CUTLASS Need Help Have No Idea

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Jan 8, 2019
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I Have A 1982 Cutlass Supreme Brougham & It Has A 3.8 V6 The Engine Finally Quit On Me & I Wanted To Get a V8 350 or Powerful But Dont Know Were to Start I Will Take Any Advice or Info
 

TURNA

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Jul 24, 2009
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The easiest, cheapest, most common swap would be a Chevy 350.

I believe you would also need to swap the transmission to match the Chevy bellhousing bolt patten.
 
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fleming442

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Dec 26, 2013
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The easiest, cheapest, most common swap would be a Chevy 350.

I believe you would also need to swap the transmission to match the Chevy bellhousing bolt patten.
Therefore, not so easy. The easiest would be a 350 Buick; the problem is finding one. That being said, us Olds guys like to see 403s and 350s in Cutlii. Then, you can bolt up to the trans, but you need different engine mounts.
 
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MrSony

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Nov 15, 2014
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Someone say

BUICK 350?

If your distributor is up front, a Buick 350 drops in. Literally. People say things are a drop in swap all the time, this is actually a drop in swap. like swapping a 305 for a 350. Its that easy. Finding a Buick 350 isn't hard, they're everywhere, they just aren't advertised because people have this stupid idea that no one wants em. best way to go imo is a 75-80 Buick 350 .030 over mild port work on the heads, bigger valves, TA Performance Timing Cover, crower level 3 cam, 340p pistons and however much decking necessary to get 9.5:1. Stock exhaust manifolds flow pretty damn well for manifolds (headers are still a proven 30hp gain). Easy 300hp/400+ftlbs right there. Buick 350 is also over 100lbs lighter than a SBC, with an aluminum intake it's not even fair. The aluminum heads (when they come out this year) it might as well be a 231 in terms of weight.
All the accessories, the starter, timing cover (probably wouldn't want to use one from a blown engine, but you can if you have too, as long as the oil pump cavity isn't mangled), water pump, wiring, etc. You could probably just stab a stock 8:1 350 Buick in there, get a CCC quadrajet off of a 305 or similar and it's computer use the 231 distributor with a V8 cap. stock replacement CS-647 cam, and run it that way. If you can't tell, I like me a good SBB.

pardon the messiness of the engine compartment, I was doing a lot under the hood that day.
 

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FluoFerret

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I had the exact same problem. The fastest way was to order a basic Chevy 350 V8 from GM Performance and build it up from scratch. Bear in mind that I am from Europe, so any other type of engine was no real option: not in the US to search for them, little help, etc. The reason why I took the 350 Chevy is simple: it has 4bolt mains, there are thousands of parts/configs available and it is a sturdy engine if you want mild performance. I swapped in a TH400 instead of the TH200C, and to make it easy, I replaced the trans-member for a good aftermarket made by Hotchkiss, and I was set ^^
 

MrSony

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Nov 15, 2014
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MrSony

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Nov 15, 2014
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Des Moines, Iowa
All I saw was "3.8", "quit", and "Buick 350" and I went to town.
 
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