Buick 350 tech..

[Mclovin]

Just started to reasemble my engine for the Heep. got the cam all lubed up and started to slide her in. got almost in til the last bearing, and it bound up. wouldnt turn or go in any farther.. this being my 6th engine, ive NEVER had this problem.. Machine shop guy says the cam bore is out of round but yet you can see a contact mark on the bearing All the way around? and it doesnt get thinnner or thicker at any point ? Any input ?
Motor is a 69 buick 350

[Yetti]

sounds like your machine shop guys is a lazy f**k. cam journals can't get out of round. and the tool that installs them is very picky. if he screwed up he should suck it up and put in a new bearing.
I have built hundreds of Gm engines and the cam bearings aren't that hard to do right. I had a couple of guys bring me bench jobs that were screwed up because of poor service at the machine shop.

[Mclovin]

thats kind of what i figured.. cam journal out of round dont seem likely thats an awful lot of metal to distort..

[KILLER"B"468]

Chances are if the cam bearings are new they have the cam bearings installed in the wrong order.

[Mclovin]

Originally Posted by KILLER"B&quot

Chances are if the cam bearings are new they have the cam bearings installed in the wrong order.

I was not aware that sizes differed.. i just figured he had one not perfectly square to the block so i pulled the block off the stand and stood it up just to feed that rear cam lobe into that particular bearing and still no dice.... i contacted him and hes going to fix at no charge. just irritates me to loose almost the whole weekend or working on it

[Yetti]

just to clarify things, some older engines had the bearings ground in steps. the first 4 would be one size and the one on the tail would be a bit smaller. I don't know why it was done that way, it just was one a few engines.

[Mclovin]

More Buick tech, It uses a rope seal for the Rear main seal, But yet the crank looks like its set up for a std 2 peice main seal ? Anyone know how these things go in ??

[Captain Ledd]

For the rope seals, soak them in oil for a good 2 days (a day will probably do, but just to make sure), then just jam them in, and try not to squish too much of the oil out (again, just to be sure).

It really isn't that much different than a regular 2 piece seal, or are the rope chunks the guy sold you a shit ton bigger than the slots?

[Mclovin]

Well thats the thing im not 100% sure what slot its supposed to go in. im preatty sure its the outer one because i can see a imprint on the crakn from where the old seal sat, if thats the case then yes the rope seal is a shit ton bigger :tonka:

[Captain Ledd]

I'm just wondering because the rope seals on the 8N I rebuilt were at least 1/2" wide.

Sooo, this seal is alot bigger than where it looks like it goes. Did you buy the engine apart or complete? Seems a little on the late side for rope seals to me.. Well, I'm out for ideas..

[Mclovin]

its the engine out of the waggy i bought from Ryan (GMCSONOMA) and the gasket kit i bought from a guy at ou swap meet, thanks anyways russ

[Yetti]

Capt. I never heard of soaking rope seals...ever.
the biggest thing to remember on rope seals is to "pack them" they have to be jammed into the outside grove and the ends of the rope cut long so they can be packed into the grooves while the crank is in place. the biggest trick is to off set them. leaving one side long on the block while leaving the opposite side long in the cap. if you can pack the end in on the long sides recieving side and it should pack into the groove when you tighten the cap. you have to use forma gasket or anarobic seal on the rest of the cap to prevent oil from leaking between the block & cap. good luck.


by the way they make rubber replacement seals...call a parts store.

[Mclovin]

yea i checked on the rubber ones.. no one has one for a buick but i am told a BB ford one will work.. (15 bux)

[PavementPounder]

Originally Posted by Muddinguy

yea i checked on the rubber ones.. no one has one for a buick but i am told a BB ford one will work.. (15 bux)

Then you need to call more stores or order one. You live in Fenton. Do you know how many bazillion parts stores there are in Oakland and Genessee counties?

[Mclovin]

Originally Posted by PavementPounder

Then you need to call more stores or order one. You live in Fenton. Do you know how many bazillion parts stores there are in Oakland and Genessee counties?

Yep but i only choose to deal with 2.. because i know the owners and they always do the right thing..

[Captain Ledd]

Originally Posted by Yetti

I never heard of soaking rope seals...ever.

hmm.. Our neighbor does escavating and all his own maintence, owns several super old tractors as well. Both him and the Ford guy at New Holland? tractor both agreed that that is how rope seals went on. I suppose I assumed that was how "a rope seal" worked, and we were specifically talking about the 8N, 9N, and 2N tractors.

But it would seem to me that it would just wear right out if not jam packed with oil.. being a couple thousand RPM, slightly oiled steel on a dry surface (for a while at least, eventually it would soak up alot of oil)

heh.. come to think of it.. I had a set to seal the back of my transmission soaking since I left for college in the fall lol, probably still sitting on my hood.

[Mclovin]

Well i put i in. Smeared some Assem. lube on it and let it soak a little then put some more on. but there was not enough included to fill the cap and bocks grooves..

[Captain Ledd]

Not enough rope or oil? I was told just engine oil will do, gear oil would probably work nice too, few extra additives.

I don't see how having more oil on something like that could hurt it.

[PavementPounder]

Originally Posted by Muddinguy

Yep but i only choose to deal with 2.. because i know the owners and they always do the right thing..

Yeah, well that philosophy doesn't get shit fixed. Its also known as "not willing to do what needs to be done in order to do the job correctly".

[Mclovin]

Originally Posted by PavementPounder

Yeah, well that philosophy doesn't get shit fixed. Its also known as "not willing to do what needs to be done in order to do the job correctly".

actualy thi philosiphy has served me well. everytime i go to another parts store the dumb asses order the wrong parts when u're dealing with something somewhat rare and uncommon like a Buick Engine u have a tendacny to get wrong parts sent your way.. Bill and Dan have been around for a while and know their shit when it comes to old stuff.. So i trust them and give my buisness to them. besides they have everythying next day which is usually way sooner than id end up with the right parts if i went with other stores.. so when u say it doesnt get shit fixed, you're wrong it does and it usually works out quicker than others..