Looking sexy Bob! Micro question, are you going to put the rubber gasket on both ends of the intake? I changed my intake gaskets last week because the composite gaskets I had ordered from TA magically ripped because they were pushed between the heads and the intake, and I chose not to use the rubber gaskets and I already regret it... The gap between the china rails and the intake is fairly big and I had a hard time putting a thick coat of right stuff on those tiny china rails, I can already see a little bit of seeping in the front of the engine so I am thinking doing it all over again...
Thanks! No, I didn't use the rubber gaskets. I put a nice thick bead of black right stuff RTV on the china walls. I used composite gaskets from TA on the heads, glued them on with gasgasinch then beaded the corners with the RTV where the heads and gaskets meets the China walls. What I did was lay down a nice even bead on each end then did a second pass laying another bead ontop of the first. Brought the intake down slowly and as leveto the block as possible. That part is important as you don't want to be moving the intake around too much or you'll squish out your RTV and have holes in your seal causing leaks.
Well not any huge progress but I did get some things done today. I got the valve covers on with the new TA gaskets and I got to say I like them alot more than the standard cork or rubber ones. You can actually feel the cover snugging down evenly and sealing to the heads. The oil dipstick and tube went back in, gasket and rtv excess trimmed off around the intake. I put my new billet aluminum plug wire brackets and new Taylor plug wires on and man do I like them alot. It makes everything look so clean and organized. Next up is install the flexplate, order new Tstat and install, swap out jets and rods in the Qjet, finish plug ends, fill engine with break in oil and lastly book my dyno date.
Well here we are Buick family, another engine build coming to an end. I buttoned up the last few things left to do on it today which means.........DYNO TIME, OHHHHH YEAH BABY!!!! . To say I'm excited is an understatement, I'm ecstatic. I've been working towards this moment for 3 or 4 years now. I'm calling the dyno shop in the morning to see when they can book me in. I guess this is the part where we guess what she's gonna make. Also any tips on what I should bring with me to the dyno session, I've never been before so I'm not sure what I should take? Extra oil, gas, jets and rods for the carb?? Any tips are appreciated.
Is that a flat flex plate? How is the starter motor engagement? There has been discussion about those... I assume the dyno shop has an electric fuel pump? You might want to ask.
Thanks for the kind words fellas! Not sure on the starter engagement but I'm bringing the shims/washers with me just incase it needs to be adjusted. Yes that's a JW the wheel flexplate.
I thought I did that near the beginning of this thread clearly it slipped my mind. I'll do that now Larry.
BLACK CHERRY BUILD SPECS: -74 455 block decked to 10.555 -All JW block mods done - 9.5" "big car" converter from JW -Mains and rods 10/10, (align honed) -TA dual grooved cam bearings -rotating assembly fully balanced with romac balancer and JW the wheel flex plate -4.325 bores -Autotec pistons at 0 deck 26cc valve notch on reconditioned stock rods with ARP bolts -TA 290 94H cam degreed with 9 key way timing set -Edelbrock aluminum heads gasket matched, fully port and polished (by a pro not home job), 3 angle valve job, comp pro magnum roller rockers, adjustable guide plates, .027 cometic head gaskets -TA shorty headers ceramic coated inside and out, Remflex gaskets -Proform timing cover with stock pump housing, TA adjustable pressure regulator and booster plate -TA HP water pump -power Master xs 9511 mini starter - Edelbrock performer intake gasket matched - Every day performance built Qjet with 45db rods 75 jets -All ARP bolts and studs throughout entire engine inside and out -And ofcourse all the purrty shiny ad ons everywhere else A few quick Car specs: 69 Riviera, fully built TH 400 w/ JW 9.5 converter, 3.08 posi, 28" tall tires
Hey Sean that was quick lol. I think Larry had my compression figured out to be just over 10:1 last time he did his calculations for me. I think I got all the info needed listed now for him to do his wizardry .
Have been watching this, and it looks FANTASTIC. I like the engine paint job and especially that you left the freeze plugs showing brass. I guess 545HP 555TQ
Thanks! Yeh even though once the engine is in the car 90% of it disappears I still wanted it to look cool. I like the look of the brass on the black cherry, it's has a nice contrast. I wanted something different than the standard Buick red but still paying homage to the Buick roots.
Ok so I was going over some threads regarding firing order and what not and I came to the realization that I didn't follow "Buick factory protocol" when setting up my dizzy. I've read that it doesn't really matter where you start your #1 cylinder as long as you maintain proper firing sequence. I did verify TDC by cycling the engine through unitl #1 was on the compression stroke so that's good to go. I got the dizzy lined up with #1 terminal then carried on from there with my firing order. I suspect I'm fine to run it this way but what says the people of Buicklandia?
