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

My buddy Rick moved out to san Diego a few years ago, we just shipped him out the rest of his cars. Be on the lookout for a gnx, fn, white t type, black 65 riv gs, and triple black 70 gs convertible. He attends cruising grand on a regular basis

 

Welcome David,

Im in So Cal as well.

Lots of good people at V8 Buick for sure!

later

 

Santa Monica is about 15 miles north of where I work. That makes it 31 miles south of where I live. I don't drive the Skylark to work anymore, I bought an econobox deathtrap for that. I took my Skylark to Woodley Park in Van Nuys a little over a year ago, but didn't exhibit it, as it was three different colors. It's on its way to being two colors, and will be by the end of the year. Do you have any ideas about meeting places, etc.?

 

I was aiming to have my GS done for that Woodley Park show, but missed it by a few months. In fact, I still wouldn't take it to a show in its present condition although it's now driveable. As for a meeting place, maybe some others will chime in. There's GMCfamily in Chino and Samuel up in Ventura. There was a new member awhile back from Whittier, but I'm not sure where the other SoCal members are. Of course, if everybody came to the beach I wouldn't have to burn up much gas. :grin: There's a weekly cruise-in in Marina Del Rey, but it's on Sunday morning and pretty much done by 10 am, so only good for early risers...

 

Welcome David!

 

Thank you.

This is test reply. I know sounds funny huh? But I'm trying to figure out how you guys reply to past messages.

---------- Post added at 09:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:14 PM ----------

Sweet! It worked lol. I knew I wasn't as dumb as I looked p I also had trouble finding where this post went. I started by introducing myself on the "wet behind the ears" thread. Somehow, it ended up here. I understand why but just a bit unclear how lol...ok ok maybe I am dumb.

---------- Post added at 09:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:21 PM ----------

Roger that, Erik with a K. Thanks for the cool welcome and figured out the signature thing lol I will get some pic's up soon. I have one on my profile. Not sure how to make it bigger.

---------- Post added at 09:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:27 PM ----------

Hello Ted. You have a '65 Riv? Oh man do I have questions for you (if you don't mind).

Not sure how but this thread is now in the right place..."Da Nailheads" cool name lol

I have collected a handful of 401 parts in her years of being in a coma. But just started doing the homework on my wobble problem. You are right on with the balancer nut torque specs...I've seen the numbers 200-225 ft lbs in multiple spots. I was just a young buck when I encountered the wobble and didn't do things the right way. I didn't even own a torque wrench lol. You are also right on that all I may need is to torque a new balancer on. Now that I have the 401 at the machine shop I will know soon what route I will be taking with it. But just as a heads up the Mrs has given me the green light to go through the whole thing since its already apart and at the shop. SHE AIN'T GOTTA TELL ME TWICE :Brow: I didn't know Carter was a Chevy carb. Shame...now that I have it and spoke to Russ Martin today. He is fabricating linkage parts for these carbs to work with our trans (kickdown/shift kit?? not sure exactly...will post better details later if anyone is interested...sorry still learning myself). Russ said this is the only tweaking I will need. I pray thats right. I will be using a Mooneyes air cleaner on it.

 

David, if you want to talk first generation Rivieras, you should contact Larry Daisey a.k.a. "the Riviera man" :TU:

I have visited Larry back in 2008, when he was still living in Riverside, CA.

From an older post:

 

Thank you Briz

---------- Post added at 12:15 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:10 PM ----------

Wow thx SteeveeDee. Simi huh? Me too. Lets talk neighbor lol

 

Hello Cheryl, you are right...I don't like those prices :shock: I did buy the Carter carb & a new/rebuilt stock balancer from Larry Daisey years ago.

I spoke with Russ Martin on getting this Carter to work on my application. He says it will work as good as the stock Rochester that was on it.

Thank you

---------- Post added at 09:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:30 PM ----------

thx, I will keep that in mind just in case this one I bought from Daisey doesn't pan out...

---------- Post added at 09:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:31 PM ----------

thank you John. I have made contact with Russ Martin. He's got a ton of goodies on his website too...

---------- Post added at 09:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:33 PM ----------

Count me in on the cruise. Only thing is I can't commit until sometime early next year ray: God willing that is. If all goes as planned my ride will at least be drivable...

I can't wait

 

Welcome to the madness David. Here, and over on the Riv forum. Please make sure you read this before machine work begins on your Nailhead. I'm not sure who's doing your engine rebuild, but make sure it's not a Chevy guy that's treating it like a Chevy. There are a number of differences to be aware of when rebuilding these Nail Heads. If I were you, I'd have Russ Martin rebuild your engine.

http://nailheadbuick.com/15-most-common-mistakes

There are a number of other articles on rebuilding Nail Heads that are worthwhile reads.

Rob.

 

David,,, glad you are here,,,, now,,, that said,,, be double sure that you check out the nose of that crank out real good, because when a nailhead harmonic balancer gets loose, from breaking or just not tightened enough, it can and will wear the nose of the crankshaft and then it cannot ever be tightened up right again.... if this has happened , you can either have the crank repaired by a machine shop or just get another one... probably cheaper to just get another one....
nailhead engines have 2 things that can cause problems,,, the harmonic balancer can break down thru the keyway and the factory cast pistons will come apart with very high mileage.... gotta go to church now, will get back later.....

 

Romac balancer for sale on the site:

http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?259016-Romac-Balancer

 

Hi Doc, you have given me an opening for this: Many years ago I bought a 264 out of a '54. It ran beautifully, but the car was junk. I pulled the engine and it sat in stock for a year. I decided to install it in my '56 Chevy. After agonizing about it, I decided to pull the heads. The valves in one cylinder had a lot of oily stuff on them. I decided just for giggles to pull the piston from that cylinder. It had a spiral crack almost all the way around the skirt. Please note my comment that it ran beautifully.

 

Yep,,, John,,, of all the nailhead engine failures that i have seen in my lifetime.... most,,, most of them were due to high mileage piston failure,,, the piston would break up and fall down in the pan and the wrist pin would hammer 4 trails up and down the length of the cyl. wall.... then next on the list would coolant freeze cracks,,,, and only 2 harmonic balancers that cracked IN the key way on the hub....one was mine and I forget whose the other one was....:laugh:

 

Dad bought the Roadmaster in 1970. He drove it three or 4 days a week for three years until he decided to restore it. Then, in '76, the Roadmaster dropped a valve and broke a piston skirt. The bits of piston skirt were sitting on top of sludge in the oil pan. When we cleaned out the oil pan, underneath the sludge was more bits of piston skirt from a piston on the opposite bank that had broken before Dad bought the car.

 

Welcome to the V8 Buick. You will find a lot of good information here.

 

Oh man I don't know why I haven't been getting notified of new replies, I never got yours. I started to sweat as I was reading your concerns. But when I opened up the link u attached it turns out its the same article my builder actually printed up before he started on my build. I spoke to Russ Martin and gave my builder Russ' number too. I was happy to know my builder called Russ & printed up his literature. My builder has been around since I was a kid. But he's not a Nailhead Guru like Russ although he has built some.

Wish me luck...

 

My crank has been checked out. Apparently, it wasn't damaged as we suspected. Although, I can't say the same for my balancer...that thing was worn badly

 

Thx for the link. I am still waiting for my engine to be complete. The machine shop states the one I bought looks good and he's gonna use it

 

Yea thank you...so far so good