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buick odd fire from an even fire

Discussion in 'Flat Fender Tech' started by wannagpw, Sep 9, 2009.

  1. Sep 9, 2009
    wannagpw

    wannagpw New Member

    placerville Ca.
    Joined:
    Aug 17, 2009
    Messages:
    32
    I am hopeing to buy a 77 Buick odd fire this weekend.
    When I look at it will there be any way to tell if it is an odd fire?
    On Novak it says they changed the intake manifold & heads during the transition between the Odd fires & the Even fires.
    I am new to the Buick V6...Is there any external visual differances?
    If I read it correctily...the Odd fire is internally balanced. I want to make sure I am not getting an externally balanced engine without its original flywheel.
    Thanks for your help.
     
    wannagpw, Sep 9, 2009
    #1
  2. Sep 9, 2009
    sparky

    sparky Sandgroper Staff Member Founder

    Perth, WA
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    sparky, Sep 9, 2009
    #2
  3. Sep 9, 2009
    strokercutlass

    strokercutlass Performance Specialist

    Wisconsin
    Joined:
    May 10, 2007
    Messages:
    10
    If I remember correctly, even fire V6's have frost plugs in the ends of the heads, whereas odd fire motors did not.
     
    strokercutlass, Sep 9, 2009
    #3
  4. Sep 9, 2009
    w3srl

    w3srl All-around swell dude Staff Member

    Port Orange, FL
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    Nov 6, 2002
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    Casting numbers are the only decent way to be almost sure. R)

    Somewhere there is someone who swapped internals into another block, but I'd bet 99.5% of the time the numbers will be accurate. Don't bet on looking at the distributor either, because we've had folks on here that drove odd-fires with the wrong type distributor and they ran...
     
    w3srl, Sep 9, 2009
    #4
  5. Sep 10, 2009
    47willys

    47willys Member

    Austin, Texas
    Joined:
    Mar 19, 2009
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    74
    You may even get lucky and find a "Dauntless" sticker on the side of a valve cover. Mine ran with the wrong distributor as mentioned above too.
     
    47willys, Sep 10, 2009
    #5
  6. Sep 10, 2009
    wannagpw

    wannagpw New Member

    placerville Ca.
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    Aug 17, 2009
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    32
    Thanks...This is a cool site,but it dosn't say which 1977 castings were odds & which were even.
    http://www.earlycj5.com/technical/en...ars-and-notes/
    I'll check the heads for frost plugs when I see them.
    If it IS an even fire without a flywheel...How hard is it to find a used evenfire flywheel & how will I know where to rotate it & bolt it up so it's balanced?
     
    wannagpw, Sep 10, 2009
    #6
  7. Sep 10, 2009
    sparky

    sparky Sandgroper Staff Member Founder

    Perth, WA
    Joined:
    Sep 20, 2002
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    http://www.earlycj5.com/technical/e...bers-internal-specs-for-most-years-and-notes/

    You look at the casting number on the engine, go look at the table, it tells you whether it's an even or odd-fire V6. I don't see the issue here that you're pointing out??? AFAIK our sources are reliable. I've not had anyone report any mistakes yet in 10+ years of having that table up. If you find one report it please, but it clearly states which 1977 blocks are Odd-Fire and which 1977-78 are even fire...
     
    Last edited: Sep 10, 2009
    sparky, Sep 10, 2009
    #7
  8. Sep 10, 2009
    mpc

    mpc Member

    Vista, CA 92083...
    Joined:
    Aug 18, 2005
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    779
    The table shows a casting number of 1254083 for both the odd fire and even fire for 1977. If the engine happened to have a casting number of 1255862 or 1261438, then yes it would be obvious. If it happens to have number 1254083 I wouldn't know how to tell if it's odd or even (without taking things apart to look for additional numbers).

    That appears to me to be the issue.
     
    mpc, Sep 10, 2009
    #8
  9. Sep 10, 2009
    wannagpw

    wannagpw New Member

    placerville Ca.
    Joined:
    Aug 17, 2009
    Messages:
    32
    OK...
    So I'm not the sharpest tool in the shead.
    Give me a hand here.
    Both 75-76 & 77 says even fire strait rod pin crank/odd fire with integrated dist. drive.
    I have little engine experance...can you give me a hand & brake down what its saying?
    I was takeing it as both even & odd fires shared thoes casting #s.
    Thanks for your help.
     
    wannagpw, Sep 10, 2009
    #9
  10. Sep 10, 2009
    Mcruff

    Mcruff Earlycj5 Machinist

    Albertville, AL
    Joined:
    Sep 22, 2002
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    5,349
    The flywheel is a non issue as an oddfire flywheel can be balanced by any decent shop to run on an even fire motor.
    An odd fire crank has 1 journal per 2 rods, typical of all v8 engines. The even fire crank has a seperate journal for every rod. The even fire cam has the distributor drive gear machined on the cam blank, the oddfire has a keyed gear that bolts to the end of the cam.
     
    Mcruff, Sep 10, 2009
    #10
  11. Sep 10, 2009
    sparky

    sparky Sandgroper Staff Member Founder

    Perth, WA
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    Hmm, ok, you know I thought I'd noticed something like that once upon a time with those numbers, then thought I was crazy.

    I'll look into it.

    thinking it's a typographical error that we should get fixed!
     
    sparky, Sep 10, 2009
    #11
  12. Sep 14, 2009
    Spicolli

    Spicolli jeep geek

    So. Cal.
    Joined:
    Dec 23, 2004
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    188
    Odd or Even Fire, this should be a good v6 for ya! just my $0.02. I have a 1977 231 EF Buick running a 225 OF flywheel. I think its a good combo!
     
    Spicolli, Sep 14, 2009
    #12
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