oldsguybry

lol , actually I was not married with children 10yrs ago , so I had money.....that explains the platinum plugs

GTI_Guru

Yes, save them. You may even want to put them back in. Those bosch plats are not cheap, and damn near indestructible. I know people that have gotten 50-100K miles out of a set, and more if the rest of the engine is working properly. Those look pretty good to me.

-Jeff

oldsguybry

yea , if I knew that those were platinum , I never would of replaced them .....I would of cleaned them up and re-gapped them....which is what i will probably do anyway. I just so happened to buy the cheapest plug , when I had the best ones in there .

MDchanic

As a general rule, platinum plugs pretty much never go bad.

I mean, yes, after 100,000 miles, you're supposed to replace them, but they don't erode in nearly the same way as regular plugs, so, I'd say keep 'em and clean 'em up if they don't look bad.

Exactly which plugs are those, by the way?
Multiple searches show no Bosch platinum plugs recommended for Olds motors, but the WR10FC seems to be the conventional plug type called for, but they don't make a WR10FP, so it looks as though the WR9FP would be a platinum equivalent, in a slightly colder plug.

If my recollection is correct, about ten years ago, platinum plugs cost about $6 each (x8=$48), compared to regular plugs at about $1.50 each (x8=$12), which is why it seems a bit surprising that you'd put in platinum.

- Eric

GTI_Guru

also, I would not regap or clean them. They are pretty delicate at the tips, and you can break the porcelain there rendering them useless. In the shape that the look in the pics, I would reinstall them as-is. I've never regapped one. if you want to check the gap, do so carefully, and then just put them back in the heads.

-Jeff

oldsguybry

im going to carefully clean the carbon and grime off of them and inspect the porcelain tips to see if any of them are chipped or cracked....some of the gaps were off by enough that I would have to re-gap them , I did not check all of them yet though.....these plugs may not have many miles on them , but they are 9 or 10yrs old.

oldsguybry

I have no idea what or where I got them from .....I dont even remember buying platinum plugs which makes me wonder if it was the plug wires I replaced when I bought the car and not the plugs...I simply just cant remember

MDchanic

I'm curious, though, what number are they? I couldn't find any that are supposed to officially interchange for that motor.

It should be stamped into the base, probably "WR_____" (maybe "WR9FP").

- Eric

oldsguybry

I get WR9FP Germany R6 091 Bosch Platinum......thats all the markings on the plug.

MDchanic

WR9FP.

I'll just keep that number written down.

It looks like Bosch believes it's heat range corresponds to both the R45 and R46, so it should be good for most, if not all, of our Olds engines, with a very small chance of fouling in a low-revving, low load motor (say, lots and lots of idling).

Thanks,

- Eric

oldsguybry

I did not do alot of research on them but , they are available for about $3.50 each . some places wanted a little more , but I looked at their list of plugs though , and they had some plugs that were $16 each...not sure what application they were for though

oldsguybry

by any chance does anyone know what the valve cover torque specs are ?

oldsguybry

I tried and found no such info on this site....probably did not look hard enough. I will have to dig the Chiltons out....in the past I would just snug the bolts so it dont mess the valve cover up....I replaced the gaskets last summer and it was about winter time when I had to re-tighten them , and they still seem to leak a little...

GTI_Guru

Not trying to bust your chops here by any means, but some simple suggestions.

Yes, you may be new here, but I am as well. I've been following your thread and posting in here occasionally, and where you may be running into problems is that you seem to be asking some VERY basic questions without trying to find the info yourself. Spark plug gap, torque specs, etc. I've already found there are a lot of people here that are willing to help out when you run into a brick wall on a weird question, etc. but most of the folks here, I assume (me included) have been working on cars either for a hobby, or for a living for many years. There's all kinds of information available out there via shop manuals, assembly manuals, internet, etc.

When you pop in here and start asking questions that should be easy to locate the answers for, you're scaring off a lot of potential help, as most folks are a bit hesitant to get involved, as they don't want to hold your hand and walk you through the easy steps. We all have our own projects going as well, and taking the time to go out to the garage or the den to find the right shop manual and then look up the info only to come back here and post it takes time, and lots of us are lazy too!

For the basic stuff, try a little harder to find the information on your own, and then when you get stuck, ask for more assistance. You'l find that most of the people here are friendly and willing to help out as long as you show that you're doing your part to become more educated on the subject.

For instance, there's a HUGE technical library available free of charge here:

http://wildaboutcarsonline.com/cgi-b...late.cgi?id=11

This may have what you need. The reason you're not finding some of the stuff here at ClassicOldsmobile, is that it's already archived elsewhere online, and server space to house it all take time effort, and money. If someone else is providing the service, it makes little sense to duplicate it here.

You also mentioned you have a chilton's manual. Read it cover to cover. I know when I was working on a specific project, mine were always handy for reference, and the pages got dog-eared and greasy from having them in an engine bay, on the floor of the shop, where ever it was that I needed the information. Read every inch of most of them I own several times, even if it wasn't something that pertained to the current project situation. That way if I ran into a problem, I knew exactly where to go for the information. If the info is not in there, get a haynes manual. If it's not there, go out to Ebay and get the correct dealer manual for that car. I have a bookshelf of old manuals. Most of them are now available archived on CD and fairly cheap.

Most of us are glad to help out, but try and help yourself out a little first.

Yes, in the time it took me to write this, I could have gone out and found torque specs for you, but it comes around to the old adage:

"Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day, Teach a man to fish, and you feed him for a lifetime."

and FWIW, here's a set of complete torque specs. Found it in about 3 seconds flat. Google is your friend!

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=olds+350+valve+cover+torque+specs

and so are we.

-Jeff

oldsguybry

hey thanks....can you tell that I ran out of ADHD medicine....im a little touchy. I thought there would be good info such as torq specs on this site , but I could not find them....I also am not very handy with computers , apparently not very patient either

MDchanic

+1 Jeff.

But wasn't it,
"If you give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day,
but if you send a man out to buy some fish, he'll eat for a week." ?

- Eric

GTI_Guru

Well, he did say he was married and strapped for cash?

oldsguybry

he will eat for a week unless he shops at pick-n-save

oldsguybry

Today I must of put 40 + miles on the 72 CS , and no knock what-so-ever....kind of hard to beleive after driving for that long in 80 degree weather that there was no knock...is it possible that the tune up tamed it down enough to where I cant even hear it anymore ? weird because the knock went away after I completed the tune up.

oldcutlass

I'm not trying to be an a$$hole here, but...

I personally believe that everyone here has been patient and have more than jumped through hoops to help you out. I beleive that if you had listened and performed the recommended items in the beginning of this post then we would not be having this conversation now.

Yes as mentioned above all the minor specifications you asked about are all over the internet and archived on this site. I do understand there are different experience levels on this site. So prior to undertaking items that are above your experience level there must be some research done on your part, into specifications, tools, parts, etc... required to perform a specific task.

We can tolerate ignorance, but using an older car as primary transportation with your skill level and financial situation is absurd!

oldsguybry

1st off , lol , like i said like ten times on this thread and others , I have no choice, I have to drive the 72CS , and im not gonna explain it again. 2nd off , i got more then one opinion on what to do leaving me confused at times....example , I was just wondering WHY the 455 brackets and accessories wont work on the 455 in a "A" body car. I got many different opinions on that... as far as skill , well I took the car apart and put it back together without any help prior to joining this forum....I dont know as much as you guys do , but I like to know every detail about something in order to understand why it needs to be done....it seems that people just love to pick out certain things said and dont read the rest , like it pisses them off or something so I guess if im not rich and know everything about classic cars , I shouldnt own one ? k , at this point I will just figure it out on my own without the snide comments....oh BTW I do appreciate what people have done , ALLWAYS , but thats my daily driver and its up on a jack waiting , so-to-speak , so I dont mean to be inpatient....at this point im just going to replace the oil pan and drive it, it quit knocking so I will just replace the oil pan , inspect , drive and hope for the best.

oldsguybry

im thinking at this point , I may as well not bother to post anymore , but I will try to help other noobs like myself if I know something they dont and of course read ,read read.

1969w3155

Don't let the harda--es on this site discourage you. It is unfortunate that when you come here for help and a little camaraderie that you were bashed. if others on this site can't help with getting nasty, then maybe they should be the ones to stop posting. There is nothing wrong with constructive criticism, but chasing off other Olds owners from this site defeats the purpose of this forum.

oldsguybry

thanks for the backing , but I beleive its me too unfortunately. I have a hard time dealing with things properly at times....( wrong type of forum to go into detail ) I think thats part of it...there have been a lot of bad things going on for me right now.....after all that was said here , its to late for redemption I think.

atkinsom

Keep up the questions. Yes it does deviate from time to time but quite frankly if I didn't have family help to answer the same questions you have I'd be totally lost. As a newb I've read and read and read like a drunken bas**** here but honestly it's hard for me. I can put a bloody network infrastructure together easier than trying to put some of these puzzles together. My brother looks at me sometimes like I'm on crack with some of the questions I have!!! LOL HOWEVER that's what makes this fun so don't get discouraged. There's many good folks here and a ton of stuff. Be patient and the pieces will fall into place. I hop around like a 10 year old kid when the light bulb comes on.

oldsguybry

well , i read the whole thread from begining to end , and I have no clue as to wth your talking about thanks

1969w3155

Don't be so hard on yourself and you'll be fine.

GTI_Guru

x2

Oh, and there's a thread in the big blocks section on 350 vs. 455 brackets. Looks like you might be able to get away with it. Might run into a problem with the water pump shaft depth, but that's a reasonably easy fix as long as you know what's going on with the different depths and which one you'll need for the correct belt alignment.

-Jeff

oldsguybry

much appreciated guys , I really mean it......oh , I tried to look up the info that I need instead of asking in a post and the WIKI dont work ?.............really? lol

oldsguybry

well , after re-reading this I can see now where this thread went south , and it was doing ok up until the second page.... I did ask a couple of lazy questions that even bothered me now that I read it again.......anyhoot , the inspection / repair (if im going to even do this now) I know nothing about the inner workings of a 350 , but will have to wait for a month till I get stickers for the van so its legal again , then I can park 72 CS for awhile in my moms garage while I look things over. more than likely im going to just replace the oil pan , remove fenders , and re-coat the trunk pockets with POR-15....funny thing , now that the weather is nice out , the engine knock almost completely dissapeared and the car runs about 50% better then before ( carb probably needs adj or something ) im going to do the same thing with the 455 , lift it up and remove oil pan and see how rusty the cylinder walls are from the bottom ....affraid to take heads off and check cyl walls from the top , did that once with a friend on a 360 mopar engine , and you dont want to mix things up , thats for sure....if it turns out that the 455 looks ok , im going to put that in instead. who knows I may even post a few pics along the way.

MDchanic

Sounds like a very reasonable plan.

... and the inner workings of a 350 are pretty much the same as any other American V-8 - some of the fancy performance modifications and specs may be slightly different, but it's basically just a big piece of iron with holes drilled in it...

Also, I agree with not pulling the heads unless you have to. At the very least, when you go from the factory head gasket to an aftermarket, you lose a couple of decimal points of compression.

- Eric

oldsguybry

I was wondering......I replaced the valve cover gaskets last summer , and recently they started leaking again..... I snugged the bolts a little and after a month of driving , only one corner is a little wet yet (still leaks ).......... the question : once it leaks and gets the gasket all wet with oil , do i have to remove the valve cover and clean the gasket off in order to stop the leak again ? im thinking that maybe once it gets wet with oil where it is suppose to seal , it wont seal there untill cleaned.

MDchanic

Not really, if it's a regular gasket - it needs a bit of oil to help it expand and seal.

If it's one of those fancy silicone gaskets, it should be dry or it may ooze a tiny bit.

If you've got a regular gasket sealed with RTV silicone sealant, then the surfaces have to be dry or the sealant won't stick.

- Eric

oldsguybry

thanks , this maybe my problem....I never used sealant , just used fine sewing thread to hold gasket in place so it would not be crooked or out of place when I put valve cover back on ( a cheap habit I got from my dad....RIP )