Ginky Weeds Restoration Project

[GS66]

That looks outstanding! That?s what I need to do with my grille.

[elagache]

Dear Chuck, John, Milton, and mid-60s Buick caregivers,

WOW!  those carburetors really do dress up the engine! 

Also working on adding paint to the grille, headlight doors, rear emblem and taillights.  Here's the completed grille.

The grill looks great!  Did you have the grill chrome restored?

Cheers, Edouard 

[cwmcobra]

Also working on adding paint to the grille, headlight doors, rear emblem and taillights.  Here's the completed grille.

The grill looks great!  Did you have the grill chrome restored?

Cheers, Edouard 
[/quote]

Thanks!

That is a NOS grill for a Skylark, so just had to paint the black on the interior sections and silver on the apron that tucks under the bumper.

Chuck

[wildcat65]

Real 4-speed carb set, NICE!

[cwmcobra]

Well, it appears I've stumbled into a road block with my engine.  Fired it up a couple of weeks ago and broke it in for 20-30 minutes then shut it down for the day.  Fired it up the next morning and found the oil pressure dropping as the engine warmed up.  It had peaked at between 40-50 psi the day before, but couldn't get above 20-25 on this day.  When I dropped it to idle and the pressure was 10 psi or below, I shut it down.  Something strange is going on as the oil pressure gage needle sort of vibrates within about a 10 psi range.  It doesn't read a stable pressure.  Pulled the distributor and found that it had not been properly seated during some part of its operation.  Had it repaired and recurved by Carmen and carefully installed it, certain that it was properly seated in the block so it would engage the oil pump drive shaft.  Still low oil pressure.  So now it looks like I have to drop the oilpan and replace the oil pump.  Not sure yet if I can do that without pulling the engine.   

I'll post the results when I get it put back together. 

Chuck

[gssizzler]

Chuck are all the plugs in the block? There are the internal ones in the rear by the cam shaft I believe !
Maybe Walt or Tom will chime in! Buddy of mine had some what of the same problem!? Hope you get it figured out! Sure wouldn’t want to trash a fresh rebuilt motor! Best of luck! Would give Carmen a call to!

[yachtsmanbill]

Hey Chuck... start with the simple/easy stuff first. I different gage directly piped into the block? Most OEM engine design/builders require a pound of pressure for every 100 RPM. More is better of course, but to a point where 100psi is TOO much. Run some 20w50 in there. Getting oil on the valve stuff??  Bill

[35chevcoupe]

Thats NOT good news Chuck . Thats always my biggest fear when rebuilding an engine that I'm not familiar with the first time .
I'm sure you'll get it figured out though . The hardest part on these nailheads is the cam bearings and the oil pumps .
The way you describe the oil presure gauge needle fluttering sounds like a bad gauge or sending unit .

[elagache]

Dear Chuck, Jon, Bill, John, and mid-60s Buick caregivers,

Well, it appears I've stumbled into a road block with my engine. 

. . . . .
I'll post the results when I get it put back together. 

So sorry to hear about your setback.  Indeed I hope you'll get some helpful advice on the forum.  Hang in there!  Engine problems do get resolved!  Although sometimes it takes . . . . .

Cheers, Edouard

[cwmcobra]

I have the same pressure readings from two different gages, so don't think that's the problem.  I'm going to pull the distributor and drive the oil pump with a drill motor and see what pressure I get.  That should tell me whether it's the pump or not.  I have a new one ready to install if that's the case.

What about oil viscosity?  After draining the breakin oil I installed 10W30 racing oil.  I also have 20W50; would that help?  Are nailheads sensitive to viscosity?

More to come.....

 

Chuck

[WkillGS]

....I'm going to pull the distributor and drive the oil pump with a drill motor and see what pressure I get.....

That's where I would start.
I haven't seen those symptoms before. Wonder if it could be a problem with the pressure relief valve in the filter adapter oil pump, the oil pump pickup is being sucked to the bottom of the oil pan, or your pump is sucking air.
Jon mentioned the oil gallery plugs. Try the drill driven pump and see if oil is getting to the rocker arms. If there's a plug missing, I'd bet oil won't get to the rockers.
Or drain your oil and see if it looks metallic.

I once had a pump that wasn't machined properly and it would not seat flush to the block. I had to grind a relief. I believe Melling had some pumps get out with this defect, but that was 10 years ago.

Hope it's an easy solution, good luck!

Edit: The oil filter adapter contains a bypass valve, not the pressure relief valve.

[cwmcobra]

I took the distributor out today and drove the pump using a drive tool powered by a drill motor.  Peak pressure on the gage was 30 PSI and I was expecting 40-60.  Also, when turning the oil pump drive by hand, it feels like it sticks or drags a little at several points in one rotation.  I discussed this with Carmen and he's convinced the pump is the problem.  So it looks like I'll be tackling the pump change next week.  The pump in the engine now is an aftermarket pump that Carmen modified to produce higher pressure.  The pump that will replace it is an original pump that he has rebuilt and modified for higher pressure.  He prefers the performance of the old pumps to that from the aftermarket ones.

The one interesting thing that I don't understand is that when driving the pump with the drill motor, even though pressure was lower than expected, the gage wasn't fluttering like it does when the engine is running.  I don't have a rationale for that one.....

I've also ordered an oil filter cutter so that I can see if there is any telltale debris in the original filter from break in that might indicate other problems in the engine.  This was a Carmen suggestion that I think was a good one!

Stay tuned.....

Chuck

[Rollaround]

The story continues.

 What RPM does your drill turn at?
 Pondering here. The distributor turns at one half the crankshaft RPM of a four cycle engine. So would a 600 RPM drill generate the equivalent of 1200 engine RPM?
I do remember testing with a drill puts a fair load on a drill.     

[yachtsmanbill]

Righto; but a 600 rpm idle is only 300 cam rpm. My 3/8 18.5 volt cordless gave me 60+lbs of pressure. Its probably a slipping pressure relief lifting off the seat prematurely.   Bill

[cwmcobra]

The drill speed spec is 1300 RPM.  So should be equivalent of about 2500 engine RPM at the pump.