Buick Centurion

I just bought a 1973 Buick Centurion with the 455-4, and I have a few questions. How can I tell weather or not it has the stage 1 heads? On take off it likes to stall and make a sputtering noise or a loud "pop" sound, the only things I could think of are the timing, the carburettor, or maybe the distributor contact points, the guy said he had put new ones in at one point, but never gaped'em. Once it starts moving' (about 8mph) the engine stops bogging, and becomes very responsive and pretty quick.
It sounds healthy, no smoke, no clicking. Another question I have is about the "vacuum pump" on the right hand side of the block, I wanted to know if that thing is necessary or if it’s just for emitons, if it is for emitons, can I take it off and gain a few hp??
This is my first time on this sight, and I would like to think everyone for helping. -JD

The only way to tell Stage 1 is to remove the heads and measure the valves.

Vacum pump is purley for emissions... Don't know about performance gain, but you can get rid of it.

You've pretty much hit on the sputtering... Buy new points (they are cheap) and make sure you gap it correctly.

You can check the carb as well.. Might have something clogged or dirty inside there. (I'm betting the problem is in the carb tho.... Points usually tend to cause problems at higher RPM's) Or could be a combo of things.

Good Luck

A few other questions i have about the 455. I keep hearing that i wanna get a better oiling system, is this true, and if so where do i get one??

PS. thinks for the help thusfar madcat

Yes, the 455 Oiling systems were weak... but there isn't anything you can do to really boost pressure without some major investment. Rule of thumb it about 10psi per 1000 rpm's is fine for Buick's. But If you want better oiling you can contact TA Performance... they sell a Booster Plate that will help alittle. There is also a High Volume oil pump, but that has a Real bad rep for eating Cam & Dist. Gears. Not needed for street use, really only for raceing. I was running 12.04's with the stock oil pump.. No problems at all. If you really worried, take off the Base plate and pull out the gears, see if the inside is scoured bad or if the gear side of the filter plate is scoured.

Did you get the PM I sent you???

my fuel guage is stuck on "full", is there a simple float mechanism in the gas tank??, if so how do i get to it, fix it, and keep it from gettin stuck in the future??

yes i did get the PM, thankyou

I know these anwers are a little late but I hope they will help you. First does this car have a 2 or 4 barrel carb. StageI heads usually didnt come on a plain luxury car. If it has a 4bbl carb you will have larger valves in comparison to the 2bbl. This is only true to Buick. The sputtering is 99% of the time caused by the accelorator pump inside the carb. Over a long period of time the pump wears down getting smaller inside the bore. This causes the fuel to blow past the the pump back into the body of the carb insted of passing thru the power jet and into the engine. The best thing to do is have the carb rebuilt.

Now for the air pump that was for pumping fresh air into the head or air cleaner to be added to the unburned fuel from the EGR valve to reburn it thus giving better emmisions. If you remove it it will take stress of the engine and give you a little horse power but very little. They use to cause a backfire on decelloration when they started getting old and you would have to change the divertor valve on the back of it.

Now the oiling system is usualy not a strong point on a Buick engine. There are many different kits that could be put into it to make it stronger but the best thing to do is check the complete oiling system first for cloggs and wear. One of the major problems are that the pick ups in the bottom of this engine have a tendency to plug up with dirt. Next problem is the front cam bearing wears down. This is caused by the timming chain. When the chain is new there is a lot of downward pressure on the bearing causing wear to the botton of it. As the chain stretches over time the cam moves up then the to of the bearing wears. Now when you repalce the timming chain it puts the pressure back at the bottom leaving a gap above the cam that will cause low oil pressure. Most mechanics are fooled by this thinking that the pump is bad. They replace the pump and wind up with the same low oil pressure.

Now the fuel gauge. Its one of 2 problems usually. First the tank has to be dropped and check the connections or replace the sending unit. Second in the 70s there was a problem with the printed circut boards on the back of the dash board. You would have to pull it and check to sell that the harness is making a good connection with the printed circut. If that turns out to be the problem the board would have to be replaced and have fun finding one now.

Remember Old Cars Come With Old Problems.

and its bright and shiney, when the ups guy got here and i opened the box...it was fuggin glowing
ps, thanks for all ur info

JTHM420- your chugging problem is timing. if the points were never gapped them they wont perform right. its not the carb. i had mine rebuilt when i rebuilt my 445 and it still chugged. you have to do a lot of tuning with the points because the tool you use to gap them wont fit in there. get and allen wrench and keep adjusting untill you get it right.
BE CAREFUL IF YOU HAVE A FLEX FAN I sliced my hand over several time adjusting points!!!

2nd you dont have stage 2 heads or cam. they are kinda hard to find. i found the cam throught Lunati its called the Hemi killer. as for the heads try to find a set off of a wrecked grand sport gtx

P.S. keep the quadrajet, people like to rip on em but theyll never do ya wrong

i got a new carb, the points are gapped properly, i put new gaskets everywhere, but right before i got the new carb, my starter went out(from constant starts)....aint that about a bitch??
FYI: i found out the accerator pump went out on the rochester, i dont know how to rebuild a carb and the only guy i knew that did wanted 418$, so i went with an edelbrock 750(295$)and now im finding out i need stuff to install that, the only thing i cant find is a throttle cable bracket thingy.....thankyou everyone for ur help, it has been valuble....im sure ill have more questions soon, seeing as to how im 18 and pretty stupid with my vehicular actions...........

So I was right about the pump in the carb. I guess the 25 years with GM paid off. I know those carbs better than I know my wife. If you lived in New Jersey I would do it for the price of the kit and $75.00. I got a load of those carbs in my garage. The QJ is one of the best carbs ever made but with the ridiculous prices mechanics are charging now a days I would rather go with the Edelbrock for like $200.00. Also Edelbrock is a replica AFB Carb which also came on buicks in the 1960s.

Now you say that you need a carb bracket. If I remeber correctly you should check the junk yards for a 80 to 87 Buick Regal or same years Buick Electra with the 307cuin Olds engine with a 4bbl carb. That should be the bracket you are looking for it mounts to the back of the carb and the cable retainer sticks out to the side.

Also do yourself a favor find an HEI Distributor from a late 70s buick engine with no computer. Reason for this is POINTS are garbage. The HEI has no points and the spark is a lot hotter, 80,000 volts compared to 40,000volts. To install this all you have to change is the gear at the bottom of the distibutor because the HEI is slightly larger. Set the timming at 12 degrees btc. You will find it makes a big difference in performance.

To find a Buick Engine all you have to look for is the distributor in the front of the engine. All other GM cars have them in the rear of the engine.

Also on that car another secrect to geting performance is putting on true dual exhaust for better flow.

If ya need more info for this car just give a hola.

hey thanks for the info!!!noone i call anywhere can help me, and if they can their always too busy...anyway, the dual exhaust will be easy cuz it came with dual from the block back(although an insanely loud backfire blew my drivers side muffler in half(that was before the new carb)) i have another question, since i have dual exhaust and need at least 1 new muffler anyway i was wonderin if i could put the flowmaster i got when i worked at the exhaust shop on the drivers side and wait a while before i put one on the other side(cuz im broke) would this cause any problems with the engine since the backpressure and all that wont be the same??

It all depends on how long your gonna keep the flow master on. Actually it shouldnt really bother the motor because you are opening up one side. It may change the gas mileage a little. As far as hp you wont notice any gain until you put the other Flow Master on. Remeber they perform better with a balanced exuast. I also remembered something else with that engine. If in the future you should strike it rich one thing you can buy to keep that engine running good is a 4 core desert radiator. Buick engines have a tendency to perform very well at cooler tempatures and last a little longer also.

Anymore questions just ask

Your Friend Mike.

ok, new starter, new carburator, new gaskets all around the carb,but im still having problems....my takeoff is crap, it chokes and bogs a bit, and still stalls, i herd this could be my timing chain, my mixture, or somthing with my plug wires and ignition stuff. i still havent put the muffler on....any way if anyone knows what the most likely problem is let me know in a list of most expensive issues to least expensive issues.
-thankyou

im tellin ya bud it the timing i had the same problem

yeah, i guess youd have to be right, but the starter and carb WERE junk....well here comes a oil booster plate, an hei distributor, new cam bearings, double roller billit timing chain, and a good tune up...there goes 300$ some-od cashflow....oh well it will be worth it.
thanks again for everyones help, im sure you'll here from me again soon.
-----JD