No much to report on lately. I did tighten up the rear view mirror and both of the sun visors, so now they all stay put when adjusted. I also noticed the the "Buick" accessory mirror on the passenger side visor was up-side-down, when you pulled the visor down, Corrected that, too.
The oil leak on my timing chain cover looks exactly like that but on other side. So good that I’m replacing it.
After reading about what you're going through with that water pump and cover, that seems like the best idea. Mine actually started with a gasket issue between the cover and block. I had planned on replacing the cover at some point anyway. A good portion of the boss where the lower radiator hose connected to it was corroded away. That leak just sped up the priority.
I think mine was corroded some too. I replaced all the radiator hoses as few months ago. I can’t remember how bad it was but didn’t think it was too bad and was still sealing so kind of ignored it. The lower radiator hose I got wasn’t right and had to trim it down. It still fit in kind of tight, so I ordered one of TA’s for the 68 GS so will replace with that one.
When taking off/installing the new timing chain and cover, did you have to remove the oil pan or replace the front oil pan seal? I was reading in Chassis manual that it doesn’t say to remove oil pan when removing/installing the timing chain cover but it does when it says to remove the timing chain. When removing the timing chain cover it says to be careful not to damage the front oil pan seal. It didn’t make a lot of sense to me why you’d have to remove the oil pan to replace the timing chain but not the timing chain cover. Also did you replace the cam sprocket bolts ? Thanks.
No, you do not have to remove the oil pan, just the 2 or 3 bolts that hold it to the timing cover. The Fel-Pro timing cover gasket set (that TA sent) came with the front gasket for the oil pan. I cleaned the front section of the oil pan really good, put 3M trim adhesive on both sides of it and set it on the pan rail, then used a small bead of "The Right Stuff" gasket sealant in the corners. I also sprayed both sides of the timing cover gasket with that copper sealant and let it tack up really good. So far, no leaks. I bought the Melling timing chain set that came with the upper and lower sprockets and chain. Removing the cam bolts was pretty straight forward to change out the upper sprocket. The lower one was way more difficult, as whomever changed them out last (28-years ago), jacked the crank key up and it was jammed in the lower sprocket. This also split the part of the balancer that rides on the front seal. One I got the key off of the crank, it was much easier to get the lower sprocket off. Make sure you stuff a rag in the front of the oil pan, so nothing can fall down inside of it when you are changing the timing chain and gears. I hope that helps ya!
Thanks. I’m not sure which gasket kit TA sold me or if they only sent me the just the timing chain cover gasket. I will have to wait until I get my order. I may have to make another order. After doing more research, I will be surprised if timing chain isn’t loose and doesn’t need replaced. My timing chain has been on there for 28 years that I know for sure, and likely much longer. I went ahead and ordered the Melling 3-498SA from Summit for $50. I may need to buy the cam sprocket bolts from TA because I can’t find them anywhere else and seems like those should be replaced if you change the timing chain
I just re-used the old ones, they were in good shape. I may have put a dab of lock-tite on them, too.
I did not use any thread lock or anti-seize on the bolts for the water pump, timing cover, or harmonic balancer. I'm pretty sure that I used a dab of RTV on the threads of the 3 or 4 longer bolts that go through the water pump and into the water jackets in the block. This helps seal them and helps keeps them from corroding into the threads. I also used a dab of RTV on the balancer, were the keyway for the crank goes into it. On the balancer bolt, I just made sure that the balancer was all the way on, tightened the bolt a little with the impact, then torqued it to 200 lb./ft. I didn't want to use any thread lock, so it would not be hard to take them apart again. This thread helped me a lot: https://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/uhhh-timing-cover-leak.360985/
Thanks. I got the stainless steel timing chain cover/water pump bolt kit, and now I am wondering if that was a mistake.
Meh... if your old bolts were corroded (especially the longer ones), it couldn't hurt. I bought the bolt kit from Todd at Stage Won when I did mine: https://www.stage1restoration.com/product/bolt-kit-timing-cover-water-pump-fuel-pump-455/ At the time, he was out of the long bolts, so I had to reuse my old ones. They weren't in bad shape, so it was no big deal.
I’m worrying about the stainless steel galling with the aluminum. But TA says these are ARP stainless steel bolts so maybe they aren’t the typical bolts and don’t do that.
Yeah these are definitely ARP. Stamped right on head. Apparently the ARP stainless steel is different from typical stuff and is much stronger.
Since the weather was pretty nice this afternoon (clear and 57F when I left the house), I took the GS400 to finish out my Christmas shopping. It did great! I sat in a lot of traffic and the temps usually stayed around 170-180 while sitting idling, and 160 while moving. One intersection, I had to wait through 4 or 5 traffic lights. Went to visit my better half at the salon for a while, too. Leaving there, I jumped on it before it shifted into second and lit up the tire immediately, and through the 1-2 shift. Made me giggle (...after I looked to see if there were any police officers around). Oh... and the heat works well enough that I had to turn it off after a while. Since I got the distributor back from Everyday Performance and set the timing, the only things I have done to it is switch the vacuum advance from ported to manifold vacuum, and drive it! If it's warmed up, the motor fires up on half a turn of the starter and no throttle input. I really need to lower the idle just slightly. It's about 100-RPM too high in gear and fully up to temperature. Have I said before how much I love driving this car?
January update: I really have not done much to the car, except drive it when I can, mostly on local errands. Since I put the distributor from Everyday Performance in it, I've put 212 miles on it and could not be happier with it. I did lower some, then raise back up a smidge the idle, since my last post. Since I've been bach'n it for the past week and a half (my better half's dad passed away and she and her sisters have been out in Colorado taking care of everything), I decided to put some time into the 1974 Malibu. I fixed the gas gauge, dash lights, remounted the tach and vacuum gauge, and installed the cheapie old JVC AM/FM cassette player and Pyramid speakers that came in the GS400.
So today is "Drive the Buick to Work" day. Meeting my local Buick friends for dinner in Clearwater tonight. So far so good. The commute to work was great... way more fun than normal, even though I kept it a 70mph on the interstate (70 = ~2600 RPM) On I75 this morning: At work in the parking lot:
And the car did wonderful all day. Was a great Buick day here in Florida! On my way home about an hour and a half ago through Tampa: I just noticed the clock... it is accurate to when I took this photo on I275!
I drive mine to work as much as possible and when I have a tough day at work I know at the end of the day I get to drive it home ! Always puts a smile on my face. Unfortunately that won't be happening for a while longer here in Indiana.
