About a month and a half ago a friend offered me this '83 Regal limited with the 4.3l Diesel for 300$. Not a bad deal considering the interior was untouched, Body was in immaculate shape (Save the opera lights, extra chrome, and vinyl top, those had to go.), however the engine did not run. I figured why not, I have the original, freshly rebuilt 350 and th30 trans from my 70 Skylark, and everything to swap the setup over and get it running. I searched for awhile on the net about this swap, and while i found mention of people doing this swap and a few tips here and there, I found not one thread with a complete swap documented. So I figured I may as well share my experience with this swap So 300$ later, and after a few weeks of gathering parts, here it is covered in snow in my garage- Better shot of the car and my 350 on the stand- A shot of the interior, I added an old-school tach, and B&M Z-gate shifter i got from a board member. Decided i hated the bench seat, and Installed a set of buckets a friend had- 4.3l diesel is out, and a buddy with a can of Coors :beers2: My 350 and Th350 bolted back together. Installed a shift kit in the trans, Engines had the heads opened up a little built, port-matched to the intake and exhaust manifolds. 4bbl Intake, and performer carb I picked up from another board member. Along with some other odds and ends. Bit of a PITA to get the whole set up in there the whole way, the boom on my cherry picker wasnt quite long enough to reach all the way back. Had to improvise with a come-along. I dropped the engine and trans in at first with the frame pads bolted to the motor mounts. I made sure the trans mount and trans would mount correctly on the crossmember, then lowered the whole set up in. Marked out where the frame pads needed to be with a can of paint, then removed the whole setup. I then removed the frame pads from the motor mounts, and drilled out the holes where they needed to be mounted, then bolted them down. I then dropped the whole setup back in. For anyone else swapping out the original trans for a th350, your only options on the crossmember are to either purchase an aftermarket one, fab up your own, or locate a crossmember out of, I believe, '82 or '83 regal. this car is an '83, so I lucked out with the crossmember. Everything fit great, i bolted the pads back to the mounts, and bolted down the trans mount. Someone in the past had already begun tearing out the AC, which is fine with me as my 350 does not have brackets for an AC compressor. I did have to remove the plastic insulator shroud covering up the Accumulator, Evaporator, and heater box, as it was causing some clearance issues with my Accell wires. The stock driveshaft is already the correct length needed, and has the correct yoke. I would however reccomend swapping out the rear for an 8.5" 10-bolt, which will require a different driveshaft. I next need to figure out all the wiring, which wires I need to get everything wired correctly, and which wires are only needed for the diesel and AC system, which I can get rid of. This weekend i will be picking up some odds and ends i need from the junkyard, so I can finish up the install. I also need to figure out the power steering system, and drain the tank and plumb the fuel system, then it'll be ready to fire up. I'll also be installing a new radiator and electric fans. I'll keep updating this as I go along. ----- As for bodywork and paint, I also decided to finish getting rid of the vinyl top and opera lights. I filled in the holes for the lights, then used body filler on the low spots and imperfections. I also had to get rid of the metal tabs for the vinyl top chrome. After using filler to get everything pretty straight, I sprayed the bare metal with some self-etch primer, then 2 coats of filler primer. Block sanded everything, and sprayed a coat of sealer primer. I ordered a gallon of Single Stage Acrylic enamel in Jet Black last night, however I still have a little bit of bodywork to do first. I will be getting rid of any excess chrome and stainless steel, then converting all the chrome trim and bumpers to blackout trim.
Cool, nice swap! Have a look at my thread in the SBB section about the book I am writing and you might be interested in getting your car in the readers rides. http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=195250
