Beemon

1. Spark plugs are 6 months new. I pulled #1 when I swapped the Rochester for the Carter, they were fine. 2. I have not done a compression test recently, but when I did the rear main seal "fix", the numbers looked ok 3. It was bored .030 4. The only documentation I got was the balance paperwork and a receipt of purchase for the Best Gasket engine kit plus man hours. I am not sure if the rings are from there or not. I'll have to dig and see if there is any other paper work, but off the top of my head that's all I got. After doing the rear main "fix", I am not doing anything on my back under the car, especially when it can rain tomorrow. I did the rear main in a down pour because it wouldn't let up and I regretted it. It's pull the engine or bust. I would like to clarify that money I'm throwing at the engine is my own money, not college tuition money. As with everything I do to the car, it is under a specific budget. This just means I cut something out, like a cheap paint job or front end suspension work. KC, rebuilding the engine I have seems counter productive since it's already been ran through. I would rather take the chance on an engine block that can use stock pistons versus my already worn .030 rebuild. Especially with issues like oil starvation unintentionally, I feel like there are more problems than I know. Plus with the hardened valve seats, it's a real structural weakness in the heads. All it needs is electrolysis to take hold in the water jacket and wreak havoc on the already weakened cast iron.

The issue with that is that he was recommended to me by some locals when he was running his own shop. My engine was the last engine in his shop. And then he closed down and started working for someone else's shop. The best I can do is slander his name, and even then I feel bad about that. I have all the paperwork and warranty information, but it does me no good if the business isn't still around. When I contacted him the first time, he had filed for bankruptcy so no one could go after him. Guess I wasn't the only one?

Greg, I can't even drive the car without making a stop at the auto parts store and buying 2 quarts of oil to top off. It's not fun anymore. I don't even want to start it and listen to it. The gentleman already has the engine apart and it's the only complete engine in my area. I'm open to offers here on the forums, but it needs to be a complete engine with at least block, head, crank and connecting rods. And it has to be a 56. My engine has been internally balanced to itself and cannot be swapped as far as I know. This is probably too much information, but I suffer from social anxiety and depression. Throughout highschool, I didn't have an outlet other than video games, which only worsened the social anxiety. It's really hard for me to make phone calls as it is. This car has been a gateway for me, and while I'm still a little shy/awkward at drive-ins, this car has built internal bridges for me - as a way to meet and interact with new people and socialize. I feel because I'm naive, I get taken advantage a lot of the time in the process of "restoration". The engine. Power steering pump and gear box. The carburetor. The starter and generator. The distributor. The only thing that's good is the Dynaflow, and that's because the boys who did it are probably the only mechanics I've ever trusted with anything. This car is like a support animal or something for me. I don't need it all the time, but I want it when I need it. About hardened seats - I've heard many horror stories, so I feel like my heads are ticking time bomb in that regard.

Okay so the accelerator pump stopped squirting all together now. Before I dismiss the pump, I didn't replace the check ball inside the housing. Any tips on removing the top hat and installing a new one? If it ends up being the accelerator pump, then I may be making a call to a one Carb King...

From memory I thought he said it had been hot tanked, but he said they need to be hot tanked. How much is it usually to clean a block? And what are the chances of the heads being bad?

No he said it's everything. Lifters, pushrods, etc. What was bolted to the engine is what I get. I had to re-read the email he sent me, and it states everything bolted on from carburetor to oil pan, so I may have to have him reiterate but he did mention it was going in a roadster project and he just went with the chevy 350.

I tried replacing the rear main. It must have "worn in" because I had no oil issues for a while, stopped checking oil levels every day, went on a 30 min highway drive and came home off the off ramp with the lifters ticking away. There was a speck of oil at the bottom of the dip stick. Now there's also this rattling noise on acceleration, and I'm not sure if it's summer blend fuels changing from winter blend fuels or not. Russ was going to be my go to back up, but last time I emailed him he said take a look at my website and that was the end of it. He assumes you already know what you're doing, which I don't and the help stops there. I want to get the engine done before August so I can go to school with the car. Otherwise I have to leave it with either a. Mother, b. Father. My mother hates men so naturally the car will go to waste and my father is a pot head and I'm afraid he's going to do something rash under the influence with his redneck buddies (the last thing I need is to come home from school and see the car completely stripped of paint with the stainless all chewed up from the sander). And don't suggest storage, because I won't be able to afford it. It took me two tax returns and saving up everything I had to afford the $4200 price tag of the rebuild. I can't do that again, I have to budget for what I can afford now, which means I buy a kit and I do the work myself. The guy whose selling already had it dipped and cleaned and left it because he swapped in a bowtie. I don't know what else is wrong with it other than the piston but he said it comes complete from carburetor to oil pan. The other thing is, I want a 56 322, not a 53-55 322...

I need some help because I've never rebuilt an engine before, but I figure of I can rebuild a carburetor, I can rebuild an engine. I tried replacing the rear main, but I've just got too much oil leaking to the point where I can't even enjoy the car. The lifters tick, the road draft filter is plugged, installed hardened valve seats against my will, and who knows what else is wrong. There's a gentleman selling a virgin 56 322 in British Columbia for $500 and I have to pull the engine anyways to remove the crank, I figure I might as well start fresh. All I know about the engine is that it has a hole through one piston but from the images, the cylinders look good. I need to know what's okay to keep, what needs to be replaced, the best vendors, etc. I'm hoping I can get away with .006 over bore and use stock pistons, but if they have to bore it out, does anyone sell the correct pistons? What about quality lifters and cam, oil pump, valves and springs? Do crankshafts ever need to be replaced? I am really beyond upset. I mean I knew this day was coming but it just makes me not want to ever do an old car again, and really makes me mistrust people in the profession. I don't normally write bad reviews, but there is going to be one up tomorrow morning that will tarnish their reputation. The engine has less than 10,000 miles on it!

It should be at the end of the steel vacuum line to the brake vacuum T, where the rubber hose attaches to. You need to get it apart with an impact gun. That piece, at the edge of the valve cover, right before the washer jar where the rubber hose is attached. I do not know what's inside as I haven't done mine yet. I do know mine doesn't work because when I take the rubber hose off, it sucks air. You will need to find a correct copper compression sleeve, too. I'm thinking it's probably just like the brake line check valve, but don't quote me on that.

If you're using the original radio, it's best to get in there and replace all the wax caps because they will fail soon. If you want more info, you can search for my Sonomatic restoration thread, where I have done just that, replaced the 0Z4 with solid state diodes, and a solid state vibrator. It's not complicated if you're good with a soldering iron and have steady hands.

Do you have manual or power brakes?

My sister's dog woke me up from my night shift slumber, so in a grumble I went up to NAPA and purchased kit #6101114, which is a choke stove repair kit. I didn't even bother with the crummy heat wrap and compression fittings. I cut a fitting off the choke line from my dual quad setup and flared one end of the aluminum hosing. About the only thing from the kit I really needed was the tap, which I put on a drill bit and ground down with 80 grit sandpaper until I could get it wedged into what was left of the old line. A few light taps and the aluminum tap was set in the old choke stove hole. I slid the old heat wrap off the old, broken line and ran it up to the fitting, then stuck the bare end into the choke stove and bent it accordingly. I forgot to ask about a fitting to go on the threads of the choke as it's technically still morning to me, but after about 2 and a half minutes of warm up, I set the choke so it was fully open. The best part is, you can't see the tap under the exhaust manifold, and the stock heat wrap makes it look stock. My only complaint is the tube is a loose fit inside the tap, so when I feel up for it I'm going to gunk some high temp RTV in the tap and let it goop up around the choke stove tube, giving it a good seal. This just about completes the carburetor swap. I did notice with the engine running at temp, the choke off and the air cleaner off, the pump squirt was intermittent, so I hope that works itself out soon. It was working fine initially, I'm hoping it's just a bit of crud that needs to dissolve it's way out of there.

Willis, I really think it's the design of the carburetor. They were both engineered to do the same thing but I think the Carter is just better at managing modern fuels due to its imulsion tubes and rods design.

This is my banner picture on Facebook. Since it's a 2 door hard top Century, I like to think it's blue and white like mine.

Well technically I am 25, but to most on the forums, kid is probably adequate. I don't have time for a blog, but everytime I do one of these I tell myself "I'll make a Me and My Buick" thread and then forget. I can see why people shelf the 4GC and replace it with a WCFB. I am more than happy with what I've built. A little rough at first at idle, but I just went up my carb cleaning hill and everything is as good as new. No float bowl flooding, either, so the original needle and seat worked great. And I pulled the sight plugs - floats are where they should be. My favorite part is no stumble at all. And I'm not sure what it about the operation of the carb it is, but the 4GC felt like a slug in comparison when opening the secondaries. It would suck air and fuel and not get on it. This carb definitely gets on it, so much that I did a right turn burnout around a corner in Low, whereas before it would give me maybe a squeak. I picked up an Edelbrock electric choke at the parts store. The fast idle arm that rests on the choke thermostat is too long and I don't want to cut it. My next plan of attack is to pull the intake, tap a hole in the inspection plate, and run a hot tube from the intake to the carb. I feel this will be the best way to go on it since the exhaust manifold port is all messed up. It's getting warmer, so the choke hanging loose in the time being isn't too bad. It started up fine as I ran errands all day without the choke on. Who wore it better?

The freezer was my next idea if the hot water and ice didn't do it.

My girlfriend stopped looking for hers a while back, but I know where they are.

Lol John did you watch the video? That happened to my mom's 08 Saab, rat droppings all over the top of the engine and a half way chewed hot wire, among other things. Good luck with catching it. Maybe stick some 20 gauge stranded wire and hood insulation in there?

The heat passages just preheat the base of the carb for fuel atomization or something. Also I agree, but my weapon of choice was the smart phone with the shop manual on it. I'm already planning on an electric choke since my manifold heat riser has been broken\I ripped the stuck valve out two years ago.

Some people just want to see the world burn

Tonight was a productive night. I kept the original needle and seat valves because they were metal and not rubber. As stated above, I also kept the original plunger. After the rebuild, I filled the bowls with water and checked the plunger - a healthy spray. I didn't mess with the floats at all - I cradled them and coddled them until they went back in, they looked just like they came out. Metering rods were a bit of a hassle getting into the Jets, but the adjustment was easy enough. Can't wait to put it on the car and see how it does. As Kosage Chavis would say, "overall an easy task." Edit: the spring I was asking about was on the fast idle cam. On mine, the spring lip was misplaced on the middle step with the spring ear on the bottom step. Thanks to Leon bee, they are both in the bottom step.

I got the throttle shaft unstuck! The torch I bought didn't work, and with my school brains, I figured something else out. I waited until mom was asleep, then filled one side of the sink with hot water and the other with ice. It took only two dunks from hot to cold to get it to spin freely! So now I'm at the rebuild point. Don't mind my lack of organization... I just bought a gasket set because everything else looked good. The only thing I couldn't get out was the top hat with the check ball in it, but I tested the accelerator pump with water and it seems to be working. No sense in fixing something that ain't broke!

Thanks for the pic, that really helps. Looks like my spring is off. Much appreciated!

Carb soaked overnight, with no progress. Went to the local carb shop today and they said good luck. Thanks. Walked into the local NAPA today and it was a pretty good business day. A gentleman with a 56 Ford and the local high end back yard hot rod shop owner were in there talking with the in-the-know counter guy. The shop owner specifies in carbs, and told me to use a torch lightly on the throttle shaft and spray with wd-40. If I can't get it loose, he told me to bring it by and he'd get it loose for free. He said it's rare for just the secondaries to seize and that the car was probably driven by some guy who never used them.

I can't think of any way to add a cut in with the bowden cable if it's attached to the wiper. Unless it could sense vacuum and turn on automatically?