My fairly complete 3.8 to SBC 350 swap parts list!

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Yeah, I did, but I only lifted it up a few inches. I de-rusted it under the bushings and painted it with rust inhibiting paint where necessary. I used a engine hoist hooked to the trunk latch to do the lift-in retrospect, not the smartest thing to do. This allowed access to all but the front two bushings and they were used to keep alignment.I used Energy Suspension poly bushings when I did it. I could have done it differently,but pulling the body a few inches off the frame took very little effort ( under an hour). I wanted a factory fuel line and all of the factory line clips from a sbc G body, and this was the easiest way to do it. I also removed the body from the donor car ( Grand Prix) in the junkyard using a chain fall hoist that they supply for pulling engines. All in all it was a $10 solution to the problem of the line with $80 thrown in to replace the rotten rubber bushings. I also realigned the body over the frame as it was offset 1/4 in to the passenger's side from the factory and the realignment made front tire clearance better.

 

[Silent viewer]

that makes much more sense! i thought you were saying you removed it entirely only for the engine /transmission to be swapped. the fuel line deal is a good idea! i have a fresh frame going under mine, may have to cosider switching the fuel lines! good work!

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Yeah, it's hard to convey all that is involved in a project in a simple post. When I get detailed, some people complain that my posts are too long. If ti's too short, they are not fully understandable. My car was completely changed over to everything necessary for a factory SBC G body installation in 1985 except for the inner fenders. Believe it or not, there are a few minor differences in them too, but not enough that it is absolutely necessary to use them. IIRC, the ESC box mounts on the passenger's side are different, and the overflow/washer fluid reservoirs are slightly different,but I am not sure on those two. I also have not been able to find a set in good enough condition for me to buy and use them. Here's a pic of my install. As you can see it deviates little from factory. When it is finished, it is likely the only clue will be the headers and vacuum advance can. The white thing one the thermostat housing, by the way, is a temp gauge.

 

[dougfather]

http://gbodyforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=2485

This is a new post that I am working on. It will be updated as I go. I plan to use this thread and maybe one other for more additional info. One thing to keep in mind is that depending on options, year, etc, there will be some slight differences.

 

[wolfs1959]

Hello all kind of new to gbodies. its kind of scary to leave the motor mount hanging off the crossmember like that?? How much power (with hard launches) has this set up held up to? also on the same note do the v8 cars have the motor mount hang over like that?

I have a pretty healthy 350 ready for a car and i have found that v6 cars are half or more cheaper than the v8 cars and was thinking of doing a swap. A good friend of mine used to run dirt roundy round car and has all of the factory stuff to swap so getting the parts (motor mounts, rad., shroud...) on the extremely elcheapo side wont be a problem. I sunk all my money in my engine and now just want to run it.

thanks for any input

Joe

 

[jerrycad472]

It only hangs off 1/2" to 3/4". It is nothing to worry about. Just use quality Grade 8 bolts.

 

[RITTER]

I have a set of motor mounts for a V8 S10 swap, (frame part and engine block mount) could I use these on my Regal?

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

Depends on what mount you have. Likely, they are not the same. You can however, use the mounts from a B body or F body in a G body as long as they are the newer clamshell design. You need 2 or 3 pieces per side depending on if the mount is captured in the clamshell or not. They would be: Clamshell, rubber biscuit and block mounts. If getting the parts from the junkyard, it is important to take the 3 block mount bolts as well as the long through bolt as they are specific to this application and you likely won't have ones that work.

 

[RITTER]

The ones that I purchased for the S10 swap include a clamshell 4.3L frame mount (as they are the same as the small block V8) and the block mount is adjustable, probably up to about 2 inches (front to back)

 

[85 Cutlass Brougham]

I dunno, I'd have to see them. Proper frame side G body mounts are under $20 each if they don't work. The 4.3 mounts I have seen are not the same as a G body SBC V8 mount, especially the block side of the mounts.