well im callin it project 'tree frog ' .because of the truck being a couple shades of green and it has a orange cowl vent and tailgate . ive had the truck for a few years from a friend that had it for about 5 years. the truck is cool , it was nebraska game and parks truck until two guys before me . came with a 350 4bl , 4speed , 3.07 posi with a 4 core radiator, i added the cargo lamp , guage cluster, lighted deluxe side markers and the olds steering wheel .its faily clean as a driver.it could be nicer, i have several trucks for parts. i even have a sweet rust free air conditioning cab and nice front fenders for it . also hanging here in my office are a very nice pair of rear fenders . all i really nered is a box side and a floor kit .in the next several months i got alot planned . anyways the motor was getting tired and i wantedd the engine block for another project . i resently parted out a 73 riviera with a 455 with dual exhaust . it ran great , yet it was a dirty pig . some cleaning up , paint and an performer intake later . ive decide dto put it in the chevy . why not , i plan on getting the a/c all working after i change the cab.to keep it interesting i wanted to keep the chevy four speed , why not ? got me a used flywheel off ebay , got it resurfaced . then got a great deal on a centerforce dual friction clutch set up there also . buddy had an adapter plate , got a extenede pilot bushing from jr motorsports in iowa .longer dowels from jegs .a couple holleys to choose from , and hei with an accell coil .as for motor mounts i used the riviera mount upper and lower and got 73-87 chevy two wheel drive engine brackets . some hole s lined up , some had to be drilled . nothing i cant handle , the only deal is the oil filter will require a little notching or a relocator kit . i think maybe if i used skylark/gs , lower mounts , maybe the motor would sit a littl lower and then the filter would clear in the frame . and yeah , the 72 chevy trucks of course use a cast iron bellhousing that has the trans crossmember that is just below the passenger exhaust which i will have to get creative and the pipe will run between the crossmemeber and the floor pan . also the bell haousing required some trimming to allow the buick starter snout to clear . i'll have to watch it for any cracking . who knows , the cab i paln on swaping is set up for an auto and ive got buick short tail 400's yet id really like to keep the 4 speed . wow . i think i wrote a novel . im sure i forgot something , but us crazy guys putting buick motors in everything, need to keep some secrets -steve
the last pics i got .i will take more yet the weathers getting crappy today. weve had a few nice days . i ve been on vacation until the 3rd , but i will try to get some bolts and crap put on . the exhaust will be a project. where the riv had duals so being on the cheap , i will use the first foot or so and just weld it up to the chevy pipe, and the pass will be interesting. i dont drive it much , i mostly use it a wheel barrel to haul dirt and sand .so im not in a hurry , but id like it to ge t it under its own power soon .i might shove that stock car into the yard and get in the garage . should be fun. oh yeah ,did i mention on the cheap .
There is some other guy here on the board that has a 455 in a later (than yours) short bed/step side, and he has gotten pretty dang fast. Love how you worked to make the truck trans work.
about a hundred miles or so ok i'll try this again . been driving it several time s. still needs exhaust done , the 650 holley might be small yet keeps me from goin crazy with it :3gears: if ya dont mind being patient with the shifting and figure out the odd ratios of the trans it hauls butt . although an auto would be a screamer . someone had to be difficult , me .
one more , i got to resize a bunch .yes thats an olds steering wheel .id like to sell it and get another buick one or atleast a buick medalian and oh yeah , and a sirius sportster unit there , got to have tunes
thanks. its a part time driver ,and gets used as a wheel barrel .should haul alot of dirt this spring , fast . ive got several of these trucks for parts. i got me a sweet cab and front clip this fall , someday it will get done . its too fun to drive to tear apart yet
this cab is fairly clean , yet i have a very nice one at my buddies shop with air. i hope to have it ready for paint by this fall depending on what i do do with cleaning up the chassis .id like to do a close restor ation yet i want to still drive and use it . it will be that light green i think its a cool color
