Slow Burn '71 Buick Wagoneer Work Thread

[Yeller]

Nice!

[Srdayflyer]

on the 455, i would check on a buick roadmaster for a trans,should bolt right up with the b.o.p. bell housing pattern. ( Buick,Olds,Pontiac )

[Srdayflyer]

on the BOP bell housing you can tell by looking at it it isnt round like a chevy

[Ineptus Mechanicus]

Not a whole lot of progress lately - for the record, the 700R4 I'm planning on using never came in BOP flavor, so I'll be using an adapter. I'm going to be buying from Monster as their Sport (2nd level) 700R4 is rated for 600lb/ft of torque.

In other news, I'm considering getting a couple of KC Daylighters for the front bumper.



Since my electrical system has already been converted to a fuse block, shouldn't be too hard to wire that in as well. I keep putting off the 4bbl swap because, frankly, I don't really want to do it in high 20s-mid 30s weather.

[devildog80]

Yep, that work is better when warmer, unless needed sooner

[Ineptus Mechanicus]

Well, got bored and decided to swap the manifold. Hopefully I did it right and it works but I probably won't know until next week. Inside of the engine is EXTREMELY clean for 138k though.

[Ineptus Mechanicus]

So, a question; I've been doing some research and it appears there's some argument on how much torque the Dana 20 can take before it explodes. I'm planning on lightly building the 455, up to let's say 400hp and 550tq. I'm not necessarily going to use all that power all the time, it's mainly so that I can get more torque at lower RPM than I currently have. I'm not going to beat on the thing. I've got 33" tires. How likely am I to grenade the D20 if I keep it?

[Yeller]

The gearing its self is more than likely fine. The weak link really is the rear output. Advance Adapters and Novak both sell upgraded outputs, which I feel is a worthy investment. However the automatic transmission helps it survive by absorbing some of the shock load. With an upgraded output, the weak link becomes the Dana 44 rear axle.

[tgreese]

There is an article on Pirate: https://www.pirate4x4.com/threads/uber-20.2702760/

I recall someone on IFSJA advocating carrying an extra output housing if you couldn't afford the upgrade. 20s are relatively plentiful.

Given Yeller's comment, I'd speculate that impact load would be the problem. -> no burnouts. Perhaps you could keep the nice soft shifts of the factory transmission, ie no shift kit. On the trail you're going to be two-footed driving (that's how I would crawl) and your impact load will be a choice, I'd think.

[Ineptus Mechanicus]

There is an article on Pirate: https://www.pirate4x4.com/threads/uber-20.2702760/

I recall someone on IFSJA advocating carrying an extra output housing if you couldn't afford the upgrade. 20s are relatively plentiful.

Given Yeller's comment, I'd speculate that impact load would be the problem. -> no burnouts. Perhaps you could keep the nice soft shifts of the factory transmission, ie no shift kit. On the trail you're going to be two-footed driving (that's how I would crawl) and your impact load will be a choice, I'd think.

Unfortunately, "nice soft shifts" in a 700R4 usually translate to the thing burning up. I'm being pretty paranoid about the transmission and engine health - I'm considering running two trans coolers just to be absolutely sure it doesn't cook. I'll check out the output housing upgrade, though. Anyone know if Herm's rebuilt T-cases come with that upgrade installed? That's where I was going to order from; kinda wanted a Tera Low case, but if that's a bad idea I'll pass on it.

[tgreese]

Herm can get stuff from Advanced. He's an authorized dealer IIRC. Should get a better price from him than direct from Advanced - he can discount as he sees fit.

[Yeller]

This is my preferred trans cooler, I can promise it is sufficient. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B096S6ZC9Y/re ... p13NParams I have 1 each on a 700r4 and a 4l80e neither have ever broke 180 and both get abused.

There are some simple upgrades that can make a big if difference in 700r4 survival, “corvette” servo is one and an external install. I know of several of them behind 700-800 HP with blowers so the low rpm torque is in that range as well, they are living long happy lives, one of them just turned over 80,000 miles in a 4x4 truck that gets driven like it’s stolen. Like blowing the 33x12.50’s off at 65mph just cuz he can

[Ineptus Mechanicus]

This is my preferred trans cooler, I can promise it is sufficient. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B096S6ZC9Y/re ... p13NParams I have 1 each on a 700r4 and a 4l80e neither have ever broke 180 and both get abused.

There are some simple upgrades that can make a big if difference in 700r4 survival, “corvette” servo is one and an external install. I know of several of them behind 700-800 HP with blowers so the low rpm torque is in that range as well, they are living long happy lives, one of them just turned over 80,000 miles in a 4x4 truck that gets driven like it’s stolen. Like blowing the 33x12.50’s off at 65mph just cuz he can

I'm going with the SportMonster rebuild kit, so it's getting servos, sun shell, basically anything that can cause problems. I actually got the transmission last night; right now it's a 2wd and really only classifies as a 700R, being that reverse is the only working gear. Not bad for a hundred bucks though.

[Ineptus Mechanicus]

Okay, maybe someone can clear this up for me - it looks like BJ's buys the Advance output housing, marks it up, and sells it piece by piece, whereas the Advance listing just sells the whole thing for the same price (not parting out the speedo housing and drive) except for the yoke. It looks like the only thing BJ's includes that Advance don't is the speedo gear, and even then it's a $40 add-on. Am I going insane? Or is it just plain more expensive to order the same thing from BJ's?

[tgreese]

Have you contacted Herb? If you plan to buy a transfer case from him, I'd think you'd want to roll the AA extension housing into the purchase.

[Ineptus Mechanicus]

Have you contacted Herb? If you plan to buy a transfer case from him, I'd think you'd want to roll the AA extension housing into the purchase.

I've decided to just go with the housing for now - the transmission and engine rebuild are going to be expensive enough, and currently the only thing wrong with the D20 I have is a bad mount. I might go for a Tlow case in the future, but our offroading is limited by my dad's Tacoma, which isn't likely to see many upgrades given it's his daily. Only problems I've had so far have been related to cooling and the very broken Dualjet.

[Ineptus Mechanicus]

Well, the 4bbl swap is done. For now. Everything works as it should - had some issues with the electric choke, turns out when Edelbrock say not to share the choke power with the coil, they mean it. Unfortunately, cylinders five and eight aren't playing nice. They both have spark (I checked, personally, three times) and fuel, but they're dead. I'm guessing I did the intake install wrong and they're both sucking air from the valley. Only weird thing is that it's the two cylinders that share a runner, but that's probably just coincidence. I've plugged all the holes on that runner that had bolts in them, even though they're blind, but no dice. For those wondering, yes the transfer slots are square at idle - I barely had to change anything on the carb to get it to run perfect as a V6, minus richening it a bit since this carb was on a 305 before. Timing in either direction didn't help. If anyone has a way of confirming the internal leak before I take it apart again, I'd like to hear it.

For what it's worth, for the most part it's running better on six than it ever did on eight with the 2bbl. I can rev it as hard as I like and it won't bog now, and it seems to be holding thermostat temp.

[devildog80]

DOH......hate to do stuff like this twice
Maybe pull the plug, put some air pressure into the cylinder, see if you hear it through exhaust, carb, or oil fill?
When we did mine, I know we put RTV on bottom & top of valley pan, and a nice bead on both China walls. Everything sealed up perfect, and no issues.

[Ineptus Mechanicus]

DOH......hate to do stuff like this twice
Maybe pull the plug, put some air pressure into the cylinder, see if you hear it through exhaust, carb, or oil fill?
When we did mine, I know we put RTV on bottom & top of valley pan, and a nice bead on both China walls. Everything sealed up perfect, and no issues.

Good idea, think I'll try that tomorrow. I followed all the installation instructions - smear on intake ports top and bottom, beads around water jackets top and bottom, dots in the corners of the china wall gaskets. Everything's sealed perfectly *except* apparently those two intake ports. Hate to do it all again, but I can't think of what else it could be.

[devildog80]

Just my initial thoughts, sure others will have more technical test process, or know exactly what is failing.