I'm currently running a mid 70's 350 I put a 4 bbl on. It's seen better days so a guy in town has a 72 350 4 bbl he wants to sell but I want something that will be fun to płay with and have a little get up and go. I was thinking a 70 engine was the way to go. Is there really a noticeable difference between years? Or could I just have the 72 heads rebuilt and a little meet taken off them to achieve the same? Or should I hold out for a 70 block?
Youd be much better off to just build a fresh shortblock with mild cam and some pre 73 heads, a stock 72 engine is gonna be a turd they were new and 40yrs later they'll be worse, but yes 70 to 72 in stock form is very different provided both engines are in good tune, milling heads on a low comp 350 wont really yeild much in performance
72 has Alittle more power/torque. It will be ok as far as power but if you are looking for some thing say 250- 300 HP I would say rebuild one to what you are looking for. Doubt you will find a 70 hi compression engine .,maybe a basic 70 yea.
You can get ANY year Buick 350 to run as strong or stronger than the 1970 Hi comp Buick 350. Get compression closer to 9.5 from the dismal 8.0 you probably have now, and have the heads done (slightly larger TA valves, and GOOD porting) and a decent cam for the type of driving you'll be doing. Get ahold of SeanBuick76 on here. He'll know the ins and out of piston and cam selection for the 350:TU:
More details. What year block and heads is your current engine? Seen better days? What does that mean? What 4bbl carburetor? Unless your engine is obviously worn, smoking, tapping, etc., I wouldn't assume another engine is the answer. Unless you can hear a used engine run, it will always be a crap shoot buying one. Ignition timing can make a huge difference in performance. Simply setting the initial timing to the book setting is not enough. If the engine is basically sound, work with what you have.
Dan,..I used a stock 1970, 350 short block that is in my son's 70' skylark,..Only because it had low mileage... 78,K,..and was in good working order... The object of the build was not to tear the short block apart, but to see how fast we could go by putting some good parts on it,... this happened last fall, Oct. 2013 All the info is in this thread,..http://www.v8buick.com/showthread.php?277150-Racing-Post-Skylark-(stock-350-short-block) The end of the thread got a little crazy talking about putting Nitrous on the motor,..which would be another added bonus to a stock block,...LOL
Alright. Its my 70 skylark convertible. When I purchased the car years ago the previous owner dropped in a mid 70 engine (not sure what year and the car is away for winter so I cannt check for sure) I put a 4 bbl intake and quadrajet on a few years back because the car is gutless. Also installed new Gardner exhaust and 3.23? Rear axle The engine smokes a bit and has a noticeable lifter noise which is were the idea of replacing the engine came from. The 72 engine I talked about earlier I was told it was out of an original 18k mile car but it looks pretty rough so I don't think I'm going that way anymore. Don't want to spend big money on a rebuild but would like something better then what I have now. I also have a 70 350 in the shop right now that I had running and sounded really good that was in a parts car I tore apart. I'm now thinking I would be better to take my intake and 4bbl carb put it on my 70 engine and take the $400 i was going to spend for the 72 engine and rebuild the heads on the 70 engine. Hope that makes sense Any thoughts ?
Try a compression test on the 70 engine in your shop, and it it checks out then just add a TA 212 cam and lifters, new timing chain kit and the 4 barrel intake.
