Soaking Wet Noob here in So. Cal with tons of 401 nailhead Q's

Hello Everyone,
My name is David. I live in So Cal & I have never been part of any forum community until now (10 minutes ago). I have spent a little time in the past reading various forums & all of them seem to be an awesome concept. I've owned my '65 Riv for over 20 years and never really hooked her up. She used to be my daily driver until I saw my harmonic balancer start to wobble. So I replaced it and 6 months after that it began to wobble again. So I parked her with hopes of opening her up to look inside and 13 years later...there she still sits . But now its my turn to ask for help as I just dropped a 2k deposit on my '65 401 nailhead rebuild today. Considering the bad timing (with the holidays and all), my financial advisor (wife lol) gave me the green light to fix up my prized possession :beers2:. So is this the right area/section/thread for some q's on my build? If not will someone please direct me to the right place.

thx in advance gentlemen (assuming its all men on here)

 

Welcome aboard!! :beer:beer Damper Dudes (I think) are among the best for harmonic balancer rebuilding, according to many here.

I'm sure Cheryl aka Babeola here won't be too offended by your inference.:laugh::laugh: She's pretty sharp with the nailhead engine.:TU:

 

Oops ou: !! My apologies Babeola lol (remember I'm a noob). Thank you Mister T but I already have a new balancer. When I pulled the motor and opened her up nothing looked out of whack to my inexperienced eyes. Not having the precision measuring tools, I took it to the machine shop for a pro to look at it for me. I hope to have some answers from him in a few days. One question I have is about my brand new Carter AFB Comp Series carb purchased from Larry Daisy at Rancho Riviera. I found some threads here talking about this carb in particular and having to re-jet and do all kinds of other stuff to the carb in order to get the engine/carb combo to run smooth. Is that really the case for a stock 401 nail with this Carter???

 

Welcome from another So Cal Buick owner. I've been a member of this forum for a little over a year, and my own restoration project wouldn't have gotten as far as it is without people here sharing valuable information and advice, and coming up with hard-to-find parts.

 

Thanks Dennis. I am excited I finally got the ball rolling on this project.

 

What city are you in I am in chino......

 

I'm in Simi Valley. I work with a guy from Chino Hills

 

Right on bud welcome.......

 

David:



Put your first name permanently in your signature, so we will not forget what it is :TU:
And please show us a few photos of your Riviera

 

"So is this the right area/section/thread for some q's on my build?"

We have a great section called "Da-Nailhead" where you can check out all kinds of info and ask questions. http://www.v8buick.com/forumdisplay.php?9-Da-Nailhead

I also have a 65 Riv that I've had for 23 years!

The Harmonic balancer bolt requires 200 ft-lbs torque - if your crank has not been damaged that may be all you need, but if it was wobbling then some machine work may be necessary. I like the stock carb and have had mine rebuilt by Carmen Faso, Tom Telesco or Russel Martin is also great for parts and carbs.
First reason is the original air cleaner does not fit on the aftermarket carb, socond is the need some tweaking to become Buick Nailhead carbs vs chevy carb uzzled:
.
Cheers,

 

Welcome from Florida

 

Welcome from Simi Valley!

 

It's OK. I am just one of the guys here! Carmen Faso has done a 66 GS Quadrajet and a 65 GS AFB for me. Both work flawlessly. I am good at tuning Holleys, but am glad I left those to him. There are some aftermarket SFI rated dampers out there for the Nailhead, but you will not like the price. Here is an example and I know TA performance has them as well.

Cheryl

 

David told us in a previous post that he doesn't need a new one anymore:

But it's always good to post links where one can buy Buick parts :TU:

 

I am glad you are spekaing for David. Is he not capable? It is not clear to me if he has a new one or just another (old) one.


Cheryl

 

Or maybe to you since it is such an important point!

Cheryl

 

Like I wrote above:
Thanks for posting the link :TU:
(even when his new balancer is in fact not really a new balancer, he can always shop there :TU

 

A Romac balancer for the 455 will work, just have to chuck it in the lathe and shorten the snout by about 1/4" and get a different length balancer bolt. They can be had for much less than TA's prices

 

Welcome aboard, David. Since you are in California, Russ Martin is probably a good "go to" Guy. Speaking of the ladies, Wheres' Annie?

 

Speaking of California, how about getting all these SoCal Buicks together some time? I keep telling my GS that it has brothers and sisters out there, but you sure don't see 'em very often.