Buick 3.8 to Buick 350-1981 Century Wagon Build
- Thread starter Blake442
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Drove the car around the block last nite! 
Runs great and the trans shifts smooth.
The trans is leaking, but I assume it's due to being filled with fluid after sitting for so long. It'll probably stop/slow down once it starts getting driven.
Just need to throw some mufflers on it and I can really start shaking it down.
Lots of pics to upload... hopefully soon.
Runs great and the trans shifts smooth.
The trans is leaking, but I assume it's due to being filled with fluid after sitting for so long. It'll probably stop/slow down once it starts getting driven.
Just need to throw some mufflers on it and I can really start shaking it down.
Lots of pics to upload... hopefully soon.
Hey Blake,
Good to hear that you got the Buick running. Lookin' forward to the upcoming pics. It should be one fine ride when it's all sorted out.
Good to hear that you got the Buick running. Lookin' forward to the upcoming pics. It should be one fine ride when it's all sorted out.
It seems everything has worked out, for the most part.
My only question: Why didn't you spray 5 bucks worth of GM Corporate Blue on the engine? Everything is working out so well, so I guess I don't understand hahahahhhaah. Those nice manifolds look a bit out of place... :wink:
Anyway, great job and lots of detail in the photos.
Great job!!
My only question: Why didn't you spray 5 bucks worth of GM Corporate Blue on the engine? Everything is working out so well, so I guess I don't understand hahahahhhaah. Those nice manifolds look a bit out of place... :wink:
Anyway, great job and lots of detail in the photos.
Great job!!
Awesome job Blake! I love a Buick in a Buick. Have you driven it enough to tell if there is detonation? The reason I ask is because I had a 68' Buick 350 4 barrel that was very high compression and it pinged so bad I eventually swapped in a low compression 74' 2 barrel 350, keeping the 68' 4 barrel intake set up. I had read that the Buick's changed the compression with dished pistons, not heads. While I had the 68' motor the only way I could run it was by hooking up the vacuum advance to full manifold vacuum, and keep the initial timing at 0*. Your numbers (SO) indicate it is indeed a 70' 350 2 barrel which is only 9 to 1 compression but that is still high compared to the 7.5 to 1 motors that followed. I would be on the lookout for pinging under load.
KrisW said:
Thanks Kris... I know, I know, I could've made the motor a lot prettier... 😳
But truth be told it was just too god damn hot outside, and that's as clean as I got it with the 2 cans of engine de-greaser I bought. Since time was such a huge factor, I got it as good as I could, and moved on.
The manifolds will blend right in once all that paint burns off... :lol:
I only drove it up and down the block, so I haven't noticed anything yet, but I'll keep my eyes out once I'm able to drive it around more. I just ordered some cheap glasspacks so once those get here I can start bombing around in the ol' girl!
Bonewagon I am not sure why that 68 pinged on premium with that timing. It really should have worked fine. My buddy Ron had a 70 GS 350 four barrel that ran like a raped ape and ran great on 93 octane.
Most static compression ratios were actually much lower than rated back in the day. I know on the Cadillac motor I build my actual measured and calculated compression was 10.0-1 and ran great on 89 octane with an excellent quench of about 38 thousands if memory serves me.
Most static compression ratios were actually much lower than rated back in the day. I know on the Cadillac motor I build my actual measured and calculated compression was 10.0-1 and ran great on 89 octane with an excellent quench of about 38 thousands if memory serves me.
Dogshit, I don't know, maybe it had a lot of carbon after 30 odd years. That's one of the reasons I got it cheap, it pinged like crazy. All I know was I swapped it to a racer who wanted a high compression motor and I got his lo-po 2 barrel motor. I added fully grooved bearings, a high volume oil pump, and the 4 barrel set up and never looked back. It ran great, on the cheapest gas I could find. Blake when you quiet it down, do some full throttle pulls and listen, hopefully it won't ping.
Got the mufflers on the car yesterday and took it for it's maiden voyage down to the gas station and back!
My jerry-rigged exhaust hangs super low, but a little heating and bending should take care of that... :lol:
The motor runs great and pulls pretty good for a 2-bbl.
The tailshaft seal on the trans is leaking, but other than that I haven't seen any others yet. *knock on wood*
I even gave it a bath, since it was absolutely filthy from sitting in the driveway for over a year...
I've got lots of pics to upload... hope to get them up soon.
My jerry-rigged exhaust hangs super low, but a little heating and bending should take care of that... :lol:
The motor runs great and pulls pretty good for a 2-bbl.
The tailshaft seal on the trans is leaking, but other than that I haven't seen any others yet. *knock on wood*
I even gave it a bath, since it was absolutely filthy from sitting in the driveway for over a year...
I've got lots of pics to upload... hope to get them up soon.
Congrats! Nothing wrong with a 2GC, tons of GM cars came with them. The average driver couldn't tell you the difference between a 2 or 4 barrel anyway.
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