BUICK The Final Objective (Mission Accomplished, 7/23)
- Thread starter 307 Regal
- Start date
Make sure the shop has a good reputation. My first machine shop ****ed up and took forever. The second one did fine on the stuff they did, done in a reasonable time period. I took it to the second shop to fix the first **** ups, after I discovered them, improper clearance on rod journals and all over side clearance. They said a month, 4 months later, no Olds 350 short block in my possession. Yes, a LS done properly isn't cheap and who wants a 250,000 abused motor to start a project with.
Do yourself a massive favor, build the damn thing yourself. Building oldschool carbed engines isnt hard. I way overspent on my first buick engine build having the machine shop do a lot of the work and buying parts people told me to buy or that i saw on TV. $3700 for 220hp, maybe. Do your research, take your time, and everything will be fine. You can cut your old cam down to just the front journal and the snout, and use the old bearing to knock the new ta bearing in with the snout as the handle.
I built my current 350 with a Northern Autoparts re-ring kit, buick 3.0 flat tops, and a TA_310 cam (admittedly a bit too big but i might put aluminum heads on this engine...) for around $1500. And its got 30,000 hard daily driven miles on it. Only thing i had farmed out was hot tanking the block because im lazy, pressing the pistons on the rods, and cutting the crank/resizing the rods to get .002 clearance on the dot. This engine makes about 300-320hp on a good day, yours should be similar.
Those scuffs in the bore look fine, you'd be amazed what a dingle ball hone can get rid of. If they still catch a nail, rub some 120 grit sandpaper over it and re hone it. The engine wont care. Your bearings look fine. Polish the crank, install a front TA cam bearing (you dont need the hole set, the front one gets all the wear), get those 3.0 flat tops for 9.3:1ish, and send it.
Parts store availability is overrated, none of them idiot shops have anything in stock anymore anyway. Aluminum intake is worth about 15-20hp and 50lbs off the nose of the car, and 1103hkr headers fit like a glove (may touch your control arm mounts, mine self clearanced after a year lol) and are worth about 20-30hp over stock manifolds. there seems to be a rash of bad lifters going around, so stay away from comp. go to crower for a level 3 or 4 cam, or TA for a 212 or a 284 cam. I will say with my 310 cam vacuum is hit and miss. driving around is fine, but stop and go when it gets real lumpy the assist can vanish.
I built my current 350 with a Northern Autoparts re-ring kit, buick 3.0 flat tops, and a TA_310 cam (admittedly a bit too big but i might put aluminum heads on this engine...) for around $1500. And its got 30,000 hard daily driven miles on it. Only thing i had farmed out was hot tanking the block because im lazy, pressing the pistons on the rods, and cutting the crank/resizing the rods to get .002 clearance on the dot. This engine makes about 300-320hp on a good day, yours should be similar.
Those scuffs in the bore look fine, you'd be amazed what a dingle ball hone can get rid of. If they still catch a nail, rub some 120 grit sandpaper over it and re hone it. The engine wont care. Your bearings look fine. Polish the crank, install a front TA cam bearing (you dont need the hole set, the front one gets all the wear), get those 3.0 flat tops for 9.3:1ish, and send it.
Parts store availability is overrated, none of them idiot shops have anything in stock anymore anyway. Aluminum intake is worth about 15-20hp and 50lbs off the nose of the car, and 1103hkr headers fit like a glove (may touch your control arm mounts, mine self clearanced after a year lol) and are worth about 20-30hp over stock manifolds. there seems to be a rash of bad lifters going around, so stay away from comp. go to crower for a level 3 or 4 cam, or TA for a 212 or a 284 cam. I will say with my 310 cam vacuum is hit and miss. driving around is fine, but stop and go when it gets real lumpy the assist can vanish.
Also, on a 350 oiling mods are pretty pointless. Youre not putting boost to it, nor are you shooting for 500hp, just smooth any transitions you can reach with a long air dremel tool, clean up and jagged edges from the lifer valley, and make sure the bearings and the oil pump gears have .002 clearance, or less. .00175 is the minimum spec for bearings.
Well, as you may guess, I say find a 5.3 or 6.0. If you intend to stay naturally aspirated then a Gen 3 will work just fine. The electronics and harness are going to be $1200-1500. Cam, springs, gaskets and the dual remaining goodies - another $1000. Fuel system , another $700-1000 depending on your hp goals.
The downside, the little stuff adds up and you’ll have an EFI learning curve (use an aftermarket ECU - 25 times easier).
The upside - LS’s will be plentiful for another 10-30 years imo. Motors are not expensive and a 5.3 in stock form is 300hp. Add the cam and headers - another 100hp. Reliable is an understatement. If you can manage to find a reasonably priced 6.0, then 450 hp is not hard to attain. And the JY is full of used parts.
I really like the idea of the 350 Buick, but if your crank is already .010 under and the block is over bored .030 now, then ………. you know the rest.
The downside, the little stuff adds up and you’ll have an EFI learning curve (use an aftermarket ECU - 25 times easier).
The upside - LS’s will be plentiful for another 10-30 years imo. Motors are not expensive and a 5.3 in stock form is 300hp. Add the cam and headers - another 100hp. Reliable is an understatement. If you can manage to find a reasonably priced 6.0, then 450 hp is not hard to attain. And the JY is full of used parts.
I really like the idea of the 350 Buick, but if your crank is already .010 under and the block is over bored .030 now, then ………. you know the rest.
This is the fork in the road, continue on with the 5 speed 350 deal, or go LS. No point in getting everything buick done and then deciding to go ls at the last second of something comes up.
Could you share some links? I don't know what "3.0" refers to.
Already have those. My headers are the Poston A-body version I'm told.
Definitely going to check the new ones. Very valuable info on the 310. Trying to keep street manners intact.
I don't see the harm in it though. With the way I'll be driving the car I don't see the harm in having extra oiling volume. With autocross (and dare I say another track day) I can end up sustaining high rpm for one reason or another. It's actually something that I was looking forward to.
Parts wise, I'm inches to Buick and miles from LS. The budget is the real deciding factor as I'm finding out. But if not for budget, the only question on my mind is: "Can I trust it, and will it perform without becoming an in-town nightmare." The Buick has great personality. But I would like it to stop eating camshafts and getting walked.
Rock auto has a .020 .020 crank with bearings for $250
Stock pistons in .040, .060 and .080 oversize for under $100.
Cams are out of stock so can't get a price there.
Just get the block bored over and the cam bearings put in and do the rest your self and it will be fairly inexpensive.
Stock pistons in .040, .060 and .080 oversize for under $100.
Cams are out of stock so can't get a price there.
Just get the block bored over and the cam bearings put in and do the rest your self and it will be fairly inexpensive.
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