Is there a short shaft water pump available for the 350 Buick motor like there is for the 455??? I am going to be doing an engine swap in the near future and will be needing all the room I can get on the front of the motor and would really like to know what to ask for when at the parts store...if there is really such a part available... Thanks for any info...
Now that statement has got me wondering What exactly are you planning? Turbo? 350 in a FWD chassis? Big V-8 in a tiny car?????uzzled: Hmmmmm... Different years/chassis used different part numbers for the water pump on the 350. I dont have first hand knowledge, but I'd imagine that one of them is "shorter" than the rest... It's really just a guess tho. Maybe find a "friendly" parts store that will pull a few of them and let you do a side by side. Also, the 231 V-6 uses the same water pump [most of the time] as the 350. If I had to guess, I'd think some of the FWD V-6's probably had really short pumps... Maybe you could "retro" one of these on, but you would probably have to use the entire front acessory assembly from the FWD to get all the belts/pullys to line up. There's also the electric pump used on some GM cars. That would definately require the acessory assembly be transplanted, but at the same time, that would also give you the most possible room in front of the engine. OK, so come on and spill the beans... What are you building:gt:
I was hoping someone wouldn't ask that question :grin: The common motor(in the past) to use for the swap that I'm going to attempt was the 3.8L V6...Since the motor mounts are located in the same location as the V6, I figured, hey, the 350 should fit...But recently, the motor's that most people try to swap into this vehicle have gone to the 4.3L Chevy and the Chevy 350 and sometimes the 5.0 Ford...So, since the Chevy 350 and the 5.0 Ford fit, I came to hopefully the correct ASSumption, the the Buick 350 would fit...with even less problems than doing the Chevy V6 or V8, since they need to use at least a 3" body lift for distributor clearance at the firewall, along with some oil pan mods(read BFH) and firewall massaging, compared to the Buick 3.8L, which didn't require the body lift and very little oil pan modification...I've compared the 3.8L oil pan to 350 oil pan and the 350 sump is actually set back a little farther and shouldn't need hardly any mods done to it... Okay, let's see.....Body lift would make it a truck.... Short shaft water pump...tight engine compartment...so, think small truck... Geeezzz, you dragged it outta me...an 86 Toyota 4x4 pickup...I'm going to back the motor up with a 700r4 tranny...hopefully, I'll have it done by the time the NATS roll around...Maybe I'll drive it to Bowling Green...I don't know, we'll see... So, what'ya think??? Is it doable??? The cat's out of the bag now...Hopefully, I'll geyt this done BEFORE someone else does and be the first...I come up with these ideas and tell someone, and bam, before you know it, someone does it, and they get the credit...So, NOBODY DO THIS!!!! *hypnotic voice* Your eyes are getting sleepier, you will forget all you've read about this engine swap, EXCEPT for my original question about the existance of a short shaft water pump for the 350...Thank you... :Brow: heheh
I don't remember the cutoff year, but I believe the earlier 350's (and 231's) had the short pump. I'm thinking it was 73...but don't quote me on that one. Obviously, you'll need the pulleys from the short pump motor also(at least the water pump, probably the crank pulley too). I ran into this when I did the pump on my 70 Skylark. I got a w.p. for the 70...but the motor was a 79. Ended up getting one for the 79. As for the 350 into an older Toyota 4x4, it's one of the easier swaps. A guy in town had one back in the mid 80's...sounded great!! Check out Advanced Adapters. Hope that helps. Scott
Short Water Pump The water pump you want is one that was available for the Buick 300. It's is much shorter than the 350 one and will fit with no problems. Contact: D & D Fabrications 8005 Tiffany Drive Almont, Michigan 48003 Phone 810-798-2491 ask for Dan LaGrou He supplies Buick 215 parts for MGB conversions. He has the short pumps in stock.
Thanks for the info, everyone...Thought I was gonna be the first to do it... o No: Rats..Oh well As for the shorter 300 water pump...hmmm...I just happen to have a blown up 300 in the garage that I pulled out of my 66 Skylark that I replaced with the 455...Fairly new water pump on it before I grenaded the 300 ou: errr.... :grin: hehehe If not, I should be able to get a new one fairly easily...Napa's distribution warehouse is here in town with a parts counter there...Usually don't have any trouble getting parts there... Again, thanks for the info, everyone... BTW, I already have the Advance Adapters frame mounts to bolt in the 231 V6...Using the 350, I just need to use the 231 V6 motor mounts instead of the 350 motor mounts... GSXMEN, did you know the guy who did the 350 Buick swap into the Toyota??? Did he have any major problems with fitting it in there??? Would I even need the short pump, or just stick with the pump for the year 350 motor that I have('74)??? If I don't have enough clearance to run the fan off the water pump, I'll just use an electric fan, but I'd rather have the clutch fan(Keep It Simple and foolproof) My biggest headache with this swap is going to be the radiator...I need to get one that is big enough to handle the 350 but still fit in the truck without major modifications to the truck itself...
Sounds like a good swap, especially with a 700 tranny. Is there an adaptor for the 700 to toyota transfer case? One thing you might want to be carefull of, the buick 350 makes alot of torque... A stock 70 10.25 compression motor makes an astounding 410 ft/lbs. Even the low compression model makes more torque than a lot of "built" SBC's You could rip out a transfer case or diff if you "build" it. The buick 350 is also extremely light. If I'm not mistaken, it's a few lbs less than the chevy v6, so it's an extremely logical swap into a toyota pick-up. You will get no flames from me about a swap like this, I'm behind you!!! The buick 350 is "short" compared to other V8's, I dont have exact numbers for you, maybe someone else can help. The most possible compact layout would be to use the entire front acessory assembly from a FWD 231 [not a 3800] and install electric fans. To keep it cool, SUMMIT sells griffen aluminum rad's that are the best possible coolers. Aluminum rules!!! They sell 'em by size, take the measurements you need, and orderthe right one! Good luck!!! keep us posted on your progress
My truck originally came with the P.O.S. automatic(which is giving me a lot of trouble now, a rebuild on it is close to a grand)...The transfer case is built into it, i.e. one piece...I could do this whole swap for that much...I will also be finding a transfer case out of a Chevy to mate right up to the 700r4...I will probably end up around 8.0 to 1 with my 74...I bought the rebuild kit several years ago with Federal Mogul Sterling cast pistons...I am going with a TA Perf C110 cam...found a stock 4 bbl manifold...As for cooling, I will be getting one of Nick Micale's Hi-Efficiency Radiators as soon as I know how much room I am going to have...I will have to keep the FWD 231 pulleys and such in mind...tons of them in the salvage yards... Thanks for all the help everyone...
You should find yourself a Jeep Wagoneer. The early ones came with a Buick 350" motor and 4x4 transfer case ect. Just a thought! MK
I didn't know the guy personally. Only knew what I heard from him when he was showing me and my brother the truck. He said it was a pretty easy swap - sure sounded good!! For your radiator/elec. fans, you could get an aluminum one out of a FWD Caddy. They also have dual elec. fans!! Electric fans are free horsepower!! Looks better too! Scott
Buick - Toyota Obviously, the swap you want to do can be done. The pic enclosed I pulled off of the net last year. It's a Buick 340 in a Toyota truck. Hope it comes across.
Looks good! I'm thinking about swapping out the weak 2.0l 4cyl. in my 86 Mazda for a Buick 350 or maybe a turbo 3.8l out of a 79 LeSabre. Either will be quite an improvement!! Scott
Hmmm...Looks like they used the Toyota power steering pump...need to see if that would be easier than using a GM pump and I wonder where they mounted the alternator... It's still a go...just some stuff to work out... The Mazda swap might be an interesting project...I would probably stick with the 350 or even the NA 3.8L...From what I've read about from people who have done the 3.8L turbo swaps is that they have a hard time keeping it from overheating due to the small engine compartment...A strong 3.8L should be more than enough for it...If it's a 2wd truck, back that up with a 200-4r, and you should have a very driveable project...Good luck to ya if you do it... My only reason for going with the 350 is that I already have the engine just taking up space in my garage...otherwise a trip to the local U-Wrench-It would be in order for a 3.8L to rebuild for it... :TU:
They sell kits to put the Buick 3.8 w/TH350 into Toyota pickups... The 350 and the 3.8 use the same frame mounts/engine mounts,etc.... Dan
