Aaron65

Looks like you have a nice place to work!

Wow. That there's your problem! I wonder how that could have happened...neutral drops in the high school parking lot?

Excuse my ignorance, but why does the later torque tube have a rear u-joint? Is the tube itself angled to clear the floor? I've looked at Bernie's picture of a disassembled torque tube, but I think I'm still missing the point...My '53 only has one at the front.

I've got a call or two out, but in case those don't pan out...does anyone have a good source for individual pieces of beltline window fuzzies? The ones with the stainless strip at the top? I need a 4-foot piece for the door panel on my '63 Thunderbird, and I remember having an easier time the last time I searched for it. Maybe my memory is flawed. Anyway, any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks! Aaron

The best way is to mount the manifold like the factory did. I've cut the modern gaskets up to just use the intake portions and used the graphite mix recommended in the shop manual on the exhaust. The exhaust surface of my heads is not good enough, however, to continue to do this, so I've switched to Remflex gaskets. They are expensive, but they've lasted through two driving seasons, and I never got more than one season out of any other type of gasket. https://catalog.remflex.com/BUICK_Header_Exhaust_Manifold_Gasket_p/13-007.htm I wouldn't even bother using the ones you have; they will almost certainly start leaking sooner or later, probably sooner. One note with the Remflex gaskets: the heat riser gasket did not fit; it wasn't even close, but you can use any gasket there. I always coat both sides with High Temp RTV (not the Remflex gaskets, but the regular ones for the heat riser). To sum up: factory method is best, Remflex is next (IMO).

If you plan to retorque the head, do it one bolt at a time in the order suggested by the shop manual, and break each bolt loose first (in order, one at a time). If you try to simply tighten each bolt, you will have to overcome its breakaway torque value, which could give you a false reading. The danger of retorquing in your case is that you may disturb the sealer on the driver's bank of bolts, but it sounds like you don't have much to lose by trying it. Good luck!

Those tools were used to retorque the head after the engine had been run for a bit...I bent my own that worked OK, but if you plan to remove the head, you'll definitely want to remove the rocker shaft first. It's not hard, and you won't have to fight the pushrods that way. You will need an engine hoist or two pals to help you lift that head off; it's a monster.

A rebuilt engine shouldn't really ever smoke, regardless of the ring type. It might use some oil, but if it's smoking profusely, something is wrong. If the engine is knocking back by the transmission, I'd be first checking my flexplate for cracks, looseness, or something else that has gone awry in that area. If the knocking is getting worse, I would stop driving it until you figure out the problem. Good luck!

You may want to run over to V8buick.com for more details, but you should have no problems with the motor mounts or transmission bellhousing pattern. I'm not sure what the inlet/outlet situation is, but you may even be able to get away with using the Regal's radiator. If you don't have any smog worries, and you aren't looking for 12 second quarter miles, why not? One note of caution: the 300 has very few aftermarket parts, so if you're looking to hop it up, you need to be creative, and may want to consider another engine. If you're just looking to cruise, it should be an easy swap. Good luck.

Looks good! You lucked out that the damage was contained within the vinyl top coverage area. The new top fits well; have you done one before?

As you know, old cars can be a can of worms. Many, many guys will disagree, but I like the advice Ben and Spinneyhill gave you above. You already got off on the wrong foot with this car, so I'd try to make this job as unobtrusive as possible. Definitely do the radiator and check out the clutch, but I would plug my ears and sing "la la la la la" to the rest... Then again, I often make the wrong decision.

If the above information is correct, and the pistons are the only difference between a Special 322 and a Roadmaster/Super 322, I'd have no reservations about using an engine from a Special. I doubt you'd notice the difference in power, and you may even be able to get away with less expensive gas; however, I'd really go over this thread and do my homework, because it sounds like Buick changed a lot of parts over the course of a couple of model years. I'd want to truly make sure everything you have will fit together. Good luck...I enjoy getting a mothballed car running again, even though the process is often rife with frustration.

I tried this last year, and it's still holding up at 1500 miles or so, although my repair was on a runner and not the heat box. You may want to disable the heat riser if you use JB Weld in that location.

Jim is correct on the access to the middle, but it is better than scissor lifts that give no access to the middle of the car. You could still drop a transmission, for example. I had the two sides of the lift reversed for some reason in the picture I attached above, so you can't seem them, but there are locks that keep the lifts from falling should the hydraulic cylinders fail for any reason. Once you have the car up in the air, the whole thing is stable, plus it seems like the car's weight is distributed over a larger area than it would be on jack stands.

I think I did have the '53 on the jack once or twice this past summer...but I have enough cars that it all runs together sometimes. I did have my '65 Skylark on it for sure, and there were no problems there.