deltathunder

hey guys i am just finally going to get this replacement 307 into the 83 delta and i just wanted to re-gasket everything to make sure. i just wanted to go over a few things. 1. recommended brands for a factory replacement gasket set? 2. do's and donts of assembling or disassembling an olds? 3. i have heard mixed opinions about replacing the intake gasket. what do you think? i will have an experienced guy helping me but he mostly has done poncho and buick stuff. he recently did his first chevy and did not know something about adjusting valves and ended up wiping out his cam because on a pontiac you just tighten them all the way down. anyhow it will be just take it apart and throw some gaskets in but i figure if anyone has a suggestion out of experience let me know.

Redog

Chevy motors are easier. Throw it together and it will run. Olds motors are a little tricky iin the valvetrain. It's got to be adjusted just right or it will run like crap.

Intake can be a PIA due to the design of the gaskets. What gasket were you palning to use? The "turkey tray" or the FelPro 4 piece set? If you use the 4 piece, you'll need a upper windage tray also called a valley tray. I'm waiting on mine from Mondello. $39 and worth the money. Try to put the manifold on straight down. A co-worker of mine worked at an Olds delaership back in the late 60's and he said he used to crwal under the hood and pplace the mani straight down as not to knock the rubber or cork seals out of place. use a lot of RTV on the ends to keep in place

Are you getting the block machined or bored? If not I wouldn't remove the main caps, that goes for ANY engine

oldsca

I replaced the intake gasket on my `87 (307 vin 9) this spring and used the Felpro turkey tray. Let me preface this with I AM NOT MECHANICALLY INCLINED but I used my GM shop manuals and knock on wood I haven't had any leaks. This was the biggest job I have ever done and it wasn't that hard.

Good luck!
Wayne

deltathunder

well what style would you suggest? i certainly do not want to get very deep in all this. basically i have a 307 with blown head gaskets and i was given a free 307 from a cutlass so i figured i would replace the gaskets and such to minimize the amount of spots in my driveway. (my van drips enough i dont need it out of both of them) any more input is greatly appreciated and thank you for the information given thus far. oldsca hopefully i have the same luck. things should be smooth since the motor wont be in the car for any of the work thank goodness.

Redog

Probably your best bet then would be the turkey tray. The 4 piece is in the preformance area, sorta, you'll need some kind of windage tray. If your 307 has a windage tray in it already, which I doubt, go for the 4 piece. The nice thing aboout the 4 piece is you don't have to use RTV around the water jackets, the turkey tray you do.

The big thing with the intake manifold is the pattern to remove and replace the bolts. If your swapping engines, I would do as much work as possible with the engine out of the car

This is only an example of removal pattern, Olds manifolds have 12 bolts, but this will give you an idea:



O yeah, this is important. the 80 to 84 307's had 5A heads and an A4 manifold was just like any other ERG Olds Manifold out there. Edelbrock manifolds bolt up fine, however in 1985 to 1990 they changed the heads and manis to get better MPG and emissions. The 85 to 90 heads are 7A (casting 0142) and an A5 manifold. No other manifold than the A5 will work with the 7A casting 0142 heads. Just keep that in mind if your swapping parts from engine to engine

deltathunder

Redog this is exactly what I am talking about this is great information. Tomorrow evening I will check the casing to see what year this is from. Is there a preference to the older or newer head/intake setup?

J-(Chicago)

I used the 7A heads with a edelbrock performer intake before. It will work, just not any better than before.

I recommend against using the turkey tray for 1 reason and one reason only.

If you seal it wrong, the exhaust valve heat crossovers will purge into the lifter valley and bake your oil into a big carbon casserole. I have seen it more than a few times disassembling Olds engines.

Rtv any intake gasket that you use.
If you use the 4 piece setup, chuck the front and back rubber seals in the garbage, and use a giant bead of RTV instead.

olds 307 and 403

Use the Gaskasinch or Permatex brush on around the intake ports, a good bead around both sides of the gasket at the water ports. As said, a very generous bead of RTV at both intake ends too. I have had leaks or had to add, especially at the back to seal properly.