350 intake/carb suggestions

[nixtux]

I've just went over my 100 mile point. So far the oil is as clean as the day I added it. That stupid thermostat is still leaking. I torqued it to 25lbs (which is what is says in the haynes manual) well they say 20-30 so I figured 25 was a good number. I think I might buy the 18.00 rubber gasket and try that. On another note, a shop did the thermostat last time and said it will never leak again!!! BS. It leaked even after he put in a new gasket and RTV. I've been reading online and it seems to be a common issue with the 350. I got the water pump/theromostat RTV this last time and applied a even bead. Let it set for 10-15 minutes, put the thermostat housing on and torqued to 25lbs. Let it sit until today and as soon as it got to around 110F (temp) it had a small leak on the outside. At least it's not the other way/side because then it sits in the intake valleys.

Anyway I hooked up the timing light. I'm getting a nice lopey idle between 590-680RPM's. It's fairly consistent, it lopes down to 570-580 and jumps to 670-680 then back and so on. It is a lopey cam. The timing is at around 15deg. I'm not sure where it should be so my friend said to get it between 12-15. I'm pretty sure the idle should probably be a little higher. But that could be because of the carb (that spring in general.)

[nixtux]

Awesome nixtux! Glad to hear it's running good again. I would say that the screech was 100% bad fuel pump. Hopefully you got the rockers adjusted decent. With hydraulic lifters you have a small amount of room for error. With solid lifters you don't really have any.

That nasty port looks like a water jacket to me. The crud is just deposits from the water. I would have scraped out what I could and moved on. They are always ugly. If you look at the first head pic, the Intake Ports are on the left and the Exhaust Ports are on the right. They still have the headers attached over them.

A rebuilt Q-Jet sounds like the right way to go for your setup. That intake should work fine besides being heavy and limiting your high RPM's but will work better for low RPM torque. That's what you need on the street anyway so you're good.

Which LocTite did you get? (Red,Blue, etc) It's a little late now but what I use on Intake & Water Pump bolts in the Permatex Non-Hardening type. It's dark brown and feels like wet modeling clay when you put it on but keeps the bolts in place and liquids from oozing up the threads.

Axe

I'm still planning on getting Q-Jet but so far it just seems like the choke isn't working. I just have to hold the gas a little while it warms up to around 110-120F before it will maintain an idle.

The frustrating part is the exhaust leaks. All the hangers have broke so the exhaust just dangles and tings. The headers are hideous and there is small leaks right off the block. I'm torn between stock exhaust manifolds or getting the below headers. I'd really like to resolve the exhaust leaks so it has a nice even sound. I'm thinking I'll get headers this week instead of a reman. Next week try and have the exhaust fixed. New hangers and new piping from the Headers to the glass-packs. Just looking for suggestions on what headers to get or should I just convert it back to the exhaust manifolds.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220634886718&crlp=1_263602_263622&ff4=263602_263622&viewitem=&guid=99621b231290a0e2024374d3fe2fe8be&rvr_id=&ua=L*F%3F&itemid=220634886718

[nixtux]

I got the red loctite. Hopefully they don't come loose again. So far I haven't seen a drop of anything come from the exhaust. There is a small thermostat leak though. Letting it cool off and going to change that out with some RTV for waterpumps/thermostats and hopefully it goes away.

The valves, I wasn't sure if it needed any lash or not. It's a hydraulic flat tappet cam. I turned it until the lifters were at their lowest spot and turned the bolt until the pushrod had just a little bit of pressure. In any event, the "knock" went away so I'm suspecting that it's hydraulic lifters. Could be wrong which is why I made sure they all had about the same amount of pressure. Also there wasn't a "lock" on them. Just a bolt. Strangely, the smallest turn could make them really really tight so some of them took some back and forth to get it so there was only a little bit pressure on the pushrod. Maybe in the last 15,000 miles they came a little loose...

I think once it has a reman carb it will probably run a lot better. I was told it needs to get rebuilt so it'll probably be cheaper to get a reman. The brakes are a little soft too but I think that may be a vacuum issue. Double check that and hopefully get them working 100% again. It can take some pumping to stop. Power wise, I'd say it's 90-95% what it was a couple years ago. It's also doing good on gas again. I'd guess it's getting around 5 or so in town which is not bad.

Awesome nixtux! Glad to hear it's running good again. I would say that the screech was 100% bad fuel pump. Hopefully you got the rockers adjusted decent. With hydraulic lifters you have a small amount of room for error. With solid lifters you don't really have any.

That nasty port looks like a water jacket to me. The crud is just deposits from the water. I would have scraped out what I could and moved on. They are always ugly. If you look at the first head pic, the Intake Ports are on the left and the Exhaust Ports are on the right. They still have the headers attached over them.

A rebuilt Q-Jet sounds like the right way to go for your setup. That intake should work fine besides being heavy and limiting your high RPM's but will work better for low RPM torque. That's what you need on the street anyway so you're good.

Which LocTite did you get? (Red,Blue, etc) It's a little late now but what I use on Intake & Water Pump bolts in the Permatex Non-Hardening type. It's dark brown and feels like wet modeling clay when you put it on but keeps the bolts in place and liquids from oozing up the threads.

Axe

[Axe_1]

Awesome nixtux! Glad to hear it's running good again. I would say that the screech was 100% bad fuel pump. Hopefully you got the rockers adjusted decent. With hydraulic lifters you have a small amount of room for error. With solid lifters you don't really have any.

That nasty port looks like a water jacket to me. The crud is just deposits from the water. I would have scraped out what I could and moved on. They are always ugly. If you look at the first head pic, the Intake Ports are on the left and the Exhaust Ports are on the right. They still have the headers attached over them.

A rebuilt Q-Jet sounds like the right way to go for your setup. That intake should work fine besides being heavy and limiting your high RPM's but will work better for low RPM torque. That's what you need on the street anyway so you're good.

Which LocTite did you get? (Red,Blue, etc) It's a little late now but what I use on Intake & Water Pump bolts in the Permatex Non-Hardening type. It's dark brown and feels like wet modeling clay when you put it on but keeps the bolts in place and liquids from oozing up the threads.

Axe

[nixtux]

Done. It's alive. Haven't done much driving yet, but it runs great! The timing is almost spot (I haven't taken the light to it yet, but it has loads of power it didn't have before.) It's not sputtering any fluid from the exhaust. And it pretty much breaks a guys neck when you punch it. It even breaks between gears again.

The only weird thing, when I was putting the carb back on a spring fell out. I couldn't figure out where it went so I just put the carb on. In any event, it idles really low but once it warms up it's fine. I'm buying a reman quadrajet next week so I figure who cares. I'm pumped that it started up first try and seems to run great. Also a knock that was in the motor (I was told it needed a valve adjustment) went away. From that, I take it I adjusted them correctly.

Thanks for all the help on this. I really don't think I could've done it without some of the advice on here.

Thanks again!

[nixtux]

I finally got a deposit in my account, so I'm going to the parts store to get the remaining parts in the morning when it clears.

I'm not sure if I need to have valve lash or not. I attached some pictures of the valve springs. Any advice there would be great.

I also attached a picture of the front pass side exhaust port (I think it's exhaust anyway). It it's pretty nasty. Is there anything I should get to clean it up?

Thanks!

[nixtux]

Another weird thing. There was this wretched sound, kind of like a loose belt but not quite as high pitch. That went away after the pump and oil was changed. Not exactly thrilled about that one. But at least it went away because if that was a sound from the gas, I know when it started and can determine the miles at just over 50.

I manually applied pressure to the old fuel pump and got a similar noise. I suspect the noise was the fuel pump.

[nixtux]

Another weird thing. There was this wretched sound, kind of like a loose belt but not quite as high pitch. That went away after the pump and oil was changed. Not exactly thrilled about that one. But at least it went away because if that was a sound from the gas, I know when it started and can determine the miles at just over 50.

[nixtux]

The two smaller bolts you noted are holding the cover plate to the block. The bolt holes we are referring to are on the front of the block, to the passenger side of the timing cover near the bottom and are aligned vertically.

Changed the pump. Started it up, seems good. Pulled the intake. A couple intake ports are pretty dirty. I dont' think it was like that the last time I pulled it.

That's my achievment for the day. I walked 2 miles to the parts store, picked up a new fuel pump, intake bolts, oil filter and locktite. I figured put in fresh oil and run it for a bit before doing the intake. I'll change it again because a little coolant spit from the intake. Re-time it and do a valve adjustment and hopefully old trusty will fly again.

EDIT: I have to get a new fuel line tomorrow because I broke it on accident.

[86FieroSEv6]

The two smaller bolts you noted are holding the cover plate to the block. The bolt holes we are referring to are on the front of the block, to the passenger side of the timing cover near the bottom and are aligned vertically.

[nixtux]

What you have is the Engine Block with a large opening, a gasket, a metal plate with a small opening, the fuel pump gasket, then the fuel pump. Also, sounds like what failed is the rubber diaphragm inside the fuel pump, not the gasket. If the gasket failed you will just leak oil to the outside of the engine.

Axe

Since the oil is fouled, would it be easier if I just remove the engine oil before pulling the pump? I'm going to have to replace the oil anyway. Might as well drain it now verse this coming weekend.

There are two lines going to the pump (I assume from the tank,) it looks like they have clips I could easily take off and pinch the lines. Then the line to carb should be easy enough to clear. it looks like there are two bolts holding the pump to the block, plus a couple smaller bolts (I'm guessing these are the bolts per the descriptions provided.) It was getting dark lastnight when I was looking at it.

Tentatively, I'm thinking I'll pull the pump, intake, distributer and on Saturday (when I'll some money to buy parts,) I'll put it back together. I'll just cover everything up with towels and spend the week cleaning up the parts.

As far as the fuel in the oil, that's bad for an engine. Is there anything I should do once I get it back together to make sure no damage was done? At best there was 60 miles put on it after it started leaking fuel in the oil. That I know of anyway. I did have a potential buyer and I don't know how many miles he put on it and if this was a issue.

Thanks

[Axe_1]

What you have is the Engine Block with a large opening, a gasket, a metal plate with a small opening, the fuel pump gasket, then the fuel pump. Also, sounds like what failed is the rubber diaphragm inside the fuel pump, not the gasket. If the gasket failed you will just leak oil to the outside of the engine.

Axe

[nixtux]

Yes the fuel pump diaphragm is part of the fuel pump. If it's leaking fuel into the oil the fuel pump will need to be replaced.

That was also a good tip with using the longer bolt to hold the fuel pump rod in place.

###From memory so check the bolt before you tear everything apart: On the lower front part of the block there is a 3/8" bolt that will only be about 1"-1.5" long when you remove it. It's pretty easy to see that it will line up perpendicular to the fuel pump rod. You can replace it with a 3/8" bolt that is about 3"-4" long and it doesn't matter if you do that before or after you remove the fuel pump. If you have already removed the fuel pump, you can push the rod back up against the cam with your finger and then tighten the long bolt just enough to hold the rod from sliding back out. Another thing that can be done is to pull the rod all the way out and coat it in a very thick motor oil, or even Vaseline like the old schooler's did, but sometimes that stuff stays in your engine and later turns to sludge. Also, if you do chose to just lubricate it enough to create suction and not use the bolt method, you will also need the gasket for the fuel pump plate that goes against the block. The rod will not slide all the way out without removing that plate.

Axe

If the fuel pump gasket is a metal plate why would it fail?

On that note, about 200-300 miles ago I did a compression test and it was pretty good. Apparently, gas in the oil can be a lot of things. I'm hoping it's just something with the fuel pump. My parents bought the truck in 2005. It had 300 miles on a performance build. I've concluded they used a lot of parts from the 454 it came with. It was a farm truck in North Dakota. It hasn't broke 100,000 miles yet.

I don't want to cheap the fix for the old lady. I want to try to do the work myself and with a friend... If I can. She was a mean girl in 2007-08-09. She still is. But the gas in the oil concerns me. I don't even drive her because I don't want to be completely fucked as far as vehicles go. I think it has to be below the rings because the plugs aren't fouled. They are dry and look great other than rust from sitting most the winter.

[Axe_1]

Yes the fuel pump diaphragm is part of the fuel pump. If it's leaking fuel into the oil the fuel pump will need to be replaced. I would consider replacing the fuel pump long before the distributor. It's a much easier job and could make a huge difference.

That was also a good tip with using the longer bolt to hold the fuel pump rod in place.

When you remove the fuel pump it will have a long lever on the back. That lever rests against a rod that is about 5/8" diameter and 4" long (estimate). The rod slides up in a hole in the block and the opposite end rides on the fuel pump lobe of the cam. When reinstalling the fuel pump you will need a method to hold the rod up against the cam while you line up the fuel pump. What makes this difficult is the lever on the rear of the fuel pump needs to be partially compressed by pushing the fuel pump against the mounting plate enough to get the bolts started straight. It's a little too much trouble to hold the rod up, push the fuel pump against the plate, and start the bolts so you need to eliminate one of the factors. Using the bolt to hold the rod in place will do hat for you.

###From memory so check the bolt before you tear everything apart: On the lower front part of the block there is a 3/8" bolt that will only be about 1"-1.5" long when you remove it. It's pretty easy to see that it will line up perpendicular to the fuel pump rod. You can replace it with a 3/8" bolt that is about 3"-4" long and it doesn't matter if you do that before or after you remove the fuel pump. If you have already removed the fuel pump, you can push the rod back up against the cam with your finger and then tighten the long bolt just enough to hold the rod from sliding back out. After installing the fuel pump be sure to remove the long bolt and reinstall the short one. I forgot to put one in the hole once and kept leaking oil but didn't know where. It was easy to find after revving the engine to about 6,000 RPM's, lol. Oil shot straight out like it was a cannon.

Another thing that can be done is to pull the rod all the way out and coat it in a very thick motor oil, or even Vaseline like the old schooler's did, but sometimes that stuff stays in your engine and later turns to sludge. Just remember that if you do choose to just lubricate it enough to create suction and not use the bolt method, you will also need the gasket for the fuel pump plate that goes against the block. The rod will not slide all the way out without removing that plate.

Axe

[nixtux]

When it comes time to go after that fuel pump. Take a moment to note the two bolt holes on the front of the block to the right of the timing cover near the bottom. The upper of the two holes goes all the way to the fuel pump push rod. If you take out the short bolt that is there to prevent oil leakage you can use a longer threaded bolt to screw in, lightly pinching the push rod so it doesn't drop down and make you invent a new language while you try to use a butter knife to hold the rod up while you wrangle the fuel pump lever in under it. Feel me, dawg? Also, when you take out the pump, if you see fuel in the lever section of the housing that was attached to the block, then the diaphragm probably rotted away or became brittle from fuel drying and then cracked when it was started up again. No, I did not make up the butter knife thing.

I haven't started pulling it yet. Is the little bolt to the side of the engine block? I was pulling the fan so I could get a better look, but it was getting dark and it's going to rain soon.

As far as the longer bolt, do you know what bolt I'll need to replace it with? I don't have a inventory of bolts, nor do I have the means to quickly and easily go to a parts store. The metal line to the carb is "bent" and clearly obstructed. Could that cause a issue? Should I replace it with a "webbed" line (I think that's what it is.)

And what do you mean by diaphragm? Is that something in/on the fuel pump? If that's bad do I need a new fuel pump? Or is that part of the gasket.

Sorry about all the questions but I'm eager to get the truck running so I at least have a vehicle for my town errands, appointments, and occasional cruise.