM meter on the cocked switch, theres continuity at about 90% OPENING position, but the switch has to close to about 70% to open the circuit. I still don't get the resistor thing, but at 20K-ohms, the value was about .357. That was on the switched side to ground and was actually nicely soldered on each end. Like an electronics' guy did it. Hmmm...It got de-soldered and removed So now with the key on, and my ear against the steering column, I can floor it and hear the solenoid in the trans. Its ever so slight, not like a starter solenoid, but it is there. Started it today on her own power with no charger after sitting for a week with the battery connected (it was 20F in the shop) and found I now have real heater /defroster controls and the new alternator is still putting out an honest 13.8 volts at idle. I do need an idea of why my vacuum gage isn't working. Check the blue hose connection. Is that the right vacuum tap? The black hose above it is for the distributor. I know the gage works, but in service, if I give it the gas it goes from 0 at idle to 20 inches at 1/2 throttle. Its like its reading backwards. IDEAS? THOUGHTS?? Bill in TR
Yeah, that is because you have it attached to a ported vacuum tap. Remove it from there, and put it on the tap on the passenger side of the carb, up top. You have it blocked off. Ported vacuum has it's source above the throttle blades, so there is little to no vacuum at idle, but vacuum increases rapidly as you open the throttle. Manifold vacuum sources from below the throttle blades, so it is always there, even at idle. At part throttle, both ported and manifold vacuum will be equal.
Your guage is reading ported vacuum, swap your hoses and see what the other port shows. A vacuum guage is a good troubleshooting tool. Swap the guage and distributor lines and recheck. Find out if your setup is supposed to have ported or manifold vacuum to the distributor. Edit: OOPS! Larry beat me to it while I was goofing around.
Yeah TJ.... Larry has the home court advantage... he uses two fingers and a thumb LOL... Soooo, should the dist. run off of ported vacuum, or move both lines to the blocked off one and T from there? It was kind of confusing last time I had the car out, that even on engine braking in 2nd gear there was darn little vacuum when that should've been 25 plus inches. My past vacuum measuring devices have been slower wipers going up a hill and really fast ones going down haha... actually, had a Gran Prix SJ with a "economy" gage as big as the speedo head... really intimidating to keep it in the green ya know?? Bill in TR ---------- Post added at 07:51 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:46 PM ---------- Also, are the two bolt bosses in front of the throttle linkage for an air cleaner support or the OEM coil mount in 1972? Car now has an HEI. Bill in TR
You can use ported vacuum or manifold vacuum for the vacuum advance. At part throttle, there will be no difference. Try both and see what feels better. Manifold vacuum will give you added advance at idle. That can make the engine run cooler in summer stop and go traffic. Any vacuum gauge should be connected to manifold vacuum. The 2 bosses in front of the throttle linkage is for the idle stop solenoid. The solenoid plunger would extend to set idle speed, and on engine shut down, it would retract and close the throttle plates to combat engine run on. Read about it in your 72 Buick Chassis manual (you do have one don't you?)
