Took the wagon for a good 20+ mile cruise today and she runs and drives like a top! 
I should be able to finally get my pics up on monday...
I should be able to finally get my pics up on monday...
Buick 3.8 to Buick 350-1981 Century Wagon Build
- Thread starter Blake442
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Finally got some pictures up...
For starters, here's the fancy new radiator for it...
You can see how much I cut out of each hose... I should've gotten V8 hoses instead of V6 hoses... oh well.
To fix the fan shroud, I had to trim each corner like so...
And then I made this fancy spacer...
Carb all torn apart...
I cut the end off the stock V6 fuel line and put a quick flare on it...
My custom throttle cable stud... I made it with my Dremel and it works like a charm...
All hooked up
Runs like a top!
Stance is sweet, but it needs new shocks desparately...
For starters, here's the fancy new radiator for it...
You can see how much I cut out of each hose... I should've gotten V8 hoses instead of V6 hoses... oh well.
To fix the fan shroud, I had to trim each corner like so...
And then I made this fancy spacer...
Carb all torn apart...
I cut the end off the stock V6 fuel line and put a quick flare on it...
My custom throttle cable stud... I made it with my Dremel and it works like a charm...
All hooked up
Runs like a top!
Stance is sweet, but it needs new shocks desparately...
I'm not proud of the exhaust... :lol:
Two brackets for the V6 accessory drive didn't line up and need to be modified.
This first one that goes to the alternator misses the hole in the intake.
The car will be getting a 4bbl manifold, so it wasn't worth the time to find a solution.
The other that comes off the back of the a/c compressor is close, but will need to be lengthened.
All shined up!
Two brackets for the V6 accessory drive didn't line up and need to be modified.
This first one that goes to the alternator misses the hole in the intake.
The car will be getting a 4bbl manifold, so it wasn't worth the time to find a solution.
The other that comes off the back of the a/c compressor is close, but will need to be lengthened.
All shined up!
Cool to see it up and running now. How does it feel compared to the old V6? BTW, I'd leave those 3.8 Liter badges on the fender too!
The 350 is nite and day from what it was with the old V6!
No more nervously watching the rear view mirror as I try to pull out into traffic... :lol:
The 3.8 litre badges will stay, for now. When I bought the car, one was in the glove box so I put it back on.
The other had clearly been masked off for some paint touch up, so removing it would reveal a nice noticeable patch of different paint hue... they help complete the vibe of the car anyways.
I'm really happy with how everything on this car came together, and it's not very often you can pull off a complete motor/trans swap like this for under $500 like I did. Granted, I did cut a few corners, but given my time frame I had to work with I'm as happy as a clam! I almost want to keep it now... :lol:
Hopefully I can put a few more miles on it before it gets loaded up and sent to it's new home in California.
No more nervously watching the rear view mirror as I try to pull out into traffic... :lol:
The 3.8 litre badges will stay, for now. When I bought the car, one was in the glove box so I put it back on.
The other had clearly been masked off for some paint touch up, so removing it would reveal a nice noticeable patch of different paint hue... they help complete the vibe of the car anyways.
I'm really happy with how everything on this car came together, and it's not very often you can pull off a complete motor/trans swap like this for under $500 like I did. Granted, I did cut a few corners, but given my time frame I had to work with I'm as happy as a clam!
I almost want to keep it now... :lol: Hopefully I can put a few more miles on it before it gets loaded up and sent to it's new home in California.
Glad everything worked out! Love to see a video of it running or driving.
I'd really like to do this to my own car one day. It'll be far down the road though.
I'd really like to do this to my own car one day. It'll be far down the road though.
Blake442 said:
Im crossing my fingers mine will clear but if it doesnt youll be receiving a pm from me lol but well negotiate on the price haha
It's pretty easy to do if it comes to that, but hopefully you'll have enough room to avoid it...
I could've made it look really nice if I had taken the motor back out, but **** that noise. :lol:
I took the junk engine and trans to the local recycler and got $30 for it. Together they weighed 536 lbs.
The wagon should be headed out west in a couple weeks!
I could've made it look really nice if I had taken the motor back out, but **** that noise. :lol:
I took the junk engine and trans to the local recycler and got $30 for it. Together they weighed 536 lbs.
The wagon should be headed out west in a couple weeks!
Final update on the wagon.
I got a new pair of hood shocks for it since the 30 year old originals wouldn't hold the hood up when it was below 50* outside...
The wagon should be leaving for California in the next few days...
I got a new pair of hood shocks for it since the 30 year old originals wouldn't hold the hood up when it was below 50* outside...
The wagon should be leaving for California in the next few days...
Good looking swap, you know what you're doing. I was thinking of doing the same on my Cutty, but it's not worth the money and time to me as the car is for sale. Too bad you won't get to put more miles on it and drive it before you ship it off, I'd love to see the faces of the Civic punks when they get owned by an old school wagon.
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