64' Carter AFB

[Guest jchagop]

Can someone please recommend the best source for the correct gasket for a 64' Carter AFB Carb (made for the 401). I am using it with a 425 on my 64' just realized it had the wrong gasket.

Thanks,

Jon

Edited September 5, 2009 by jchagop (see edit history)

[RivNut]

Jon,

You need two gaskets on your '64. A fiber gasket that sits on the manifold, and a stainless steel gasket that is sandwiched between the fiber gasket and the base of the carb. The stainless gasket is necessary to keep the channeled exhaust gasses from corroding the aluminum carburetor. (Exhaust gasses are channeled thought your intake to provide quicker carburetor warmup.) You'll notice the U-shaped opening in the fiber gasket, that a hot air channel.

I got my last set from Allstate Carburetor and Fuel Injection in Long Island, NY www.allcarb.com

On the west coast, try Russ Martin at www.buickrodder.com

You shouldn't have any problems finding these. Aluminum AFB are still being produced by Edlebrock.

Good luck.

Ed

Edited September 5, 2009 by RivNut
corrected link (see edit history)

[CTX-SLPR]

I am extremely pleased with my Carmen Faso gasket and heatsheild! Been lucky enought to be able to reuse both once and the heatsheild twice as I've messed with various things on my Nailhead.

[Guest jchagop]

Thanks Ed,

I found buickrodder's ebay store and they have the gasket and heat shield I need. It had the wrong gasket and no insulator plate, so exhaust gasses were mixing with the intake fuel mixture...not good. I had a pretty severe leak at the rear main seal, so I found a good machine shop here and had them pull the engine block. They replaced the old rope seal with a new neoprene seal and took a look inside. Things looked very good, the engine had been bored 30 over (rebuild after the fire I told you about no doubt) and all the pistons, rods, bearings, chain, etc. looked good. Just honed the cylinders and replaced the rings. Also put in hardened valve seats. The brake booster was causing a major vacuum leak and needs to be replaced...need a source for this part if you know of one please let me know. Changed all the gaskets, etc. I am steam cleaning the engine compartment for good measure and wanted to check with you guys to see if there are other things that I should be sure to do, swap out, or at least take a close look at while the engine is out.

Thanks again,

Jon

[RivNut]

Jon,

Sounds like you're getting all those pesky problems taken care of. Watch the hardened seats; it's usually recommended not to install hardened seats in a nailhead. The water jacket at that point is very easy to penetrate; the iron in the Buick engine has enough nickle in it that nailhead heads never suck valves into them.

In the Riview, and maybe online, you'll find an ad for "Booster Dewey." Have your booster rebuilt. You don't want to get into the "Do I have a Declo or Bendix booster?" battle. Each takes a different booster, master cylinder, and actuating rod.

While the engine is out, you might want to run a pressure test on your heater core. There's the "unapproved by Buick" way of replacing the core from the engine bay that's a real time saver. Check the "Tech Tips" on the ROA website for instructions on how Buick recommends you do it and the other way.

If you were getting exhaust gasses in your carb, it may be too far gone to use again. If the corrosion ate through the body and into the circuitry, you might need to replace the carb.

Transmission seals? Carrier bearing? Contact Russ "Buickrodder" Maritn about reinstalling the exhaust manifolds. He'll recommend that you don't use any gaskets but do like the factory did and machine the head surface and manifolds to bolt up without gastkets. Check the choke stove in the exhaust manifold to make sure it's not stuck.

There may be other things, and some of the things I mentioned may not be needed; hopefully some others will chime in.

Ed

[Guest jchagop]

Ed,

I am so bummed. I talked to Russ and he reckons there is a 50/50 chance they hit water or cracked the heads after installing the hardened seats. Russ recommends pressure testing the heads. If they cracked they should atleast cover the labor cost of a new valve job. Problem is if they pass a pressure test there is still a chance they will fail later. Thought I was doing something good for the engine and just blew it. Russ has 425 head cores, I am thinking I should just buy those, upgrade the springs and do a new valve job. What do you think? Hard to learn this lesson the hard way.

Jon

[RivNut]

First of all lets hope that the machinist didn't hit the water jacket and things hold. If they did get into the jacket, I'm sure you can hold them accountable for replacing and renewing another set of heads. If your vavles, springs, keepers, etc. are all in good shape, you can refresh the heads that Russ has and put all your other stuff on them. Good luck.

I have a couple of sets of heads complete with valves and springs. Shipping would be a real ball buster, but I think the machine shop should pay for any costs related to their screw up.

Ed

[Guest jchagop]

Thanks Ed,

They are going to do the pressure test today or tomorrow. The engine has been assembled, and they said they can do a pressure test without taking the heads off. Says they will apply 20 lbs of pressure to the water jacket, seal all ports, and put a guage on it. Once pressure is applied they said they will let it sit overnight or for several hours to see if the pressure holds. Do you think this test is sufficient or should I ask them to perform other tests if it passes this one? Are you familiar with Russ spring sets on his ebay store. He says I should have these installed and toss the factory set. What do you think? Any reason not to if I am sticking with the factory grade cam, etc.? He says the springs can be easily changed without taking the heads off the engine.

Jon

[Guest jchagop]

To clarify...they are applying 20 psi air pressure in that test

[Guest jchagop]

Another question,

The brackets on my power steering puly were painted blue. I am cleaning up the engine compartment, and giving everything a fresh coat of black (using POR 15 semi-gloss) should these brackets be black?

[RivNut]

Jon,

I'm going through 3 different emails here.

I don't know about the water jacket test. How many pounds of pressure is your radiator cap rated at? If I were you, I'd contact Russ about the pressure.

I'm not familiar with the spring sets that Russ sells. If you're going back to stock, I'd ask him for some details on why his are better than OEM.

The power steering pump brackets should be the same color as the engine block, heads, intake, water crossover pipe, alternator bracket, and timing cover. The only thing I can think of that is black is the rear bracket, and lower brace for the a/c compressor. Look at it this way. The factory did a test run on every engine. There's no way they would test run the engine, then undo some head bolts, install a bracket, then retorque the head bolts - same with bolts that are connected to water passages. When the engine was run in the test, everything on the engine had been painted the same color. Anything that could be added later that didn't involve loosening a torqued down bolt was painted balck.

Ed

[Guest jchagop]

Thanks Ed,

I want to match the correct color on the engine block. Is this information on the firewall plate, I assume it was standard for all nailheads in 1964? POR 15 has engine enamel products:

ENGINE ENAMEL-POR-15 Inc.

Was it the Buick Green or Turquoise they have there, or should I look to another source?

Jon

[RivNut]

Jon,

That info isn't on the firewall plate. The only color info on it is the body color and interior color.

The Buick turquoise is what you're after. The Buick green is for the old straight 8 engines prior to '54. The POR 15 should be a good product. CARS - www.oldbuickparts.com has this color in a spray can if you don't have an air compressor and spray gun.

Try to find some pictures of some refurbished engines to get an idea of how they were painted.

Look at this link from the Buick.net link and see what they say about under hood and under carriage detailing. As Skip says in the forward, it's info taken from a non-Buick source, but it's GM and should be applicable to your Buick.

Engine and Undercarriage Detailing

Ed

[Bill Stoneberg]

I beg to differ... The turquois is for the straight 8 engines while the green is for your 64 Riviera.

At least that is what I use on my late 40's early 50's cars and on my 64 Riviera and that is what the judging manual says.

[RivNut]

Bill's correct here. I never looked at the names of the colors, I just went by what I thought they looked like . Since my original post, I looked at the POR-15 listing and what they call turquoise is for the I-8, and they call green is for the V-8, just go by the years listed

If you'll check Hirsh automotive paints, they have three Buick greens. "Early green", "green", and "late green" along with the years of application. Less confusing, at least for me.

Ed