Hello guys, greetings from South America, Perú. A 3 years ago a friend and I bought a 1970 Buick Skylark, with a 350 2bbl engine, a TH350 transmission and possibly a final ratio of 2.56 or maybe 3.03. I draw here some diagrams that I have for this vehicle, off course starting in base of the Gran Sport options but without leaving the essence of the Skylark (not looking for make a clone). The car was brought of a wet region of this country, and as you can imagine it's a rare car for these places, so the options for find brand new or NOS parts are extremely tiny, that's why many of the parts must be imported. The body work was made by a local guy, patching in different areas for the rust and still have a pending work to finish it, however I have plans to make some modifications, as the edge of the hood, in the Skylark models you can find a uneven near to the holes for the final trim (picture attached), but the GS models have a smooth final until the chrome part. Improve the engine performance is crucial for this project, I'm looking for a 9 or 10 to 1 compression, the short block is in STD bore, I would like to upgraded to an more (just more, close to 350 hp, not too extreme) aggressive camshaft, but that it can work with a flat solid lifters (many problems around this time with the hydraulic lifters, so I prefer go with those in a safe way), perhaps an hydraulic cam can work with a flat solid lifters, but I also read that the 350 iron head have a rigid rocker arm assembly, so I would probably use a adjustable pushrods kit for the entire lifters, changing the lash of each valve for this particular application. I would like to know if someone here has worked in a similar build for an 350 engine and also let me know some advices about it. I also have plans to change the intake manifold, possibly for the special for a 350 by TA, but with a Quadrajet for the aspiration of fuel, I would be happy with an average of 370 hp and 380 lbf⋅ft of torque, fun for drive and streetable. Also have plans to change the auto transmission for a manual. With a short investigation I saw that's no recommended putting a Saginaw or Borg Warner unit, and it's preferable to choose for a Muncie, maybe with a wide ratio like a M20. I would appreciate your help of listing of sites that where I can find those units, maybe with everything I need for the correct transformation for auto to manual. Being a car with an automatic shifter in the column of the steering, it must be changed for a floor shifter, for that I saw this type of transmission tunnel for the right position, I don't know if you have any ideas about it or maybe diagrams for the correct position for a drill, weld, etc. This vehicle have this particular rear end, as I can investigated about it's a BOP, I don't know for sure if is a 8.2 or 8.5 unit and I don't open it yet, I would like to upgraded to a 3.23 final ratio, perhaps 3.55 at most with sure grip. I read about it and this particular type of rear end may no possible options for changing the ring and pinion, unless that the internal carrier was swapped. I hope that you can guide me about it. A front disc conversion would be awesome, I found this particular kit on ebay, I don't know if you recommended or may know about some other places that I can find the right stock replacement for a reasonable price, maybe a proportioning valve was necessary for the change to front disc and rear drum application. I'm thinking about changing 14" old wheels for new units with 15x7 in the front and 15x8 in the rear, the available option have a 4.5" backspace, I don't know if it's ideal for the rear tire look like the picture, not out or in the edge, but very close to the limit of the quaterpanel (maybe a 275/60R15 tire), in the front wheels I thought that 225 or 235 would be a nice choice, for not effort the traction and all the strength is perceived behind. For the aspect, I'm thinking to change the original grille (the old one has a lot damage and also broke) for a GS grille, but without the Gran Sport emblem and instead the emblem of 3 Shields. My intention is made a Skylark with GS options but not leaving the Skylark DNA: Front bench seat, standard door panels, stock vinyl cover in all, floor shifter without console, maybe the evaporator and the heather working (the car have no trace of AC, just the mentioned elements). Finally, I don't know if you have some references about this company for the rear parts (West Coast Differentials) or if you know about other recommended, and also any advice that you can listed in your comments, since I'm new to this, and I want to do it right. For the start I bought this manual. I would appreciate your comments Have a nice week, Cesar
I almost forget, the picture of the evaporator core and the recirculated air. If there anybody can help me with some advices about the correct reparation of these devices I'll be very grateful. Thank you again!
Welcome from Minnesota. You've come to the right place for advise on that car. I suggest that you read as much as you can. I like how it looks. Are there any salvage yards in your area that have american cars? That rear end is a 8.2" that came standard on the 1970 model year cars. The change to 8.5" was made in 1971. The visual difference, the 8.5 has the square lugs on the bottom, pictured below.
Welcome. Great vision for your project & nice sketches. Surely others will chine in. Personally, with no worries of originality, I'd recommend a higher rear ratio (and an 8.5 '71-up rear if you can) and an overdrive transmission (TKX maybe). Then put the shifter hump wherever it needs to be for your shifter. All the parts (pedals, z-bar, etc.) are reproduced. I can't imagine doing a project like this where you are! Keep us updated.
Welcome, contact Monzaz for your rear end needs: https://www.v8buick.com/index.php?members/monzaz.3880/ For your engine my advice is to use some 10:1 pistons such as these: https://www.v8buick.com/index.php?threads/trw-forged-350-pistons-10-1.367369/ Your actual compression will end up at about 9.2:1 using these pistons, or if you mill the block you can get 10:1 if you prefer. There is a power increase with the higher compression, however I'm not sure how good the fuel is in your location. There aren't many options for good quality pistons for the 350 as most of them have a very short compression height and or a large dish. These old TRW pistons were the go to performance piston until they stopped making them. Or we go with high $ forged custom pistons however they are overkill for your build. Yes many people use adjustable pushrods, I prefer the TA roller rockers, although they are about $900 The key to 350 performance is increasing the head flow by porting. A cam like this should work well. http://www.taperformance.com/proddetail.asp?prod=TA_112S-350
I love your illustrations. The 8.2 is a very expensive axle to build, even in the US. You might want to leave that for later or see if you can find a 8.5 or Chevy 12 bolt locally. Be VERY careful when ordering parts, many places claim that they their parts will fit a Buick 8.2 axle, but will not. TA Performance or JD Race (Monzas) is who you should be talking to.. The heater system is very simple and easy to make functional, just stay away from Chinese aluminum heater cores if you can help it, they dont fit well or last very long. You might want to look into having the copper unit currently in the car repaired. If you were looking for advice, I would focus on getting what you have running and roadworthy before doing performance, axle and transmission changes. It'll give you time to enjoy the car as is while collecting the parts you need. It's fun to plan and dream, but Im guessing that obtaining these upgraded parts will be difficult (and expensive) in Peru.
Thank you so much to Gallagher, hwprouty, Dano, sean Buick 76, Bigpig455 and trodwen for your valuable advices and encouragement to continue this project. About the possible change of the rear end, unfortunately all the salvage yards here are currently full of asian vehicles, so will be difficult to find the correct rear for a proper change. A couple days ago a friend of mine found a 66' Bel Air still with its rear end, but apparently the size of this particular axle was not the proper for my car. At the possibility to not find any proper unit for replace the original 8.2 BOP rear, Is there any chance to find a correct company in the US who can build and sale a complete 8.5 a-body rear end with a 3.36 or 3.43 final ratio, drum stock brakes (maybe with the option of zero or negative offset) and a POSI unit? Thank you guys!
For a rear end there are two members here that are known to do a very good job building them. Brian Trick and Monzaz.
Wow, you have big cojones my friend to take on such a project in Peru where Buicks such as this will be super-rare and it will cost a lot to source and fix. Greetings and mucho respect from Australia!
Yes I would ask Brian to build you a nice 8.5 to ship over. https://www.v8buick.com/index.php?members/briantrick.24887/
