Marco So my vin # of my 71 skylark comes up with a skylark L6 but it has a 350 motor was that a upgrade ?? Jim
The Buick 350 could have been swapped in at any time over the past 30+ years. Unless you have a full records history of all work done to the car since new, it's impossible to say when the 350 was swapped in. Does the 71 VIN indicate the motor? I'm not sure when that started, I know the 68/69 VIN's did not tell you what motor was original. If 71's VIN did specify the motor, then it did roll out of the factory with the 6.
Everything I've seen depicts the Skylark L6 with the inline 6 cylinder 1 bbl motor. The interesting thing here with Jim's car is the serial number on the 350 motor matches the L6 VIN o No: ou: Was the 350 an option for the L6, and if so, why then wouldn't it be a Skylark V8?
Is it possible the 350 was a factory replacement motor, and the s/n was stamped on it to match the car? Or they just goofed up the #'s right from the factory... o No:
Maroc Also title also show car as a V8 thats why i asked this question i wonder if it is a true 71 motor as well?? Jim
motor serial# there are guys out there who can re-stamp a block to make #s match . i know of one fellow who purchased a 60's vette that was "numbers matching" . all #s matched as he checked them out . he eventually traced all the previous owners to the original purchaser . the current owner stated that the car was numbers matching . the original owner then informed him that he had the original 327 on blocks under his work bench ! how's that for good news ? fyi
. Thats why I don't support the theory of re-stamping a non-original block. There have been threads on other BB's in support of stamping blocks and I cannot understand why you would want to do that o No: You, the owner would still know that its not the original motor, so why bother re-stamping? ou:
I agree...the only reason to restamp a block is to mislead someone else. 71lark, you say your VIN says L6..how? VIN's don't indicate engine in '71. What other things lead you believe you have a L6 car? According to the Wholesale Car Order form in my '71 Assembly Manual, the L6 is std. in all base Skylarks (cars with body style 3327, 3337, 3369). These are digits 2 - 5 in your VIN. The 350 is option sales code A3, and is std. in the Skylark Custom (body styles 4437, 4439, 4467, 4469). I can see no separate model listed as an L6 model, however. These appear to be just engine options. I seriously doubt someone would go to the trouble of stamping a block on a Skylark 350 as well, as it isn't a high dollar collectable.
I think I know where the confusion is coming from. In '70 the Skylark 350 and Skylark L6 had there own separate model designations (Skylark 350 was 3537 and 3569, Skylark L6 was 3327 and 3369). In '71, the 3500 series was dropped and all Skylarks were the 3300 series(3327, 3337, 3369), with the 350 as an option. This is similar to what was done to the GS line. One of my books (Dove's book) which shows VIN decoding didn't add the Skylark 350 to the 33 code for the 2nd. and 3rd. digits of the VIN, they only eliminated the 35. If your book is similar, this might explain the confusion. The change in model designations is clear, however, in the GM manuals I have. Hope this helps to clear things up.:beer
I think a point to make is that although the L6 was the std engine in a base Skylark, that doesn't mean the car was ordered with it. That's what option codes are for. Without the buildsheet to tell you what engine was ordered, I would think the car's VIN matching the serial # on the block of the 350 means it was ordered with a 350.
Well, the VIN starts with 433371H so I think we have cleared this up. Thanks Darren! This Site lists 433 as a Skylark L6 and 434 as a Skylark 350. Why would you offer a 350 motor on an L6 model (Flint Built) when the 434 model was the same thing o No: 444 was a Skylark Custom model. I guess Buick just wanted to create some problems for us 32 years later...
I am confused as well. The website lists 34 = Skylark V8 (1970-71) I think this is wrong! I'll check some other information sources, or someone else can check :Brow:
Guys Got the motor pulled and checked for stamp on block between plugs left front found the letter TO Does this help to answer this Question Jim
