General what to what to check?

So I removed the motor and tranny from my factory original 1972 GS 455 convertible. For many reason but the main reason is the torque convert seal and the driveshaft seal where leaking and it drove me nuts, plus I figured I could re-gasket the motor since it set for 20 years before I bought it and it leaks a little oil. Anyway my question is while I got everything out I was going to send the heads in to get hardened seat in it. Is there anything else you all would recommend I check while it is out or do? The car has 44k on it. Also is it worth putting a set of 1970 pistons in to go higher compression or would it make it less drivable?

 

Yea don't do hardened seats,...there's no need to,...I would have them mille .020 that will bump the compression a little,..fresh valve springs good competition valve job and leave it be

Fresh timing chain,..fresh carb and dizzy from Ken at Everyday

 

Once you do a so called competition valve job which narrows up on the Exh valve seat width a lot then you may find that in a certain number of miles you,ed be wishing you had put hard seats in when you had the chance!

Also a .020" mill will only knock a little over 2 CCs out of the chamber, and that will not even make for a 1/4 point gain in compression.

If you do the mill and while the heads are apart install over size valves then you will pick up a good chunk of power from the compression increase and flow gain from what will now be a unharmfull competition valve job.

The stainless steel valves just in themselves are a plus!

 

So do you all say don't put the higher compression piston in just mill and larger valves? Or is this on top of the other pistons? I might be a little hazy on this, but I will figure it out.

 

I don't feel there is any problem with too much compression based on what you are describing, the car will still be totally workable on pump gas, even with flatter pistons (1970).

I don't know how hard it would be to find those... not sure on the head thing, these guys just confused me (LOL). I think if you are doing the machine work on the heads and are looking for increased performance, getting the bigger Stage 1 type valve is probably a good thing.

What is the plan for your car? People here go STRONGLY in different directions, so it's good to know what you are thinking.

 

Exactly. What are your (realistic) expectations? I'll probably be in the minority, but unless you’re having a specific problem outside of the oil leaks, I’d lean towards leaving the 44,000 mile engine buttoned up.

I don't want to persuade you away from upgrades, but at least be prepared for mission creep, or the ol’ while you’re at it syndrome. More compression would be complimented by a different camshaft. Better flowing heads warrant a better camshaft too.

Before I pulled the heads, I’d take a good look at camshaft options. You’ll disturb a lot less with a cam change…

 

Personally I would leave the heads on, new TA 212 cam and lifters, new timing set, the AMP valley pan shield, TA composite intake gaskets, rebuilt Q jet, and when the engine is upside down just do a neoprene rear main seal, new oil pan gasket and button it back up. Oh and clean or replace the oil pan pickup screen. I would avoid doing a rebuild unless you want to do a $5000+ build.

 

Horse ****

Oversize valves in anything but a factory big valve head is a waste of time,...buick heads done have sunken valve problems like Chevy garbage,....and no one is gonna put 30k miles on these pieces of junk

The purpose of cutting the head is just a clean surface and the little bit of comp gained is a plus,...the biggest gain is getting that retarded throat out of the bowl with a nice valve job and getting a clean surface to seal it all back up with the fresh springs add up to a better running mill,...start messing with pistons you are just messing with something that isn't broke for very minimal gain

 

I've never had a hardened seat in any of my buicks,...chances are it will be installed incorrectly and just find its way wrapped up in the valve and piston

 

A hi flow valve with undercut stems with a backcut,....good valve job,..deck cut you're gonna pick up some power for minimal investment

 

I had to put hardened seats in my 68 heads. The valves sank after a single season on a fresh rebuild. There isn't much meat below the seat. Buicks require a much thinner seat than the other makes.. a fella can find water quick!

 

So that is a lot to digest I have been on road for a few days. So to try to answer what do I want , I know I want a good driver, it did run good before I took it out except it started missing on acceleration. Wanted to check whatever you guys thought and fix oil leaks. I thought head job because of issues I had in past with 66 olds, but I am ready to fix the oil leaks and just put it back in. Someone please just point me in right direction

 

Next step is a leak down test.

 

Yes, a compression and leak down would be good to figure out how the engine is actually doing. Pay close attention to the plugs when they come out as that also tells you alot about what's going on with the fuel and ignition systems...

I agree with those above that say if the engine is really 44K miles and in good shape, and you don't intend to go wild on it, that you are better off just re-gasketing and installing new seals.

 

Well I guess I must have bigger issues than I thought like I said it started to miss if you tried to go over have throttle. Compression test reveals 1-3-5-7 are 131 - 99 - 90 - 95 and 2-4-6-8 are 95 - 135 - 110 - 138 . Need advice on what to do. I want a driver with reliability and a few extra smiles than a stock 72 455. Not looking to spend a million dollars either.

 

No it wasn't warm (it is on a stand now) all plugs were out and the throttle was wide open

 

When I did the tune up after the car started acting up, I set the dwell to 30 and the timing exactly at 4 BTDC. So is there some different distributor I need or just change the timing? And what do you recommend on the timing?