BUICK The Final Objective (Mission Accomplished, 7/23)

[ssn696]

First video. That was an hour well-spent over morning coffee.

Never knew that part about the tailhousing bushings being reamed to center the opening.

Bellhousing alignment. Do it: 56:00.

 

[307 Regal]

The thread isn't locked yet? Excellent!

SOOOoooooOoo I went to a swap meet today and found something important! A driveshaft! I haven't accomplished much other than research lately, but it was important information. As documented on this forum and others, a stock G body with a 7.5" rear should have a driveshaft length of 52.5". According to posts about 700R4 swaps into said cars, the driveshaft needs to be shortened 3". The T5 transmission which I am using shares this requirement with the 700R4, as documented most relevantly here: https://www.garage-scene.com/t5-into-ag-body/ Their similar dimensions can be verified on sites like thirdgen.org
So the common consensus is that the driveshaft should be 49.5" long. Well that's all well and good but my BOP-to-Ford-pattern-T5 adapter plate is .5" thick. So for me: 49" length is ideal.
And what did I find in the second to last row of the swap meet? A '69 Z28 driveshaft measuring 49.25" long! That's about perfect! It will need a yoke though, and I will probably rebuild it and have it balanced. There is a small chip on the lip which holds the sort of snap ring retainer for the rear u-joint on one side, but it seems minor.

I've been looking at the SickSpeedMonte clutch pedal brackets, and I'm getting close to buying a kit from him. I'm thinking about going with the F-body master cylinder version in hopes of taking advantage of parts availability in the future. After that, I would just need to figure out which internal slave cylinder to use.

I'm getting more ideas on how to solve the Camaro/Firebird T5 tilt. I've seen a clever idea from the MG community.

Apparently, instead of a wedge, what's pictured here is a Z-shaped bracket. The top plate is welded on to the vertical plate at an angle. Once you weld the bottom plate on, you've eliminated the angle entirely. The MG crossmember looks to be ahead of the trans mount pad. If I did the math correctly on mine, adapter plate included, my 200-4R crossmember pad should be about 4.44" behind the T5 mount pad. So maybe if I can make my own Z-type bracket, and extend the bottom plate enough, I might be able to leave my transmission crossmember as-is. We'll see.

Side note: the company which makes that MG bracket appears to be D&D Fabrications INC, out of Almont Michigan. Seems like a neat company. Dunno how much business they do. Here's their web address: http://aluminumv8.com/

 

[ssn696]

If you need to move your transmission crossmember, I have some frame rail brackets for that situation.

 

[307 Regal]

No time to explain. Will update

 

[JimmyD]

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No time to explain. Will update

Any chance you still have that 2004R and would like to sell it? I'm looking for one to go in my Elky. Thanks

 

[307 Regal]

Any chance you still have that 2004R and would like to sell it? I'm looking for one to go in my Elky. Thanks

I still have it, but will be hanging onto it until I get the car operational. I'm not sure what the future holds for it yet otherwise.

 

[307 Regal]

To try and quickly get this caught up before work, the engine is now out and in pieces. I'm trying to add up everything I would need. The crank (shockingly) looks like it will take a plain jane Chevy pilot bushing, and my ebay flywheel does actually seem to be from a Buick 350 with how well it fits and matches the flexplate. Great. But my engine is burning oil, seemingly out of #8, and I don't know why. So know we're looking at a rebuild and I'm looking into oiling mods. It's a Buick thing. Out of time now, but I'll be back to go through the laundry list of "maybes."

 

[307 Regal]

Day off. Time for some catch-up. We're forced to take a huge detour from the T5 installation to address the Buick 350's various issues.
Taking another look at these exhaust port pictures from the driver's side, I wonder if there's anything that I can deduce. The rear port is definitely too oily, but are the middle two ports normal?


Here's the front cam bearing, which is what I'm hoping that the main oiling problem stems from on the driver's side lifters. It looks like it may have been installed at the wrong orientation. I don't have cam bearing tools, so I haven't gotten it out to see the groove on the backside. I assume that it has one. This would definitely get replaced with a TA dual groove bearing.


As a side note, who staked in these plugs, and who hurt them that day? Hopefully I wouldn't have to thread in pipe plugs.


I didn't like seeing this after finally wrestling out the rear main cap. The shop that built this a decade ago used the wrong bearing. Not the first thing they called "good enough" either. Live and learn.


My phone kept dying due to age, so I have no pictures of the connecting rod bearings, but mostly they all look bad. All rotating assembly bearings have been stamped as .010" over, so I don't know how much wiggle room that leaves me to get things doctored up. Buick bearing options are not plentiful, so I've read.

I do have pictures of the bores and bad ones of a piston (but you can get the idea for all of them). As a novice to V8s and as a rookie small engine mechanic, I don't like the vertical wear marks that I see in all of the bores and on the pistons. This would be bad news in a chainsaw. I can catch all of these with my fingernail. I would love opinions.


<---- #8 piston where I'm burning oil.



I was pretty fired-up about just getting this engine rebuilt and getting on with the manual transmission, but adding up parts costs has led me to wonder if I should get with the times and find a GM truck engine. I haven't had a chance to speak with machine shops yet (many phone calls to make today) but I'm estimating that my rebuild cost will be on par with an LS swap. I'd love to keep the old girl if she'll treat me right and stop eating camshafts. But I'd also love parts store availability and 300+ horsepower. Opinions welcome.

 

[olds307 and 403]

I vote Buick 350 but I hate being the same as everyone else. How does the crank itself look? Are pistons standard bore? Depends on if you want EFI, then a LS is easier. A used LS motor is used motor, a crap shoot, especially if bought off Joe Blow from his backyard. You will need a different bellhousing and flywheel. A T5 is questionable on either motor, pushed hard.

 

[307 Regal]

I vote Buick 350 but I hate being the same as everyone else. How does the crank itself look? Are pistons standard bore? Depends on if you want EFI, then a LS is easier. A used LS motor is used motor, a crap shoot, especially if bought off Joe Blow from his backyard. You will need a different bellhousing and flywheel. A T5 is questionable on either motor, pushed hard.

I just don't have enough experience to properly assess the crank. I didn't see anything that shocked me, but I haven't looked hard yet. The pistons are .030" over. EFI is awesome but my Holley treats me well enough.
I spent all day calling machine shops, going over options and data, and I still am as I type this. Roller cams and 6 bolt mains be damned, I'm adding things up and the 350 rebuild seems to be between 3 and 4 thousand. That's roughly the cost of just getting an LS into the car. And those things are only plentiful cheaply in rusty pieces in my area. Looking like we're staying Buick at the moment...