I considered it but I’m not that good at welding I would probly do more harm than good . I’m not sure what other options are available . I thought about jb weld but I wouldn’t want it breaking apart inside my engine .

 

 

mine fit pretty tight but i still wouldnt mind some additional insurance.itll be a while before i button it up so ill think on it a while

 

Mine fit well too, it's just somewhere I saw a pic or vid of the pickup laying in the pan and the engine out due to oil starvation. Inexperience and paranoia prompted me to research retainers and finding none I saw some folks tacked welded the pickup, so I did the same.

Maybe it's not needed but I don't think it can hurt!

 

Could use some advice on a set of 1966 toro 425 heads for my build. Any pros or cons ? They’re supposed to be untouched with low miles on them.

 

had to strike while the iron was hot and bought a set of b heads off a 425 cu 66 toronado very good shape with only 36000 miles on them.my plan now is to have them milled to 77cc's. originally i believe they are 80cc.and i will do a valve job and new valve seals .with the money i saved here could look at a roller cam ,lifters and rockers(we will see)i took this pic of the stamp number no idea how to decode it

 

heads are at the machine shop getting checked out now.if they look good will have them milled down ,new valves,springs and seals.not sure about having hardened seats installed ?i did champher the oil drainback holes and opened up the pushrod holes on the bottom where the clearance was tight .

 

well that was a whole lotta bullshit!! turns out both heads had cracks in them .i hate it when i get stiffed like that ,its no wonder nobody trusts anyone . back to the drawing board with heads now .its frustrating times like this when you just want to say screw it!ill take a step back and regroup

 

Just went through a lot of this with my build, ended up finding a set of used ProComp heads REALLY cheap and installed all new hardware (Elgin Brand) in them.

 

What was the question asked ?

 

would love to come across a nice set complete ,been looking for a while now.ill keep looking til something comes up . gerald there was really no question asked ,just discussing the ups and downs of my build .

 

Getting back on track with this build , i got a set of big valve e-heads ,they are at the machine shop now getting checked out ,hope i get better news than the last time! also went and picked up a rebuilt turbo 400 with a tci convertor for a good price .will be shopping for other parts soon and try to nail down my final selection on a cam.i was told these heads are set up for up to .550 lift ,but should i have the spring pressures checked in order to select the proper cam?or is there a way to determine exactly what springs are installed in these heads?

 

I would suggest selecting a cam first for how you intend to use the engine, THEN buy new springs that match. Personally, I wouldn't trust unknown sourced springs, springs do wear out, and you're better off just replacing them. Nominal cost for being sure/safe.

As for determining the exact spring on there, unless they are some type of recognizable shape or wire size, no, all you can do is determine what the existing installed height is, and the open and closed rate.

Depending on the type of cam you are going to select, you probably want to shoot for more lift anyway. Even on short duration cams, lift has benefits. At .550, I suspect they are for a HFT cam. Most rollers are over .600 .

.

 

 

Like I mentioned, it will limit you to a HFT, and you get more gains by running a roller. Less risk too. If you're building an engine from ground up, it makes sense to spring for a HYD roller. Springs are like $150 or so, would not be a major loss or investment.. But, if you want to use those spring, the Lunati VooDoo 10420704 would work with those springs and lift:

http://lunatipower.com/Product.aspx?id=1724&gid=287

In a 355ci it has a lope, in a 455 it is pretty tame, works good with AC and power brakes. If you wanted to, you could have it cut on a 112 lsa to smooth idle a hair, but really not necessary.

You could probably get $75-100 for the springs if you eGay them, recouping some of the additional cost.

.

 

Went back thru the thread, and Mark's suggestion would be better, using a Erson TQ50 is a better choice for this build.

 

ive tried to look up that Erson tq50 a couple times but cant find any info on it .

 

I'm sure Mark can give you info on it, you can see that one in the Erson Quick Catalog, they list it as the E545321 part number:

http://www.pbm-erson.com/UserFiles/Documents/Catalogs/Erson-Quick-Look-Catalog-2018.pdf

.

 

 

I dont see a TQ50 Olds cam listed in any of my Erson books back to 1999 The E545321 is not listed as a TQ grind. I will get in touch with someone I know who worked at Erson back in that time frame and see if he knows if there was ever a TQ50 grind for Olds.

 

 

Mark the op was wanting info on the cam you suggested. Why not post it being as you are a Erson dealer.

 

 

Here is the reply I just got from John Hartman at Erson I asked him if there was ever a TQ50 grind for Oldsmobile. His reply:

NOT AS A SHELF GRIND. WE HAVE DONE SOME FOR (customers name) AND WE ALSO HAVE OUR JB100 GRIND WHICH IS THE SAME BUT ON A 112 LOBE CENTER

DURATION AT .050 228 INT 235 EXH

VALVE LIFT .504

110 LC FOR TQ50

112 FOR JB100

 

The 545321 is the JB100 grind. I am sure they will do the TQ50 grind also. I am also an Erson dealer and dont mind asking them.

 

couple things to update on this build .recieved the cam, lifters ,roller tip rockers, valves, valve springs and seals .pushrods head gaskets and intake gaskets from bernard mondello .the e-heads i bought are done and ready to be picked up from the machine shop.will work on painting them and start preparing to assemble .also ordered a cloyes double roller timing set and a degree wheel that should be here soon

 

 

Bernard helped me out with alot of stuff i simply didnt know ! Mark you mentioned earlier in this thread "having a well thought out plan".after several changes of plan, the path is a little clearer now .hopefully in the end i will have a powerful, reliable street machine .To be continued.........

 

picked up the heads at the machine shop yesterday and got them painted. waiting on the timing set so i can start putting this together .Question ,is there a time frame i should shoot for to get this all together and running ?i will use the cam lube and assembly lube where needed ,but how long can this thing sit around before firing up?

 

to answer my own question about how long this motor can sit around after assembly. months and months if need be! Now! on to the cam. got it installed today and started to degree it (first time i ever degreed a cam) its sounds simple enough, but without hundreds of dollars in specialized tools its a challenge. my cam card states a 106 center line and my numbers add up to 102 i assume this because the cam has 4 degrees advance ground into it already?? i will mess around checking lift and duration against the card tomorrow, if i can wrap my head around that process

 

so NO, thats is not correct i was doing something wrong ,and the centerline method i was using is not the best option .after a lenghthy conversation with Bernard Mondello i got this thing within 1/2 degree of spot on and im happy with that ,will clean up mating surface of the block and heads and install them tonight .consequently i prefer using a magnetic bridge and dial indicator to find absolute tdc,

 

Maybe I missed the information. I see you bought a Comp Cam from Bernard. Do you have a picture of the cam card? Inquiring minds want to know.

 

 

heres the card as promised.got the heads bolted on and called it a night.always like to take a pic of things before i button it up so i dont second guess myself down the road

 

What to to timing set did you use, the Cloyes billet 9 way? Looks good, I will never build anything without a cam degree either. Waiting for first fire up.

 

 

Another question. When you degree'd the camshaft, was it off? Just curious because I degree'd two engines 20 plus years ago and they were spot on. I lent my degree wheel out shortly after that and haven't seen it since. Jmo, but it is usually the timing set that is off. Bill Travado has timing sets that are correct, probably other Oldsmobile vendors including Mark sell them. Thanks, Ken

 

 

inching my way closer on this build ,i have to adjust the rockers arms now any advice for a good method of doing so?

 

Here you go.

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...r-rockers.html