We can file this under "things that never go as planned"
I've been working on my intake swap from 2bbl to 4bbl for about a week now in my spare time. Yes, a week but most of that time has been stripping and painting all the related parts so that everything will be pretty when finished. First I had decided to go with a cast iron '69 intake with a '72 Rochester. Closer examination of the Rochester revealed that it's pretty much junk so I opted for plan B- An Edelbrock intake with a 600 Holley (new).
1st problem: A stripped stud hole in the intake. Fixed.
2nd problem: I remove the thermostat housing from the 2bbl intake and... there's no thermostat! I buy new Tstat. Fixed? We'll see...
3rd problem: I just realized this carb is dual feed. I price out correct dual feed line from Holley at my local Carquest (for some reason this takes a non-common feed line). After picking myself off the floor after getting a price quote (trade pricing no less!) I take a deep breath and hand over my credit card. 2 days later it arrives in a package covered in dust. Fixed.
4th problem: The carb doesn't clear the screw in vacuum fitting for my power brakes and transmission. Nothing a little shave with a Dremel can't rectify. Fixed.
5th problem: I set rags into the valley while I cleaned the gasket surfaces. That went well. I removed the rags and shone my trouble light into the valley to check for debris. I get a knot in my stomach. There, sitting in the valley are the remains of two pushrods! What the..!!??. A closer look shows a lifter retainer also sitting in the valley. I quickly check all the pushrods and notice 3 are shiny while the others are well aged. One of them is sitting in a lifter with a crooked cap. Now I know where that retainer came from! This one is #2 intake. I was shocked as the car ran well. All spark plugs look fine. I call Ken (a member on here) who bought the car from the original owner. He had two pushrods fail and another bend. He replaced the pushrods and never had a problem. I call a good friend who is a fantastic tech. His advice: replace the lifters. They could be collapsed causing excessive pushrod movement. Funny I never heard any ticking. "Don't take chances. They are cheap" he says. So.. to be on the safe side I'm going to try to find a set tomorrow. The parts stores here in town are closed so I hope there's a set to be found in London.
I'm still trying to figure out why the t-stat was removed.... The saga will continue...
It gets even better: All 16 lifters were a BEAR to remove. Most of them are junk: My photo isn't great but alot of them are concave. Next I get my flashlight out and check the cam lobes-junk! ARGH! Looks like this puppy was revved way to high at some point. Well, I might as well step up to a performance cam, lifters and new pushrods. Of course, being a long weekend, none of the performance shops in my area are open. I figured I might as well remove the old cam. All goes fairly well until I try to pull the cam. It moves about an inch and that's it. It will not budge forwards OR backwards. I figured a journal is stuck but it ain't moving:
If I turn it it doesn't sound very nice. I tried for half an hour and gave up. I'm this close to saying "screw it" and stepping up my efforts to drop a big block in the car!
Thanks! Yup, that was the problem. The cam has been liberated from the engine. I spent most of the day cleaning things up in preparation for the cam this Tuesday. Watch this thread for more fun and excitment! Todd
Thanks! Yup, that was the problem. The cam has been liberated from the engine. I spent most of the day cleaning things up in preparation for the cam this Tuesday. Watch this thread for more fun and excitment! Todd
Excellent! I mean that you got it out, not that you are having trouble!
We can hardly wait!
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
327/350hp cam and lifter kit still available from gm. had this in my '61 impala, 350 w/350 trans. Qjet, stock manifolds, duals, 3.08 gear, little bit of a lope.
I've had a few of those too. Very nice cam. Not too much cam, makes itself known at idle, makes good power as high as you'd want to turn a stock 350 bottom end. It may be just a bit much cam for the 2.73 gears off idle, but it's likely the choice I'd make. Do you get a good shake on GM parts at work Todd?
There is also a good selection of aftermarket duplicates out there of that cam as well. I have one of those to go in my 327 Acadian engine.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
I ran the Speed Pro version of it in my 66 Nova SS 327 4 speed with 3.73 gears. Stock engine otherwise with an L79 intake and a Holley, stock manifolds and exhaust. The car was no screamer by todays standards but this was 20 years ago and the 1/4 mile speeds were around 97 mph. It felt like would have turned a lot more rpm than the 6 grand or so that I turned it.
I also had a GM version of that cam in my first 66 Grande Parisienne with a turbo 400 and 2.73 gears. It was a stock 327 except for 11 to 1 pistons and the GM L79 cam. No screamer from a dead stop, but like Todd's car, it was heavy. The car had A/C and every power option known to man. I never weighed it with the 327 but when I put a 427 in it later it weighed it at 4650. That likely put it somewhere around 4300-4400 with the small block.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
I agree with you. When I got my Ram Air IV cam kit for my 455 from GM a few years ago, there was paperwork in the box showing the shipment from Crane to General Motors. I'm fine with that because they had a very good price on the kit.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
This is the specs listed for the GM cam kit Dave gave the part number for.
Single pattern, blueprinted replacement for factory P/N 3863151 with 350 hp and 327 cu. in. camshaft.
Technical Notes: Basic rpm range is 2200 - 5200; cruise rpm at 60 mph is 3000 - 3400 and compression ratio is 9.5 - 10.75. The duration at .050 lift (intake/exhaust) is 222/222 degrees, and the valve lift is .447"/.447". Lobe centerline is 114. This camshaft kit is designed and manufactured by Crane Cam Co.®. It contains one camshaft and 16 tappets.
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1966 Strato Chief 2 door, 427 4 speed, 45,000 original miles
1966 Grande Parisienne, 396 1 of 23 factory air cars
Todd, you mentioned once that you had the Chevrolet Power manual. In that book there is a cam chart for a small block build up. It shows the original part number and specifications for a number of performance cams used in sbc performance motors . L-69, l-79, L-83, Z-28, LT-1 , L-82 are listed. The only cam with higher lift than the L-79 is the one used in the Z-28, LT-1 & L-82.
