430 Transplant Into 78 Monte Carlo Info Needed

i am looking at putting a 430 into a 1978 monte carlo has anybody ever done this and what mods do i need to do i will actually be putting the engine and the trans into it lol im a buick guy thru and thru hence why the 430 into the monte lol

 

Re: buick 430 the 455's little brother

Moved with a better title.

 

thnks for the info i have the electra complete car at my disposal so i can just pull the old motor mounts from it to use in my monte also i believe i will fix the oiling issue that seems to be the norm on the 430's

 

Monte is a G body the same basic car as the 78 Regal. When I put the 455 in the Regal that engine came with some unknown frame pads. What I did was bolt them to the engine then lower it into the car line everything up straight and level then tack weld them in place. Un bolt pads from engine mounts then lift out and weld in place.I know theres probably bolt in frame pads out there.

 

thnks briz im gonna scavenge as much as i can from the donor car i didnt think the swap would be too hard just gotta get dirty and do it

 

Pretty easy if you take the front clip off/

 

I suggest getting v6 accessories but I don't think it will be needed. I would try getting a Buick v6 engine harness.

 

The t/a pads will be needed unless you make your own.

 

X2 The big car engine frame brackets will make the engine sit up too high in the G-Body causing problems. Spend money and get the correct frame brackets. You can probably reuse the engine mounts but the rubber may be cracked where it attaches to the metal part especially on the driver mount.

 

maybe i'll cut a hood scoop in lol just kidding i'm going to pull it tomorrow everything for this swap will be pretty basic all you have to do is hook up couple of wires for temp distributor etc i own a mechanics shop i just dont specialize in doing these kind of transplants but can figure most everything out my main concern is the exhaust manifolds and where they will locate otherwise there is plenty of room in the monte for the 430 and plenty of bolt holes to move the engine mounts to worst case scenario is weld the motor mounts in place thank you all for the replies and insight

 

Only about one bolt hole barely lines up in the cradle with what you need when using the standard '68-72 brackets. Get out the drill, or weld if you never plan on going back.

 

well have the 430 and the trans here the original mounts in the car were welded in lol figures... not a big issue tho i believe i will mod the mounts so the standard chevy style mounts will work i will be looking into that tomorrow started the motor up in the donor car before i removed it seems to run good had little bit off lifter noise at first but went away immediately engine doesnt smoke or knock wont have to do a lot of exhaust modifications either surprisingly i believe the motor mounts will be the biggest obstaclei am going to free up some hp tho by unbolting that 400 it has behind it and bolt it to the 350 i will also be looking into that aswell to make sure there is no fitment issues with that other than the obvious adapter plate needed

 

Be careful with the Tq the 430 will make. The 350 wont last long behind it. Theres a reason GM went with the TH400

 

yes i realize that the 400 is stronger but it also soaks up a lot of power im not looking to make a tire roaster just free up some hp and torq i believe the specs are 360 hp and 465 lbs of torq i have a handy chilton factory manual from 64-71 that specs all the manufactures torq and hp if need be i will rebuild the 350 i get the rebuild parts at a pretty good deal and t/a has tons of stuff for us buick guys my mouth was drooling with all of the goodies on their website lol

 

the TH400 has about 45 HP parasitic loss

 

exactly i love the 400 but it really eats up the hp wish it didnt but i dnt believe they have found a way to resolve that issue lol the 350 trans in there should hold i looked at the monte pretty hard today someone has done some stuff to it before to make it a little more performance so to say sold the engine that came out of it today found out it was bored .80 over lol

 

Geesh!

 

ok Im getting really excited now lol feel like a kid on christmas have 430 here put a hei distributor in it going to set the motor in this weekend will bolt everything up and try to get it running this weekend i am going to put high test real gas in it no ethanol the compression is like 10.25:1 hehehehe sooo it oughta sound good going thru dual pipes with cherry bombs on them lol i didnt install them the previous owners did straight pipe all the way back to them too gonna put 45 series ac delco plugs in with 8mm wires oughta wake the engine up a bit I really shouldnt get this excited but guess i have gearhead fever ya'll take care i'll let you know how it sounds and runs:laugh:

 

oh yea briz .80 over on that 350 i pulled out sounds like a grenade to me :laugh: