How buttercup got her groove back

[NC-car-guy 2,470]

Since I'm not removing the crank I used the @old-tank method of tightening the upper main seal!  Sorry about the crappy pic.

[NC-car-guy 2,470]

Found Kelly green blobs In the block and on the heads....inspection marks?

[NC-car-guy 2,470]

Remember this water pump is temporary and that pulley is masked on the sides....

Whole motor done in high heat primer then buick green....

[JohnD1956 4,713]

Nice... Very Nice!!!

[avgwarhawk 2,808]

Nothing like the smell of Buick nailhead green drying.  Means your close to firing it up!

[MrEarl 6,866]

 

 

Looks great and like you're heading in the right direction.

 

 

1 Fuel and vacuum lines -  Buick Engine Green (as heavy overspray).

2 Pulleys - Generator, Water pump, Power Steering, - No Paint (cad)

3 Harmonic Balancer - Buick Green paint.

4 Engine bolts - Per Dave Corbin " If you look at the engine outside, anything that's attached by a bolt that goes through a GASKET joint will be engine color, since it has            to be there to test run the engine."

5 Accessory mount brackets? Power steering main mount bracket and the 8 inch angle iron brace that bolts to the engine. Buick Green

6 Power steering pump - Black * The correct decal wording for the top of the pump is FILL TO LEVEL WITH AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUID TYPE

7 Upper generator bracket, flat iron with elongated adjust slot- Black

8 Engine mount brackets (including the generator mount bracket - Green **The flat triangular brace piece with three holes from this engine mount to the engine block - No Paint

9 Fuel/vacuum pump -The factory manual clearly states that the fuel pump should not receive paint however there are examples of original pumps that had significant amounts of overspray.  Fuel pump and lines were mounted for test. No carb mounted for test as a methane line was connected to the manifold. (thus no gas in the fuel pump making it safe for shipping and storage).             

10 Power brake vacuum pump - Black

11 Exhaust manifold...

12 Wire loom - bolts to top of rocker cover - Green; Rubber insert - No Paint (however probably received paint when engine was painted and the black rubber did not hold paint well)

13 Rocker cover and spark plug cover and bolts - Green

14 Timing indicator with timing marks- engine green with no paint on the brass ends with unpainted groove marks *  also black with yellow painted groove marks.

15 Valley Cover - Green except under middle of manifold where there is either no paint or light over spray at most

16 Blow by tube- Black

17 Oil Dip Stick - No paint or overspray

18 Transmission Dip Stick - No Paint

19 Transmission Dip Stick tube -  painted black at factory but with out primer the black paint soon baked and flaked off.

20 Transmission Dip Stick tube bracket/holder (secures to back of block) No paint

21 Coil Bracket- No Paint

22 Dash Pot bracket - No Paint

23 Carb spring bracket - Green paint.

24 Distributor - the bottom third of the distributor got over sprayed with Green, upper is factory black

25 Starter - Green

26 Starter Solenoid - Black (masked during painting of engine

27 Fan Blade - black. Bolts- no paint

28. Power Brake Vacuum line (from top of manifold to power brake master cylinder) No Paint

[NC-car-guy 2,470]

Thats the list I been working off of.

[JohnD1956 4,713]

6 hours ago, MrEarl said:

 

 

Looks great and like you're heading in the right direction.

 

 

1 Fuel and vacuum lines -  Buick Engine Green (as heavy overspray).

2 Pulleys - Generator, Water pump, Power Steering, - No Paint (cad)

3 Harmonic Balancer - Buick Green paint.

4 Engine bolts - Per Dave Corbin " If you look at the engine outside, anything that's attached by a bolt that goes through a GASKET joint will be engine color, since it has            to be there to test run the engine."

5 Accessory mount brackets? Power steering main mount bracket and the 8 inch angle iron brace that bolts to the engine. Buick Green

6 Power steering pump - Black * The correct decal wording for the top of the pump is FILL TO LEVEL WITH AUTOMATIC TRANSMISSION FLUID TYPE

7 Upper generator bracket, flat iron with elongated adjust slot- Black

8 Engine mount brackets (including the generator mount bracket - Green **The flat triangular brace piece with three holes from this engine mount to the engine block - No Paint

9 Fuel/vacuum pump -The factory manual clearly states that the fuel pump should not receive paint however there are examples of original pumps that had significant amounts of overspray.  Fuel pump and lines were mounted for test. No carb mounted for test as a methane line was connected to the manifold. (thus no gas in the fuel pump making it safe for shipping and storage).             

10 Power brake vacuum pump - Black

11 Exhaust manifold...

12 Wire loom - bolts to top of rocker cover - Green; Rubber insert - No Paint (however probably received paint when engine was painted and the black rubber did not hold paint well)

13 Rocker cover and spark plug cover and bolts - Green

14 Timing indicator with timing marks- engine green with no paint on the brass ends with unpainted groove marks *  also black with yellow painted groove marks.

15 Valley Cover - Green except under middle of manifold where there is either no paint or light over spray at most

16 Blow by tube- Black

17 Oil Dip Stick - No paint or overspray

18 Transmission Dip Stick - No Paint

19 Transmission Dip Stick tube -  painted black at factory but with out primer the black paint soon baked and flaked off.

20 Transmission Dip Stick tube bracket/holder (secures to back of block) No paint

21 Coil Bracket- No Paint

22 Dash Pot bracket - No Paint

23 Carb spring bracket - Green paint.

24 Distributor - the bottom third of the distributor got over sprayed with Green, upper is factory black

25 Starter - Green

26 Starter Solenoid - Black (masked during painting of engine

27 Fan Blade - black. Bolts- no paint

28. Power Brake Vacuum line (from top of manifold to power brake master cylinder) No Paint

May I ask who created this list and where it was found?

[NC-car-guy 2,470]

3 minutes ago, JohnD1956 said:

May I ask who created this list and where it was found?

I got it off the 54 buick highway from Lamar.

[avgwarhawk 2,808]

12 hours ago, NC-car-guy said:

Found Kelly green blobs In the block and on the heads....inspection marks?

 

 

My guess is someone grabbed the wrong can of green paint.    But yes, I would say it could possibly be a paint mark indicating the heads were torqued to specs perhaps.   Did you see any paint on the other head?  

[avgwarhawk 2,808]

If you can, please video the first firing up!  I love seeing a nailhead come back to life, cough, sputter, clatter and then running smooth. 

[NC-car-guy 2,470]

Yes but also found a blob inside the block and a blob on the back of the block where the bellhousing bolts. 

[avgwarhawk 2,808]

5 minutes ago, NC-car-guy said:

Yes but also found a blob inside the block and a blob on the back of the block where the bellhousing bolts. 

 

I would say it is inspection marks.  What else could it be with not so random dabs of paint of a totally different shade of green?   I see red and yellow on my torque tube.  Not painted like a artist either LOL.  

Edited June 24 by avgwarhawk (see edit history)

[NC-car-guy 2,470]

Yea. There was red on the timing cover.  All these marks were resistant to my paint stripper.

[avgwarhawk 2,808]

5 minutes ago, NC-car-guy said:

Yea. There was red on the timing cover.  All these marks were resistant to my paint stripper.

 

So is the paint marks on my torque tube.   Must be darn good paint!  

[MrEarl 6,866]

3 hours ago, JohnD1956 said:

May I ask who created this list and where it was found?

 

JD, this list was first created by me on the 1954 Buick Highway forum about 8 years ago and was initially established from observations of several of my original condition drivers as well as several parts cars. It has been updated over the years as members posted their findings and from info from such sources as original factory manuals and plant workers recollections from that time period. I know of at least one 1954 Special that received a 400 point score after using it as a source for engine bay correct detail. It is important to note that these were 1954 Buicks, not '53, not '55 and not '56. While all engines were assembled and painted in Flint, they were installed at different plants and there is speculation that different plants may have used different assembly parts, parts sources and processes etc.  I still welcome input of any fact backed comments related to  factory correct engine compartment detail.

 

https://www.1954buick.com/topic/1432-1954-buick-engine-bay/#comment-9148

 

Also keep in mind that Matt is not trying for perfect "as from the factory" detail here so he will likely try to more mimic the 13,000 mile engine that existed prior to the POTM (previous owner to me) attempt to repaint the engine and inner fender wells with a paint brush. 😥 So therefore it will not matter that the painted spark plug bolts show bare metal once he swaps them to the correct side 😁 and installs the wires. The wires by the way most likely received and would have factory overspray (as I have seen on one of my parts cars and had a couple of reports from others) but in this case I suggest to Matt that the plug wires were changed at 12,000 miles 😉😊

Edited June 24 by MrEarl (see edit history)

[MrEarl 6,866]

Matt, I sort of suspect that the brass T on the manifold would have been changed out after initial engine painting when the power brake vacuum line was added so might should be unpainted brass. The power brake vac line was not painted. I do not recall ever seeing a painted T but have seen the plain fitting painted. Just a thought.

[MrEarl 6,866]

and by the way Matt, let me say that I am so happy to see you giving this much attention to detail and going to the extremes that you are to bring BC back to her 13K mile condition.  I will never forget the day when my son and I went to NJ to pick her up and upon raising the hood seeing the fresh paint brushed onto the engine and fender wells.

You are exceeding my hopes of how you would treat her and the degree of detail and finesse you are demonstrating in performing this restoration work and I THANK YOU!!!!  It makes the hurt of seeing her go much more bearable 😊

[NC-car-guy 2,470]

23 minutes ago, MrEarl said:

Matt, I sort of suspect that the brass T on the manifold would have been changed out after initial engine painting when the power brake vacuum line was added so might should be unpainted brass. The power brake vac line was not painted. I do not recall ever seeing a painted T but have seen the plain fitting painted. Just a thought.

Adjustments can be made.  

[NC-car-guy 2,470]

31 minutes ago, MrEarl said:

 

JD, this list was first created by me on the 1954 Buick Highway forum about 8 years ago and was initially established from observations of several of my original condition drivers as well as several parts cars. It has been updated over the years as members posted their findings and from info from such sources as original factory manuals and plant workers recollections from that time period. I know of at least one 1954 Special that received a 400 point score after using it as a source for engine bay correct detail. It is important to note that these were 1954 Buicks, not '53, not '55 and not '56. While all engines were assembled and painted in Flint, they were installed at different plants and there is speculation that different plants may have used different assembly parts, parts sources and processes etc.  I still welcome input of any fact backed comments related to  factory correct engine compartment detail.

 

https://www.1954buick.com/topic/1432-1954-buick-engine-bay/#comment-9148

 

Also keep in mind that Matt is not trying for perfect "as from the factory" detail here so he will likely try to more mimic the 13,000 mile engine that existed prior to the POTM (previous owner to me) attempt to repaint the engine and inner fender wells with a paint brush. 😥 So therefore it will not matter that the painted spark plug bolts show bare metal once he swaps them to the correct side 😁 and installs the wires. The wires by the way most likely received and would have factory overspray (as I have seen on one of my parts cars and had a couple of reports from others) but in this case I suggest to Matt that the plug wires were changed at 12,000 miles 😉😊

Updates can and will be made

[NC-car-guy 2,470]

28 minutes ago, MrEarl said:

and by the way Matt, let me say that I am so happy to see you giving this much attention to detail and going to the extremes that you are to bring BC back to her 13K mile condition.  I will never forget the day when my son and I went to NJ to pick her up and upon raising the hood seeing the fresh paint brushed onto the engine and fender wells.

You are exceeding my hopes of how you would treat her and the degree of detail and finesse you are demonstrating in performing this restoration work and I THANK YOU!!!!  It makes the hurt of seeing her go much more bearable 😊

While I was feeling a bit overwhelmed in the beginning now that it's coming together I'm feeling better about it. Have to thank @Pinhead63 for his help as well.

[Beemon 2,398]

Wow I've been away from the forums for a while and come back to see you've been busy! Eagerly awaiting the first start up! 

[Kosage Chavis 693]

I have rebuilt a couple of engines before, but I must say, the 322 nailhead is very intimidating to even think of when it comes to a total rebuild.  I am going to need some motivation from you when the time comes Matt.  Good luck friend.

[NC-car-guy 2,470]

This isn't rebuilt. Just new gaskets and paint.  It only has 13k miles.

[Bill Stoneberg 829]

10 hours ago, Kosage Chavis said:

I have rebuilt a couple of engines before, but I must say, the 322 nailhead is very intimidating to even think of when it comes to a total rebuild.  I am going to need some motivation from you when the time comes Matt.  Good luck friend.

 

Why,  the process is the same as any other engine.  There are items you have to watch and pay attention to as it is a Nailhead, but if you get a good shop that can follow directions, you will be fine.  If you get a shop that slams Small Blocks together all day long, the chances are slim that you will be happy. The last engine I had rebuilt was done by a shop that specializes in Jaguar's.  I collected all the information I could and geve it to them.  They were meticulous, asked questions and built a killer engine for me.