400 into a 1980 grand prix

[pete01768]

ok, so its time to take my 1980 and put it on the road. it has a 265 v8 pontiac. What do I do to get a 400 into it. I am not lookin to go real fast but would like a nice daily driver. 9 years in the garage is long enough. Also, when I did have the car on the road, I replaced the bushings with polyurethane and I broke the driver side upper control arm mount off the frame. It was re welded but this always is in the back of my mind when I think of setting the car up. I want to go back to rubber pieces to let the suspension "flex" as well as going back to rubber body mounts. I have the hotchkis upper and lower rear control arms. Should I worry? Anyone ever have this happen to them??

What about transmissions, gas in the bronx is $3.32 for regular. overdrive would be nice but I dont want to play with the crossmember, will a 200-4R live with a mild 400 and do I have to do alot of work here? this will be my first time doing an engine swap.

 

[srercrcr]

Aren't you concerned about the extra weight of a 400 aggravating your upper control arm issue?

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

ok, so its time to take my 1980 and put it on the road. it has a 265 v8 pontiac. What do I do to get a 400 into it. I am not lookin to go real fast but would like a nice daily driver. 9 years in the garage is long enough. Also, when I did have the car on the road, I replaced the bushings with polyurethane and I broke the driver side upper control arm mount off the frame. It was re welded but this always is in the back of my mind when I think of setting the car up. I want to go back to rubber pieces to let the suspension "flex" as well as going back to rubber body mounts. I have the hotchkis upper and lower rear control arms. Should I worry? Anyone ever have this happen to them??

What about transmissions, gas in the bronx is $3.32 for regular. overdrive would be nice but I dont want to play with the crossmember, will a 200-4R live with a mild 400 and do I have to do alot of work here? this will be my first time doing an engine swap.

It all depends on how mild a 400 it is. TH2004R's live in GN's running 10's if they are modified for it, so you should be fine with a mild 400 if it isn't making a lot of torque, and it isn't constantly driven hard. You may wish to have it beefed up a bit with a shift kit and better clutches and bands, talk to your trans shop and see what they recommend. The 7.5 axle is the big weak link in the drivetrain, but on street tires you should be able to limit the amount of shock loading to both. You will have to change the crossmember and weld on an additional mounting tab to run a TH2004R on a pre 1985 G body though ( or is it 83 or 84?) as they were not set up from GM to run this trans.

 

[pete01768]

Good point

never thought about the weight issue..... do I go bowtie and lighten the load? More my concern about the transmission was the crossmember, this is going to be a better than daily driver I think, not a full out race car.