JohnD1956 Posted September 8, 2017 Author Share Posted September 8, 2017 1st hiccup. Oh, it is still dry underneath, but I haven't really run it either. Hope to get it out Saturday. Instead I went to talk to the mechanic who did the work and discovered we got oour signals crossed on the core plug replacement. The one I wanted changed was the rear one on the passengers side. But he found the front one on the drivers side was leaking, so he did that one instead. So it will be back to the shop soon to get that temporary one replaced. Now I need a gasket for the oil filter housing to block joint. That's the one I hear is stamped steel and no longer available. Anyone have any ideas on a suitable replacement? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beemon Posted September 8, 2017 Share Posted September 8, 2017 Fel-Pro makes the stamped steel, BestGasket makes a composite gasket. Both of them I think you can buy from a vendor like Fusick or CARS, but over the counter they only come in the kits. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted September 8, 2017 Author Share Posted September 8, 2017 Thank you Ben, I'll look into both of those tomorrow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ben Bruce aka First Born Posted September 8, 2017 Share Posted September 8, 2017 Welcome to OLD AGE, young man. Happens to me all the time. And I, too ,usually find it in some simple place. Like my pocket. Sure hope the gauge proves the light wrong. Ben 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted September 9, 2017 Author Share Posted September 9, 2017 Cars has the composite gasket. Fusick has none. I ordered up a pair. But today I got some driving in and noted no leaks under the car. So I cleaned up the mess of drip pans to really test it. Meanwhile, if I must say so myself, this car is just a total pleasure to drive! I even waxed it today in prep for our Regional. Ya hoo! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted September 11, 2017 Author Share Posted September 11, 2017 Ah, so, not everything is bright in Buick world. Looks like the oil leak is higher up. Much higher up. like in the top part of the head gasket on the drivers side. Oye! It's a relatively small leak, so I'm not too worried. I've been driving it like this for quite some time so I can wait to address it. But I am going to try a new valve cover gasket, and straightening the flange on that cover just to see if by chance that is the core problem. Also, since I never re torqued the head bolts after the valve job in 1988, I am thinking of re torqueing that one head. Just don't know if it's adviseable to do it with the engine cold, or better if the engine is warm or better still if the engine is operating temperature? I still need to review the shop manual but are there any opinions on this question? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted September 11, 2017 Share Posted September 11, 2017 If not the valve covers, it might be at the cylinder head. Two sources that I had to deal with and both involved the 0.015" steel head gaskets which I still use. One, the oil feed to the rockers comes from the front of the engine and since the heads are interchangeable that oil feed tries to go down the back of the engine, but is supposed to be blocked New head gasket with sealer will fix. Two, there is not much clamping force on the top of the head gasket where the pushrods go through the block, head and gasket and oil can get through and between gasket and block or gasket and head. New head gasket and sealer will fix. I had a little success by removing the intake and valley cover and smearing sealer in that area. Or live with it until the heads need to be removed. While you have the valley cover off this is a good time to clean it. (There is an excellent article in the Buick Club publication on how to do it; the procedure on my website and Mudbone's video is clearly inferior!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted September 11, 2017 Author Share Posted September 11, 2017 (edited) Thanks Willie. I have been thinking about this a lot today and I was pondering that with the law of gravity, it is near impossible for the oil to leak at this junction of the head and block. The oil has pooled in the small gap between the head and block at the first two cylinders on the drivers side. Being there is a slight tilt of the engine front to rear, it only makes sense that this has to be at least one leak, as the oil should not flow uphill to this spot. What I now wonder is if there is a possibility that what I really have is a valley cover oil leak at this area? Perhaps with splatter inside the motor oil gets to the bottom of the valley cover and then drips out of a bad gasket seal at this area? It is hard to take this engine apart since it has been running so well. But I was thinking maybe I should go as far as the valley cover, and that will give me a chance to clean the valley cover like you said, and see if it still has a leak after a new gasket with some sealer. I was also thinking that maybe all these small gaps could be cleaned with brake cleaner, dried, and then sealed with black RTV before re fitting the intake manifold? I can't think of anything detrimental to doing something like that. Edited September 11, 2017 by JohnD1956 (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted September 12, 2017 Share Posted September 12, 2017 John, if the oil is on the top front of the head, then the source is the oil feed to the rockers and since it is under pressure then a smear of RTV will probably not work well, but try it anyway. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted September 13, 2017 Author Share Posted September 13, 2017 The manual says that oil to the rockers comes in restricted & low pressure form. I'll know in 24 hours if the black RTV will fix this situation. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted September 16, 2017 Author Share Posted September 16, 2017 Well, that did not work. Guess I'll have to figure on some head gasket replacements at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted March 2, 2018 Author Share Posted March 2, 2018 Ya-hoo. New tires on order. Gonna be a long two weeks waiting for em. But it snowing again right now anyhow. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted March 2, 2018 Share Posted March 2, 2018 45 minutes ago, JohnD1956 said: Ya-hoo. New tires on order. Gonna be a long two weeks waiting for em. But it snowing again right now anyhow. Two weeks is long enough for you to put the car on stands; dismount the tires to check the wheels for straightness; have them blasted and either powder coated or painted. I like red. On these narrow rims have the assembly static balanced with all of the ugly weights on the inside. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted March 3, 2018 Author Share Posted March 3, 2018 (edited) 4 hours ago, old-tank said: Two weeks is long enough for you to put the car on stands; dismount the tires to check the wheels for straightness; have them blasted and either powder coated or painted. I like red. On these narrow rims have the assembly static balanced with all of the ugly weights on the inside. True Willie, but then I wasted money on those new rims I got last year. The ones with the new 15" safety rim welded onto the early factory buick rim centers, which are already checked for true, primed, painted red, and just sucking up space in my shed. Edited March 3, 2018 by JohnD1956 (see edit history) 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted March 3, 2018 Share Posted March 3, 2018 13 hours ago, JohnD1956 said: True Willie, but then I wasted money on those new rims I got last year. The ones with the new 15" safety rim welded onto the early factory buick rim centers, which are already checked for true, primed, painted red, and just sucking up space in my shed. Either I missed that or forgot because you are so slow at moving projects along. What tires did you decide on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted March 3, 2018 Author Share Posted March 3, 2018 24 minutes ago, old-tank said: Either I missed that or forgot because you are so slow at moving projects along. What tires did you decide on? Yes, I am guilty of being a slow poke. I move at the speed of my discretionary income. I went for the Diamondback II's. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beemon Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 I hear the Diamondback IIs are the best white walls you can buy. DOT certified with an actual date code and everything, and the way they impregnate the white wall is superior - or so I've heard. Definitely take pictures when they come in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted March 4, 2018 Author Share Posted March 4, 2018 26 minutes ago, Beemon said: Definitely take pictures when they come in! LOL... Of course! Lets see, 13 days to go, and another Nor easter on tap for this Wednesday! Sheesh! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted March 8, 2018 Author Share Posted March 8, 2018 Apparently the new tires are shipped! 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dei Posted March 8, 2018 Share Posted March 8, 2018 3 minutes ago, JohnD1956 said: Apparently the new tires are shipped! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buicknutty Posted March 8, 2018 Share Posted March 8, 2018 I have Diamondbacks on my 41 and 56, and I'm very happy with them. Keith 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted March 17, 2018 Author Share Posted March 17, 2018 '56 @ 1pm today: '56 @ 4pm today. Still not a fan of wide whites but they are growing on me ...fast!!! 7 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dei Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 Looking good John! I like the new tires. To me they make the red rims and hubcap centers really POP! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted March 17, 2018 Share Posted March 17, 2018 x2! Well, actually I mean x4! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 On 3/16/2018 at 7:41 PM, JohnD1956 said: Still not a fan of wide whites but they are growing on me ...fast!!! That is the proper way to dress a Buick. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted May 4, 2018 Author Share Posted May 4, 2018 Had the alignment done by a 76 year old guy who is still active through his local body shop business. He pronounced the front end in great shape although there is a little play in the idler arm, and I had the pass side front wheel bearing extremely loose, and he had to adjust the lash in the steering box. It definitely seems better now but I will know more after taking it this weekend to Rhinebeck, NY. Frank said I must not have had the right side wheel bearing seated properly, as he took up the nut three full turns. I also realized I failed to follow the proper procedure in the manual for adjusting these. There are 4 steps in the manual: 1) tighten the bearing till all looseness is gone 2) rotate the wheel/drum to seat the bearing 3) loosen the nut till the bearing is just loose 4) retighten till there is no play in the bearing and then put the cotter pin into the nearest hole in the spindle. Note, the preload should be no more than I/12th turn of the nut. This last part is where I messed up. Instead of tightening to the next hole, I loosened the nut to what was the nearest hole. Oh well, live and learn. I just hope I have not wrecked that passengers side wheel bearing running it close to 500 miles that loose. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beemon Posted May 4, 2018 Share Posted May 4, 2018 On step four I was told to hand tighten the nut then go tight to the next hole for tightness on the bearing. How accurate this is I don't know but it's worked out for me with zero issue. Lucky you found someone local that wants to touch it! I get stuck with pie pans a grocery bags, a bubble level and and degree indicator. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloo Posted May 4, 2018 Share Posted May 4, 2018 (edited) The last time this came up, some people here thought these ball bearings should have a tiny bit of slop (like Timkens), and others thought a slight preload. Here is New Departure's information from 1952, and it sounded to me like it would leave the bearings preloaded: http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/manuals/1952sbb/52bb12.htm I repacked the wheel bearings on my Pontiac yesterday. I had to replace one outer bearing. I used the method linked above, with a beam-type torque wrench. The procedure did result in slight preload on both sides. Cranking the nut down to 200 inch pounds (I did that while spinning the wheel, even though New Departure didn't mention that) just seats the bearing in case it isn't. Then, you back it off. The 50 inch pound final setting is the interesting part. Pulling on the beam torque wrench with one finger, that was an obvious place. At exactly 50 inch pounds, the torque starts to rise suddenly. There was no doubt at all where the "magic spot" was. It was much less obvious on the side that had a new bearing of slightly different design, but it was still there. On one side, the pin slipped in. On the other side, after loosening to the nearest cotter pin hole, there was still the slightest bit of preload. I think Beemon's method would have exactly the same result. Edited May 4, 2018 by Bloo (see edit history) 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted May 4, 2018 Share Posted May 4, 2018 18 hours ago, JohnD1956 said: he took up the nut three full turns. Yikes! It must have been cocked in a bind when you assembled. The two times I ran into that was when we discovered that the one race for the inner bearing was wrong; another was one of those plastic cage replacement bearings (outer) that did not match the race (balls too big). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted May 5, 2018 Author Share Posted May 5, 2018 3 hours ago, old-tank said: Yikes! It must have been cocked in a bind when you assembled. The two times I ran into that was when we discovered that the one race for the inner bearing was wrong; another was one of those plastic cage replacement bearings (outer) that did not match the race (balls too big). Geeze! How did you determine the inner race was wrong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted May 5, 2018 Share Posted May 5, 2018 Chewed up bearing was riding on edge of chewed up race which was different than a correct one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted May 5, 2018 Author Share Posted May 5, 2018 Ok. Thanks Willie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beemon Posted May 7, 2018 Share Posted May 7, 2018 John didn't you say at one point you use the plastic wire conduit stuff to shield your spark plugs from cross firing? Did you ever post a pic of this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted May 7, 2018 Author Share Posted May 7, 2018 I did say that, I put it all they way to the spark plugs, under the covers. I did remove the insulators at the rear of the covers and in the top guide brackets, so I so I could put the insulation in one piece the entire length. I even put a length of it on my gas line from the fuel pump as far back as I could get it beyond the drivers exhaust manifold. I think it made a big difference in both locations. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beemon Posted May 8, 2018 Share Posted May 8, 2018 Thank you for sharing, I may do something similar here pretty soon! I was under the hood of my mom's 2004 Chevrolet S10 with the V6 Vortec motor and they have it exactly the same as you do from the coil pack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted June 14, 2018 Author Share Posted June 14, 2018 Had the annual inspection today. Looks like I put 1,800 miles on the Super this past year. Have not done that in quite some time. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted June 19, 2018 Author Share Posted June 19, 2018 The Queen gets a cousin: So, on Father's Day my son shows up driving this! And, naturally it drops dead right as he pulls in the driveway. It needs some work this week which meant he had to leave it here and will come back for it, but when we got it running again I just had to have some fun. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dei Posted June 19, 2018 Share Posted June 19, 2018 Family and Cars! Does it get any better than this??? ? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EmTee Posted June 20, 2018 Share Posted June 20, 2018 Separated at birth and now reunited! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jstbcausd93 Posted July 6, 2018 Share Posted July 6, 2018 Just a few more from the 4th. Looking forward to getting to show her with the Queen hopefully at the national next year 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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