Keep it Simple..... Don't worry about all that drilling and tapping. It's not that it doesn't hurt but you don't need that much to fix what you have and to get oil where it needs to go. For the back of the block, get a 90 degree brass fitting from a hardware shop with a 1/4" male NPT to 1/4" female NPT. Then get a 1/4"NPT to #6 Male fitting to screw into the 90 degree and run a #6 line to it from the front of the motor (you will have to drill a hole just above the starter thru the block to run the line. Its easy and in the open and you wont be hurting anything or going to any internal portion of the block) . Either get oil pressure from the pressure tap point at the side of the block or pull the lower filter plate off the oil pump so you can drill and tap it for a 1/4" NPT to #6 fitting. I drill a hole just below the 45 degree junction where the oil come out of the filter and the bypass passage meet. After you seal and install the fitting, go inside and grind down what intrudes into the oil passage. I prefer getting oil from as close to the pump as I can to avoid pulling oil and pressure after it has gone thru a few restrictions. Unless your turning over 7000, you don't need that much oil at the back of the block to help it hold oil preesure so don't make it hard, it only needs a little help. Get the good cam and crank bearings and make sure your Main bearing feed holes on the Main Bearings line up with the oil passage in the block. In A LOT of cases half the hole is covered from the holes not lining up between the bearing and the block. Just grind the hole over in the bearing to match, you won't be hurting anything, just take off any burs on the metal you leave. It's all too easy..... :TU: FYI. Kerry had a great oil setup on his block but he had quite an extreme setup going together at one time. So don't get tooo worried about needing to do what he or I have done to our blocks. What I gave is the "Junior" Version that will work great for 95%+ of Buick guys for getting oil to the back of the block and mains. Do Not worry about the drivers side oil passage. Do not do anything to it. The only thing that needs done is the front bearing oiling mod to get oil pressure to the bottom of the bearing where it needs it. The problem with the drivers side is the front bearing gets worn down and collapses allowing oil to get hemoraged out before it gets over to the drivers side. THe TA Grooved front cam bearing is grooved behind the bearing which allows you to relocate the oiling hole to the load side of the cam and keeps the divers side froom being restricted. This bearing allows more that enough oil to the drivers side. If you work to get more oil that this to the drivers side, you will take away oil from where it is needed at the mains. If you use a stock bearing, you can groove behind the bearing in the block to get oil across. The TA bearing is harder and lasts longer so I prefer their bearing as the fix for this problem. Higher pressure valve springs and high oil pump pressure is hard on the front bearing which is why TA made the special front cam bearing. :TU:
I agree, if we could get cams without the groove there would be alot more area for the bearing to run on. Tom
Hi Reynold, I didn't touch the driver's side gallery.o No: Using TA grooved or dual grooved cam bearings do this with touching the cam bore and grooving it.
I see more damage from the grooves in the cam. With the TA bearings the groove could be eliminated for alot more surface area on the heaviest loaded cam bearing (front).
Thanks Kerry. I've got a set of the original single grooved cam bearing still in the box that I've had on the shelf for several years. I assume this early style bearing is okay to use? I'll go Rick's route with the #6 hose from the pressure sender tap. I'll definately do the coated 3/4 grooved main bearings. I may even get the cam bearings that I have coated. I'm considering doing the external pickup hose with a BBC pickup screen in the pan. I'm probably going to use a '70 SF block anyway so this would help. I'm just not sure on the exact spot where to tap the timing cover.
This is the best picture I have for picking up oil pressure closest to the filter. Where the oil comes out of the filter and where it joins the bypass passage which is below the filter oil passage, drill at the intersection point. When you get the lower oil pump plate/base assembly off and look at the passages, I drilled mine just below the 45 degree intersection where the oil come from the filter and goes to the front cover. It is just above where the oil would come up from the bypass passage. I hope this helps. :TU:
Rick I see a blue fitting behind the -12 an line. It looks like it goes into the idler gear. What's that? What's the line in the sender tap? It looks like your -12 an for the pickup taps into the little "box" above the gears. Is that right?
#12 line The #12 line you see is a pickup line from the pan. It has a #12 Moroso in-line filter so I can catch any debrie that may be floating around in the motor. I no longer need a screen on the pickup in the pan with the in-line screen. Since you have to RTV the bottom end together with these girdled blocks, I tend to get some that breaks off and floats around. So when I change the oil, I clean my in-line screen. the setup consisted of locating the inlet passage in the front cover, mading a hole, and welding a 90 degree fitting to it. It worked great. I blocked the inlet passage in the block and the front cover to make sure not to get any air leaks. THe line you see in the sender tap is a #4 braided line that goes to my gauge. A little prettier than the copper line. :TU: It will all eventually get changed once I get the external Peterson wet/vac oil pump mounted and new lines ran.
Oh, I forgot about that one.......That was the first spot I picked up oil for the presure line to the rear of the block. I capped it off and picked up pressure in a better spot.....I put a cap on the fitting and forgot all about it.... :grin:
Rick, When you ran your new -12 pickup line, did you use an inline check valve also? Do you have any problems with losing oil prime when the engine sits for a while? Jeff
No difference... A check valve would be a good idea but I never noticed a difference in the time it took for the oil pressure to come up between the two different setups.
Kerry, double check your line at the rear. You have the starter bolted on upside down. We just run the hose through the hole and don't use the bulk head fitting there. We radius the hole on both sides to prevent chaffing and it also removes another potential restriction and oil leak.
I've had all my V6 and V8 cams oil transfer groove spray welded closed, it works great and as you said, full journal surface on the bearing.
