old-tank

"4. I adjusted the pump so it started down in the well as far as I could."......??? Seems you would want to do the opposite.

Somebody has good hearing! Anyhow the arm of the vacuum advance slips over a bushing on the breaker plate and that is capped off by the screwed down ground wire. If the dwell varies with rpm and load check the center bushing on the breaker plate for looseness. Old original rotors may fit very loose and rattle. A dab of heavy grease or silicone in the rattle area may tone it down for awhile. The brake booster probably should not have a hissing sound when not applied. Willie

Craftsman 3/8 in. Butterfly Impact Wrench - Tools - Air Compressors & Air Tools - Impact Wrenches others out there...handy tool that everyone should have.

For all gaskets excluding head gaskets, glue the gasket to one surface with weatherstrip cement and install. In this case glue the gasket to the pan. Install dry or use sealant of choice. Never apply slickery sealant to both surfaces --- the gasket will be squeezed out of place during installation. Another trick is to make you own gasket and punch the bolt holes undersized so that the gasket will hold the bolts in place as well as the bolts holding the gasket in place...this would work well for those bolts that are accessed through the frame. After R&R the pan on my 55 for the 4th time I could replace in a few minutes using a combination of glue and undersized bolt holes along with a butterfly impact (nobody should have that much practice). Willie

Thanks for the update. That makes a half dozen 55&56 Buicks that I know of that had more problems created by Pertronix than solved. I can't blame you for trying it out since I have one my shelf too. After removing it and replacing with the points/condensor I have had no problems (just changed points/condensor at 30,000 miles). Now get out there and drive it regularly before that 4gc give you problems.

That's where I set the family's 58 Super when I drove it. A few times I forgot to set it back to 65...BUSTED!

All power tools are dangerous. Just need to think way ahead and wear protection. This is the kind of day I do buffing...44*F, coat, welding gloves, eye protection, face mask (dust from buffing is hazardous if inhaled). Some of the side trim on a 55 is hard to straighten, being both concave and convex...maybe you need better pieces to start with. Smartin on these boards does buffing. Even with the right equipment buffing stainless is extremely tedious. Willie

All alignment adjustments are done at the top. Just get the lower as close to the middle as possible.

If the moderator thinks it proper to edit posts (mine included) and delete others (again mine included), why not just dump the whole topic............

It's gonna be hard to do a remote repair! Lots of 'depends-on' such as whether the metal is stretched or creased, access to back...

With what you described, I'm still thinking it is an ignition problem. Things to try: 1-Replace the pertronix with stock points/condensor 2-Swap the coil with a known good one. With the pertronix you should be using a stock coil with the ballast resistor. You can jump across the resistor to give a hotter spark for testing purposes. Even though the pertronix tolerates some wear in the distributor, excessive wear in the shaft or breaker plate may affect function. Willie

Just the axles, then the brake backing plates, outer seal, bearing, then inner seal. Leave the gears alone if they were quiet in service and look good.

Along with brushes and spraying, consider using paint rollers: 2-4 inch are my favorite for just about any painting. Willie

Kerosene will work, but I use Varsol or equivalent (less flammable) followed by brake cleaner. Remove all traces of the old grease if you are not sure they have ever been packed in modern grease...the possible incompatibility can cause the whole mess to liquefy (another item filed under 'how do I know that'). Valvoline synthetic wheel bearing grease has served me well...seems to stick to the ball bearings better than others.

Bill Carefully clean and inspect all the bearings and only replace as needed. The available replacements are not near as good as good used ones. All the bearings means doing the rear also: clean, repack, and replace the seals. Willie

port

Since you disabled movement of the breaker plate, look inside the distributor for loose or shorted wires. The original fabric coated lead from the points to the junction on the side of the distributor is usually the problem. Willie

Always be sure the ignition is functioning correctly. Then while the spark plugs are out do a compression check. With the sudden onset of the problem, ignition is most likely since fuel system problems are gradual and compression problems are isolated to one or two cylinders. Willie

x2

Make duplicates...or Some of mine never had gaskets...just caulk...I use strip-calk with good results.

...he bent you over...

Accelerator linkage and choke heat tube and maybe wiring to start switch. It also will be visually correct if that is important. It will have better throttle response in normal driving with the 2-barrel. ( I have participated in the same subterfuge. ) Willie

Like Lamar said it is an easy swap, especially if you use the 2-barrel carb and manifold from the 264. Don't switch the flywheel/flexplate or the balancer or pulley at the front --- they contribute to the balance of the engine and are weighted differently. The 264 came from the factory with a pulley at the front vs a harmonic balancer in the 322 and that would be the only visual difference in strict BCA judging (if it is even noticed). Post production replacement of multigroove pulleys on the 264 was a balancer with the same add as needed pulleys as the 322. Willie

Bill Post some pictures of those knobs. I may be able to restore them (or show you how). Willie

Look at the relief in the cover for the ring gear...it can only be installed one (correct) way.