Hi All, I just came back from a vintage motorcar restoration shop that was recommended to me by a friend. I was inquiring as to what would be involved with removing the 350 engine in my '71 Skylark, cleaning up the engine bay, and transplanting a rebuilt 455 that I bought. Although I respect the work that this shop does, and the labor per hour seems OK, I was shocked at the price I was quoted. "Could be upwards of $10,000." Yipes!!! This car is a driver, not a show car and is intended to be fun. (read, Not perfect!) I do not have the room or the confidence in my ablities without some help to do this by myself. I live in the Washington D.C. area. Also, anybody have insight on the repair/replacement of the radiator core supports in the car? Mine look pretty bad on both sides. Is it easier to find an entire new core support or repair the existing one with patch panels. Any help or advice is appreciated. Pat (skylark67)
Pat, It isn't that difficult. If you can turn a wrench, you can do it. I would suggest you have a few friends help you. It's not a one man job. If you aren't in a rush, we can help here. You just need to rent an engine hoist. If this is your daily driver, you might want to buy a throw away car so you can take your time on the Buick, and work out the inevitable bugs. 10,000 dollars to install YOUR ENGINE. That's crazy. At 80.00 an hour that's 125 hours. At Salem we did a 350-455 transplant in a couple of days. We had lotsa help. Maybe you should check around at different shops. It may be cheaper for you to pull the 350 yourself, then have a shop install your 455. Lots of ways to go at this. As far as core support repair panels, this is the way to go: http://mrbuick.com/core.htm Mike Garrison (RACEBUICKS) markets these, and they are excellent.
$10K for an engine swap!!? Sounds like they don't want to do it. I had to replace an engine once, and my only previous experience was in the form of brake jobs, fuel & water pumps, and radiators. Also, I didn't have a board like this for help. The engine swap is very easy. You can certainly do it, and it feels good to have accomplished this sort of thing... so long as you don't start a fire. A friend and I did most of the job, with a little extra help from my dad and grandfather. We did it over a weekend - though we just pulled the one out and put the other in - nothing more. If you are going to paint or fix other things, that will take more time. Also, we did 350 to 350. Going to a 455 might mean adding a little bit of wire to reach the starter (I'm not sure), but that's easy too. First, do what you are going to do to the 455 (gaskets, spark plugs, etc.). It'll be easier to do before its in the car. Then rent a hoist, get a few friends, and take it slow. Remove all you can from the engine first, remove the radiator, and the hood (if not the fenders too). Take it out with tranny attached. Just be slow and easy. This way you just undo the motor mounts and driveshaft (which will be a few nuts - then slide it out of the tranny). After you put the engine in, remember the grounding strap - that was my only mistake. The old one had corroded apart, so I never had to take it off (thus didn't know it had one, so didn't put one on). With a new battery & no strap, the tranny detent cable became "ground," overheated, and started a fire under the dash. That took a couple weeks to fix. With the engine out, you could clean up the engine bay and hit it with a can of spray paint. You can get all the details from others on this board (like if the wires are long enough, etc.). Don't worry, you'll do fine.
When you get a rediculous quote like that............ Do like "FAT JOE" the the rapper says.......... LEAN BACK- LEAN BACK- LEAN BACK........... AND DO THE ROCK-AWAY!!!!!!!!!!! :Brow: :Brow: :Brow: :Brow: :Brow: :Brow: *(and don't forget to give 'em some of these as your leavin' the shop)......... :moonu: :moonu: :moonu: :moonu: :moonu: :moonu: :moonu: :moonu: :moonu: :moonu: :moonu: :moonu:
I also live in the DC area, actually Kensington MD. While i do not own a Buick, I own 2 Oldsmobile convertibles, 1970 442 and 1969 Delta 88. I just did a 350 to 455 swap from the Delta (had the 455) to the 442, having only done this with friends in my high school years (long time ago). You can do this. I did it alone, in my garage. Only help was from friends helping remove the hood. Just do your homework on the swap first and take your time. It really was not hard at all. I know several people in the area who are familiar with Buicks who might be able to help you. One in particular is a certified mechanic who was just laid off and is doing stuff on the side. I met him yesterday, he was installing a carb on a 66 Buick convertible and I stopped to meet him. He also knows Pontiacs, Olds and Chevy's, but is partial to the BOP crowd. I am sure he could do the swap in a few days. Let me know and I will put you in touch with him, or if you want to try this yourself, I could try to lend a hand.
I am doing the same swap myself. I am by no means a pro, but if you have basic tools, you can easily do it yourself. I removed my 350, in my driveway, in literally 4 hours. I had an employee come over to help, and I paid him 50.00 for 3 hours. See pics here: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/gscon...=&.done=http://photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos I will be happy to answer any questions that I can. Frank
Frank, I am looking at that engine hanging over that nice grill, then looking at the extension of the boom on the hoist. Did you extend it beyond the last hole? You are lucky you didn't have an accident my friend :eek2: It looks bent to me, Yikes!
Yeah, pretty scary huh? I extended it a few years ago when I pulled the engine out of a Camaro I was restoring,and it's nose was too long. It's not bent; it's welded that way for a reason. I welded it myself, so I'm not worried about it. It also pulled the 455 with TH400 out of the Lesabre donor car (quite a load)... no problem!
The horror stories continue about "REPUTABLE SHOPS". Re: http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=61340&page=1&highlight=diabo'd Give it a try. Lots of advise here. Good luck.
OK, it's welded. Obviously it won't tip over if you've had 1400 lbs on it. Good luck on your transplant :TU:
Yeah, the entire modification is double layer welded. It's .25 steel, so I think it will be fine... Frank
If you had the core support out before the motor the job would be even easier. It is more work doing a swap from a 350 to a 455 than just redoing the 350. 10K is nuts, Unless maybe they were going to replace EVERYTHING under the hood with NOS stuff. I mean everything. JP
Smart Aleck answer - Next year, drive the car to the BPG Nationals in Ohio. About 100 miles out, drain out all the oil and keep driving... When it blows, hitch a ride to the Nats from the first Gran Sport Driver going past. When you get there, ask for the guys from Mass. The rest will be history... Seriously, if the motley crew from Mass. can do this swap for a buddy over a weekend, you can find help to get it done for your car. Don't be afraid to ask. Most of us work for pizza and beer. We can't afford to hire out our work either.
The hardest thing to do is change the frame mounts, and that takes about an hour if you got the right tools, and the kit cost about $70, you might want to get a 4 row radiator about $170, 455 fan shroud $120 i think, im not sure if the exhaust bolts right up??? It might cost you $50 if you have a shop mate them up,but the tranny does and most of the brackets for things like the A/C are the same BB to SB. I did a couple of BB to SB swaps nearly 20 years ago when i was poor and it only cost a couple hundred dollers, that is we had a hole moter and all the accessorys
