I hate to be a buzz kill, but building a 300 for performance in a heavy street car sure is a tough row to hoe. The factory heads don't flow. Even ported, they are probably still much weaker than the 350 heads. Unless these T/A heads become a reality soon, I just don't see an upside. Still, even with the T/A aluminum heads, then a custom sheet metal intake is needed. Several people in the thread have mention being excited about the short stroke. IMHO that is a whole lot more romantic in theory than practical in reality. A no torque, high RPM screamer in a big heavy car requires a serious gear and converter. So, for use on the street, an overdrive trans would be a must. Also, is all the custom machine work and "creative" crank, connecting rod and piston combinations really better than just having a set of custom 350 headers made? A high dollar custom engine, aftermarket aluminum heads and a sheet metal intake sound awful darned expensive. I bet you could have some customer headers made for a 350 transplant for about $750.
I may have left out the part where it's turbocharged. thats where the short stroke big bore come into play. if it worked for the 6 cylinder version of this engine then it will damm sure work for the 300. also my car is a base model special post coupe. they dont come any lighter than that.. figure 3500 lbs if that
Oh yes, that will overcome that pesky torque problem in a hurry. I still think the 350 is a better motor, but the 300 is original and that is cool. As for the 3500lbs., my 64 Special weighed 3730. That is nearly 4000lbs with me in it. That is not light.
the big problem with dropping a 350 in the early cars is the exhaust ports are right next to the upper control arm shafts and mounts. leaves very little room for headers. I wonder if the log manifolds Mark Burton makes could fit in there?
my 67 is a very light car. post plus no carpet plus no options. was your special a post car? my car came with vinyl matt instead of carpet and hardly any sound deadener
My 64 was a post car, but that weight is with a Buick 350 and a TH 400 installed. Also, I read back to the beginning, Doug said he is planning on going naturally aspirated not turbo charged.
Steven, I will concurr on the turbo, but I'm somewhat interested in a super charger (depending on the application). Doug
Hey Doug, I did the 350 swap to my 64 Special back in the 80s. I used a 73 Buick Century engine. I left the engine 100% stock - no headers, no intake, nothing. It was a very easy and successful swap. I used all of the accessories off of the Century. Basically just pulled it out of the century whole and put it in my car along with a Th400. As for performance, the car ran 15.50 @ 88mph just bolting it in. That was with 3.55 gears, a 26" tall tire and 2 1/2 dual exhaust. The car later ran 14.70s @ 89mph with a 2600 rpm converter and a 650 DP Holley. This same combination would run 13.20s @ 101 with a shot of Nitrous. It was an incredible fun and durable combination. I drove it everywhere and bracket raced it every weekend for 2 years. During this time I was probably going through two full nitrous bottle refills almost every week. It was one tough motor.
Steven, Thanks for the info. I know the swap in the trans alone would have made driving it more fun. So it was pretty much a plug and play swap. Any internal upgrades to the 350 over the time you had it that were significant or worth mentioning? Doug
i just found this out recently. the 3.8l supercharged motors have a bad problem with blowing head gaskets. Also a friend of mine has a 01 boneville supercharger stock spun 2 rod rod bearings.
Sorry Doug. From there the car went to a back halved, tubbed, big block race car and never saw the road again while I owned it. I sold it to a guy from Youngstown in 2004. The only other modification the car ever saw before the makeover was a change in rear end from the 3.55 w/26" tire to a 3.90 with a 28" tall tire. I saw no performance difference in that change other than more consistent traction.
Dan, we all know someone like that, hell I know a couple like that! Steven, sounds like a fun car, do you ever miss it? Do you know the difference in the contact patch of the 26 verses the 28" tires? Doug
I missed that 64 the minute I chopped it up. I loved that car. However, it was never half the car that my current 65 is. Once I get the new motor in the 65, I will be extra thrilled with it. As for the tires, the 26" tires almost always hooked at the track unless it was just a bad day. However, when bracket racing a slower car, even the slightest tire slip can cost you 5 hundredths. In bracket racing losing 5 hundredths out of the gate in a slow car can be curtains. So, I went to a 28". It was a good move. Even more consistent and reliable traction. There is actually a little story behind why I went to so much trouble. I represented our local track, Desoto Memorial Speedway, in Gainesville at the 1989 division 2 bracket racing championships with my 64 Special. She was an excellent bracket car. However, on that day the tires were giving about 3/4 of a turn slippage on every launch. Still, she ran 14.94 3 passes in a row! Unfortunately, for some reason, they worked on the track between time trials and eliminations. And, on my first pass, she hooked dead. With that extra little bit of traction, I felt the pain of a .499 red light and was eliminated. DOH!ou: So, I threw in a rear end that was donated to me from a friend and bought the taller rubber.
Steven, the one that got away huh? How long do you think it will take to get the new motor in the 65? Out of curiosity what is your LQ9 build-up (I take it thats what you are waiting on)? Doug
Hmmm. End to end I am thinking about 2 weeks since I have to get it done without interrupting my work schedule. I have a motor, trans, shifter, console, rear end, drive shaft and fuel system all going in at once. Not to mention cleaning out the inside of the engine compartment and redecorating while I am at it. Going from a sub 200 hp 2 speed auto with a 2.78 peg leg to a 450 hp 4 speed auto with 3.90 posi will probably feel like a different car. Pretty exciting.
Steven, sounds like alot of work in a short time frame, but worth the thrashing. Whit that much of a difference in drive train I bet it will be a completely different car as far as handling, performance and the fun factor!! You plan on hanging onto the 300 or you gona sale it off to offset the costs? Doug
Ya know, it is such a great little motor I hate to let it go. It runs great and does not smoke or have a single tic or rattle. But, space is at a premium for me. I literally would have no place to store it.
