Buick 350 or carb'd turbo 231

[olds307 and 403]

A Buick 350 is very rare up here. Us BOP guys just groan when we see yet another sbc shoved under the hood. The Buick 350 is unique and different, like the Olds and Pontiac, a torque motor. As said above, put in Buick 350 and build turbo motor as funds allow.

 

[tobyp]

I have a SBB in my cutlass, the most damn dependable of all of my builds....maybe because I did it. anyhow, I have an 83 TTYPE regal with a running 231 turbo if you are interested in it.

 

[pencero]

I just can't imagine a turbo 231 being much fun to own in 2015 compared to an LS turbo where at least you can plug a laptop in and see everything on 1 screen at the same time to get the tune correct. If I had a car that came with the turbo 231 I would do everything to try and get it to run correctly for the nostalgia of it having the original engine, but idk I would just never want to put that engine in a car it didnt come in vs something iron clad like the buick 350 which can do 90% of everything the turbo motor can but more importantly run reliably on a daily basis without wearing the hinges to your hood out.

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

You can use Winaldl, to plug a laptop into older 80s, computer systems like CCC.

The carb turbo 231s, only make 170 hp and don't have the power potential of the later turbo 231s and probably not of the Buick 350 either. The carb turbo also have zero aftermarket support.

 

[jetsetw31]

Of the GM 350s, (Buick, Olds, Pontiac, and Chevy) the Buick is the torque monster. A stock Buick 350 is similar to having a stock Chevy small block 400 in your car. Also it acts just like a GN or T-Type. Add a cam and dual exhaust, and you could possibly beat A GN. (That's if you had the same trans and gears ) The Buick 3.8 is after all a 350 with 2 cylinders chopped off and the inter-cooled turbo makes up for the missing cylinders. The advantage goes to the GN and T-Type. But a stock Buick 455 in a Gbody would waste a stock GN. (I'm waiting for the GN crowd to jump down my throat )

I've done this swap twice. A Gbody and a Hbody. A '78 Buick Skyhawk (Think Monza) and a '83 Grand Prix. Both were straight swaps for the V6 and both were quiet, fast, and could lay serious lines in the pavement. Your swap would be similar.
As said before, putting the stock carb turbo on a stand to rebuild or not and having fun with the 350 is not a bad route to go.
T

 

[G-Body_Vet]

I've never driven a GN, but I have driven an '84 T-type and wasn't impressed. I had a '81 Malibu at the time with a cammed 327 and it was easily faster. I've also bought several G-bodies in the past with knocking/blown/zero oil pressure 231's (for the purpose of engine swaps), so I am biased against them.

I'm going to give this guy a call about the car and see what he has to say. It's a 4 hour drive so I hope he isn't an idiot and can be honest about the undercarriage.

 

[jetsetw31]

I have driven an '84 T-type and wasn't impressed.

The '84 and '85s could barely keep up with the V8 cars. With the Buick 350, the first thing you'll notice is the torque. Put a timing chain with steel gear in it, a good basic tune up, and keep the rest stock. Performance parts are expensive and not really needed for Buick V8s.

I'm going to give this guy a call about the car and see what he has to say. It's a 4 hour drive so I hope he isn't an idiot and can be honest about the undercarriage.

Good luck and keep us posted.
T

 

[Clone TIE Pilot]

The 84 and 85 turbo Buick are the hot air cars, they have efi, but no intercooler hence the hot air name but they are more powerful than the carb turbo Buicks. The 86 and 87 years with the intercooler are the most powerful and desired.

All 231s, have weak oiling systems and oil pumps that are prone to wearing out due to the soft aluminum oil pump housings. They were not originally intended for performance and have a few drawbacks.

 

[tobyp]

I have a buick 350 in my cutlass...a strong one. I also have a hot air 84 grand national 3.8 that eats the cutlass lunch. Actually the GN will eat most if not all big blocks, small blocks, as well as late model cars on the road....it is not stock, but ill tell you. Tune them right and get 20+ lb of boost and you will not come close to touching me...maybe if you run nitrous.

Here are the specs from my page on turbo buick.. Alcohol and lots of boost is like hot women, good drugs...quite addictive.

84 Grand National Hot Air fully restored painted, interior, bodywork by myself | 109 block 40 over | Wiseco forged pistons | special cam | Ported champion CNC irons | Extreme automatic stage 1 | EA 9.5" 3000 stall | Hughes deep pan | 8.5 posi 3:42 | Rjc 3" exhaust | Gbodyparts 3" down pipe | Gbodyparts up pipe | TT chip 93 octane | Champion Ported intake | Ported 61.5MM throttle body | Work Turbo TA61 with 61.5mm GT3582 wheel | Billet main caps | ARP hardware throughout entire engine | 42.5b injectors | Adjustable billet FPR | factory ported and cleaned headers | Viking dual adjustable coil overs on all corners | Umi complete 4 corner UCA/lCA | UMI rear sway track bar | ALKY control running 100% methanol | Custom fab 4" CAI with 9" K&N | Ported TB | Walbro 255 Hot wired | 87 ECM | MAF translator | ZO6, 85mm MAF | WilWood 12" 6 piston big brake kit | Dynotech 3.5" Aluminum drive shaft | powerlogger 3.0 | AEM wideband O2 | SM 2.2 update | All electronic sensor and coil pack upgraded to 86/87

 

[82GPLJ455]

Too bad you werent close.im gonna have a good running 4bbl 4.1 coming out of my car.

Myself,id stuff the 350in it just cuz its a buick motor.definately not in the same league as a SB swap.and they go pretty good.friend of mine had 70 skylark with a buick 350,she went pretty good!