Back To The Regal

[joesregalproject]

agree with all the bits and pieces , nickel & dime ( ok $50 & $100 ) you to death. But whatever direction you go there will be a cost.
when I hit $3,000 Canadian into my buick 350 built ...a new crate GM chevy 350 (lower hp ) was advertised for $1,500 US delivered in the 48 states.
I did start to question my sanity at that point...........where I now stand in my built $$$ wise ....well now it's deep.

what ever direction you go , I will always say your Regal looks great !!!

Well thank you kindly 🙂 The nickel and diming is what I want to avoid as much as I can. Obviously there will be unforseen costs no matter what, but I'd like to avoid it as much as possible, and I think a donor car would help with that. Anymore, a crate motor is not that much more than a rebuild and I don't have to coordinate buying parts, setting up the machine shop and installing/assembling it myself. The extra cost is worth the convenience IMO.

 

[joesregalproject]

Do a Series 2 swap with a turbo- it'll be fun!

And I'd probably have it running around 2037, and it would run for 10 minutes and then catch fire, lol.

 

[307 Regal]

when I hit $3,000 Canadian into my buick 350 built ...a new crate GM chevy 350 (lower hp ) was advertised for $1,500 US delivered in the 48 states.
I did start to question my sanity at that point...........where I now stand in my built $$$ wise ....well now it's deep.

I had those thoughts exactly, about a week ago. haha

 

[marcar1993]

I get the point of a chevy swap, I do despise them, but its your car, do what you need to make yourself happy. I will say that with some shopping around, an olds can be built for comparable money to a chevy (400-450hp), as mine and a friends small blocks cost about the same and make about the same power. Its up to you how much work you want to put into it, how confident you are, and yes patient.
If you want 350hp, go buy a crate motor and drop it in. It will probably be easier, even with swapping the trans and the assorted odds and ends to make a chevy work where a buick was. It might actually cost more than building a buick motor on your own, but it'll be done sooner and have a warranty. In the end the decision is yours, and no one can say squat because its your car and your money.
I would say that you may get the best deal to just buy a running buick motor (car and all perhaps) and just swap it in with a simple gasket set and some paint if your goal is to just get it moving. Then you can always build something else in the mean time. I bought a stock low mile rebuilt 350 olds for $700 to keep my car moving when I blew up the first 403. I stockpiled parts for the current 403 while I drove it with a stock reliable engine moving it around.

 

[fleming442]

And I'd probably have it running around 2037, and it would run for 10 minutes and then catch fire, lol.

Well, I've got a bunch of it worked out for you, and am willing to wheel and deal....

 

[MrSony]

Why I'm saying what I am, is that you already have a good rebuildable Buick 350, those are few and far inbetween. Cores that "ran when pulled" are seldum under 300 dollars for the engine alone, you got one carb to pan, fan to flexplate. I don't know what you paid for it, but it must've been reasonable or else you would've went chevy already. You don't need 400hp from a Buick 350. In my short time with my engine already, 315 is enough to get you into serious trouble. Not to mention the 400+ftlbs. Now imagine that with a good gear and a Th350 with a shift kit, or a good Th200r4 with a decent converter on either. It'll be nuts. I've driven cars with 350ish horse Chevy 350s, and Ive driven mine. It might be my bias, but my car just feels like it is more... punchy. especially off idle. Do as you wish. I'm just speaking from experience. Also, front mount dizzy, no stupid rockers to adjust, lighter than a sbc, 100% bolts in place of your 3.8, mounts, water pump, starter, distributor (v8 cap), timing cover (might have to drill/tap some holes in the bottom), everything swaps over. No alterations to wiring, nothing. All you'd need is a good Th350 and you'd be golden.

 

[joesregalproject]

Why I'm saying what I am, is that you already have a good rebuildable Buick 350, those are few and far inbetween. Cores that "ran when pulled" are seldum under 300 dollars for the engine alone, you got one carb to pan, fan to flexplate. I don't know what you paid for it, but it must've been reasonable or else you would've went chevy already. You don't need 400hp from a Buick 350. In my short time with my engine already, 315 is enough to get you into serious trouble. Not to mention the 400+ftlbs. Now imagine that with a good gear and a Th350 with a shift kit, or a good Th200r4 with a decent converter on either. It'll be nuts. I've driven cars with 350ish horse Chevy 350s, and Ive driven mine. It might be my bias, but my car just feels like it is more... punchy. especially off idle. Do as you wish. I'm just speaking from experience. Also, front mount dizzy, no stupid rockers to adjust, lighter than a sbc, 100% bolts in place of your 3.8, mounts, water pump, starter, distributor (v8 cap), timing cover (might have to drill/tap some holes in the bottom), everything swaps over. No alterations to wiring, nothing. All you'd need is a good Th350 and you'd be golden.

Yeah, the Buick is rebuildable, but it still needs rebuilt, and I just don't want to sink money into it. It would be cheaper to buy something already built than it would to have the Buick built. I'm realistically looking to spend $1500-2000 on a motor, and for that much I can get an L33, LQ9 or L96 from the junkyard and hear it run before I buy it, and get fuel injection and all the reliability and aftermarket support that come with it. Hook a TH400 behind a 5.3 or 6.0, and I'd be a lot happier with it than I would be sinking any money into the Buick engine. I'm just not feeling the Buick engine the way I was a few years ago. I don't trust "guesstimate" horsepower and torque numbers, and I haven't seen any Dyno numbers from a Buick 350 (that wasn't radically modified) that I would be happy with. If I buy an LS, there is no guessing what the numbers are.

I'm not set on anything, but an LS is more affordable than I originally thought.

 

[MrSony]

Yeah, the Buick is rebuildable, but it still needs rebuilt, and I just don't want to sink money into it. It would be cheaper to buy something already built than it would to have the Buick built. I'm realistically looking to spend $1500-2000 on a motor, and for that much I can get an L33, LQ9 or L96 from the junkyard and hear it run before I buy it, and get fuel injection and all the reliability and aftermarket support that come with it. Hook a TH400 behind a 5.3 or 6.0, and I'd be a lot happier with it than I would be sinking any money into the Buick engine. I'm just not feeling the Buick engine the way I was a few years ago. I don't trust "guesstimate" horsepower and torque numbers, and I haven't seen any Dyno numbers from a Buick 350 (that wasn't radically modified) that I would be happy with. If I buy an LS, there is no guessing what the numbers are.

I'm not set on anything, but an LS is more affordable than I originally thought.

HotRod built one a few months ago. damn good numbers. A crower level 3 cam, that has more emphasis on the exhaust, would be a WAY better camshaft. I know, i've had both. Crower beats it by far. http://www.hotrod.com/articles/gs350-buick-455s-little-brother-deserves-due/
290hp at 4300 rpm (the comps fault, 350s don't like straight pattern cams) and 396ftlbs at 3400rpm. With stock (touched up, milled .010) heads, and manifolds. Headers bumped it up to 320 at 4600 and 411 at 3200. I built my SP for 1500, or there about. Add another 500 for boring, those 340p pistons, and rings and boom. Proven 300hp/400ftlb combo. Buicks make the same power chevys do at 1000rpm less. Imagine if you had the heads opened up more, or those soon to be released Aluminum heads. That thing would make 400 horse and god knows how much torque. I'd hardly call .030 and a cam radical. The cam they chose is a chevy pattern on a Buick cam blank. The ramp rates are far to aggressive and it builds up a lot of cylinder pressure. With a 10:1 engine, that cam has an 8.2:1 DCR, while a crower level 3, with better specs, less intense ramp rate, is just over 7:1 DCR. It's a no brainer man. Sorry if I'm sounding like a know-it-all, but you have the engine already, why jump ship now? Everyone always jumps on the chevy band wagon. Chevy has had the run of things since 1955. And even when they didn't the competition was quickly snuffed out. *cough cough GSX and GN cough cough* I say give someone else a chance. Build a Buick. You'll love it. 😀

 

[Lil man gbody]

You're damn right about Buicks being expensive to build. Out of the three machine shops that I trust, only one was willing to even touch a Buick motor, and he said he would only do it because he knew me as a frequent customer, but labor was going to be more.

The thing is, for what it would cost me to get the Buick built to where I would want it, I know I can buy a complete car with roached body and interior and a mild Chevy 350, and not have to chase down all the bits and pieces to get it up and running in my car.

Hey I'm new here and trying to figure out how to start a tread... I'm stuck between two g bodies and I don't know which one to keep and fix or sale. Help

 

[565bbchevy]

Yeah, the Buick is rebuildable, but it still needs rebuilt, and I just don't want to sink money into it. It would be cheaper to buy something already built than it would to have the Buick built.

Sell the Buick to someone that wants to spend the money to rebuild it and use that money towards whatever you decide to run.