having my 68 350 4 barrel rebuilt.

going 30 over with new pistons ,cam etc...

It is a stock 310 hp car

I want to make sure i dont lose any power and gain a little...

what do i need to do to make sure i dont lose any hp ???

is it mostly in the heads ???

and does this now make this a 383 ???

Thanks for any suggestions ...

and $3k for r&r motor , rebuild motor, tranny swap from jetaway
to th350 w shift kit, and painting and detailing of engine bay and firewall a good deal ?

 

no this would make it a 355. Deck the heads to compensate for the added thickness of the head gaskets to keep compression stock originlas where .017-.022. I had mine milled .024 so that i could use the felpro blues which are .040 . That is great deal if you ask me just make sure you get good parts.

 

That is way too cheap for a rebuild with quality parts and machine work. Read this if you want to,
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...arts-list.html
A cheapo rebuild kit will result in a significant loss of compression and power.

 

the quotes i am receiving all over town are around 1400 for a standard rebuild and 1800 performance... i dont want to rebuild if i dont have to.. and i definately dont want to lose power ...there is a tapping from the top of the motor. dont know if i should just do the heads lifters and rods.. the car has sat for 20 years or if i should drive for a few weeks to see if it goes away... replaced tank and carb so far

 

Make sure you get the particulars, everyone has a different definition of "Rebuild" If you look at my post, the parts alone are more than $1800. Not sure how machine work and assembly are free.

 

yes i will triple check.... i did find this kit for $629 didnt see how much it would save

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/FEM-CSMHP819-033/


i believe they were going to use my same valves and springs in the heads
dont know if that should be the way its done

 

Still need a new cam and lifters, timing chain, probably pushrods. I personally do not re-use 40 year old springs, but you can do it. Valves are fine to re-use, but IMO a performance upgrade includes larger intake valves. There is no way possible to get a performance rebuild for 2 grand. IMO.

 

You're going to rebuild a good-running motor because a lifter tap?

Maybe we need more information in order to be able to provide good advice...

- Eric

 

i will double check tomorrow... already purchased water pump,timing chain, hei distributor,

 

cause it sat for 20 years maybe i should just do rods and lifters???

 

plus i wanted to clean up and paint the motor and engine bay and replace tranny and figured i might as well rebuild engine while its out

 

How many miles?

How does it run?

Are you happy with it?

What's wrong with the tranny?

I'd just figure out which valve was ticking, then look at the rocker pivot and see if it's worn out - RockAuto's got 'em for a buck seven (that's $1.07) - you may not even have to touch the lifters.

An, as for cleaning and painting the motor, just ask Rob - you'll be amazed at what you can do without taking the motor out, even though EVERYONE has told you you need to .

- Eric

 

tranny is a 2 speed... i havent even driven it yet....

replaced starter, carb, new drums back, and completely redone front brakes (4 piston calipers$$) gas tank and fuel pump, tomorrow will be my first drive...

 

Change the tranny.

- Eric

 

I agree, fix the motor, change the trans.
Depending on your location, and quality of fuel, you might have to retard the timing or run octane booster to with 10:25 stock compression, though.








;

 

in san diego dont know about quality of fuel... the gas that it was running was orange from rust b4 i changed the tank... so hoprfully that will help

 

I believe all you can get is 91 octane out there - something about a patent or something??
My '69 442 would run on the 93 we get here, [same compression] but I had to retard the timing a smudge!
You'll probably have to add some octane booster.

 

i will give all that a shot before i rebuild ... will the hei make any difference???

 

More dependable than points, hotter spark, and it'll knock you on your a$$ if you grab it wrong - just be carefull!
Should help with performance, mileage, and emissions, if re-curved and correct vacuum advance.

 

recurved???

 

Is when the advance comes in at a specific RPM to optimize the power from a air/fuel mixture.
Mr. Gasket and Accell have kits w/ instructions, and adjustable vacuum advance canisters!
Any questions you have are available in the search menu at the top of the page!

 

gotcha looks like im in for some learnin..

 

I don't want to disagree with Rickman (because what he said is all true), but from a practical standpoint, in a stock motor, even though HEI is objectively "better," you will notice little if any improvement in actual performance (AFTER you've properly recurved it) between HEI and a properly adjusted set of points.

I'm not saying you shouldn't switch to HEI at some point, if it's your preference, but I would advise spending a small amount of money (if necessary) to get your points right at this stage, and spending a larger amount of money to make modifications, such as HEI, after you get the car running well and know what you want to change.

- Eric

 

i already had the HEI on order from summit so since it will be there gonna drop it in...

Heres the deal.... got the car didnt run... wires were crossed, got it started and noticed an aweful smell of raw fuel or maybe a stabilizer or something but it was potent. it ran but had the engine ping ...

I changed Carb and Gas Tank(and pump filter etc.) I have not started the car
since due to ive been working on the brakes (4 piston calipers) and they sent me one wrong caliper and been waiting for a week for the caliper. supposedly the caliper will be in today (was supposed to be last wednesday)and i can get it going.

So hopefully today i can drive her for the first time ever and hopefully the pinging was from the horrible rusty ( brown)20 year old fuel that was in the car ..

i should be getting my HEI (Summit) today also will do plugs and wires at the same time. Oil has been changed so wish me luck.. Once she is going i will post a video to utube and link it here.. Thanks and i would much rather put the money I would use for a rebuild toward something else on the car

 

If you use the HEI, you can't use the factory coil wire, it has a resistor in it. You need a 10 g. wire from the IGN terminal of the fuse box, it will be hot in both crank and on positions. I agree with MD, HEI is fine, but there is nothing wrong with points and very little if any performance gain.

 

So i need to change this Wire ... anything else that needs to be changed
to go hei ???

 

Nope, just make sure it clears the air cleaner.

 

i'd hold off on the hei install until you figure out what you are going to do with the engine... it sounds to me like you have detonation from low octane fuel, which is a simple fix, simply back the timing off a couple degrees.
before you get too carried away i'd dump a can of seafoam or marvel mystery oil in the gas tank & in the crankcase and run 'er a bit, change the oil & make sure that you've got the varnish out of the engine & carbon out of the cylinders...

 

so I am now rebuilding engine

 

Ummmmm... Okay.

- Eric

 

pulled valve covers valves were sticking pulled heads and #1 piston had a little play so rebuilding

 

Do you mean that there were valves not being returned to their closed positions by their springs?
That's unusual if they're not bent.

When you say the piston "had a little play," what, exactly do you mean?
That isn't a term I've heard used with respect to pistons.
If you could move the piston back and forth in its bore, you would have had a heckuva piston slap.
If it had play in-and-out, that would usually yield a nasty rod knock.

You never mentioned any of these sounds before.
I'm confused

- Eric

 

so there was a ping before that,,,, got worse when i changed to hei ...

adjusted vacuum advance no change

pulled valve cover and some of the springs were not moving .. pulled heads and noticed piston in cylinders that springs not moving were not sitting proper..

 

At least you went as far as you could, before making that determination!
Hope it all goes smooth for you.

 

Collapsed lifters?
Bent pushrods?
Flat cam lobes?

Not sitting proper?
Rotated?
Not square to the block?
Never heard this expression either

- Eric

 

a little play in the piston

 

I also hope your rebuild goes well.

Best of luck!

- Eric

 

thanks im hoping also... im getting the rebuild kit myself so i make sure its a good one...

 

Charles, it sounds to me you're young and have little experience with cars, let alone the older ones!
If I were you, I'd find a good local machine shop, and have them tear-down the motor, and magnaflux the block, heads, crankshaft, and rods before ordering anything more!
If the pistons are 'rocking' in the bores, valves 'not moving' in the heads, you could be in for various senarios;
Rocking in the bore: Bore is oversize - needs re-boring and oversized pistons.
Valves not moving: Valves bent - requiring some new valves and guides, complete valve job, with seals.
Camshaft flat - Metal went throughout motor - requires hot-tanking, all new bearings, crankshaft grinding, camshaft and lifters, timing chain, gears, etc.
All in all, not really a job for a novice.
Ya can't just throw parts at it!

 

It is going to the machine shop ... Not that young Im 44,, I started young working on cars.. My father was a bodyman and when I was 15 I started working at the Oldsmobile dealership washing cars and being a helper where he was the manager in Sunnyvale... When I was 17 I got an olds, a 73 cutlass S, with a blown motor, Since I was working in the Olds dealer the cars coming in on trade were extremely cheap..$300 for 60s 442's and such, so we picked up a 65 dynamic88 for $250
within a week it was totaled so I dropped that 425 into the 73 cutlass with some headers and had a BEAST... Lost it a few years later being stupid.. So anyways I did body and paint until about the age of 24 after oldsmobile i worked in a shop specializing in BMW and mercedes then at a Chevy dealer for a few years.. Then I got sidetracked (scarface syndrome)..

So now 20 years later decided to get back into it... I love oldsmobiles !!!

picked up my 68 and going to do all the things i wanted to do to my 73
but just couldnt afford back then...

I can do much of the work myself but space and time limit me... but i am doing as much myself as possible .. cleaning up the engine bay while the motor is out ...