ok Guys, I know it's a cardinal sin, and yes I searched...how hard is it to transplant a 350 chevy and 350 turbo into my 1964 buick wildcat...any known motor mount issues or will it "drop in". any exhaust issues...my wife has a strangle hold on the "toy" money and after the transplant I am going to part with the running 425. I am removing the nailhead.. for sure(almost)...if its not a hard swap. I know the driveshaft is probally going to be an issue. Please dont flame me as I am honestly needing advise.
My best advise is to think long and hard before you do this. 1) The nailhead will cause your car to be worth more, the chevy will decrease the value. 2) You will need two 350 chevy engines to make the power of the 425. 3) When you pop the hood with a nailhead, people say cool! When you pop the hood with a chevy people say " Look, a belly button". Since you are probably going to do it anyway..... Where do you live? You don't want that nasty 'ol 425 sitting around your place after all. I would think you are going to have to have a little help fabricating motor mounts, the transmission mount, the shifter linkage, tweak the throttle cable. Exhaust should not be a problem. I bet you have room for the chevy exhaust manifolds or some header. You will have to get a driveshaft that fits, might have to have one cut. Not sure about that. Serious, if you are in my part of the country I'll haul that old boat anchor of a 425 off for you! Of course that would leave me shopping again for a car to put it in.
If money is a problem then my advice is not to even start on this project. Everything is different between the two engine/trans combos and you will end up with more money in it than you think and far less value in the car in the end. What is wrong with the nailhead that you want to remove it? Why not just sell the 350 Chevy and use the money to fix what ails the Buick engine?
Now, now,,,, Guy, be nice....:laugh: :laugh: it is a free country ????? Well, sort of,,,, he can put anything he wants to.... it is his car, his money, his work and effort.... but you and I know that a nailhead is a good engine.... plenty of torque and tough as nails.... I see the appeal to a chevy motor, they are cheap to build and you can get most anything for them after mkt.... that is why, ''I would really rather have a Buick'':Brow: :Brow:
That Cat is a heavy car and you need the NH to move it down the road. but I will buy the air cleaner if you go through with it. Gary
I agree with Doc. Your car, your money. God knows that I don't follow the restoration path that most on the board do. I prefer street rods to restoration myself, but I try and stay within the brand for these "modern" cars. Now if it's mid 30's and back, open engine bay... flashy and nasty is the rule! (like a built nailhead). I still say that you are better off with the nailhead though. Way more torque to get that heavy car rolling, less involved in fixing the nailhead than in adapting the car to the chevy, the engine will look better, and most important, you will have a much higher resale value. Your market if you decide to sell some day, is going to be Buick people. When I see a car with a chevy motor in it the first thing that I think about is what can I get for that chevy motor and what's it going to cost to put a Buick engine back in. Any Buick engine will help retain the value. Keep the nailhead or go big block and you will be money ahead in the short run, and for sure in the long run.
X2? Muchless the cars orginial 425 Nail? Seems your headed in the wrong direction if money is an issue. I know you asked about a swap and I dont have any info to offer that wasnt already touched on. But I am fairly certian that if you do this swap correctly with a decent(strong) Chevy 350 you will end up spending more money than you would getting and keeping that Nailhead running correctly. On top of the fact the car will lose value. We just feel the need to know why you want to do this. This site isnt called a called V8BUICK for nothing.:3gears: We arent trying to flame you(too much) about wanting to drop a Chevy motor in your Buick. As stated, its YOUR Buick to do as you wish. Most of us are really passionate about these cars and these motors. I think the defintion of beauty and power is captured and caged under the hood of every car with a Nailhead. Welcome to the club.:TU: At least for now. Hopefully, whatever you decide on will work best for you and your situation. I would like to be the first to offer you a new shiney Chevy 350 dress up kit and a decal of Calvin pissing on a Ford logo in trade for your old motor.
I agree too, and I would never say that a small block Chevy is a piece on junk as others have stated. I've had dozens of them and I loved every one of them, but putting one in a `64 Wildcat? I can't even picture that. That's a big heavy car and depending on the 350 you have, unless you plan on only driving it to church and back every Sunday, I think you would be disappointed in the performance. As for me? Well, take a look at the attached photo. My old 300 2bbl. engine was tired and I had this 355 sbc on the stand all fresh and ready to go into a Nova which I no longer owned. It was a clear case of the car needed an engine and the engine needed a home, but it was never intended to be permanent. I now have two 455's on stands in the garage and one of them is going to find it's way into my Buick by the end of the year. Don't get me wrong, the Chevy has been a great engine and a lot of fun. It's 386hp and 438ft.lbs of torque have powered it down the 1/8 mile in 8.41@81mph. Not bad for a mild little mouse motor, but my car is a lot lighter than a Wildcat. And hey, at least I disguised it as a Buick :grin: And you would be amazed at how many people it has fooled, even a few Buick guys but a heck of a lot of Chevy guys. Not that they don't know Chevys, just that they know absolutely nothing about Buicks. That alone has been a lot of fun but no one will be happier than me when I get a Buick engine back in my Buick.
Alright guys, I am keeping the nailhead...It was late...and I thought a dressed up chevy would look better than what I have...BUT...it is running and was driving...here is my delimma. I listed my car on Nashville craigslist for sale...in anticipation of selling it I was starting the car EVERY day for almost 3 weeks...occasionally driving it(no insurance....wrong tag). then I had a buyer on sunday...4 days ago. I pumped the gas twice as always and she fired right up, I drove about a quarter mile down the road to my buddy's house to put some air in the leaky tire...turned off the motor with the key, and when going to restart it...click. click click click click is all the starter would do...engauge but not turn over. I went to autozone picked up a starter for a 425...and its wrong, went back with my old starter in hand and NONE of them fits my cat...mine has 2 bolts going foreward into the tranny...not up...but foreward toward compartment. they have no starters in house....while there they checked my starter...GOOD...so its not that. thought engine is locked up but why would it be it was rebuilt in 2007 and hasnt been driven maybe 1000 miles since(car sat for almost 2.5 years under my carport). I turned over my motor by the flywheel with a screwdriver so it's not seized...I was so aggrivated I just thought about throwing in a 350 sbc...I got discouraged after the 200 dollar valve covers, not being able to find a starter...even though I dont need one I guess, and have a chevy available...but guys dont fret...I AM KEEPING THE NAILHEAD...if I can find the dang numbers so I know what I actually have.
BTW....I fell in love agian after driving it to get it "ready" for a buyer. I just placed an order with automotive interiors for a complete interior....if you guys dont like them please dont tell me...it was a tad expensive...and it's too late to cancel the order.
OK, well you have learned the first valuable lesson with old cars in general, Buicks in specific. The guy behind the parts counter that is better suited to asking if you want fries with that will get it wrong more often than not. As for the starting, maybe a little help from above keeping you from selling the thing! The click click sounds like one of two things to me. The starter solenoid or the battery. Have you checked both of those?
Yep,,, stay with him David,,,, we are gonna resusitate this puppy....:laugh: :laugh: replace the battery first.... bet that fixes it....i have a couple of those long nose starters laying around... they are easy to rebuild... you can get the brushes, and the bushings at the parts store... napa comes to mind.... then take the starter apart , clean it up,, install the new brushes, and the new bushings and you are back in business.. for less than $10....
ok guys...got some even BETTER news...I got the paint off the block right where you guys said it would be in another thread of mine, right side numbers MATCH my VIN, and the other number on the left is: K W 527.
Well that settles it. You don't want one of those boat anchor 425's. I'll tell you what I'll do. Just because I like you now. You can package that old 425 up and ship it out here and I'll ship you a nice Buick 350. Maybe two of them.
