Buick 3.8 to Buick 350-1981 Century Wagon Build

[G_Body_Enthusiast]

is that heater hose touching the bracket for the alternator? arent you a little concerned that vibrations might cause some abrasion and possible leakage? when i first got my car the upper radiator hose sat on top of the air pump and had a dent in it from the hood smashing down on it. i got a stainless steel flex hose and fixed the problem. i'm always leary of things that shake and vibrate touching the hoses for the cooling system. to me it looks like a potential problem later on.

 

[Blake442]

You're right, it is just barely touching the bracket.
The hose originally had a large rubber sleeve around it to protect it as it wrapped around the a/c compressor. I cut off this sleeve and zip-tied it to the new hose I later found would not work, so I went back to the stock hose, and the sleeve will be reinstalled to protect it. I just ran out of zip-ties... :lol:

 

[G_Body_Enthusiast]

i have lots of zip ties. i buy them in bulk. next to a BFH they're a mechanics best friend. that and a roll of duct tape.

 

[Blake442]

Everything is in and hooked up with the exception of the radiator, carb and exhaust...

I was gonna upload my pics from this weekend, but it started falling asleep in front of the computer. :lol:
I'll get them up tomorrow morning when I get home from work...

 

[Blake442]

Got my pics up from this weekend...

This is for you G_Body_Enthusiast :lol:
Got the rubber sleeve on the heater hose...

Then I made my way under the car and replaced the transmission mount... again...
I didn't even eat my Wheaties and I snapped the stud right off the new mount.
Luckily the original was was still good... and I hadn't thrown it away yet. :lol:

Old mount back in...

Next came hooking up the kickdown cable.
I got the brackets off a '73 Apollo at the junkyard, but I think I'll have to use the Skylark throttle bracket (lying on the intake) because the one on there sets the cable too far forward.
I also noticed the kickdown cable isn't retracting smoothly, so I'll have to pull it back out and investigate...

The starter gave me a little headache...
I forgot to put the heat shield on before I put the exhaust manifold on... which turned out to be a huge pain because the manifold obstructs the bolts, and I sure as hell wasn't going to take it off! :lol:
I managed to get the bolts started, and ultimately had to sacrifice one of my buddys dads' wrenches...
But I got it!

Starter in. I used the V6 starter.

I finally got the A/C compressor bolted in not crooked and got the alternator done too.
The Gates 7480 belt is a perfect fit since the stock alternator belt is too short.
I also got the plug wires on, and hooked up the rest of the wiring.

The rats nest of wires tucked up on the fenderwell is the leftovers of the computer control system...

You can see how the a/c lines wrapped themselves up since the compressor now sits about 4" farther forward than it did before...

Just for fun I sat the carb back on the intake and threw the air cleaner on to see what I had to work with for clearance. The breather tube in the valve cover from the V6 even lines up with the Skylark air cleaner!

Here you can see I relocated the vacuum resevoir ball. It was originally mounted on the side of the fan shroud, but I moved it to the alternate location offered from the factory on the a/c box.

Just need to go thru the carb and hook it up to the fuel pump, get a radiator and upper/lower hoses, and rig up some exhaust using the first couple feet of the pipes off the Skylark and a couple of the cheapest glasspacks I can find... 8)

 

[RegalBegal]

Nice build project! I remember having all that fun installing my 455. As for the valve cover/AC box clearance, I just mounted the engine forward 3/4 of an inch. But, then again, I had to do frame mounts anyway. FYI: you can shorten the twisted AC hose. I cut mine, put in a piece of aluminum tubing and double clamped each end. It's been 2 years and never had a problem with it. How's your oil filter frame clearance? I had to use the oil pump cover from the 231 to get the different angle.

 

[Blake442]

Oil filter to frame rail clearance is good.
You can kinda see how much room there is in a couple of the pics above.

 

[Minion1186]

awesome job. Not knocking anyone here, but I think it's way more interesting seeing a buick car with a buick powerplant rather than a chevy mill.

 

[RegalBegal]

awesome job. Not knocking anyone here, but I think it's way more interesting seeing a buick car with a buick powerplant rather than a chevy mill.

X10!!!!!

 

[G_Body_Enthusiast]

nice sleeve. im still not sure why you routed the hose that way but that's added insurance. do keep and eye on it though just in case.

do let us know all the changes and little things you had to do to make this work. i want to put a buick 350 in my car and all that info will help me avoid mistakes and delays. a write up would be awesome. like chuck norris awesome.