225 Build

FWIW...

machine shop dropped me a note on the condition of the engine I dropped off...

Hello Arie:
Hope your vacation was nice and WARM!!
Back to reality....
Your 225 Buick is all apart. Looks great inside.
Look up and see what you can get for 1st oversize pistons and rings.
Crankshaft looks good and will take standard size bearings.
Usual parts: Camshaft, lifters, timing set, cam bearings and soft pug kit as well as gaskets.
Believe it or not the timing cover/oil pump even looks good.
Get a oil pick up tube please.
This looks like a well cared for engine. good find.
Let me know what you can find.

I have an order into TA for a timing cover and pickup assembly...
all new Sealed Power internals ordered direct from federal mogul.. stock cam..

 

I installed the HEI. My original distributor needed a full rebuild and it was cheaper for me to install the HEI. Its easy to do. You can get very involved with tuning it. I didn't and it works fine. That will need you to grind the intake a bit to fit, but its no big deal.

The reason I did the 4 barrel intake, the HEI and the holley 390 is because it was cheaper to do it than to fix the junk I had. It also is reliable. Auto choke, starts easy, turns off. It all works great.

I did get a screaming deal on the intake, 50 bucks NWOB and the Holley was on sale at summit. The HEI was like 100 bucks, but the ignition module went out under 500 miles, so buy a good spare for buick, not chevy. they are different.

As far as milage, don't know. I don't drive it for economy. Performance wise, if you keep your foot out of it, it runs like the 2G, when the secondaries kick in it goes like heck. Turns the 35's easy.

I did all my upgrades mainly because they were easy and cheaper. Yes Cheaper.

 

I had a 4bbl Holley truck avenger on my 225, and then I installed a 2G Rochester. I did quite a lot of tuning on the Holley and was never completely satisfied with driveability. I am much much happier with the Rochester, as I never have to adjust for warm/cold conditions like the Holley, and I feel the 2G is more drivable all around. I also feel I lost a little top end with the 2bbl vs. the Holley 4bbl, but for how I drive, the 2G is much better. I have had excellent performance from the Truck Avenger on steep hills and such, but I can't complain about the 2G in that department either. My vote goes for 2G Rochester, professionally rebuilt over a new Holley.

 

All of the truck Avenger parts can be installed on a Holley 390 cfm 8007 carb. I have never seen another carb even come close to it on a Buick v6. An HEI distributor really brings these motors alive. You can still buy a brand new odd-fire hei distributor for a 75 Buick Apollo and an even fire hei distributor is very easy to modify to a OF.

 

Also, I installed a pertronix in a reman distributor so I could keep the small distributor cap and not grind on the intake.the pertronix has been incredible. I have had a 390 Holley on other applications and it was great but I still feel the driveability is better with the 2bbl Rochester. Plus, I have had two different Holley carbs start flaking apart in the past 10 or 15 years. Gave me fits, but I will give Holley credit, they gave me a new replacement both times.

 

Suspension hung and Axle casings are mounted..
Rear axle is in and ready to accept wheels and tires..
Hit a wall rebuilding the knuckles, lacking a handful of 7/16 BSF threaded nuts...
would love to get the front buttoned up this week and have a roller..






minus

 

don't you know the stock grind from Sealed Power is NLA..

went with a 252 comp cam...
haven't had much luck with aftermarket grinds... but all those engines were FI...
here's to sticking with a carb

 

The Comp odd fire grinds are pretty tame. I think you'll be fine.

 

I much prefer working on Jeep axles..


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I love seeing others interested in galvanizing everything they can. Makes me not feel like a wierdo.

 

Love molten zinc...

 

Its officially a roller...

took forever longer than I thought to throw these axles together..
lots of fiddly pieces and seals, flanges that need sealing etc...

Going to keep busy with brakes, steering and suspension while waiting for drivetrain..
figure the more stuff in place, the better the motor will find a home.
Might whack the battery tray out of the way.. its just a flat surface collecting junk now..




unlimited image hosting

 

Waiting on parts... specifically an engine..
Started stripping and cleaning the body, but that got old quickly.
Took all that frustration and cleaned shop.
Amazing how much I organized, tossed or moved out.

 

I think I should clean and complain more often...

got this video from the machine shop today.....
its ALIVE...

 

Congratulations!

 

Tap tap tap. Dyno slip...

 

Love it!!

 

Now the fun starts....

I only looked at it briefly tonight..
bolted the drivetrain together and threw it on some jack stands in the chassis.
Going to mount the bulkhead tomorrow and start messing around.

 

started throwing some parts at this last night...
I am fairly happy with the motor 1" offset to the driver side (LHD) and the Tcase clocked down
there will be some trans tunnel modification as I have the drivetrain a bit higher to get the front propshaft to clear the cross member. But all in all things look good.
I think I have come to my tradeoff decision...

With the engine moved forward I have no bulkhead modification required.
However cooling would need to be changed and I would probably have to go to power steering.. basically a lot of custom fabrication and parts hunting..

moving the engine back I can retain the factory radiator and steering(I think) , but will challenge the shape of the passenger side foot well..
Exhaust doesn't seem to be as big a deal as I thought.. the Stock Jeepster manifolds and Y pipe are a possible option.. I have some other block hugging headers coming this week to experiment with.

Need to stare at it a bit more, get the steering box, relay and track rod in place before committing to any bulkhead chopping..

here is where it sits as of now.. sorry for all the pictures.. maybe somebody will see something I'm overlooking..