I have 1981 cutlass supreme brought a Chevy 350 I think it's a lt1 here is a pic hope someone can tell me what it is . I need help on how to install it to my 81 cutlass supreme . I had a guy pull old motor out and sit the new motor in car then he moved . Now I can't find the bolts for motor mount or cross member so if any one knows what size I need I would appreciate it i Also brought a th350 shorty trans for it . Please I need help I've own this car since 1985 in highs school I want to give it a new life for another 20 years . If anyone has a video of putting a Chevy motor in a cutlass supreme I would pay for it or instruction and parts I need for this swap Thankyou . Also if you live around south jersey around pennsauken and can put it in please let me know. Thankyou email is tl100 por100 [email protected]
Hel
- Thread starter Cutlass1981
- Start date
- Status
It's never good to see a engine going in with the valve covers still off and a saws all laying on the washer tank. :shock: That stinks your help moved away. First get organized, parts, hardware etc. Keep your work area clean and don't mix up the parts with your tools. Nothing worse then putting your tools away and finding a small part you overlooked. Look for a Chilton manual or similar. They are more help then you might think. I'm sure you'll use it more then once, it will give you experience and you'll feel good about completing it yourself. Good Luck !
Im not too familiar with installing a chevy in a Buick but wouldnt you need both parts of the motor mount off a chevy the clamshells and the part of the mount that bolts to the frame?
The holes are likely to already be drilled in the crossmember for the Chevy pattern. Perhaps the attached photo might help you locate the right set of holes. The lower forward bolt hole on each mount hangs over the frame a little on the G-body, so no fastener goes in there. Use Chevy clamshell mounts and the engine brackets that came with the motor you have. The motor mount bolts are available at AutoZone in the'Help!' section. You can bring one of the mounting shells with you to verify the bolts are the correct length.
Attachments
Thankyou for advice but that is how he left it m now I'm stuck with all the headachescrazy87 said:
When I put the motor in should I have the headers off and do I first mount motor in do I have to jack the transmission up to make it level. When do I install the crossmember I don't even know how it goes that's for all your knowledgessn696 said:
"Thank you for all your Input...where I live no one has knowledge on old cars. Question I have if you have time when I order motor mounts and the transmission mounting kit for this SBC 350 motor that I'm putting in my 1981 cutlass supreme since it's a Chevy motor what year and make do I order the parts under? Some one told me if I go the Autozone ask for parts on 1984 Monte Carlo is that true also when I went to ordered motor mounts under that make and year I told them it was a 350 and they said motor for that year was 5.o and they asked me if it was 3.8 or 5.7. Thank you for your help."
Olds cars in that vintage came with 3.8L Buick motor, 260/4.1L or 307/5.0L Olds motor. Others will have to verify Buick/Olds/Pontiac info. Sure, tell Autozone you have a 1984 Monte Carlo. The engine bays were about he same for most G-bodies. Autozone will look up your car and tell you what the factory options were. 3.8L V6, 4.3L V6, 5.0L V8 were pretty much all that was offered in Chevy motors. The 5.7L/350 was only offered up to 1981, I think. So, when you need to order parts, tell them it's a 5.0L/305. The 305/350 shared crank, rods, timing cover valve covers, oil pan, water pump, distributor, intake manifold. Only difference was cylinder bore size and pistons, although the dipstick moved from driver's side to passenger side around 1982 (?).
First, let's figure out what you have. Try to find the casting number on the block. Look on the back behind the distributor. Look for a 7- or 8-digit number cast into the web where the trans bolts on. Could be on the driver's or passenger's side. Here are a couple photos to help. With luck, you don't have to scrape much junk off to find a number. Search Google. This will hopefully tell you more about what you have.
If you can see the back of the engine, check out the crank. If it's small, round, and has an aluminum adapter around it, it's a late-model 1987+ one-piece rear main seal block. These leak less often. If the crank is not round, and has iron all around it, it is the old-style 2-piece main seal block, 1986 and earlier. The oil pans are different between these two types, but the timing cover is interchangeable. By the way, in the photo with the finned valve covers, notice that I have Vortec heads on a 1960's truck block - you can tell by the two vertical bolt heads at the corner of the manifold. They bolt on just the same as old-school heads.
The serpentine belt system you have looks like a Camaro/Firebird type from 1987-1991. Hope you have all the pullies. Make sure the water pump that is on there is for 'reverse rotation', or it will not pump the water correctly and you'll have over heating problems. No way to tell from the outside. If you have doubts, replace it wit the correct 'reverse' type - they're cheap enough. Same problem with the fan. The picture of the fan shows the right angle blades. I got mine off a 1990 Caprice 305. Camaros used an electric fan. Last, you'll likely need a fan shroud. Good luck in the boneyards. Any G-body with a chevy V8 will be what you need. The Olds one may work, but only from the V8s. I'm not sure.
Small-block Chevy motor mounts are pretty much universal 1975-2000+ and TH350 trans mounts are either round or rectangular. I like the rectangular ones. Check you crossmember - some V6 cars had an offset trans mount to dampen vibrations.
Keep the questions coming. I don't sign on every day, so please be patient.
Check out Rockauto.com. They have good prices, but the computer search tool is the absolute best in the business. You can compare part numbers between different years of cars and learn stuff for yourself.
You may have to pull and install the motor several times while you figure things out. The headers are often easier to install just before the motor is dropped into the mounts, but may be a PITA to have bolted on while guiding the engine/trans under the firewall/tunnel.
Hang in there. This takes time to figure out.
Olds cars in that vintage came with 3.8L Buick motor, 260/4.1L or 307/5.0L Olds motor. Others will have to verify Buick/Olds/Pontiac info. Sure, tell Autozone you have a 1984 Monte Carlo. The engine bays were about he same for most G-bodies. Autozone will look up your car and tell you what the factory options were. 3.8L V6, 4.3L V6, 5.0L V8 were pretty much all that was offered in Chevy motors. The 5.7L/350 was only offered up to 1981, I think. So, when you need to order parts, tell them it's a 5.0L/305. The 305/350 shared crank, rods, timing cover valve covers, oil pan, water pump, distributor, intake manifold. Only difference was cylinder bore size and pistons, although the dipstick moved from driver's side to passenger side around 1982 (?).
First, let's figure out what you have. Try to find the casting number on the block. Look on the back behind the distributor. Look for a 7- or 8-digit number cast into the web where the trans bolts on. Could be on the driver's or passenger's side. Here are a couple photos to help. With luck, you don't have to scrape much junk off to find a number. Search Google. This will hopefully tell you more about what you have.
If you can see the back of the engine, check out the crank. If it's small, round, and has an aluminum adapter around it, it's a late-model 1987+ one-piece rear main seal block. These leak less often. If the crank is not round, and has iron all around it, it is the old-style 2-piece main seal block, 1986 and earlier. The oil pans are different between these two types, but the timing cover is interchangeable. By the way, in the photo with the finned valve covers, notice that I have Vortec heads on a 1960's truck block - you can tell by the two vertical bolt heads at the corner of the manifold. They bolt on just the same as old-school heads.
The serpentine belt system you have looks like a Camaro/Firebird type from 1987-1991. Hope you have all the pullies. Make sure the water pump that is on there is for 'reverse rotation', or it will not pump the water correctly and you'll have over heating problems. No way to tell from the outside. If you have doubts, replace it wit the correct 'reverse' type - they're cheap enough. Same problem with the fan. The picture of the fan shows the right angle blades. I got mine off a 1990 Caprice 305. Camaros used an electric fan. Last, you'll likely need a fan shroud. Good luck in the boneyards. Any G-body with a chevy V8 will be what you need. The Olds one may work, but only from the V8s. I'm not sure.
Small-block Chevy motor mounts are pretty much universal 1975-2000+ and TH350 trans mounts are either round or rectangular. I like the rectangular ones. Check you crossmember - some V6 cars had an offset trans mount to dampen vibrations.
Keep the questions coming. I don't sign on every day, so please be patient.
Check out Rockauto.com. They have good prices, but the computer search tool is the absolute best in the business. You can compare part numbers between different years of cars and learn stuff for yourself.
You may have to pull and install the motor several times while you figure things out. The headers are often easier to install just before the motor is dropped into the mounts, but may be a PITA to have bolted on while guiding the engine/trans under the firewall/tunnel.
Hang in there. This takes time to figure out.
Attachments
Hey there, Sorry for the trouble your in. Lets try to make sense out of it. As mentioned earlier, we need to know what kind of engine was in the car originally? It's very important for us to know what engine / transmission you had in there first, so we can give you specific info on how to proceed. You will get good advice from here, we just need to know the details.
From the picture you gave,
Is that a current pic of the engine going in your "81 or is it a pic of the motor coming out of another car? What kind of car did it come from? Are the valve covers still off of the motor? If so, put them on to prevent dirt from getting into it. Next is it seems to be a vortech motor and by looking at the areas that ssn696 showed in his pics you can find out what you have.
Remember, the more info you give us the better we can help.
T
From the picture you gave,
Cutlass1981 said:
Is that a current pic of the engine going in your "81 or is it a pic of the motor coming out of another car? What kind of car did it come from? Are the valve covers still off of the motor? If so, put them on to prevent dirt from getting into it. Next is it seems to be a vortech motor and by looking at the areas that ssn696 showed in his pics you can find out what you have.
Remember, the more info you give us the better we can help.
T
this is the number i got on motor GM 5.7 LG sgi. And on the other side oh298 and here another number 16098688 the cutlass previously had a 5.o 8 cylinderssn696 said:
- Status
