I just bought a 1964 Buick Skylark and don't know what engine it has. I know its a 350 but I don't know from what. I would like to get headers but i don't know where to look or what to buy because of the engine. Would headers give it that nice muscle car sound? Make it a little faster? Also when i gun it off that start it sputters and then gets going, is this the carb? I tried adjusting but it didn't help. Thank you
How do you know it's a 350? The Buick 350 was not available until 1968 but it could be a transplant. Get the casting numbers off the block or cylinder heads and cross reference. I am also a recent new owner of a '64 Skylark convertible with the original 300-4V v8. It also hesitates on acceleration. Carb was rebuilt to no avail. I'll be checking the timing and the dwell on the points this weekend. I'll let you know if that fixes the problem. If you do indeed have the Buick 350 then there are speed parts available. If you have a 300 or 340 speed parts are much harder to find. I'll be ripping out the 300 as soon as I find a good 350 or 455 short block.
Well the last owner said that its a chevy 350. I've found some numbers on the back of the block but don't know if there the numbers i need. What would they be like? Like a letter then some numbers or what? thanks
"64Lark": Please put your name in your signature, we're all here on a friendly first name base :TU: ! Post a photo of the engine in question, this will really help to tell you what make and type it is.
Here are Justin's photos, looks like a Chevrolet engine to me: I see an Edelbrock intake manifold, and also an Edelbrock carburator. Ask the previous owner if he ordered one of those "performance packages" from Edelbrock containing an intake manifold, carburator and camshaft. If there is also a sharper cam in the engine, next step could be an exhaust system with headers. But don't forget that an aftermarket ignition system will also make a big difference (very often overlooked when buying performance parts) :TU:
So I should get a camshaft and then headers? Do i have to open the engine up to put a new camshaft? Does camshaft have anything to do with the sound. I would really like to make this thing roar. thanks for putting the pics up
Hang on now, you need to know from where you're starting before you go crazy. Get some more answers from the original owner: We know it's a 350 chevy. What year, and from what car? What year are the cylinder heads? Was anything rebuilt, or is it stock? How many miles on the engine? What's the compression ratio of the engine? Devon
No, first contact the previous owner and ask him more about the engine in your car :TU: It looks like a pre-1987 engine to me, no centre bolts in the valve covers. And you still use the original points ignition with separate coil and resistor block on the fire wall.
I think he said that he got it not too long ago so i don't know if he'll know. If I can't get the info on all this what will i need to do? Would i have to open it up and find out?
1) Find out more about the engine first. 2) If you just want a loud engine, forget about the headers and mount a dual exhaust system under the car with loud mufflers. If you also want performance, go back to point 1 :TU: Flowmaster sound clips :Comp:
Well I want both but I'm also building a vw bug engine so i don't want to dump a lot of money into this one as well. I got dual exhaust but it's still not loud. Do i just need louder mufflers?
If all you really want is for it to be loud, the by all means go out and get a cherry bomb for it. If you want to have something for the ricers, you probably will have to dig a little deeper.
Headers will be the easy part since it's a Chevy engine. Headers for a 64-77 Chevelle, 67-81 Camaro, and a 68-79 Nova are all basically the same fit, and regardless of what engine configuration you have, yes, they will definitely give it more power. If you want loud, go with Flowmaster, but be sure you want to listen to that all the time. I have friends who have removed their flowmasters and went with other mufflers because they no longer wanted the cars that loud. I have Dynomax Super Turbo mufflers on mine. They sound great and according to some magazine muffler test articles I've read they flow just as well. Bill
Come on Justin, Did you really click on the links I posted ? There are sound clips from Cherry Bomb in that first URL that comes up after the Google search. Click here :Comp: Also check out the sounds clips from Flowmaster I posted before, spend some time listening to them and make your own decission about what you like :Smarty: And performance wise: Check the answers in the posts above about first finding out more about your engine by asking the previous owner.
The engine looks to be a 69-85 because it has perimeter bolt valve covers. It also has the accessory bolt holes on the ends of the heads. Pre-68 did not have these. Bill
