New To the form. 87 Cutlass

[WisconsinCutlass]

Yeah I need to stop being so ready to rush into this motor swap and do my research first. I want to find out what more available the 403 or 350. Which has more part available. Which can make more power.

One other thing which cars came with the 8.5" rear end. Right now I believe my car has the original 7.5 rear end with some crazy 2.14 gear ratios. It cruises down the highway fine but takes me 5 minutes to get up to speed.

 

[Intragration]

Yep, the 2.14s would be a great gear for Bonneville. Definitely the best idea is to come up with a plan for what you want to accomplish. The 350 might be the better motor if you are looking for high-RPM power. The 403 would probably be better for street grunt. Either motor would be a good choice for performance, just depends on what your goals are. And don't forget the DX diesel blocks. These start at 350 CID, but you can bore and stroke them out well beyond 400 CID, and they're tough, they're at the heart of some of the fastest Oldsmobiles out there. And there's always the 455. I know you're thinking small block, but depending on your plan, it may also be an option for you, the downsides are pretty much limited to, headers are tighter, and plug access slightly more difficult. But they sure fit! As for axles, you can swap in any G-body axle, but unless you're planning to make crazy amounts of power, a 7.5" should hold up ok. What do you want to do with the car, and what kind of budget and timeline are you looking at?

 

[WisconsinCutlass]

At the moment the plans I have for the car is pretty much just a weekend driver that I wouldn't be afraid to take on a 2-3 hour drive. I'd like a durable motor but something that I can beat on a bit, burn some rubber when I want. Right now I can't even get the tires to spin while going around a corner. As far as budget... haven't thought to much about it. I want to to do it right the first time so I don't have to do it again. I'd love to have a different motor in it by next summer but Im not sure if the budget will allow that. If I could get a motor built this winter and start taking the older motor out while the car is parked for the winter that would be awesome.

 

[Intragration]

Ha ha I always plan to do projects in the winter, and then it gets too cold to work outside. Then I plan to do them in the spring, and then it gets nice and I want to drive it. You could always start with supporting mods like headers and gears, in preparation for the next motor. Those take less work and money, you can get them done pretty quickly, and then you can enjoy the car a little more while you're working on the rest of your plan.

 

[WisconsinCutlass]

Would it be cheaper to get new gears for the 7.5" rear end that I have now or just find an axle out of something else that's has some better gears? I've never done gears before and I believe from what i was told is that its pretty easy to mess up if you don't know what your doing.

 

[Intragration]

The cheapest thing would be to find a 7.5" with better gears and swap that in. Your only other reasonable option would be to find a used G-body 8.5", but that's not cheap, they start around $600. Barring either of these options, you could get some gears and have them installed, but this also won't be cheap, and then you're spending money on a 7.5", which I personally wouldn't do.

 

[BMR Suspension]

Welcome from Tampa!