hey i bought my z and the guy we got it from said it came with a 350 small block, well he was wrong. its just a 305. so i was wondering(for at least the time being) if a '69 buick 350 would do good in the car? its a th350 automatic tranny and is all stock from there. i just want to know how that would go over. its got an elderbrock carb, fresh oil and oil filter, extra large caoacity oil pan, new alternator, new starter, new upper motor mounts, balanced, blue printed, bored .30 over. any infor good or bad is appreciated. thanks a lot
-tyler

 

Large capacity oil pan might not fit - 3rd gens have little to no oil pan clearance, so might need to reuse your stock 305 pan. You'll need to check the heads for accessory bolt holes that match up with your heads so you can use your accessory brackets, or else you'll need the bracket system from the 350.

 

okay that sounds good.
how much power do you think i'd be able to get out of that engine?

 

You probably won't have too much trouble with the oil pan. You will have trouble with the motor mounts. You need your solid Buick lowers and once you figure out where they should go the bolts dont line up. You have to drill and slot the crossmember to make them work. I put a 350 Buick in an 84 Trans Am once (before computers and cameras came into my life) and it wasn't difficult but it is time consuming.

Good luck.

 

I don't see how any of that applies to a Buick 350.

A '69 would not have hardened valves or seats for unleaded gasoline. They may have been done sometime in the past, but probably wouldn't have been done in a "stock" rebuild.

This just seems, as a TGO member is fond of saying, like a lot of maze for very little cheese. Sell the Buick engine for whatever you can get out of it and put in a small block Chevy.

 

there are NO aftermarket speed parts for the Buick 350, and you'll need to run premium unleaded with pour-in additive at every fill-up. Plus custom mounts, custom exhaust, et cetera, just run the 305, sell the Buick, sell the TH350, and find a Chevy 350. It's not that hard to find a good one, anywhere in the 48 states, for under $300 to your door.

 

Wow!

You guys are so cheery! Hahahhahahah!

There absolutely ARE speed parts for the Buick 350, so no problem there. And is much easier to put one in your car than an LSX, cheaper too. You could use the motor mounts for the TTA to bolt it in, and it is not difficult to have the pipes for a chevy small block manifold setup to hook to a Buick manifold setup.

I wish you guys would tone down the negatives. Every single thing that has to be changed for this engine also has to be changed for all of the other non chevy small block swaps. Get over it, really! You may be suggesting to HIM to go with a small chevy but you didn't, according to your signatures anyway...

You guys think that the LSX is so much better, but it still costs a ton of dough to do it. A ton. If a guy spends that much, he can make anything fast.

I'm not trying to fight but I don't like the tone.