I will be standing in line with everyone else watching this project. I plan on a newer EFI drivetrain swap into my wagon someday. Love that your 65 is getting the Buick plant power still. What is the story on the 87? Did you buy it just for the drivetrain? Was it a donor car for a reason? Just curious. Nice project once again. :TU: :3gears:
I've had the 87 for a few years. I rebuilt the engine and trans, added alcohol injection and got it to run in the 11s. The T-tops leak even after all new weatherstripping and the power master went up a few hundred miles ago. I was using it as an everyday driver there for a while, but I just bought a 2011 turbo regal so its just been sitting. I went to drive it the other day and the brake pedel went to the floor and i had no brakes i'm guessing it is the powermaster i just put in it. That was pretty much the last straw. it needed a paint job and every other thing. So i decided instead of putting any more money in it I would swap the drivetrain. That way I would be done with the whole leaky T-tops and powermaster issues forever. Plus no A/C or power steering would get me a few extra horsepower :grin: Here's a couple of videos of the best runs I ever made in the car.
Well the whole passenger side of the car is in sealer, well except for the front end. I also fabricated a throttle rod. I'll try to get pictures of that later. I hope to start putting the wiring harness on the inside of the car tonight. The plan is to have the front end back on this weekend.
I know a Regal is about 700lbs heavier than a '62 Special/Skylark off the top of my head.... Time for a bit of googling: A 65 GS with a 401 weighed 3200lbs: http://musclecars.howstuffworks.com/classic-muscle-cars/1965-buick-skylark-gran-sport.htm A 62 Special weighs closer to 2700lbs on average: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/1961-1963-buick-special-skylark.htm So I'd guess that the 65 in question weighs about 300lbs less than a Regal?
There hasn't been too much progress on the car, but I was able to get the front end back on. These are the only pictures I could get because it started raining. Once the body work is finished on the front end I will start putting the interior back together.
shipping weights for the 62 special (series 4000)was 2638...special deluxe(series 4100) was 2820 and skylark was 2707(series 4300...215v8) ---------- Post added at 05:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:16 PM ---------- lc2 engines was around 420 lbs al 215 v8 was 318lbs not sure about the transmissions
Well we finally got the rest of the car in Sealer today. Now I can start putting the Dash/inside wireing harness back in the car. Hopefully I'll start doing that this weekend.
there was one that made it in one of magazines that was green and black 65 with gn drivetrain a few years back. may be some help inpirtation etc...
My GN fully optioned was 3850# so you should see at least a 1000# weight savings...would be interesting to see how you mount intercooler and exhaust...and where you mount the ECM etc
Unfortunately there hasn't been much done to the car since the last update. The car has been block sanded and just needs to be cut in around the doors/trunk before I can send it to paint. I've just been trying to get the money together to have the car painted and get all of the chrome power coated. In the mean time I just need to get the motivation to finish painting the interior and put the fuseblock/dash back in the car so i can at least start it. When I had this drivetrain in the regal that car weighed 4100lbs with me in it. I was expecting this car to weight at least 600lb less, but I guess we'll see about. The weight loss along with no power steering or A/C should make it a fun street car if nothing else. I do plan on taking it to the track every now and then. I'm using the stock intercooler and it mounted in the same spot on this car as it did in the regal. I sits a few inches above the sway bar. In fact the whole engine fully dressed looks like it belongs in this car. I plan on mounting the ECM to the back of the blower box under the dash, but I also have the Progressive Alcohol Controller to mount back there too. I might have to re-think that a little more.
Wow! 3850 lbs? My fully optioned WE4 Turbo T weighs only 3480 with 1/2 tank of fuel and spare/jack in place. That's without me in it. I wonder where your almost 400 more lbs comes from? The only options my car doesn't have is T-Tops and power bucket seat. The WE4 aluminum wheels and aluminum drums and bumper supports only accounts for about 80 lbs.?????????? Where's the rest?
Well I finally got the rest of the body work done and cut in around the doors/hood/trunk so I could install the weatherstripping. Got the car all loaded up on the trailer to head to the paint shop. Should be painted by the end of the week.
