Beemon

It's a Century. It has everything except AC and power electronic accessories. He's a little stubborn about riding in it because he can no longer drive anything (especially his car), but he had fun. His first comment was "wow there's a lot of Chevy cars here" lol

Maybe one of the boys can measure the resistance across the terminals and you can cross reference a modern replacement?

Most cars didn't come with a rear speaker, I think it was an option. I habe a fader, too, but in 56 they mounted it under dash to the left of the heater control.

If it was stuck open, it's better than being stuck closed. I ripped my butterfly out because mine was also frozen and the counter weight turned freely. It's there to heat the engine and carb until warm up. I run my car all year round and even in the winter up here in Washington, I didn't notice any changes. I'm pretty sure it has to do with winter blend fuel, but someone else can chime in. I also plugged the heat track in the intake manifold with 7/16 all thread, as others have done.

My first fuel pump I rebuilt myself. The seal wasn't set right in the vacuum part because it started sucking oil into the intake. I've since remedied this issue (no more oil in the vacuum lines), but I'm still blowing blue smoke out the tail pipes when revving and taking off from a stop. It's very minuscule, but it's there. That's why I'm concerned about pistons, now that it's been brought up. I set the carburetor with a tach and the smoke isn't a dark black as if it were running rich. When I changed the spark plugs out after fixing the fuel pump, there was a lot of carbon build up in the cylinder walls. I haven't got in there yet to check the condition. I cannot confirm the condition of the valley cover filter, so that may be an off season project. I went to a cruise in today to see if a leak pops up. All I did today was replace the distributor o-ring, while cleaning off other oil coated surfaces. So far no leaks from the oil pressure line or distributor o-ring. There isn't a leak from the valve covers, but it is wicking through. Is this normal? I did see the rebuilder at the cruise in, but he avoided me like the plague so I think there's more to the rebuild than I know. I checked the oil after getting home and levels are normal, so maybe I snuffed it (wishful thinking). Only time will tell.

It's late in the season, but got the car out to a show/cruise-in tonight. My second time going, but the first time for my Grandfather. We've come a long way!

I retorqued the fuel pump and wiped down all surfaces with oil where it shouldn't be. I installed the oil pressure line and ran the car for a bit, no oil leaks thus far. I'm picking up the gaskets as I go, tomorrow is distributer o-ring, fuel pump gasket and valve cover gaskets. Oil pressure on the gauge seems to be fine. I'm a little concerned now about piston rings... I don't have a compression tester, so that will have to wait a couple weeks, but I haven't had an issue with performance and the vacuum readings have been normal.

Sorry for the confusion

What could cause the engine to be over pressurized and push oil out of the seams?

Willie, I've been reading your website since you asked me about the crankcase being pressurized. Is it a safe assumption to say that vapors should not be coming out of the filler caps and that I may have an issue with the valley cover?

Engine has about 5000 miles on rebuild. How do I know if it's being pressurized? There are vapors that exit the fill caps and breather tube. I didn't think the o-ring should leak, either, but there's oil around the base of the distributor. Will try submerging in motor oil before assembly. Valley cover is not known to be leaking at this time (no oil around the back of the valley cover, just around the base of the distributor). Will check the website for the rear main if the leak doesn't go away after cleaning up the top of the engine. You cannot re-use the cork? Will try re-torquing the fuel pump and see if it seals up. When I put it on, I tried the 'glue to pump with weatherstrip cement and then black rtv to block" technique but it's still leaking at the back, I think around the rear bolt. Rear main is only dripping when parked. I never see it drip but when I crawl under there it's loaded up on oil. Crossover was assembled by the machinist. I just put the water outlet on and that was the end of the cooling system. The gasket that came with the kit had the type of gasket where it's paper/felt bonded to a steel gasket. Both the filter and housing are torqued to spec. I don't think the filter housing is leaking at the block, I guess I'll find out now that the oil pressure line should sealed and no longer weeping all over it. Thank you all for the quick replies!

My 322 was rebuilt by a gentlemen whom claimed to have done Nailheads before. As the story goes, my engine was the last engine to pass through his shop. Fast forward a bit here, when I got the block back from him, he handed me the rest of the gaskets to put on the water pump, oil filter housing, fuel pump, distributor, carburetor and valve covers. The kit came with both a rope seal and a neoprene one, neither of which were given to me... My engine has developed a leak at the back of the engine. Originally, when I put the valve covers on, I didn't install them properly and it would leak oil. I've replaced them, but it's evident there is still oil coming from the top of the block. I've already replaced the oil pressure line above the oil filter housing using permatex thread sealer. It looks like it's leaking from the distributor O-ring, as well. The fuel pump also leaks oil at the gasket. Last but not least, there is a lot of oil puddling where the rear main cap is. I was naive at the time and anxious. I've never done an engine before and I regret not taking the time to learn. I need some advice on what works and what doesn't work. I've read articles on line, but nothing has solved the fuel pump gasket leak. How do I seal up the distributor O-ring? What type of compound should be used on the fuel pump gasket? Both sides? On the threads? What is the best way to seal up the valve cover gaskets? Cork or rubber? Technique? What is the best way to seal up the oil pan gasket? Cork or rubber? Do I need to remove the engine to get to the rear main? Can I use a sneaky pete? Will trimming the rear rope seal be difficult? The rear main is the last resort, but is probably the huge culprit.... You guys are the experts and I am but the young grasshopper. Any advice is greatly appreciated!

That's the same yard I bought my new passenger side window from. He's got a 56 Special out there, too, that is nothing but a shell and rear end. Picked the glass up for $100 (only place that had one, frame still good), was advertised as perfect. Got home, washed it, and a BB shot was filled in with permanent marker... The glass on that 54 is in perfect condition, but the interior is really bad (see door panels). I wanted some stuff off the engine, but when he says "parting out" he means "car sold with the whole driveline complete". He's also very unreasonable, if wanting $300 for a rear end that doesn't have the front shaft seal in place and won't open it up is any indication. The pictures don't do the body damage justice and I'm surprised the hood was able to close - probably an old photo. The power steering pump is also missing.

That's too bad about the shaft. These carburetors are really misunderstood, which is unfortunate because they are much easier to rebuild and set than a WCFB.

Make sure the fan blades are as smooth as possible when painting, and check to make sure they're not bent. The slightest bend or bump will be enough to cause turbulence which can cause engine vibration.

For those interested: Heavy Duty: #TEM 271303 Severe Duty: #TEM 271301 Those are NAPA numbers, price difference is $10 for increased thermal surface area. I can't find any standard clockwise over the counter fan blades, just serpentine blades. Might be an aftermarket/junkyard find. I was surprised, even my local Autozone, whom is filled with cheap go fast trinkets, doesn't have "race performance" clutch fans or flex fans. I was doing some research and it dawned on me that most cars have external coolers for everything - transmission, oil, power steering.... Maybe consideration of a remote oil cooler to dissipate some of that cast iron block heat? Would also theoretically improve the longevity of the oil.

My original fuel pump worked great for about 2 weeks on Ethanol. You would be best to replace the diaphragms with modern ones.

What type of fuel do you use regularly?

I'm pretty sure the only difference is the fuel pump part, the covers are different. The only difference in the kits is the amount of holes in the rubber.

My mistake of I claimed it hadn't, but I thought Willie posted that the clutch didn't engage until 200 degree heat. My whole point I was trying to make was that the clutch may not be getting hot enough to engage earlier because of where the clutch would be in relationship to the grill and the most air flow going under the clutch. Sorry for confusion.

On the contrary, it was heavily pitted. If it is the same mirror, you can get away with using the tri-5 mirrors as a replacement since it's a 4 1/2" bolt pattern if I recall correctly. Otherwise, to use the original Buick mirrors, you have to patch the existing holes, hope one of them matches up and then drill another hole.

Hey, it looks like you have the same aftermarket mirrors as me! That's the first time I've seen that type of mirror on another Buick, I'm not alone! lol

Excuse my crude computer art, but I took the dimensions off the car and applied them to a 3D program to illustrate the inefficiency of the front grill (for 56, but 54-55 should be similar). The first image is the radiator in relationship to the front grill. On the 56, the radiator was square 22"x22". It is placed 16" from the front grill and sits above the grill by 10". The perforated part of the grill itself is 10.5" tall and 56" at its widest, with a deflection of about 6" from the center. The second image is transparent with the fan shroud visible, an 18" diameter fan and a 6" clutch. The center of the clutch is about 1" from the top of the grill, where the thermostat would be. Aside from this, behind the grill is completely open with no deflection towards the radiator other than the splash guard, hood and inner fenders - all of which do not direct air. The last two images is a proposed shroud behind the grill and in front of the radiator, which only guides air into the radiator. Because the thermostat is 1" from the top of the grill, all the air flow is mostly directed through the bottom half of the grill, and can conclude that not enough air flow is reaching the thermostat. Everything else behind the grill would create a flow dead zone, especially in front of the inner fenders. Just wanted to apply a visual to the discussion. Other models may vary and this was mostly eye balled with rounded numbers.

I don't know if any of you watch Jay Leno's Garage, but they did a segment on this stuff and apparently it's boiling point is 310, so you don't need to use anything more than a 3lb cap to get the boiling point well above 210. I've been trying to piece this stuff together with the part numbers in this thread, but I can't seem to find the fan blades over the counter. Did anyone have a part number for the actual fan or is that up to the aftermarket world?

Theoretically I don't think it would. It's not close to being as thick as half inch carb spacers, however carb spacers have shown to give fuel a longer atomizer process before hitting the intake runners so it can only get better.