With the Olds 350 in my '57 F100, finally have the chance with the right friends tonight to swap out HEI dizzy for points-style dizzy, proper tuning with more headroom at the 'wall. Also hoping to successfully sneak the Edelbrock intake on (had a '72 block in there, block went bad, everything carried over to a '76 block except heads and Performer intake, later told Ditch The Valley Pan Gasket). Anyone reading this done such a Ditch 'n swap? Also, thinkin now is a good time to put a thermostat in. The bud I built the motor with has sworn of 'stats altogether, after a few have 'done in his race motors'. I let it ride, but always made me wary when cruising, especially with Stop Leak'ing the radiator until I can get a new one in there....
There is no intake gasket sets for the Olds except the valley pan gasket, nothing wrong with them, a new t-stat would be a great idea. If I were you I would keep the HEI, there should be plenty of room for that
No, actually there are a lot of different companies making intake gasket sets for the 350 / 455 Olds that are not the tin pan type. Fel Pro, Mr Gasket, etc make them. We used a set on the 455 Olds in my Son's rpu and we ditched the end seals they give you and used Permatex The Right Stuff instead. Here is one such set of gaskets: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/fog-8042/applications/make/oldsmobile/year/1976 Don
thanks for the input, actually the end gaskets weren't the problem, it was the max'ed out spaced between the HEI cap and firewall, limiting tuneability. But that'll happen when the front end and motor are not originally from the vehicle. I could've cut into the firewall, but I'd rather engineer something else around that. May not be the last motor in the '57. The gasket you showed confirms the thought I had to zip out the middle part of the 'pan gasket and just use the port flanges.
Maybe I am misreading your post, but what I was saying is, you don't use any of the turkey pan gasket at all, you buy a composite gasket set that consists of two for the sides and two for the ends. We tossed the tin gasket entirely and just did my Son's like you would do any other motor. The reason I mentioned The Right Stuff instead of end seals is that I never use end seals any more on anything, I just lay a bead of The Right Stuff on there and they never leak. It fills voids better than any rubber or cork seal. Some people trim the tin pan and just slide the center part down into the lifter valley to keep hot oil from splashing on the underside of the intake, but we didn't do that with no problems at all. As for the distributor clearance, he is running a small cap Mallory Unilite and it is a lot smaller than the old HEI distributor. Don
What's the benefit in not running the tin in the valley? I know it was a pain in the**** when I did mine, but is it something that I should remove?
Don, I like how you got rid of the big tube that comes out of the center of the valve cover. How did you go about this?
As for a 'stat, I favor 195 degree units. Some will disagree, as is their right, however, there is no engine built in any factory anywhere that does not have control of it's internal temperature. Further, there are no auto engines built in any factory that do not use a thermostat of at least 180 degrees, and most use a 195 degree unit. BTW, the 'stat can only regulate temperature if the cooling system is up to the task. Putting in a lower temp 'stat won't do a thing if the cooling system could not keep the engine at temperature before. Your engine, you do what you feel is best. Cosmo
Great feedback, thanks. The note about the valley pan from Don was interesting, I'd been wondering what it was covering from. So far I haven't had any cooling problems, though I haven't driven it extensively yet. Am leary of the radiator I had to put Stop Leak in, the electric fan kicks on fine, so far. Some of these things are just plain new to me. Never had a hot rod/custom with an electric fan instead of fan bolted to motor (no space for fan). But for that matter, I've never had a motor work out as well, so far, as this Olds we rebuilt.
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