well i might as well start my own thread. so i have this free 83 lesabre i got off the board. car is really good shape but has the olds 307 which doesnt really motivate very well. i also have a ssb 350 that was in my 66 when i got it. i want to install this in the lesabre. the engine smoked a little and im sure has got water in it now. so basically i want to rebuild this engine make some ok street power in the 300 range but do it as cheap as possible. so basically what do you guys suggest? engine is a 73 or 74 2 barrell. i have a stock 4 barrell intake for it and hei dist. i can do most of the work myself besides the machining.
For 1/2 the cost of a rebuild I'll sell ya the 350 that came out of the Skylark when I got it. Ran good no smoke. did leak oil from the pan gasket area.
fl is a little far. i can get a used 350 right now in central ky for 250 bucks however i have this already shame to waste it. ---------- Post added at 05:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:06 PM ---------- how much did you want though?
For economy power I say chip the ECM (~$100)and nitrous the 307 with a 50 or 100 shot plate kit(~$500 plus the gas). Nothing wrong with the 350 swap either, but youll have to build it up some to get 300hp. modded 4 barrel Quadrajet, home ported heads, dual exhaust, headers will help, camshaft, most of all powertime it. If youre going thru the engine anyhow, you can do a home hone and rering job if the cylinders are ok. Machinework will cost but you already know that. PS if you wanted an inexpensive way to go on a cam and lifter kit, I have a Comp268 cam and lifter set in the for sale section.
You will also have to run new fuel lines or an electric fuel pump Olds and Buick are on opposite sides. Battery is also on the wrong side to the Buick starter. Better to find an Olds 350 and drop it in. All brackets etc will line up and aftermarket parts like aluminum intakes are much cheaper. Find a stock aluminum A4 intake for cheap and just go that route.
The fuel pump on my 307 is on the rightside think buick engine is to. Starter insnt a big deal ill just reroute some wires.
Basically im not worried about the install itself its more how i can make decent power and have it run good at a low cost.
The 307 is an Olds motor and is a basic SBO and they are all the same. The fuel pump is on the passenger side while the Buick is on the drivers. That's a long run of wires for the battery unless you can find space in the front side of the passenger wheel well/core support area. Believe me, I had an Olds 350 in 68 Skylark for a while and it was a pain. Do-able, but a pain. We ran a hard fuel line under the motor across the cradle while the motor was out. It's safer than running 5' or more of soft line if you don't want to run new lines to the rear. I used a ford solenoid so I didn't have one long battery cable going around the back firewall for safety. These are what I did to make it work as there was no room to put the battery on the drivers side.
Thats exactly what I was saying. The 307 really isnt a bad motor, though lots of people like to bag on them. CCC gets great fuel economy and starting, and if you "chip" the ECM it will run pretty quick......for a 307. Then add a mild shot of 50 or 100 nitrous for WOT blasts and you have the best of both worlds. For cheap. Great bang-for-the-buck. 50-100 shot is not racng caliber, just lots of fun on stock internals. But I hear you about the all buick thing. Nothing wrong with a Buick 350. The very basics will be powertiming the distributor, and doing the 4 barrel swap. After that, dual exhaust and headwork. get at least a 3.08 gear in the rear and a little shiftkit for the trans. Aw mann, I need another project ....I am getting jealous. Eager to hear the direction you go.
i haven't been on here in the last 12- 13 months or so...... but that is another story... i have a 72 buick 350 (claimed to run great with good oil pressure )low compression it has a 2 bbl on it now but i also have a 4bbl intake a rebuilt 4bbl carb(will post #'s later if needed) and a set of headers in middle tn. i dont need them anymore so i would make you a deal on them if you want them scott
Scott let me know by a pm. I have 4 barrel parts though. Budget 500-1000 bucks depending on what i can offload parts for. The engine i have ran ok. It would smoke just a little when you start it and would clear right up.
I think youre gonna have a hard time squeezing in a "refresh" job for that much. Bearings, rings, gaskets, fluids and you're there. Might want to tear into the engine first to see what youre up against.
at 1k? so would i be better to buy a used engine and shave its heads to get the power i want? ---------- Post added at 02:10 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:03 PM ---------- im confused ive been looking up parts if i can reuse my pistons looks like the gaskets bearing and rings only be around 300 bucks.
Dont kid yourself, its not gonna cost $300 to rebuild that engine. In a sentence, financially its ALWAYS better to buy a used engine, or one that some one has rebuilt/refreshed. If they have documentation showing what was done to it (with specific measurements) even better, but that usually drives the price up. If you can hear it run, watch for smoke or leaks, and do a compression test, and all passes with flying colors, then you are 80% sure the engine is good to go. You can probably get something like this for under $500. You can do more tests too like leakdown test, or inspect with a borescope. I always remove atleast one valve cover, and look for sludge as well. Probably the "meat and potatoes" of it will cost about $300 to $500, but the consumables will nickle and dime you to death. Just to give you an idea; BEST CASE SCENARIO: You can tear it down yourself, and inspect for issues. You will pay a machine shop $110 for the block to clean, crack test and deglaze. $20 per head to clean and crack test. $20-$30 for the crank to clean and crack test. Ill use your $300 figure for bearings, rings, and gaskets (dont forget freeze plugs). I pay more than that in Canada. $35-$45 to knock in cam bearings. $65 to polish the crank. You do the assembly yourself. Youre probably going to spend another $100 in rags, brake cleaner, sealants. Fluids like oil and coolant need to be replaced, but lets not count those. You're now at $670. In Canada I would pay 13% tax on that, so im at $760. Depending on where you order from, you might have shipping on that too. Not bad. REALITY: If youre doing a full rebuild, would you stick the stock timing chain with plastic teeth and slop back in? What are the chances your oil pump is 100% perfect and good to go? Hopefully the cover is good, and maybe a rebuild kit would suffice. What are the chances your valve seals are still soft and useable, and will come apart and go back together perfectly? Paint? etc etc... Notice, I didnt talk at all about decking (square or otherwise), cylinder head surface clean up, valve job, honing, line honing, or any other fancy machining operations that you will likely not need. See where im going with this? Now you could take a risk too, and be a cheapskate and just skip a bunch of steps: IMO, you should not attempt to clean a block yourself, you will never get it clean like a hot tank will, plus the price of deglazing and crack testing is all inclusive. You could skip doing anything to the cylinder heads, and just trust them. Maybe spray them with brakeclean to get the old oil off. Replace all the bearings, rings, and gaskets, throw it all back together and hope it works. Youve still spent over $500 at this point, and this assumes your oil pump and timing set are perfect. So how much have you saved by cutting some serious corners? So why do people rebuild engines at all? It will never be sold for as much as it was invested into. Because its peace of mind, you know everything was done right. Finally as a reference, Mike Phillips at AMP has some of the most outstanding pricing I have ever seen for engine building, given the level of quality he provides. ie: Its dirt cheap! You can see how it could add up fast. http://www.automachperf.com/pricelist.html
