I have 89 Buick LeSabre Estate Waon 307 Olds engine :<( and want to improve it for 2012 Hot Rod Power Tour... What sway bars improve lean and basic handling Any shock recomendations - like Bilstein, Monroe, but... Exhaust system changes? I know this engine is bad source of power, but I need to run it for three more years due to emissions - any recommendations for exhaust, EPROM etc that will help this survive 4000 miles of HRPT? How about experience in LS series in this body? 5-6 speed changeover? Instead of LS, how about a 400, 430, 455 backed by the 200R4 (built up, of course) Like to see a red block under that hood! :<) Other recommendations? TW: How do I get off vinyl 'wood paneling' since a good portion is bad and I don't know how to improve / repair.
Basically that car is the same platform as any other gm B/C/D body from '77 to '96. What you want to do is get suspension parts for a '96 Impala SS, except for the sway bars which may not fit right unless you swap in the later chevy 8.5 rear. As for engine changes you can drop any Olds motor into that car, including the Olds 455. It's a straight swap with the exception of the downpipes which would have to come from a 455 car or be custom made. The 455 has a taller deck height so the 307 downpipes won't be long enough to reach. Word is that the ccc system will work on the 455 with a custom eprom set to a richer tune. If you want to swap in a Buick motor than get the motor mounts and frame pads from a G-body with a 3.8 and it should be pretty close to a bolt in swap. Of course the wiring and exhaust will have to be redone, but it shouldn't be too bad. Since you already have a 2004r in that car you have the best trans available. A manual swap would be more trouble than you can imagine since that car never had it as an option and it'll all end up trial and error. I have enough experience with these cars to say that I'd give it a full tuneup including all the hoses, belts, filters and even the thermostat. After that and any brake work that's needed I'd be confident in driving one of these beasts a long distance. Them Olds motors aren't bad motors no matter what some people like to think. No reason not to put trust in one if it's running strong.
I used my wife's old hair dryer to heat the wood trim up and peel it off. Also ended up buying her a new one. But I believe that paint stores carry a product that will loosen the glue. I did that peel over 25 years ago when I was less knowledgeable about it. If you use heat, go easy or you can blister the paint.
Here's another 307 site that's not too bad http://tlentz.oldsgmail.com/more_power.html And for the crazies, how does 435 hp and 430 ft-lbs sound http://www.popularhotrodding.com/tech/0911phr_oldsmobile_307_engine/index.html
