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Got some good news today from the Machine Shop- the rebuilt engine is now being tested on the dyno machine. He also got some pics of the work and my original crankshaft with spun rod bearing. Getting very close to driving my car again. Original crankshaft taken out from engine New refinished crankshaft
I assume you are shooting stock compression numbers? Looks much better at any rate. Make sure they have enough piston to wall clearance with those Speedpro forged pistons.
I assume you are shooting stock compression numbers? Looks much better at any rate. Make sure they have enough piston to wall clearance with those Speedpro forged pistons.
Yup aiming for stock rebuild not performance. Actually just got my invoice in Canadian $ and Dyno test results from shop; what do you think? Dyno Results
Itemized Breakdown
Last edited by Kramer; September 4th, 2023 at 07:49 PM.
Cool, it will be more fun for sure, much better than the factory peanut cam. My #8 heads measured that uncut but they do vary, no doubt. I'm sure they opened the bowls on tbose heads, most restrictive part. I would suggest a mild torque converter upgrade, 2000+ stall. That factory 1600 stall sucks with anything other than a stock cam. Nice numbers!
Cool, it will be more fun for sure, much better than the factory peanut cam. My #8 heads measured that uncut but they do vary, no doubt. I'm sure they opened the bowls on tbose heads, most restrictive part. I would suggest a mild torque converter upgrade, 2000+ stall. That factory 1600 stall sucks with anything other than a stock cam. Nice numbers!
Hey folks need help. After installing the rebuilt engine back my mechanic can't seem to get the car to run well. At first the car wouldn't even start up easily so we replaced my original carburetor with a remanufactured Rochester one from RockAuto. That made a big difference accordingly to my mechanic, but still not how it should be even after adjusting the air/fuel mixture screws. He said he's check for vacuum leaks and there are none and he just can't figure it out. Right now he is in contact with the Machine Shop who rebuilt the engine to see if they have any idea what is causing poor idle. Could it be something related to rebuild (i.e values)? Any idea what else my mechanic can try to fix the issue. FyI- before the rebuild I didn't have this problem starting and running the car
Did the machine shop use your carb on the dyno? honestly it sounds like you need to find another mechanic.
yea he used my original carburetor . Mechanic got some classic cars of own , I think he’s trying but stumped. I’ll have to see how it’s plays out
found a thread on here with similar issue after rebuild eventually he replaced 5 gallons of fresh gas and that did the trick for him. My gas is probably from last august and I did put fuel stabilizer in before parking it up for season. Maybe I should try replacing gas and see what happens.
For a mid 70's Qjet, that cam and even a small compression bump will idle like ****. The Holley reman Qjet worked good on a stock 307 with headers. On a 403 with a 204/214 and headers, it idled fair at best. It was calibrated very lean everywhere when I pulled it apart. I put the same carb on a 350, same cam with 9.6 to 1, it wouldn't even idle. The idle circuits need enlarged to run right with that cam. I have a pretty fresh Qjet that I rebuilt last year with Cliff's HP kit, new float and modified idle circuits, the primary metering that is completely tuneable with a small standard screwdriver. PM me if interested, I just pulled it off the 403 and am going SEFI on my 358. I assume your mechanic is running stock timing specs?
Last edited by olds 307 and 403; September 1st, 2023 at 04:15 PM.
For a mid 70's Qjet, that cam and even a small compression bump will idle like ****. The Holley reman Qjet worked good on a stock 307 with headers. On a 403 with a 204/214 and headers, it idled fair at best. It was calibrated very lean everywhere when I pulled it apart. I put the same carb on a 350, same cam with 9.6 to 1, it wouldn't even idle. The idle circuits need enlarged to run right with that cam. I have a pretty fresh Qjet that I rebuilt last year with Cliff's HP kit, new float and modified idle circuits, the primary metering that is completely tuneable with a small standard screwdriver. PM me if interested, I just pulled it off the 403 and am going SEFI on my 358. I assume your mechanic is running stock timing specs?
It should be stock timing, I can confirm with machine shop. So you don't think a leak down test should be performed first? I spent close to CAD 600 on a remanufactured carb from Rockauto and don't think I can return it either
Machine Shop told me they had rebuilt a 350 to stock so did not expect these issues.
I read through this thread and wonder was the root cause of all this was. Wonder if after the pan gasket was changed, was the engine started without oil in it, or was the pickup damaged in some way ?
I read through this thread and wonder was the root cause of all this was. Wonder if after the pan gasket was changed, was the engine started without oil in it, or was the pickup damaged in some way ?
The timing of the oil pan gasket replacement and engine light coming on never sat well with me. I did ask the Machine Shop to take a careful look at the pickup tube for any oddities which could explain the eventual knock. According to Machine Shop (Beatty Woods) they did not find any issues. Here are pictures I took last year after picking up my car from shop who did the pan gasket change and driving home. Since the engine light was going off on my ride home I parked up and checked the oil.
So my mechanic who reinstalled the rebuilt engine was showing me the clacking he is observing when car is warmed up. One of the videos is before we took it out for a short ride and there is no clacking more rumbling if anything. Then during drive at stop sign we could hear clacking under the hood. Once we got back and parked up and popped the hood noise was more audible. Maybe it is the locker arms? Long story short we spoke with the machine shop and they want me to tow the car to their trusted mechanic nearby them for an assessment. So will try to have it towed over tomorrow and go from there. Unfortunately I still have yet to drive my car since this whole rebuild project started 6 months ago
Good. If you are losing something like a cam lobe, oil pressure will quite often drop from bearing damage. Hopefully it is something simple, good luck.
Good. If you are losing something like a cam lobe, oil pressure will quite often drop from bearing damage. Hopefully it is something simple, good luck.
Got primarily diagnosis from auto shop and he thinks it's probably internal vac leak and his recommendation to engine rebuilder will be to pull out the engine. Auto shop also mentioned the following from his assessment:
good compression in cylinders, spark plugs on driver side look a little wet (noise is also on driver side of engine), no contribution from 5 & 7 cylinders. Will get more updates next week...
If you used an Edelbrock intake, it may be leaking along the intake ports. I had this problem once. Remove the intake, clean all gasket surfaces, then set the intake in and kick it all the way to each side. While it is against the head, observe the mating surfaces and make sure there's no funny business. My Performer needed cout from 0 at the bottom to 0.065 at the top to correct the valley angle. Check your oil as mine mikshaked and trashed the bearings.
If you used an Edelbrock intake, it may be leaking along the intake ports. I had this problem once. Remove the intake, clean all gasket surfaces, then set the intake in and kick it all the way to each side. While it is against the head, observe the mating surfaces and make sure there's no funny business. My Performer needed cout from 0 at the bottom to 0.065 at the top to correct the valley angle. Check your oil as mine mikshaked and trashed the bearings.
I think you have terrible luck, that sucks. Hopefully it is simple and needs something minor like this and it was caught before major damage happened.
If you used an Edelbrock intake, it may be leaking along the intake ports. I had this problem once. Remove the intake, clean all gasket surfaces, then set the intake in and kick it all the way to each side. While it is against the head, observe the mating surfaces and make sure there's no funny business. My Performer needed cout from 0 at the bottom to 0.065 at the top to correct the valley angle. Check your oil as mine mikshaked and trashed the bearings.
yea that makes sense, I used the original intake manifold did not swap to Edelbrock.
Any update on your engine? Sorry for your terrible luck with engines. I had to rebuild an engine in one car three times before it was right. My take away is always take your engine to the best guy nationally...Sometimes there's maybe 2-3 engine builders in the country that specialize in a particular type of engine (Olds, Pontiac, whatever). Its worth the shipping costs, delays, etc. There are thousands of nit wits out there that claim they know how to build engines, and they don't.
Not that I know much either - but that last video sounds like valve train geometry problem. If I were to guess I suspect the machine shop didn't verify the correct push rod length needed with the new cam, lifters resurfacing the heads, etc... then when it starts running things can start binding up, and maybe you bent a push rod. Alternatively maybe something just came loose like a rocker arm, but usually its because of valvetrain geometry problems. But just speculation on my part - but also from school of hard knocks.
Last edited by getmygoat; December 16th, 2023 at 08:08 PM.
Any update on your engine? Sorry for your terrible luck with engines. I had to rebuild an engine in one car three times before it was right. My take away is always take your engine to the best guy nationally...Sometimes there's maybe 2-3 engine builders in the country that specialize in a particular type of engine (Olds, Pontiac, whatever). Its worth the shipping costs, delays, etc. There are thousands of nit wits out there that claim they know how to build engines, and they don't.
Not that I know much either - but that last video sounds like valve train geometry problem. If I were to guess I suspect the machine shop didn't verify the correct push rod length needed with the new cam, lifters resurfacing the heads, etc... then when it starts running things can start binding up, and maybe you bent a push rod. Alternatively maybe something just came loose like a rocker arm, but usually it's o I because of valvetrain geometry problems. But just speculation on my part - but also from school of hard knocks.
So I got my car back end of October and was able to put few hundred kms on rebuilt engine before I parked it up for winter season. Honestly, I didn't get a clear answer from machine shop on how they resolved the issue. I did ask them for an email in layman's terms so I could understand what was fixed; but I did not get one from them. Having said so, when I picked up the car from the auto shop who reinstalled the engine, he mentioned couple of things;
1. one of the ignition wire was faulty even though it was brand new
2. all lifters were changed cuz one or two where sticky
3. ignition timing adjusted
4. therm vacuum wasn't working
5. and something to do with ported vacuum switch
On the auto shops invoice which I did not pay for anything, it also list the following:
1. replace stat and gasket...repair leak at water pump....install new heater bypass hose
2. replace manifold gaskets and fuel pump gaskets
3. install new Delco wire set and loom
4. oil change...Lucas hot rod 10W40
I am not very knowledgeable when it comes to cars, so I don't have a clear understanding of why did things happen in first place and eventually how was it addressed. I appreciate the machine shop taking ownership and effort to resolve issue. Unfortunately I did not get to drive it a lot before putting it away for the season, but I hope my troubles are behind me now! Here is a short clip of car running when on day I picked up the car from auto shop.
Good to hear. How is your oil pressure? It sounds pretty good in the video, idle sounds a bit high. Hopefully it was just some bad lifters. I assume it is night and day more powerful than the original motor?
Good to hear. How is your oil pressure? It sounds pretty good in the video, idle sounds a bit high. Hopefully it was just some bad lifters. I assume it is night and day more powerful than the original motor?
They told me oil pressure was fine. I don't have an oil pressure gauge so can't check myself. Cold start up is noticeably better, one tap on gas pedal and car starts up nicely. I didn't do much city driving mostly highway for the limited time I had the car, but felt stronger. having said so I look forward to next season to get a better opportunity to 'test' things out.
June 23rd, 2023, 09:12 PM
