New to forum and need serious HELP!!!

[Dragonist]

get a sbo 307, 350, or 403

I say build as you go, but of couse there are many factors with this. For instance, do you live in a house or apartment? Are you in predicament where you can buy stuff as you go?

Reason I ask this, I did my swap in a hurry still ruffly 4 months latter car is not finish. It runs great and hard, but I work a full time car and my car is at my parents house and I only can work on it sometime. I got to a junk yard look around in every old car that came with a olds 350 or 403. The casting # you want is 399558, or 399558 2...these are sbo 350.

Also the reason I stated build as you go. You can do allot of things you might want to after you get the motor in the car. I say this due to I was in a rush installing my motor...trying to get it inspected(that's why I'm not driving it)



This is my cutlass motor installed

My swap was easier to a extent due to my car came with a sbo 307, and I pullem my motor complete with just about all the accessories. I say find you a block or complete motor and transmission at the junkyard. Get the major things for a tune up.

What i bought
Timing chain, oil pan gasket exhaust manifold gaskets, valve cover gaskets, oil for a oil change, oil filter, transmission fluid, water pump and timing change cover gaskets and a thermostat.

 

[bill]

adding to Dragonist's post....likewise... I bought my engine before I needed it. Tore it down, had the heads done, then took all of the essentials (block, pistons, crank, heads, etc) to the machinist / builder who checked the block, honed the cylinders, polished the crank, installed new camshaft bearings, main bearings, rings, timed the cam, etc. Once I got it back, I put on the manifold, timing cover, harmonic balancer, water pump and the rest of the external add ons. Then it sat for a year in my garage waiting for my lazy butt to pull my old 3.8 out. I guess what Im getting at is take your time and plan ahead and dont get too excited and rush things cuz it will probably end up costing you more money! I spent a lot of time researching online, on here, and reading manuals to make sure that I was not in over my head. This forum made the swap much easier and youtube helped cool my fears of starting the engine out of the car. Just my 2 cents...

 

[78PontiacGP]

Ahh the old 3.8 buick V6 motor(231) it only made 110hp with 145foot pounds of tourqe. You wont get 300Hp out of it but you can improve the engine, heads, Cam, Or if it was in my decsion i would just rebuild the whole engine. If budget is low go to the junkyard get yourself a 5.7 and clean it up nicey nice...

 

[HILTON]

Get a 350 olds it will bolt right up to the trans thats bolted up to the 3.8. You need olds v8 frame mounts radiator hoses exhaust. If you go with chevy then you have to get a different trans and all the other stuff as well. The olds engine and parts are not cheap by no means. So if your v6 runs good leave it alone. Drive it until it blows and like Dragonist said build as you go buy the engine and parts you want as time goes by.That way you can still enjoy your ride.

 

[81cutlass]

Ahh the old 3.8 buick V6 motor(231) it only made 110hp with 145foot pounds of tourqe. You wont get 300Hp out of it but you can improve the engine, heads, Cam, Or if it was in my decsion i would just rebuild the whole engine. If budget is low go to the junkyard get yourself a 5.7 and clean it up nicey nice...

Yeah you can get 300 HP out of a 3.8. It just takes such a big cam and such high compression that it doesnt make sense when compared to the SBO.

If the 3.8 is so bad, why do they run so great under boost? If you can pump out 600 HP boosted, why can'y you get half the power, even NA? The easy way is SBO though. Personally I would put a 350 olds in it. Unless you want to be cool like me and stick a drawthrough turbo setup on it.

 

[rebelgtp]

If you can find a G body donor car you would be off to a good start, you won't find a 350 in one though.

Uh that is not quite right. You may not find a factory stock G Body with a SBO 350 in it but I drug one home last summer for like $200 that someone had swapped a SBO350 into. So keep your eyes open and you might find a donor car that has a more desirable motor in it. You can find G bodies with just about any motor you can think of they just won't be stock. Heck in my shop right now I have a SBO 350, a 403, a Chevy 355 and a Pontiac 301, every one of these motors was pulled from a G Body except the 403 and that is going IN my Cutlass.

Keep your eyes pealed and you might be surprised what you find.

 

[Dragonist]

This is very true...the motor me and my wife started was in a 77 cutlass...when I came home I was like Wtf let me see in the g body cutlass like mine....and it was a 399558 2 block...I even found a el camino with a sbo 350 with 8 heads

 

[cutlass 383 stroker]

End of August if you want a free 307 V8 with trans , let me know but I live in Quebec Canada so depending where you live its a ways to pick it up.

 

[anthonychacon80]

I say if he wants to keep the 3.8 let him. If he is in a state that has strict engine change laws he is more likely to get in trouble for changing the number of cylinders. Plus if is a daily driver he will want the economy of a V6. HOWEVER, a suped up V6 wont get the same milage as a mild V8. Look at guys who spend money on a 305. The 305 might get 320+HP, but 10MPG vs a 305 with the same exact parts, and 15+MPG


To start off though making the 3.8 "better".... Get the 4.1 liter Manifold off a Full sized Buick or one of the Pontiacs/Chevys with that engine (to keep the erg, which will help on gas milage for commutes) vs the Edelbrock manifold which totally eliminates it. Get a mild head job. Get a quadrajet. Get a good edelbrock cam. Get some headers (might want to find a way to keep the A.I.R. I would also get some high quality rockers while at it. Maybe get a shift kit for the transmission. Keep the 2.41 rear gears. MAYBE go down one notch. but the Lower gears are really what make the 3.8 actually feel fast off starts even if it is an underpowered engine for a heavy car.

Just those basic changes changes and the 110 HP 3.8 will gain a LOT. I am just guessing, but an extra 50 HP should be easily attainable. 160+HP is NOTHING to sneeze at at all, especially if tuned right he should still get decent milage with those rear gears low.

 

[deadtofall_11]

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