Guest 2002sentraSER Posted March 6, 2003 Share Posted March 6, 2003 just wondering if someone has because i am about to start and i wanted to know any pluses or minues of the swap and the difficulty to do it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fl327 Posted March 6, 2003 Share Posted March 6, 2003 dont do a buick 350, do a 455, they are the same casting, but you get 155 more ci to play with. its pretty straight forward, and should only take minimal mods from a typical jtr conversion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsommer Posted March 6, 2003 Share Posted March 6, 2003 Personally I wouldn't do the Buick but to each is own. About the swap, I hope you have the JTR manual. I didn't run into any thing extremely difficult about the swap except by not pay attention I accidently put the T spacers on the wrong sides, no big deal just swaped them over. The auctual conversion has been quite easy so far. The most difficult thing has been the removal of the original tranny mounts PITA big time, second I would say wiring because mine is so butched up but I'm working on that issue right now. ds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZROSSA Posted March 6, 2003 Share Posted March 6, 2003 FL327, I think Buick made two 350's. Big block and small block. The small block was developed from the BOP 215 ali engine. It should be pretty close to the chev in size and is 125 lbs lighter. In gs form from the factory it made 300 hp and lots of tourque. (long stroke) Not a bad donk IMHO . Douglas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 2002sentraSER Posted March 8, 2003 Share Posted March 8, 2003 trying to reply Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 2002sentraSER Posted March 9, 2003 Share Posted March 9, 2003 thats the motor i have Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZROSSA Posted March 9, 2003 Share Posted March 9, 2003 I get the feeling that your still looking for more info. I would love to be able to help but i have never set eyes on one. I was thinking about putting a v8 in a 911 at one time and I really liked the weigt of the buick so I did a little research. Mounts are not hard to do. Its just a case of measuring many times and cutting once. I am sure that the trans. mount can be done similar to the jtr one. Why dont you compare the buicks mounts to the chevy ones. That way you can work fom a base line that you already know the sizes off. You can also search the net. A lot of people replaced the buicks with chevy's becuase they are cheeper to get power from. Douglas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest 240SBB Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 Buick only made "one" 350, a small block. Though it is basically the same size on the outside as a big block (400/430/455), it is not the same casting. I am interested in hearing more about putting a Buick 350 into a Z. Please keep us updated. As for the 455, it does offer a better performance platform, but may be too much for a "sensible" Z. But then, my wife keeps telling me that hot rods are not sensible anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Aaron Posted April 7, 2004 Share Posted April 7, 2004 I was once going to put a Buick 350/TH350 combo in a '71 Datsun pickup (man I would love to still have that truck). I got the truck stripped to the frame, and then my curcumstances changed and I had to sell everthing. The mounts should be fairly simple. You can get adapter plates to use a chevy trans (such as a 700r4), and I do not know why the JTR crossmember would not work. If you build a Buick, make sure you upgrade to a high volume oil pump. They were notoriously bad. The worst part about a Buick is the cost of go fast parts. TA Performance is about the only one that make much for them. I do believe that Edlbrock (sp?) makes a dual plane intake, and most cam companies make cams. Check these links. http://www.buickgod.com/ http://www.taperformance.com/ http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=buick+performance&ei=UTF-8&fr=fp-pull-web-t&n=20&fl=0&x=wrt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stjoetalon Posted April 8, 2004 Share Posted April 8, 2004 IIf you build a Buick, make sure you upgrade to a high volume oil pump. They were notoriously bad. [/url] I dont know about the 350, but everyone I have ever talked to about my 455 says to definately NOT go with a high volume pump. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trevor Posted April 8, 2004 Share Posted April 8, 2004 Scott Bruning built a BOP 455-powered 240Z. You can see it in some of his convertible top videos and brochures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoeightythreez Posted April 26, 2004 Share Posted April 26, 2004 Funny thing is, I have a '73 buick 350, or a 67 430 just itching to find it's way into my z. It's probably gonna be what goes in when I go back home to PA (where the motors are lying in wait!) The 430 is .030 over, with a high volume oil pump (with the stock pressure spring), but I also modded the timing cover to provide more oil to the distributor gear and cam gear (the big block buick's camshaft had an INTEGRAL cam gear, the 350 had the more-common replaceable joint) , drilled out the oil passage from the pump to the block, and also bypassed the lifter galley at the back of the motor so my lifters don't starve when the inevitable front cam-bearing meltdown happens (common when using a high-volume pump). I also used ARP head and main studs, as the BBB only has 4 headbolts per cylinder, coupled with the HUGE bore. (Buick 455 had the biggest bore, shortest stroke, and the best rod/stroke ratio of ALL of detroit's production big blocks.) It also happens to be the lightest of them, weighing in at about 600lb ALL IRON. (this is complete, ready to run!) Aluminum heads and intake bring the weight down to SBC territory. Tranny? instead of 700R4 use 2004R, they can be beefed to handle tons of power (were used in Grand Nationals) and have both Chevy and BOP (don't forget caddy!) boltpatterns on it's bellhousing. It also dosen't need a computer and has a mechanical speedo drive. Me? I want to use a stick. The big block buick may be a bit much for a Z but the alternative is to put it into my '86 regal, which, honestly, isn't much heavier and won't hook like a Z can. Besides, I have this idea in my head. Buick big block powered Z done up in the style of the Buick GSX. I would call it a GSZ. that's just me, though. I still have over 2 years to contemplate it. Until then I'm stationed in California. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest scarab260z Posted May 2, 2004 Share Posted May 2, 2004 Im doing a 350 oldsmobile in my z car the only problem im having is the mounts are offset unlike a chevy 350, and the exaughst is a pain in the rear end. im going to use headers. i havent found any mounting kits either.So im going to make my own. to be honest with you chevy is probly a eisier way to go because of the mounts, but im stubborn and want my olds in my z. buick and olds 350s are the same form around 78 up as far as i know .ive also been told to use olds/buick 307 heads on my 350 for more compression because the valve holes are smaller and holds the compression longer. also the 307 heads have oval port instead of square ones which are easier to find headers for if you find any eisier ways to put the buick v-8 in let me know e-mail me at scarab260z@yahoo.com Good Luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoeightythreez Posted May 11, 2004 Share Posted May 11, 2004 I dunno how it'll work in the z but when my buddy and I (back before I joined the navy) swapped an olds 425 rocket into his 66 skylark we used chevy truck (diesel) frame mounts with 307 rubber isolator mounts. I think it would be pretty easy to do it that way if you had a plate on the crossmember. MY ideas for mounting the buick motor into the Z was to use the JTR method, just modify the engine set back plates for the buick mount pattern, and use the chevy truck mounts specified in the JTR manual to bolt to the datsun crossmember. The buick uses two bolts to mount the buick mount to the block instead of the three chevy uses. Won't be doing it for awhile, though, but let me know how yours turns out! Btw the Olds and Buick motors were always a different design, but after '78 there wasn't much diff. because buick stopped making thier own V-8's after 1980. (big blocks were built to 1976, 350's continued to 1980.) after that they used either olds or chevy v-8's. THe buick V-6, is still in production today, and it was made by simply deleting two cylinders from the buick V-8, for all you n/a V-6 regal owners out there that want the easiest swap, a buick small block will drop right in and bolt up with the only mods being having to use V-6 rubber isolator mounts and cutting the fan shroud down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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