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Re: 359 questions
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Forum Ambassador
 
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You would think so but there are specific year or designation 288 heads that will work and can be substituted. Others result in a ping that cannot be entirely eliminated -- even with premium gas and careful timing. There are some earlier discussions on the 359 pinging issue where Ross has mentioned the heads that seem to work and can be "tuned" in.
Posted on: 2022/9/5 8:56
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Howard
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Re: 359 questions
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Home away from home
 
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So, if this chart I found is any indication, then:
359 head is 8.70 288 51-52 AT is 9.10 288 53-54 all is 9.35 And a 53'54 head from a 327 is about the same as a 359 aluminum head at 8.69. I'm not clear why 92 or 93 octane wouldn't clear up a pinging issue at those numbers. But I'm listening.
Posted on: 2022/9/5 12:34
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If you're not having fun, maybe it's your own damned fault.
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Re: 359 questions
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Forum Ambassador
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From what I've read many 359s never left the factory with the advertised compression a ratio of 8.7 until perhaps very late in the run if ever, the factory was constantly struggling to get excessive pinging under control. I understand many dealers responded to customer compaints by installing the extra thick export head gasket to suppress the pinging. True or not I don't know.
After my aluminum head on my 359 cracked I used a 1953 327 cast iron head and the result was very unsatisfactory, pinging was almost constant even with light throttle. Ultimately I had to retard the base timing and rework the distributor to supress the mechanical advance. Still got quite noticeable ping with premium gas of the era, but it ran superbly on gas like ARCO Purple and the like.
Posted on: 2022/9/5 12:52
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Re: 359 questions
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Home away from home
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My 1954 Patrician still has the original aluminum head and it is never pinged. Maybe the multi-tip plugs in it have helped but I don’t recall it pinging before they were installed either.
As for cast iron heads, I have a couple that say something like 288 std 327 auto (or maybe the other way around) so not sure how that would affect the compression ratio.
Posted on: 2022/9/5 13:15
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Re: 359 questions
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Home away from home
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Atlantic Richfield? There's a blast-from-the-past name. Kinda like the days of the old dial-'em-up pumps at the Sunoco station with the 260 petrol. It may have been a placebo, but I swear that my '67 Olds ran better on that stuff. Maybe it was just the driver that did.
On a related note regarding compression, my H-D mechanic said to always run regular in my '04 Sportster and my '08 Deluxe. He said not to bother with higher octane unless I detected any pinging. His point was that the higher grades sat in the tanks in the ground longer and were more likely to have water in the fuel. I think that both of those engines were about 9:1, and neither complained. I do run hi-test in the 2020 bikes, but one is 10:1 and the other is 10.7:1. I do buy fuel for them from stations at an interstate exit because they likely cycle the fuel in their storage tanks more rapidly than other stations. Of course, all of this is hypothetical until I get one of these fellas to play with.
Posted on: 2022/9/5 14:35
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If you're not having fun, maybe it's your own damned fault.
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Re: 359 questions
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Forum Ambassador
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Don, likewise my 1954 Caribbean didn't have a pinging/preignition prohlem with the original aluminum head either. It was only after change to cast iron that the problem arose.
Posted on: 2022/9/5 14:49
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Re: 359 questions
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Forum Ambassador
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Quote:
Atlantic Richfield? There's a blast-from-the-past name. Kinda like the days of the old dial-'em-up pumps at the Sunoco station with the 260 petrol. It may have been a placebo, but I swear that my '67 Olds ran better on that stuff. Maybe it was just the driver that did. ARCO is still a prominent name out here although they changed their status and maybe lowered their profile when they got rid of their former full service stations and turned into more like a convenience store type operation. I guess when you look at it there are relatively few full service stations from any brand anymore. The ones I went to are certainly gone but I guess there are still some around somewhere. A blast from the past is when some of the old TV shows come on and show something like a Texaco station and several attendants taking care of a car. Most today have no idea such things existed.
Posted on: 2022/9/5 15:23
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Howard
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Re: 359 questions
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Home away from home
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Quote:
Last I remember driving through NJ, one has to allow them to pump your gas for you. Of course they do it Their Way and on their time, so you don't exactly get what you want. As you may have suspected by now, Wat is a tank-topper. I am sure that there is a special ring in Hell for our type. I fill the Packard until I can see the gasoline in the neck of the filler, just like I was shown . . . .
Posted on: 2022/9/5 16:11
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If you're not having fun, maybe it's your own damned fault.
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Re: 359 questions
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Home away from home
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First 359 is acquired and safely stashed under Fred's watchful gaze and a nice blankie. The second one is sighted, inspected, and soon to have a deal made for it.
Not a good starter in the batch. Think I have a 327 starter from that engine. The rest of the pieces for one of them are likely subject to change. Let the games begin.
Posted on: 2022/10/31 21:06
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If you're not having fun, maybe it's your own damned fault.
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