Hi. New here. Friend of mine has an 84 Riviera that he loves but the 307 is junk. Wondering what would be an easy engine to swap in. I know nothing about these cars and I'm hoping I can get this car back on the road for him as a wedding present. Anyone know what would bolt in the easiest as well as kick out a little more hp as I've read the 307 is limited. Thanks.
a 350 olds might be the easiest choice could possibly use the exhaust manifolds off the old 307 oldsmoslug motor and...... welcome to the site
I don't want to get too crazy, just simple and quick. Will the Olds 350 use the same mounts/flexplate/torque converter and stuff? Thanks for the quick responces!
A high compression 350 from the late '60's would be good. A 403 from the late '70's would bolt right in,also. All of the front engine accessories will bolt up. The Riviera 307 tube style exhaust manifolds will also work on the 350/403. I have a 1984 Riviera convertible that the 307 just spun a bearing. It has only 78K miles on it. I am installing a high compression '69 350 Olds Rocket engine in the Riv right now. I have a '84 Riviera T-Type for parts , I considered swapping the turbo engine,but VIN would show that the convertible came with a V8.
I put an Olds 403 in place of Olds 307 on a '81 Toronado I had. A 350 is no different. It will bolt in with no issues.
Thanks guys. This is what I was hoping for. Here in MA this car still needs to pass emissions. Do I just reuse all the 307 emissions stuff? Can I use any year Olds 350?
Just saw this: "Out of 72 Cutlass,350ci,2bbl,75k miles,complete and runs well" (can't post the link or picture yet) Would this be ok? Can I connect all the emissions crap to this? Also found this: "This engine is sitting in an 81 Monte Carlo and is complete from top to bottom. Complete running engine, unfortunately can't hear it run because dash and steering column was pulled from the car already. It has a holley 4 bbl carb as well as a set of headers that will come with the motor, and even all the accessories (everything will still be attached)."
I'm not encouraging this, but back when I did my 307 / 403 swap, MN was emission testing cars that resided in the Twin Cities metro area, and I didn't have anything but the catalytic converter hooked up as far as emssions equipment goes, and it passed with flying colors. :bla: (That wasn't the only car I had pass that technically shouldn't have.) So glad this state came to their senses and ended the testing program!
The 307's have air injector tubes threaded into each exhaust port that are plumbed into the airpump.The #7 '72 350 heads don't have this feature,unless it is a California spec engine. '77 and up 350 Olds engines are setup for this,though. The Cadillac Seville used the Olds 350 engine with this setup , also. In fact, I installed a '77 Seville engine into a 1984 Buick Park Ave. that originally had a 307. I swapped all of the 307 stuff onto the Seville engine(intake,exhaust,emissions equipment,etc.) Even bolted the 307 mechanical fuel pump on the Seville 350,which was fuel injected and had a blockoff plate. If you use an older engine without the tubes,you could trash all of the smog/airpump equipment and probably get away with it. It strange that the 403 doesn't use the airpump tube setup,regardless of what year it is.
Do the tubes go into the manifolds? If so, can I just use the 307 manifolds? Actually, don't I have to do this anyways because of the different exhaust setup?
Well, got the Olds 350 here and the Buick and started to tear into the Buick. Got a couple of issues already. The tubes go into the heads, not the manifolds. Can I simply drill and tap? Also, I have (I think) 2 temp sensors but the olds has 1 hole. Should I drill and tap a hole for another?
well, you might be able to place plugs in the holes on the olds 350 heads, and then use the 307 manifolds and tubes. hope that helps
Actually its the other way around. What I'm seeing is that the tubes go into the 307 heads and not the manifolds. The 350 heads have flat spots where the tubes need to go.
