I agree with what he said. I got a Buick 350 I got off Craigslist for $150 an did the "simple" things an found some used headers at bowling green for $120. As for the olds 307 I built one last year. Cheap easy motor. New long tubes $145, aluminum intake $180. As for the starter an fuel pump yes there on the wrong side but $7 of 3/8 flex line and zip-tie it to your front sway bar and then all you need is a longer positive cable. Just remember the 80's motors timing go the wrong way lol or just backwards from bucks or Chevys. I don't know about the older Olds motors if there timing does the same.
It's an Olds engine. The bearings are oversized and should be in very good shape. A simple compression test will tell you the condition of your rings and valves. A puff of blue smoke at startup indicates bad valve stem seals. These are umbrella seals and can be changed without pulling the heads. You either pressurize the cylinder with compressed air or use the old hot rodder's trick of stuffing some heavy cord down the spark plug hole. Pop the retainers off and change the seals, not a big deal. Easily done in an afternoon. The rockers on these heads are set up in bridged pairs so make sure you get the right tool for removing the springs. The 307 isn't a big performance engine but it is good basic transportation and makes decent power and torque. With no budget, why mess with it as long as it is doing the job it needs to do? It'll just cost you money. Tune it up, get it running right, and maybe go for the 4bbl intake and carb if you can pick one up cheap that you know works. (Otherwise the carb alone can cost you hundreds to make right after you have swapped the intakes.) If you have the bucks for it and really want to go down that road, you can swap the cam and lifters while you have the intake off. A 268H grind may be a bit more than you want for a daily driver. Yes, it will run well, but it will also idle rough and mileage will drop. Really, a good transmission may be a better goal, depending on what you have now. The 2004r is a good choice. Going all Buick is fine but that olds V8 is no slouch. Very beefy, strong parts, well made. Nothing wrong with keeping it. Jim
I had a 307 olds engine in a 83 Riv and it ran great. Had decent power 18 mpg around town, go like crazy in the snow, front wheel drive. A 268 cam is too big for a stock motor and stock everywhere else. I know I did it with a stock engine and it was too slow out of the hole. In the higher rpm it did run good. I actually beat some people and they got me a car out of the hole. This was with a 350 Buick engine.
going to nashville to get scotts engines next week. mine had got water in it and hydrolocked so its just going to be parts or rebuilt and sold later on. i was going to go toady but it was supposed to snow like crazy and it missed us so im going down next week. should be a cheap swap. i all i got to is modify the wiring and move the battery on the right side. ---------- Post added at 04:18 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:06 PM ---------- also if you guys are interested or know someone who wants a good low mile 307 this one will be for sale. its only got 70k and is a 83 one with the good heads. ---------- Post added at 04:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:18 PM ---------- also would i be alright to go ahead to hook it to the th350 until i can get a 2004r or should i just swap both at the same time? i dont think it would be hard deal to drop the trans out on this car from the bottom but ive not fooled with it.
If the th350 works fine then just leave it. PLus the car likely has a 2.73 gear or something like that so the 2004R swap would really be best with a rear gear ratio swap as well...
If the gear ratio is 3:73 or something then the overdrive gear would be a great help for fuel milage. But if you have a 3.42 or lower gear in the Caprice rear then the overdrive will not help the MPG as much.
If your 350 buick is not rebuildible without lots of money someone has to have a running one cheap close to you. I tried to sell mine and no one wanted it and I started seeing them pop up all the time on craigslist. When I bought one of my 72's the guy said it was rebuilt and I got the whole car with a rebuilt engine for 1200. I started thinking I could make it run 10's and I took it apart and it was rebuilt but number 2 and 3 I think was switched in the main bearings but it was rebuilt. I have a set of 77 heads that are rebuilt but I won't need them. You can put together a decent 350 with our parts here but you have to do it right. we have parts that we don't need so you need to take apart that engine with help and let us know what you found. Most Buick guys here are really helpful so work with us and we will try to help. If you want a radical cam you can put one in it and it will sound good but it wont run 10's unless you do alot of hands on work with help from people who know how to achieve it. I'm going through it right now and all the guys here are doing there best to help.
I have 2 engines im getting. The 8.5 is for the strength too. As. For mpg i think it would help some with a 342 rear. I usually drive in the 80s for speed. So without od im reved pretty hard.
Also i dont really care if it can run 10s. Im trying to build a car thats all buick but i can dd. It will never seea racetrack. I want it fast but still be able to drive it 4 hours down istate at 85 mph.
Defintely overdrive like the 200R4 or the 700R4. I almost bought an 85 lesabre and he said it had a 200 in it so I was going to put an OD in it if I bought it. Around here it's 65 or faster so I would need the OD!
I dont know if its been addressed, but dos the car already have an 8.5? I dont know if you want to drive 6 hours for it, but I know a guy that had an 8.5 posi rear from a Lesabre turbo car with new 513 gears for sale. He was asking $150 for the whole rear. You could sell the 513s for enough to buy 342s:idea2:
Little far no its a 7.5. 8.5s in the 80s had big lug pattern. There pretty cheap to find from caprices even a 96 will work
