Did a compression test on my stroked Olds 215, not good. #4 cylinder at 50 lbs.

[Gswest236]

Nothing left but the timing set, crank and cam.

[Gswest236]

Tub of pistons anyone.

[mgb260]

Tiny metal particles got to the bearings too. Hope the mains are standard too. You will have to have the crank rod journals turned down at least .010. Custom Crank in Tacoma can turn the crank for you and tell them you want .001 oil clearance on the mains and .0015 on the rods. I wonder if they were cast rings?  I'd get moly rings.

[Gswest236]

Whatever the rings were made of, they were junk. When its time to get rings, I'll not go cheap!

[mgb260]

Scott, Overheating or detonation are the two main causes of broken rings. Too much timing advance, lower octane fuel, inadequate cooling system. Maybe you need a larger radiator, you shouldn't need four fans. A lot of guys use a  65 Mustang aluminum radiator and with high compression you need premium fuel.

[Gswest236]

It actually ran great after I solved some issues. Never overheated, never pinged or made any noises. When I got it  it didn't do well in traffic on a hot day (not an issue here too often as you know Jim). It had vapor lock issues initially. I did a return fuel filter, a phenolic carb spacer and i had a hood louvered (aftermarket) . I vented the block better so the oil leaks might lessen. But in reality, you'd be surprised how well it ran in its obvious poor state. I expect a massive improvement. I never pushed this past 3000 RPM. It sounded great but i had a feeling..

[mgb260]

I wonder if the previous owner refreshed the motor with the wrong thickness rings like in Jon's motor? 1.2 top ring in a 1.5 gap.and 1.5 second ring in a 2.0 gap. They may work for a while but the flexing will weaken them.

[mgb260]

Jon's heads had nice beehive springs too, but unfortunately they used Chevy retainers meant for 7 degree keepers with the Buick 11 degree keepers and they may as well been welded to the valves.

[Gswest236]

Got the crank, cam and timing set removed. 3 of the bearings on the crank say STD, the first bearing on the front doesn't say STD, it has something stamped but doesn't look like a measurement. The middle bearing is different in that it has sides on it, it is stamped U STD. Wouldn't they all have to be the same?
What should I measure on the cam to see if it's useable. I'm assuming the height of the lobes compared to each other?

[Gswest236]

Crankshaft is ready for a trip to the shop. Do I need to measure the journals?

[mgb260]

Scott,  No need to measure, hopefully the crank shop will only need to take .010 or .020 off. There are larger oversize bearings available but hard to find and expensive. After the crank is ground you will know what size bearings to get. It is a 300 crank but 215 journal size. On the cam all the lobe heights should be close to the same. If not take the cam and lifters to Delta Cams in Tacoma to be refurbished. The middle bearing with the sides is the thrust bearing.

[mgb260]

Lift at the cam when new: IN .305 EX .313

https://crower.com/printcamcard/?part_num=50233&x=0&y=0

[Gswest236]

Thanks Jim, I'll measure the cam lobes.

[mgb260]

Scott, measure the width for the base circle then subtract from height for lobe lift. or just compare.

[Gswest236]

Jim, Ive read thru the posts here and I cant find the shop you guys used for the heads. Was it Buds? I think they're in Lakewood?

[mgb260]

Scott, Buds went out of business so everything was done at Johnson Machine in Olympia.

[Gswest236]

Got it, Thanks!

[mgb260]

Custom Crankshaft and Delta Cams are in Tacoma. Johnson Machine cleaned the block and heads, installed soft plugs, oil galley plugs, cam bearings, skimmed heads and block, installed helicoils. Heads received 3 angle valve job, bronze guide liners, Viton seals and SBC LT1 springs with Comp Cams 11 degree retainers. What did you find on the cam lobes? Have you tried honing #4?

[Gswest236]

Not yet, I ran out of WD40. I'm doing that tomorrow. I'm having issues getting the dip stick tube out. Soaking it with penetrant now. I'm taking the cam, lifters and crank to Tacoma this week. Going to Olympia soon after. I-5 has some work being done this week so Olympia probably after that is complete.
By the way who did the Jet Coat for you guys?  Looks awesome!

[mgb260]

Scott, wait until you get your cam back and take it with your block so they can fit the cam bearings.  You can use a 7/16 drill bit to gage if the oil mods were done to the pick up passage in the block. Do you have the standard oil pump or the High Volume with spacer and longer gears? Jon used the TA back grooved front cam bearing and adjustable oil pressure relief valve. Jon had the Jet Hot done in Auburn.

https://www.performancecoatings.com/

[Gswest236]

So the pick up passage you're asking about is where the oil pickup tube connects to the block? I have to look at the oil pump, I had to look up where the oil pump was; never dealt with an oil pump until now. Lot of new things to deal with, but it is interesting and I love a project!
Appreciate the help!

[mgb260]

Yep, stock passage is 7/16. Jon opened his to 1/2 and the matching hole in the front cover. Increases volume and makes the pump act like a bigger pump without adding stress to the cam and distributor gear that the longer gears of the High Volume pump does. We used the steel booster plate.  I also add a hole in the oil pump to directly add oil to the back of the gears that helps idle oil pressure. Tight tolerance on fitting cover is important too.

[Gswest236]

So yes I'll wait to get the block and heads done until i get the cam and lifters done. That's a great thing to know. I'll look at the pump tomorrow and measure the holes. All the oil improvements will be done or verified that they're already done.  I'd be surprised if they are already done; it was 2009 I think so
I don't know if that was a thing 16  years ago.

[MGBV8]

The Buick oiling mods goes back way farther than 16 years for the Buick V8 crowd.  Dates waay back to the Nailhead days.

[mgb260]

Carl. Yeah, Phil Baker schooled me around 1980. Another thing with Jon's motor the main oil holes were opened up to 1/4" and the bearing shell holes are 3/16" We used a soft jaw vice and drilled the bearings from the backside to 1/4" and just touched the other side to chamfer the burr. We used the 5/8" V6 oil pickup too.