[eaglesan13]

Bring the trailer.

Originally Posted by bossbirdta

....are you playing show and tell or parking it in the car corral with a For Sale sign on it?... should i bring the trailer???

[njsteve]

Original trans. Original carb is gone from the ebay car. Here is the seller's response to my questions:

"Sorry for the delay I have the information you wanted. The carburetor code is 7042264 WG 1 guy told me that is not the original carburetor. The transmission is the original to the car the aluminum plate that is riveted to the transmission is 72 PQ 1688 I found the vin that matched the vin on the car. I'm putting up the pictures on eBay in 20 minutes."

[165th]

Question: is the baffle that bolts over the rocker arms a must have in an engine rebuild?

I would guess one purpose of the baffle is to be an oiler. Is there any other function for this part.

Does anyone have any experience with engine/valve life if the baffle is not installed?

It's part 5 in the exploded view illustration.

Thanks.

[1971455HO]

165th,

I posed this question when I was restoring my HO engine. The answer is NO. NJSteve weighed in on this issue when I mention here that I had replaced the original stamped steel rockers with roller tip rockers from Comp Cam. Fortunately, Steve told me I was fixing to hear a big clatter under the valve covers when i fired that Jessie up. Boy, was I glad he was on the forum that night. He jokingly said....guess how I know. Anyway the conversation went on to explain that Pontiac used the bolt on baffles/ drippers to ensure good oiling on their engines when they encountered long periods idling in slow bumper to bumper traffic. Later they replaced them with the dripper type valve covers and then eventually stopped doing anything after they realized they weren't needed.

I like them. I think they serve a good purpose, however small that may be. I like the fact that it keeps a lot of oil off the valve cover and controls splatter. My engine is none the worse for not running them though. I'm keeping them though for no other reason than they were were part of my original engine.

Some of the the more educated engine builders here may be able to add more light on the subject than me. Hope this helps.

Eddie

[2manyT/A'S]

It's Back..............

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ponti...item20d1d22b8a

[70FormulaCA]

Originally Posted by 2manyT/A'S

It's Back..............

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Ponti...item20d1d22b8a

And at "no reserve" this time!

[74 SD455 Formula]

It got bid up to $17,6K last time. If it bid's any higher than that this time you know there will had been shill bidding going on.

[165th]

Originally Posted by 1971455HO

165th,

I posed this question when I was restoring my HO engine. The answer is NO. NJSteve weighed in on this issue when I mention here that I had replaced the original stamped steel rockers with roller tip rockers from Comp Cam. Fortunately, Steve told me I was fixing to hear a big clatter under the valve covers when i fired that Jessie up. Boy, was I glad he was on the forum that night. He jokingly said....guess how I know. Anyway the conversation went on to explain that Pontiac used the bolt on baffles/ drippers to ensure good oiling on their engines when they encountered long periods idling in slow bumper to bumper traffic. Later they replaced them with the dripper type valve covers and then eventually stopped doing anything after they realized they weren't needed.

I like them. I think they serve a good purpose, however small that may be. I like the fact that it keeps a lot of oil off the valve cover and controls splatter. My engine is none the worse for not running them though. I'm keeping them though for no other reason than they were were part of my original engine.

Some of the the more educated engine builders here may be able to add more light on the subject than me. Hope this helps.

Eddie

Thank you Eddie, that's just the kind of feedback I was looking for. Similar to the roller rockers, the stamped 1.65 RAIV rocker is sitting higher than stock due to the elongated valve stems. This was discussed in posts 1396 through 1398. This makes things crowded up near the bottom of the valve cover, but the valve cover does sit down nicely without the baffle.

Thanks also to NJSteve for daylighting this through R&D

Here's a picture of the completed assembly with the longer valves, upgraded springs and 1.65 rockers.

[1971455HO]

Sorry for not remembering which brand, maybe Fel-Pro, but I also remember post about thicker valve cover gaskets being available for guys running a little taller than stock valve train but wanting to retain their stock valve covers. Not the expert here, but I don't think you will need thicker gaskets with the 1.65 RA IV rockers.

I don't know if the RA IV engines came with the baffles, but somebody on here knows!

I remember some of the guys here that build & race really strong Pontiac engines, saying years ago a common practice was to use two gasket sets to achieve clearance with stock covers. You had to seal between them really good to not have any leaks and use longer bolts, but it worked just fine. It's not too obvious and most guys, except the eagle eyed, photographic Pontiac memory guys on here would ever detect it.

I admire all the detail you have put back into your engine. I know you want it right with no issues. It sucks to have to take one back apart after you have ran it and risk chipping paint and spilling oil on pristine parts outside of your engine. You probably know more than me, but really make sure you have your valves adjusted dead on and you don't have any clearance problems.

I had to take my covers back off after my car was totally reassembled. It was wired, hosed, all the fluids and ready to go. I was a day or two from firing it up when I found out the baffles would make contact with the aftermarket rockers. By the way, my car has AC also. See where I'm going. It sucks.

Your engine looks awsome.

Good luck,

Eddie

[starlightblack]

May have been posted before, but what the hey...

[/URL]

[70RAlll]

Originally Posted by 1971455HO

Sorry for not remembering which brand, maybe Fel-Pro, but I also remember post about thicker valve cover gaskets being available for guys running a little taller than stock valve train but wanting to retain their stock valve covers. Not the expert here, but I don't think you will need thicker gaskets with the 1.65 RA IV rockers.

I don't know if the RA IV engines came with the baffles, but somebody on here knows!

I remember some of the guys here that build & race really strong Pontiac engines, saying years ago a common practice was to use two gasket sets to achieve clearance with stock covers. You had to seal between them really good to not have any leaks and use longer bolts, but it worked just fine. It's not too obvious and most guys, except the eagle eyed, photographic Pontiac memory guys on here would ever detect it.

I admire all the detail you have put back into your engine. I know you want it right with no issues. It sucks to have to take one back apart after you have ran it and risk chipping paint and spilling oil on pristine parts outside of your engine. You probably know more than me, but really make sure you have your valves adjusted dead on and you don't have any clearance problems.

I had to take my covers back off after my car was totally reassembled. It was wired, hosed, all the fluids and ready to go. I was a day or two from firing it up when I found out the baffles would make contact with the aftermarket rockers. By the way, my car has AC also. See where I'm going. It sucks.

Your engine looks awsome.

Good luck,

Eddie

This is why the RAIV's and HO's(at least 71's) used the "NL" valve cover bolts- and they had two sizes of NL's, standard like the D's, used elsewhere in the car, and long valve cover NL's vs the shorter "D" or "E" cover bolts.. Thicker gasket was used..