BUILD THREAD The Barn find rebuild

[timbo512]

I had posted in the new member forum about the 83 T-top car we found in an pole building. Needless to say, it wasn't in awesome shape but overall a solid rust free car. We debated keeping but in the end decided to start restoring it.

The motor was blown so we will start with a swap. Found a rebuilt slightly modified 350 yesterday. 80-85 4 Bolt, bored 30 over, Vortec heads, Edelbrock 2101 intake, Edelbrock Rolling Thunder 2208 Cam, and set of shorties. Started pulling parts off the old motor to do the swap.

This will be a slow project due to time and budget. After motor will be door and T-top seals, then front and rear upholstery, and minor body stuff/trim. Looking forward to input and assistance. Already overwhelmed with all the hoses, wires, and smog crap that needs to be removed or disconnected.

 

[O. D. Showtime]

Good to hear you're going to keep the car and work to restore it!

You probably know this but I'd suggest taking lots of pictures and notes...in some cases sketches may help on how some assemblies go together. Take your time of course and it never hurts to take an extra minute or two to think something through. Bag and tag all you can, if I remember correctly your daughter is going to drive it? maybe she can help out...a second set of eyes and hands can be alot of help.

Don't hesitate to ask questions if need be, there's alot of knowledgeable members on the site. Good luck with it, will be watching for updates.

 

[timbo512]

Thanks, O.D. Yeah, I got a good deal on the motor, so it made the decision easier. $850 for a motor that had around $2k invested in it. Never run built two months ago. I don't know if the wife is happy about the performance upgrades and it being a kids car. The cam and heads are going to make so low end. Tracing everything is a pain. I am thinking about pulling all the Air pump/Emissions crap just to get it out of the way.

 

[axisg]

Great suggestion on the pictures and sketches. I wish I would have done that when I took all my Cruise Control stuffs off !

The swap should be a simple one with 95% of 305 accessories bolting up to the 350. The vortec intake has a different bolt pattern so your carb and cruise brackets will need to be tweaked a little to work. And you can hook up the existing exhaust just to get it rolling again. It is always a motivating factor to have the ability to drive the car whilst you restore it.

Next decision will be if you are planning to keep the factory computer system or not which is referred to as CCC ( Computer Controlled Command System ). The intake on your 350 does not have the provision for the EGR, and the intake on the 305 now won't fit the vortec heads. If you ditch the computer you will need to replace the carb + distributor and wire up a toggle switch to control the lockup then pull the check engine bulb. Orrrr if the CCC is functional you can swap the current intake on the 350 for the EGR version with vortec heads ( I think its 3701 ) to retain the computer, carb etc.

Keep in mind that you are at least doubling the factory horsepower in this swap. Brakes should be upgraded as they are not the best setup in comparison to modern cars ( google blazer swap for an inexpensive upgrade using all stock gm parts ). Your transmission may not be happy for long as it was parked for such a long time and all that new torque you will be pushing thru it. Being an 83 car it is likely a 350c transmission which were fairly durable and had the lockup feature built in to the computer.

I just re-read that and it sounds so depressing. You have a great start and if you take it all in manageable chunks the car will be driving in no time.

Good luck and happy wrenching

 

[timbo512]

Thanks for the info. Planning to keep the Carb and computer setup. Need to look at the 3701, I guess. Hopefully, find a cheap eBay one and sell the one that came with it. I figure the heads will cause attachment problems. Great feedback. Not depressing at all.

 

[MrSony]

I'd go with axisg's notion, and grab an EGR intake. After swapping my car, and kicking myself in the *ss since then, I have a few rules I adhere to now:
SAVE EVERYTHING. Never know when you need that one bolt or wire.
DO. NOT. CUT. ANYTHING. Don't do it. If it's in the way, tape, ziptie, or fold it out of the way. Especially since you're retaining the computer setup, for now.
Mark anything you aren't sure about. It helps.

And that's basically it. 305 out, 350 in. I don't know how well the computer will like the cam, but it will run well enough to drive around until you can get a non computer qjet ($25 at the junkyard, ~$100 to rebuild, or ~$300 from Everyday Performance, QuadrajetPower, etc) and distributor.

 

[motorheadmike]

Excellent!

 

[timbo512]

Picked up a GM Performance intake off eBay at a great price. Its Vortec capatable from a GM crate motor. GM is about the only one with an EGR setup. Thanks for the catch axisg

 

[timbo512]

I want to run the shorties. What do y'all do about the O2 sensor? If I modify the collector, it's really too far away to pull the right reading.

 

[axisg]

same intake as I have 🙂