Projects 1949 Buick Sedanette Mild Custom Build

I'd register it as a 1948 Buick Sedanette at Frog's. I'd guess the owner would be the only one that could tell the difference.
But that's just me.

 

Big difference.!

 

Rock, as I said previously, that is one gorgeous car. Now I'm sure I have to park my 49 as far away from you as possible so I won't be able to see how great your car is compared to mine.

 

Lets just park all 3 of our cars together and have a beer and watch all the passer by's pick them to pieces.

 

They are all beautiful, Walt!

 

Its good to get some recognition. Also @Cody Walls car is incredible! Got to see it up close and personal.

 

That's friggen awesome.

 

well-deserved I might add.

 

Congratulations Rock.. Beautiful car!

 

Well deserved Rock.

 

Beautiful Buick. Congrats.

 

Tons and tons of beautiful fun

 

I have fought with the 455 Buick engine in my car since day one. It has smoked and used oil like it was completely worn out. It has a Edelbrock B4B intake manifold on it. I pulled the engine last winter, went through it again and had the heads reworked for a second time. I blamed it on the knurled valve guides at that time. Since then, it has been better but still burning oil.

This weekend, I pulled the top end and re-examined the heads. Valve guides and seals looked great but there was oil in the intake ports of #3 & #6. I called my buddy Dave (Buick guy whe helped me build the engine the first time.) And asked him to come look. Neither of us could figure it out, so he told me he was going to phone a friend Saturday night and see if he had any ideas. His friend said, "It sounds like you have an intake gasket leak." Huh?

After looking it over and thinking about it, he was right. The 455 has a one piece intake gasket/valley cover that is made of thin steel with embossing to help seal the ports. Did I mention it's thin? So, what i am convinced has been happening is the cam is throwing lots of oil up against the valley cover and the bottom of those 2 ports weren't sealed, so they were*****ing oil right out of the valley.

Fortunately, I have found a set of composite intake gaskets that are .060 thick and have fabricated a valley cover that should work. I also put a set of newly rebuilt heads on it. I will report back when I get finished but the lesson here is, a leaking intake gasket on these engines can cause it to smoke and use oil. Since you can't see or get to the bottom of the intake, that has to be your tip off. Since it wasmpnt leaking on but 2 of the cylinders, it had pretty good manifold vacuum.

Live and learn.

 

That’s purdy

 

Please forgive my ignorance here, as I probably couldn't tell the difference between a Buick 455 and a Chevy 454 right now, though I've owned both (getting too old), but in my younger years, I had a '72 Monte Carlo with a 454 with fairly low miles that used 13 quarts of oil to go from Illinois to Maryland and back. A bit excessive to say the least, and it didn't smoke to where you could see it, like that '62 Buick Special I had in HS with the 215 V8 with holes burned in two pistons. I was at a loss as to what the problem was, until I talked with my very smart cousin who told me to install Perfect Circle valve stem seals. That solved my oil burning problem, but don't know if 455's have the same problem.

Love your car. My oldest brother had a turquoise convertible in the early 60's, and I've loved that style ever since.

 

It has had valve seals from the start. That leak path had been eliminated.

 

I fabricated a valley pan from some .028 SS I had and also blocked the crossover, as the heat was cooking my powder coated manifold. I have driven it about 45 minutes now and have no smell of oil burning or any sign of smoke. I am ready to call it healed!

 

Now time to get back to the 34 or the Packard......

Your sheet metal skills continue to amaze me.

 

Beautiful, congrats.

 

The engine has been doing well and not smoking. Hallelujah! A trip to Myrtle Beach went well and my buds said they didn't see any smoke. So, I'm off to Nashville GoodGuys this weekend.

If you build an engine that has integral valley pan/intake gaskets, be aware that the fit between the intake and heads has to be perfect. I believe Pontiacs are that way, not sure about others.

 

Congrats on finally fixing it. Now drive the hell out of it and have some fun.

 

Got lucky again!

 

That's really great, congrats! You certainly earned it.

 

Congrats, you deserve it.

 

rockable,

Luck had nothing to do with it! You have a beautiful car!