TWO LANE BLACK TOP

LogDog I'm not trying to discourage you either...This is a major project....Don't like to see anyone spend a lot of time and money.... Only to be dissatisfied with the results..... I am not familiar with ZZperformance but if they offer a complete kit for your application or can point you in the right direction that would be the way to go... If Last Indian recommends them.... It would without a doubt be worth checking into...

Has been a few years since I've had a 231 apart....That was a series 2 supercharged engine from my brothers 40th anniversary GTP....If I remember correctly the main difference between the series 2 and the series 3 is the fly by wIre system and maybe the supercharger model or housing to accommodate that..??? I don't think that I have ever redone a series 1....But do know that series 1 has a taller deck height..?? As far as the forged crankshaft that makes perfect sense too me..... Again if I remember correctly the pistons in the S/C engine are different that being the size of the dish..(smaller but deeper) to lower the compression ratio and compensate for the different compression height..?? With full floating wrist pins..Compared to the naturally aspirated engine...Also the ring landings are wider and the rings beefier to help control the blowby better with the boost..(basically when turning a negative into a positive with the added cylinder pressure).. Again not 100% sure but think the front and rear oil seals may be different too...Also the connecting rods are shorter than the N/A and are forged powdered metal..?? Also am pretty sure that the balance shaft is different....(Heavier)..Am also thinking that the harmonic balancer is different than the N/A engine too.... Please feel free to correct me on any of those details or anything I that I might have left out or be incorrect on...I am always willing to learn.... Knowledge is power.... TLB

I'm pretty sure you will need the cylinder heads also...With the 3.8 supercharged engine the fuel injectors are located in the heads....With the naturally aspirated version the injectors are located in the intake manifold.......Pretty much the only parts that are the same between them is the block and the crankshaft......As Last Indian indicated........

Honestly weather or not it actually made any difference is up for debate As to why they did it on a street car ..Who knows......

Way back in the day when we ran enduro races... At one of the local short tracks around here... the rules required us to run stock brake and suspension parts so some of the guys would cut the rotors like that in order to help vent the gasses in an attempt to gain a little extra braking power when the rotors were red hot....Weather it actually worked or not is debatable......... That's what it looks like to me........

There is no set time or mileage for rebuilding... Realistically as long as it is running OK....With good oil pressure and no overheating issues you are probably better off to just leave it alone...For example they use torque to yield bolts..95% of the time they cannot be reused...New bolts for it can be a bit pricey..Chances are that during the disassembly the threads in the block will come out with the bolts and will require most if not all the bolt holes to be helicoiled which in turn causes other problems with the thin castings which are very prone to cracking anyway...If you do get lucky and the threads stay in the block if you try to Chase the threads with a tap to attempt to clean them up... it will loosen them to the point that they won't tighten up or will strip out The cylinder head is very prone to cracking in the combustion chamber's between the valves they also have weak valve guides that is one of the main reasons they tend to burn alot of oil....The head castings are so thin that even cutting it just enough to get a flat surface for the head gasket to seal can render it useless...GM has three or four different head bolt tightening sequences depending on the year and casting numbers if it is not followed exactly the head gasket is almost guaranteed to fail in a fairly short order... There are too many idiosyncrasies with rebuilding the Quad four engine to even try to list them all...That is why I have only mentioned some of the most obvious ones.....Again I am not trying to be negative just realistic... Also noticed that you are in Greensboro... I'm in Winston-Salem

Yes you can test the switches First thing to do is unhook the wIre harness from the switch..If you can pull the unit to access the back of the switch it will make it alot easier to do... Once you gain access to poles that the harness plugs into....Using a multimeter on the OHM setting place the black lead on the ground pole of the switch...(switch may have more than two poles... One of them is ground... Possible may be marked) Place the red lead on the other pole with the switch in the OFF position...should show OL...If it does not that means something inside the switch is broke and needs to be replaced...Can do the same thing with the continuity setting on the meter..Black lead on the ground..Red lead to the other pole with switch in the OFF position if it beebs means switch is bad... Am sure there are other members out there that can better explain the procedure.....

I suspect the blower switch...But before you start changing switches....Make sure that there are no wires under the dash or under the hood that are chafed or rubbing together causing it to pull unwanted power from another source....Not 100% sure but think that you might be able to just get the heater fan switch by itself without having to get the whole dash unit...Would be worth checking into.... One of my friends Grand prix...

Would highly suspect that the switch itself has gone bad...When you unhook the wIre from the blower motor and it shuts off....Does the blower come back on when you hook the wIre back up ????

That's some nice work.. Class A......

is that key offset by any chance..?? Might have to pull the gear off to be 100% sure... If not could be whoever did it wasn't paying attention or was incompetent. During the assembly phase 20 years ago..... Either way the zero marks should be lined up......

Does the bottom timing gear (crankshaft) have 3 keyways in it.... 4 degrees retard..0 or straight up.....4 degrees advance..????? Or an offset key...??? if it does....Alot of builders like to use the 4 degree advance keyway...Or an offset key...Reason being that as the timing chain stretches and wears over time it will wear toward the 0 or straight up position..... Alot of newer street oriented camshaft grinds will have the 4 degree advance ground into it already...to allow for the same thing without having to use offset keys....ETC. So you can just set it staight up...

Have been doing welding and fabrication for 40 years.....Everything from paper thin aluminum to six inch thick Core 10 structural steel.....Would highly suggest that you take a basic welding class at a local community college or something before even attempting to start...With the thin galvanized metal most cars are made of it is really really easy to do alot of damage really really quick...Would be time and money well spent plus you can use it to make money.....

Have to agree with Frosty...Definitely sounds like a timing issue to me...One thing to be aware of ...The outer ring on old balancers tend to move around as the rubber deteriorates.... Making the TDC Mark on it completely inaccurate...Realistically the only way to accurately get TDC is to do it manually.... That is assuming the timing set (chain) isn't worn out...An easy way to check it without pulling the timing cover is to use a breaker bar and a socket on the crank bolt and manually rotate the engine...Clockwise with the drivers side rocker cover off as you rotate the engine watch the valves they should move instantaneously...If there is any slack or delay between the valves moving at all...While rotating the crank chances are the timing set has had it and needs to be replaced...(If the timing has jumped chances are there will be some slack in it) If all that checks OK...With the valve cover still off continue to rotate the engine manually....Do not bump it with the starter...(Will rotate easy if you remove all the spark plugs) Watch the valves on the number one cylinder...When the intake valve opens..Keep rotating..until the valve closes...Slowly continue to rotate the engine..stick an old pushrod or a pencil or something into the spark plug hole as the piston comes up...When it reaches its highest point with both the intake and exhaust valves are both Fully closed....That is TDC...Look at the damper if the timing nark is not lined up with the 0 Mark on the timing tab that means the outer ring has slipped..You can still use the damper but you have to put you own zero Mark on it then you can use that Mark to accurately set the timing...You can use any terminal on the distributor cap that you want to as #1 just have to put the wires in order counter clockwise starting with the #1 wire...After you decide where you want number one..with the cap on the distributor take a sharpie and Mark the base of the distributor so that it is centered up with the #1 terminal..once you get the base oriented where to want it... Make sure the rotor button is pointing toward that particular terminal....line the Mark you made on the distributor base to the leading edge of the copper contact thingy on the rotor button If everything else is right....Should start and run and be within a couple of degrees of the final timing setting......

Some of them tend to develope an oil leak around the rear of the intake manifold...Can be hard to spot...Also when cleaning the engine direct any water spray away from the Optispark (distributer) Earlier ones are not vented..Fuel pumps can go bad if they are not driven alot and sit for extended periods with today's ethanol gas in the tank.. Make sure all the fluids are fresh...Other than that they are good reliable cars....Should give you many miles of driving excitement....

Of the 6 cars I currently own...3 of them I have had for 20 years or more..One of those a 1971 442...I've had since the mid 1980s...The 97 firebird I bought new...The 96 firebird I got in late1998 with 7500 miles on it...The last new car I bought was a 2003 Oldsmobile Silhouette Still have it too...The other two cars a 97 lincoln and a 2000 Honda will go to the junkyard when I Am done running them into the ground...will be replaced with similar cheap high mileage beaters as the need arises...Will probably never own another new car unless I win the lottery...Even then would have a problem paying more for a new car than I paid for my house When I originally bought it......

Nice car A lot of reman Pontiac waterpumps...Have too much clearance between the impeller and the walls of the waterpump itself...Also between the impeller and the divider plate ..Or possibly both....Have seen it quite a few times over the years especially on Oldsmobiles and Pontiacs...Can cause the water to cavitate inside of the pump instead of consitantly pushing water thru the cooling system through the whole RPM range....Might look like the water is flowing good at idle...Doesn't mean that it is pushing enough water volume fast enough to get a real good transfer of heat from the block...Might be something to take a real close hard look at...... One other thing changing the pulley size to try to speed up the pump really won't do any good...As the impeller clearance issues themselves will not allow the pump to have the pressure,volume and speed of water flow in gallons per minute that it is supposed to...No matter how fast you turn it

Easiest thing to do is get the yoke with the turbo 400...Then change the U joint and the old yoke from the drive shaft...If the trans missions are same overall length...The drive shaft will work without having to alter it....

Here is some info on hydraulic fittings....Thought It might be of some help....

Just be aware...The outer rings on old balancers tend to move around as the rubber deteriorates....Makes setting the timing correctly..Almost impossible..... Need to find TDC manualy See if the timing Mark on the damper lines up with zero on the tab...If not Then remark the damper.....To line up with the zero on the timing tab....That will be the actual TDC.....

Very possible since the tank was cleaned out that it might have picked up residual trash from the fuel lines or maybe even the tank.....Even though the carb was rebuilt...When it is stumbling does it seem like it might be trying to flood..?? stong gas smell?? Running way rich..?? Or is it lean.?? And starving for fuel.??...Very possible could have picked up some trash and gotten stuck in the needle and seat in the carb..One thing you might try..May or may not work...with the engine warm and running...Open the throttle by Hand at the carb to about half way or so...the with your other hand force the choke closed for a couple seconds..then let off the choke and the throttle... allow to idle down...The extra gas forced into the fuel bowl with the choke closed and the throttle open..Sometimes can float out anything that might be trapped in the needle and seat..But like I said may or may not work...might be worth a try though....

When you bottomed out the rockers....You more than likely have way too much preload on the lifters...Even though they are hydraulic you can't just lock them down..Can cause all kinds of problems..(Erratic idle..Won't rev like they should...Among lots of other issues some of them severe).. Best thing to do is pull the valve covers and readjust all the valves...Starting with #1 cylinder back both the rockers off..intake and exhaust..Just enough so they are slightly loose...Using a socket and a breaker bar on the crank bolt rotate the engine by hand clockwise (Remove all the plugs will rotate fairly easy). Watch the exhaust valve when it opens half way.. Stop right there..Using two fingers move the push rod on the intake side up and down while SLOWLY tightening the intake rocker down just as soon as the push rod stops moving up and down and there is no slack...Stop right there... That is zero lash...Should not be pressing down on the lifter at all... Once you get to that point tighten down the rocker nut one half turn ... Then rotate the engine while watching the intake valve when it opens all the way then closes halfway... Stop right there... Do the same thing with the pushrod on the exhaust side up and down when you have zero lash...tighten the rocker nut one half turn...Do the same thing on all the cylinders...Be sure to watch the valves is very important,..exhaust half way down set intake...Intake valve all the way open then close half way..set exhaust...Repeat on all the cylinders...Might have to go thru it a couple times to get exactly right..... Please..Let me know what happens....also please post here on this thread so everyone can see

Were the cylinder heads redone.??..Were Valves ground and sealing good.?? Are all the valve stems the same height.?? With new matching valve springs locks and retainers and not coil binding??...Hydraulic or solid lifters.??..Also what method did you use to set the valve lash..??

Sometimes the rubber hose running to the caliper from the hard line collapses on the inside...Will look normal from the outside...Doesn't allow the pressure to release from the caliper...When the brake pedal is depressed the pressure holds the line open... When released there is no pressure to hold the line open...So it closes up..Won't allow the fluid to escape from the caliper...Would suggest replacing both the soft lines running to the calipers.......

This the actual GM manual from 1965...Not a reprint.... Took photos with phone....Hope you can see them OK....Flasher is located in the fuse block......Hope this helps