Buick 3.8 to Buick 350-1981 Century Wagon Build

[Lue]

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.

I totally agree, Blake should have put some miles on the wagon before shipping it off. I do however have a feeling that the new owner might still get the same reaction from those Civic punks 8)

 

[tobyp]

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!

In my SBB swap I was able to fabricate the existing brackets for the alternator. It wasnt too difficult with a mig welder.

 

[Blake442]

The wagon left for Califonia this afternoon!

I had to take the mufflers off for clearance getting onto the carrier, and one of the pipes still hit...

It was kind of sad to say goodbye, but it's off to it's new owner!

 

[Lue]

Well Guys, the Wagon arrived safe and sound on 12/16. A week later than what i expected, but well worth the wait. I couldn't believe how well maintain the wagon was, pictures doesn't do her any justice. I've already had a handful of neighbors compliment me on here.

Here are a few pictures i took 😀

 

[G-Body_Vet]

Do you mind if I ask how much it was to have a car shipped that far and which carrier it was? On another note, are you going to have any issues getting around smog with the 350 in it?

 

[Lue]

Do you mind if I ask how much it was to have a car shipped that far and which carrier it was? On another note, are you going to have any issues getting around smog with the 350 in it?

I PM you with the price, and as far as getting the wagon shipped. I went with an Auto shipping brokers by the Name of Fast Auto Movers, witch sub-contracted a company called Parkway Auto Transporters.

Now the smog issues is a bit tricky, but duable. I now of a few shops that will pass my smog test, and found a way of getting it registerd in Cali with out having to take it to DMV. The big issue is making it obvious that it's been mod. Thus why I want to keep the wagon as stock as possible for now lol..

 

[Blake442]

The wagon looks sweet at it's new home!
It's kinda weird not seeing it in the driveway at my buddies place anymore...

 

[pc350]

I know this thread is a few months old, but can you tell me what you did for motor mounts? I swapped out the 231 in my 1980 Firebird with a Buick 350 out of a 74 Century years back & remember problems with the mounts lining up. What we ended up doing was using the V6 mounts, but we kept tearing one from the torque of the 350. Now, I'm in the process of putting in a 350 out of a 72 Skylark that's been built with more HP and torque than the 74 I had, so I'm assuming I'll be tearing mounts again unless I find a stronger alternative. The local speed shop told me to install turnbuckles, but I guess I'd rather just find a stronger mount that lines up if there's one out there. Do you run into the same problem?

 

[Blake442]

I used V6 mounts for the 350. I only put a few miles on the car before I sold it, and it hasn't been driven much since, so I don't know if the mounts have been a problem yet.

 

[KrisW]

You can buy the poly mounts from TA performance. They are supposed to fit either the V6 or the 350. I am assuming maybe that the mount has the holes elongated where the through bolt goes. They are on my list to purchase but I don't have them yet.

TA V1822D

I went through a similar ordeal with my 78 Firebird, years back. I put in a 340 from a 67 LeSabre, it fit perfect, but I had to use the V6 mounts which I tore also. I have heard that you can buy the poly set, and then just replace the one side that always tears with the poly, leaving the other side that gets compressed as original rubber. I will probably just do them both, I am not worried about harshness.