swapping from a 3.8 to buick 350 in a '85 regal

[bkbuick]

I'm going to the junk yard to get the parts i need to do this. I know i can use the pulleys and acc. from my 3.8 but it's my daily and I don't want to be without my car for that long. So i figured I'll go to the yard and see if I can pull a motor from another car. Which cars should I look for that have the 350 in them. I'll try that first if I don't find any then I'll look for a 3.8 motor. I am going to try to take the engine and transmission since it might be easier.
Thanks for putting up with the noob questions

 

[KrisW]

Buick 350 engines were available in lots of cars.

From 68 to 74, they were only in Buicks. Lots of Skylarks, Special, Lesabre, Century, Regal and Apollos had them.

From 75 to 80 they were available in GM Corporate trim. You could find them still in the Buicks mentioned above, but also in Pontiac Ventura and Phoenix cars, which were just like chevy novas. The vin codes were H,J, and X. From 1977 to 1980 they were also available in the Buick Electra and Park Avenue.

Look for the distributor in front (just like your 3.8 V6) and valve covers with 6 bolts to hold them down, 3 on top, 3 on bottom, directly opposite of each other.

Also, some older Jeep Wagoneers, J series trucks, and Jeep Commandos from 68-72 were available with the 350 Buick. From 73 and later they used the AMC 360. The distributor is in the same place, but the valve covers are different.

 

[bkbuick]

I'm going to the yard next Saturday so I"ll be on the look out for those cars but I'm pretty sure I wont find it because it's hard enough to find a g-body.

 

[RITTER]

Yeah you aren't going to find a Buick 350 in a gbody at a junk yard. But yeah look for one of the cars that KrisW mentioned and pull a 350 from one of those. Try and get an early 70's one if possible so it isn't all emissioned out and balless

 

[bkbuick]

I was just sayin that it's hard enough to find a g body I can imagine how hard it is to find an old buick with a 350. If I can find a 3.8 I"ll be just as happy.

 

[Vern]

In addition to the local yards Id also use craigslist ebay v8buick.com etc. Through a buick board you could locate some local buick guys and I'll bet one of them can locate you a 350 Buick pretty quick and pretty cheap. I know I would not be satisfied wtih putting in another regular old carberated 3.8.

 

[beeterolds]

Yeah you aren't going to find a Buick 350 in a gbody at a junk yard. But yeah look for one of the cars that KrisW mentioned and pull a 350 from one of those. Try and get an early 70's one if possible so it isn't all emissioned out and balless

actually i did...about 4 yrs ago...too bad i didnt bring tools 🙁