84' Olds 350 into 84' Regal Questions

[Chris98]

I am planning on swapping a Old's 350 out of a 1984 Oldsmobile ninety-eight into my 1984 Buick Regal that has the 3.8L v6. I was wondering what all would be needed to do it. I have searched all over and keep getting mixed opinions on what all is needed. I currently have both cars complete with everything in them still.

I took both cars to a shop this morning that specializes in grand nationals and g-bodies and they said to get it to work they would have to modify the firewall, change the heater box and do a whole bunch of other stuff. But from what I am reading on the web the 350 will just drop right in with the 350s trans, fuel lines and wiring harness.

So basically what I am asking is, is the shop right about having to modify the firewall and change out the heater box. Or will the motor drop right in?

 

[Oldsmoletick]

Run away from that shop rapid transit they are either incompetent or trying to rip you off.

You will need the frame brackets off the crossmember of the delta, keep track of left and right (btw What year 350 out of curiosity), buy new engine mounts they are cheap. Use all of the 350 accessory brackets and pulley system (very important). You will have to shorten your wiring harness (in order to reroute to the opposite side). Battery move to opposite side. fuel line will have to be moved to opposite side. radiator should be upgraded, and find top plate and shroud from an Olds V8 powered g body. Obviously you'll have exhaust work, but really there isn't much to it, and that's about it really you have everything else in your donor waiting. Your transmission will work, but you may want to look into what transmission is in the delta vs the cutlass.

 

[Chris98]

Run away from that shop rapid transit they are either incompetent or trying to rip you off.

You will need the frame brackets off the crossmember of the delta, keep track of left and right (btw What year 350 out of curiosity), buy new engine mounts they are cheap. Use all of the 350 accessory brackets and pulley system (very important). You will have to shorten your wiring harness (in order to reroute to the opposite side). Battery move to opposite side. fuel line will have to be moved to opposite side. radiator should be upgraded, and find top plate and shroud from an Olds V8 powered g body. Obviously you'll have exhaust work, but really there isn't much to it, and that's about it really you have everything else in your donor waiting. Your transmission will work, but you may want to look into what transmission is in the delta vs the cutlass.

Thanks that's what I was hoping to hear. All the guy kept trying to do was talk me into buying his 3.8l turbo he has in the back of his shop for 3 grand and I was like I'm not paying no 3 grand for a used motor with a bad turbo on it with no ecm. The 350 is the stock motor in the 84 olds ninety-eight. Only has 100k on it and I picked the whole car up for $500.

 

[Peter]

i could see dropping this engine in on the cheap if it had 40 or 50K on it max. i would never drop an engine with 100k on it unless i owned the engine since new in the case of an older v8. it may seem like a lot of money but with good care, get the engine gone over and get yourself some serious worry free miles and without leaking oil everywhere

as far as the shop goes, they seem intent on doing whats best for them and not best for you

 

[Chris98]

i could see dropping this engine in on the cheap if it had 40 or 50K on it max. i would never drop an engine with 100k on it unless i owned the engine since new in the case of an older v8. it may seem like a lot of money but with good care, get the engine gone over and get yourself some serious worry free miles and without leaking oil everywhere

as far as the shop goes, they seem intent on doing whats best for them and not best for you

The cars been in the family for 10 years, so I know it's been taken care of. The car doesn't leak any fluids and doesn't burn no oil.

 

[Oldsmoletick]

umm, not to crap in your wheaties, but no olds 350 in 84, the last year (gas anyway) was 1980, better run some numbers to make sure you haven't been duped 🙁 .

 

[Chris98]

umm, not to crap in your wheaties, but no olds 350 in 84, the last year (gas anyway) was 1980, better run some numbers to make sure you haven't been duped 🙁 .

What V8 was offered in the olds? I thought the 350 was the only one offered in 84.

 

[1972cutlass]

Dont go back to that shop they're trying to screw you. The olds engine you have is a 307 oldsmobile engine they look just like the 350 olds and the valve covers will interchange but the 307 has 5 bolts holes that hold the valve covers on and the 350 has 10. I put my 307 olds engine and 350 olds transmission from my 86 cutlass into my 82 buick regal with not to many problems. You have to use the olds motor mounts,run a hose from the drivers side to the passengers side to connect the gas line to the fuel pump because the 3.8 buick v6 has the fuel pump on the oppsite side. Use the olds radiator witch fits in the regal and the fan shroud also upper and lower radaor hose,cut the exhaust pipe at the end of the y pipe on the cutty motor and connect it to the pipe on the regal with a clamp and pipe,add some extra wire to some of the wires like alternator wire and other wires,the transmission mount i had to use one from a chevy montecarlo 80s model to connect the trans crossmember to the transmission by only mounting it to the olds transmission with one bolt instead of two so it will slide over and connect to the crossmember, also switch out the throttle cable from the cutty to the regal. Its really simple if you have both cars complete to do the swap.Write me with any questions.

 

[Oldsmoletick]

5 bolt covers can be found on any olds v8 from 77 and up, went along with the pontiac mfg heads if I'm not mistaken. Reguardless, to the OP, yes the factory olds v8 for your delta in 84 would have been the 307, better than a 3.8 though, so it's not all bad. You can do the bull work swapping in the 307 now, and then when you find a suitable 350, or 403, you'll be able to drop it right in the 307's place within a few hours 😀 .

 

[G_Body_Enthusiast]

basically it's the same as swapping to a SBC except it's an olds, right?

near me there is a running 330 out of a 66, a 73 350, late 70's 403 and a 77 350 with a throttle body that came out of a cadillac.

i'm thinking the best choice is the 330 (i had one before and i love them) and then the 73 350. i think i can even find a 455 but i've been looking at so many engine choices i dont know what engine i really want now. they all have their pros and cons so i'm confused.

olds engines seem to go cheap around here. i think the 403 was yanked out of a T/A.