newb: 1980 century limited 4.3L V8

[Torchracing]

this is my post strait from my thread in the BMX forum sorry if its a little weird sounding

got my first car for $325. needs some work though. like a new battery and i deffinately need to drain some oil out of it cuz the last guy thought it was a good idea to fill it up past the full level. now it leaks oil and it burns from under the car and is probably fouling the plugs. i also need new belts and the hose that goes from the intake to the front of the car so its not just sucking in smoke from the burning oil. i'll post pics when i can.

i'm hoping to get it built up good enough to last me through college. its a V8 so it should haul but since there is too much oil its just screwing with everything and the blistered belts probably dont help.
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changed the oil, oil filter, spark plugs and i stapled the felt back to the ceiling. she runs good but not as good as any v8 should run. the accelerator seems sloppy and not as responsive as it should be. what do you guys suggest?

also i was sorta playing around with the idea of new headers along with a couple other performance parts. where are some cheap places to find this part? hell maybe even just cleaning up the current headers will help. i would love to turn this into a bad ass sleeper but its not gonna get that way on stock parts. main thing i want to work on is the engine right now but i wann dive into the suspension at some point too as the car rides very sloppy and sluggish. i think the ball jioints are getting worn or something but one thing is for sure it doesn't handle right.

so you are sorta up to date on what i'm trying to do. i'm young but mature and responsible but i compulsively want to make my car go faster. my mom has a 1997 park ave. which gets off the line pretty decent and i can chirp the tires in that. but thats front wheel drive and only a v6. my car isnt quite performing at that level but i would like it to. i mostly want to make this car solid (and fast). pretty much make it more responsive. my current biggest problem is that the accelerator is stiff and i dont feel the connection with the engine that i do with my moms car. any ideas?

i apologuise if this in the wrong section or something. it could take a while to get used to this site and the layout but i'll probably be here often. i'll try to work on one problem with this car at a time though.

[Torchracing]

i've been looking for cheap ways to smooth out this car's acceleration and i found this
MSD 6A Ignition Module
will this work or will i need to upgrade different parts to make it work?

[69GS400s]

A wiki search shows the 4.3l (265 cu in) v8 to actually be a Pontiac motor not a Buick - this was somewhat common practice for GM to "share" engines across corporate platforms

I know nothing about this motor but being a late 70's / early 80's design I can almost guarantee there is limited performance upgrades available. The best you could probably do is get it running to the best of its ability.

Contact board member Ken G (username techg8) and see if he can rebuild your particular carb. That and a good free flowing exhaust system are the first steps I'd take

[Torchracing]

thanks for the help. i can rebuild the carb myself sorta. i have a shop teacher who is really handy with engines and i'm sure would enjoy diving into a car that actually makes sense. i have another couple quanderies though.

1. the gas pedal is pushed much farther back than the brake pedal. is this normal or is it somehow bent?

2. as i push through the stroke of the accelerator the part of the carb that the cable attaches to hits this switch and pushes it in. what is this part? is it some sort of emmision controller? i was thinking its some sort of thing to save gas cuz about half throttle i can chirp the tire(s). but when i floor it she bogs. does this have to do with the switch or is this just cuz i'm new to driving a car with a carb rather than EFI and so it behaves differently?

EDIT: and i'll get pics of the car and the parts i'm talking about when i get a chance. its tough cuz i'm lazy and my dial up internet is really slow.

[69GS400s]

the best thing you can do is get yourself either the original Buick Chasis service manual for 1980 or second best would be a chilton's manual for 1980 Buick Century - its what I call "The Bible" for your car and will answer 98% of your questions.

1) have someone press the gas pedal SLOWLY as you watch the connection point of the linkage to the carb. verify that as the press, the linkage is moving the throttle shaft right at the begining, through its travel, and when they are on the floor the throttle is against its stop full open. Gas pedal rods do have somewhat of a "Z" bend in them and it could have been bent from repeated stomping

2) no idea - it could be the kickdown for the tranny to downshift under hard excelleration or it could be the Bat-SmokeScreen switch to get the Joker off your tail. This is where the manual mentioned above comes in

[Torchracing]

i already have the haynes manual and i still cant for the life of me find out what this swith does. i did however learn how to tune my idle speed. which is good cuz she always idled too low and would sometimes shut off. i think i might turn it down a little cuz it might be a little on the high side but i can do that now... i have the knowledge.

[Torchracing]

i figured out what that switch does. its called a wide open throttle sensor. its supposed to add more fuel to the fuel/air mixture to give the car more go when you hammer on it. i'm not sure if it works anymore.

i also found this thing in the emission control system section of the book called the EGR system. i checked it and it seems to be jammed in the open position so its always leaking exhaust into the manifold. i'm also now getting an oil leak. no idea where its coming from yet cuz i haven't had access to a lift to track down where its coming from.

i also think i need to rebuild the carb.

i'm also thinking about replacing the piston rings and if i do i think i will clean out the exhaust manifold while i'm at it.

i also ordered new speakers for the back and will be installing those soon.