Hi everyone I'm currently in the middle of an ls engine swap Im putting in a ls2 with 4l60e trans. The car was a 350 car and the previous owner swapped a 455 in its place i will keep y'all updated on how it goes
great I will be following your thread, I am currently thinking about building a non air, manual brake, manual steering, gs clone, with 4.33 gears, pro shifted 4-speed and a 6.0 solid roller big headed ls, to turn 7500, and make over 500 to the flywheel, outwardly stock appearing, but fairly serious dedicated drag car.
David G- I loved the 455 but it really wasn't too easy on the wallet for gas and also i did want to eventually build that motor and I got to looking online and for what I wanted to do to that motor I could do an ls swap and with that I would get much better gas mileage and better power potential for the money rtanner- that what the plan is for mine eventually for mine I want to build somthing that is good on the road but can also go to the track once I get my motor in I plan to change my gearing to 3:73 or 4:11 with a locker or posi. I don't want to go too high because I plan to do more street driving than racing with it but If you know any one that is selling those gears and a posi or locker let me know!!!
Pat and Jerry, This is a great board. I am disappointed. We all started somewhere. Luke is a new member and senior in high school. I don't think this is the best welcoming I have seen from members on this board. I personally helped this young man find this Buick. The 455 in it was tired and needed replacing. It may not be your thing but if he wants to put a LS motor into his Buick so what. He is going to fix it up and have some fun with it and thats what we all want to do. I think its great to see young people fix up the old classics and use them. All Buicks don't have to be to mine or your liking but you could at a minimum welcome someone to the board and maybe even encourage them. Luke, If we are out sometime I would like to introduce you to Dave Tumas. He is extremely knowledgeable about Buicks as well as a good friend.
For the money he is going to drop on an LS swap and trans swap,he could out that money into a rebuild of the 455 motor and perhaps a 200r trans. I have personally seen a couple people selling a built 200R and converter cheaper than the transmission he is planning to use.. These guys come on a Buick forum and think people will fall over it with loving arms?? with a different motor? It's his car,his money,his project and he may love the hell out of it, but because we have seen too many of these Cookie cutter cars I don' prefer looking at them at all.. My opinion, and it if he doesn't like it thats OK by me..I went to a car show drag race at Cecil last fall. There was a GSX with a BBC in it..The owner heard the rumblings and everyone and I mean everyone shook their head and moved right past it.. I was in no way bashing him or his car.
Welcome aboard .. and much luck with your project :TU: There's a lot of info here and elsewhere on the net about swapping an LS into a 68-72 A-body Me personally .. I can see both sides of the coin. Both of my cars have BBB's in them - the GS has a hopped up motor and the SportWagon has the bone-stock original 400 in it with a whopping 36K miles on its clock .. .. but I've thought about beefing up the wagon a bit and every time I do, I also think about an LS swap - mostly because I plan to drive the wheels off it forever. My '05 Envoy XUV is 5300+ lbs and has a 4L60E, 3.73 gears, has 100K miles carefree on it - measly stock 5.3 LS (LH6 - first year with cyl deactivation) and that drive train combo throws it around decently - in fact, I'd say its a bit quicker than the Sporty with its stock 400/400 combo. I could only imagine how fun it would be to take a beefed up version of that LS drive train and drop it in Sporty .. long term ownership and lots of miles makes it a plausible financial consideration to think about. Yeah - you have the open-hood-at-CruiseNight thing and then also trying to fit in at the track .. if that matters to you I think having fun with YOUR CAR is what matters, so have at it and show us some fun your having .. whatever you do .. and don't mind Pat - he's a decent guy, just grumpy because his shoulder got an Owie .. or having to re-light the pellet stove .. or some other sillyness :bla:
Welcome from Matthews North Carolina : ) Doing a 70 GSX 455 Buick,Buick 8.2 3:64 posi,Muncie 4 speed. PM me if you ever want to horse trade some parts or anything.
Welcome from Texas Luke! Build your car the way you want and then enjoy it. I love the GSX look, whether it is original or custom, it's still a Buick. I also drove a GS in high school, but that was many decades ago! Beautiful car!
Bad-ass looking car. Welcome from Australia. And do it how you wanna do it. My car is still powered by a BBB but it would not win any concours contest anywhere ... It's right hand drive! On LPG! ("propane''). Got twin rear aerials in the barrio low rider style! OMG! But I don't give a rat's for concours (though I respect those with the $$$$$$ and patience to do so) and I love to drive it 5000 miles a year My classic Harley-Davidsons are not bone stock either.
Super nice car! You will love the LS engine. They are so easy to work on, they don't leak, and just amazing reliability. I have a 5.3 in my truck and it has 320,000 on it and it runs like new. No smoke, does not burn oil, never stalled or hiccuped once in 3 years. I have put 100,000 on it since I put a 6.5 inch lift on it and its never let me down even pulls trailers etc no problem with 35 inch off road tires and a 3.42 gear still 20 MPG.