[72 Centurion Convertible]

😮?

[1953 Roadmaster with most of the options]

Vacuum wipers are infinitely variable and will slow down at wide open throttle but not stop.  The windshield washer is an ineffective novelty.

[Advice needed : GM HEI Distributor Failure]

Check the spark plug wires with your ohm meter.  If carbon core wires, all that manipulation may have damaged them internally.  Also if you have platinum or other exotic electrode plugs ( these plugs if fouled do not recover well), replace with common resistor plugs.

[1955 Buick low oil pressure?]

It's in.  (It's the engine I'm talking about).

[1955 Buick special conversion to electronic Ignition system]

LINK

[1955 Buick low oil pressure?]

Everybody has their favorite method of keeping the valve lifters storted correctly.  This old refrigerator had 16 spots for eggs and worked just right.  Now I can plug it back in and stock it with beer.

The push rods had been rubbing on the block and I think I corrected that problem.  Now I noticed that the valve spring is crowding the hole on that one head.

 

Notice also that the alignment dowel for that one head is missing actually in two places.  Always something to slow me down...had to make some out of 5/16 rod.

 

Filled it with oil and ran the drill clockwise until I had oil pressure and that is very good at 40 lb.  And oil is flowing where it should.

 

[1955 Buick low oil pressure?]

So, now you tell me when I am finished!  Actually I have some effective power tools, but cannot use on the block like the pan mounting surface and the head gasket mounting surfaces.

[1955 Buick low oil pressure?]

January weather has slowed me down but not as much as all the cleaning scraping gaskets wire wheeling and sanding gasket surfaces.  Assembly is easy if you have all clean fresh parts from the machine shop and new parts.  I may be able to drop it in if I can find all my friends that are hiding.

I found something that I never noticed before.  There are engine numbers stamped into the area where the oil filter assembly attaches to the block.  Same number but missing the suffix at designates the series number that was originally used.

 

[55 Century Gauge cluster removal]

The temperature gauge comes out as a unit after detaching from the cylinder head.

Both gauges are open to the atmosphere so humid air inside can condense inside if the outside air gets colder than the dew point. It's not a big deal but the glass will slowly get scuzzy and you'll have to take it apart again. Disconnect the battery before you even look at it.

[Main judging field,,year 2000 Richmond Virginia.]

2 hours ago, Wayne R said:

you may see your wonderful Buick.

Found it!

[Advice needed : GM HEI Distributor Failure]

That is not the problem,  Even with no button the spark would jump that distance.  Most often it is the module.

[E-bugle online]

11 hours ago, old-tank said:

I also contacted the powers and got nowhere

 

1 hour ago, Larry Schramm said:

Call the Board members.

 

[E-bugle online]

19 minutes ago, NailheadBob said:

I know this is a old post BUT did you ever get this resolved?

Nope.  I went back to the print version which is harder to read than on my computer.  I also contacted the powers and got nowhere.  Roy Faries sent me a pdf version and that worked, but if they did that for all then it could be shared all over the world by us crooked jerks.  Bringing this up again just pissed me off all over.  I will not contact anyone again...maybe they will read it here (not likely).

[Tires for my 55 Super]

23 minutes ago, EconoJoe said:

I'm going to bite the bullet and order new tires for my 55 Super. I'm going with Diamondback III with 2.75" whitewalls to match the 25+ y/o tires that it currently has. I noticed that there is a spot for a coupon code while ordering. Has anyone here bought from them and, more importantly, had a coupon code? If so where did you find it?

What size are you considering?  Some 60 or70 series tires will rub the frame on turns.

[1955 Buick low oil pressure?]

46 minutes ago, EmTee said:

 

What size do you have - .020 under?  Crankshaft journals all look good?

0.020 under from Terrell machine.  Generic bearings in a plain white box.  The journals still had a mirror finish.

[1955 Buick low oil pressure?]

The cylinder heads are cleaned up and ready to install.  I lapped the intake valves just to verify the sealing surfaces.  I left the exhaust valves alone since solvent in the back side did not leak.

I got new main bearings rolled in.  There were a few really bad old ones.  I can't believe I had any oil pressure at all.

All of the really bad ones were in the block side.  The  rear main bearings had some chips missing on the thrust side otherwise they looked good.

Waiting on gaskets and for the cold weather to pass.

[1955 Buick low oil pressure?]

3 hours ago, EmTee said:

Do you have a phenolic insulator between the carburetor and the manifold?  Maybe that would help to keep the heat from getting to the fuel bowl as quickly...

 

 

 

1 hour ago, 60FlatTop said:

I am curious. How many of the intake valves we coked up like this and if not all, which ones?

 

 

I am thinking about the 20 years and 120,000 miles, 6,000 miles per year. I have a firm rule about starting my cars. Except in extreme instances I drive them on a ten mile loop around town to fully heat all the fluids and drive off any contaminates such as condensation or from atmosphere or combustion and excess fuel from the cold start. It is like that Samurai sword thing where you don't draw it unless you are going to use it. I won't move my car over one parking space without the full warm up. A ritual based on a few facts.

 

Your valve or valves have as much crud on them as a 1960s AMOCO unleaded gas commercial. I am wondering how many times you may have driven a short distance with mildly fuel diluted oil due to a fuel bowl worth of percolated gas seeped down the cylinders. It is a possibility. I am looking at the arms on my chair as I make this armchair speculation. A fresh rebuild under the same conditions would probably perform as well but it is a sign something is not right.

 

One more point. When you restored the engine was the 4GC carburetor one that had been in regular use or one that had set dry for a long time. I have suspicions that old dry carbs can corrode and develop porosity between fuel chambers and passages adjacent to vacuum passages that cause fuel to be in unexpected places. I have replaced a couple of carbs that had been rebuilt with old crusty bodies with fresher ones.

 

Lots to think about there. Too bad you are not closer.

The carburetor is a Carter wcfb and there's no way to stop the percolation on that model.  I have not used a spacer but I did block off the all the exhaust crossover under the carburetor at the cylinder heads. All the intake valves are like that and this is what you see after a 4250 mi trip from Central Texas to Spokane Washington and back.  I use mostly top tier fuels but not the same brand.

Because of my frugal nature I have resisted fuel injection but that may be the next thing. 

I finally determined that the main bearings are 0.020 under size and those are ordered and I'll try to roll them in without removing the Pistons.

[1955 Buick low oil pressure?]

No additive will fix my issue... and probably won't prevent.

[1955 Buick low oil pressure?]

5 hours ago, NTX5467 said:

Neat tool!

 

Looks like a good candidate for some bronze heli-coil guide inserts and high-quailty valve stem oil seals.  Spark plugs look good.

 

Thanks for the update!

NTX5467

The guides and seals are tight however all of the intake tracts are covered with hard varnish that transitions to the hard carbon close to the combustion chamber.  This is due to percolation from the carburetor after I shut down after a hot run.  

[1955 Buick low oil pressure?]

I could not find a suitable valve spring removal tool locally and I didn't want to buy online without looking at it so I made one.  Template was made from a coat hanger wire and transferred to some strap steel and map gas torch and a Little grunt work it seems to work fine.

I did not make the handle long enough so a crescent wrench works to give me more leverage.  They used rocker shaft was used also.

 

This is the reason that I made the valve spring compressor tool.  The back of the intake valves in the area around it was just plugged up with hard carbon.

[1953 Roadmaster with most of the options]

On 1/5/2024 at 10:01 AM, 195354 said:

I ordered rear coil springs today from Coil spring Specialties located in Kanas. I have purchased springs from them in the past. They are easy to talk with in helping you come up  with a solution.

Good to hear that they are still helping.  40+ years ago I put some of their springs on my 55...a little heavier than stock and they are still working with no sag.

[1955 Buick low oil pressure?]

Thanks for reminding me...that was my greatest honor.

LINK

20years!

Good review to build another engine.

[1955 Buick low oil pressure?]

2 hours ago, gungeey said:

Do the main bearing inserts appear as your earlier picture on the block side also?

 

I wonder about the resistance of the caps when removed, after 20 years the varnish should be like cement, they usually put up a fight. Any tiny play would allow the caps to cock at your index mating surface. As I'm sure you know they should be a light press fit. Just something to consider. Steve in MA

Nothing abnormal on the backsides.  My guess is these were no brand economy bearings that gave up after 20 years and 120K miles.  The rest of the engine appears to be good for another 100K miles.

[1955 Buick low oil pressure?]

14 hours ago, EmTee said:

OK, yes, I did see that picture of the cam bearing (duh...).   Anyway, do you think that material spalled from the cam bearing could have contaminated the main bearings leading to that damage?  Not sure why the rods were spared, but maybe something about the oil circulates through the engine?

The wear on the cam bearing and the chunks missing from the main bearings are two different issues.  Besides the babbit material from the bearings is not abrasive anyway.  

 

The big problem is the failure of the material on the main bearings not wear.  I checked the clearance on the main bearings with plastigauge and they were not worn. Neither were the rod bearings.  If I knew the size of the main bearings I could just roll some new ones in there and put it back together.

 

One other observation, the rope seal in the rear main bearing cap was not leaking but it had a hard glazed finish on it.

 

[1955 Buick low oil pressure?]

31 minutes ago, EmTee said:

Have you had a look at the condition cam bearings yet?

See one of my posts dec 31