Anyone drop in a 502 crate motor in a 70-72 skylark

I was hoping someone has done this before me but here it goes, I am trying to find someone that has possibly transplanted a 502 crate motor from GM into a 70-72 Skylark. I have a few questions surrounding this beastly of a motor and am looking for some guidence?

 

Like my old stand by answer Why do you ask BUICK GUYS how to drop a CHITVY in a BUICK????? :spank: :spank: ou: ou:

 

502 crate motor

Well when I posted the question I should have known I was going to spoil some peoples beliefs on buick morals, but hey we are all sinners and I think I would rather dump $5,000 on a crate motor by chevy rather than spend about $6,000-$8,000 on a 455 and still not be a four bolt main. So if it come down to how it runs on a track verses a 455 I would like to know considering that is what I am building my car for.

 

I see how you brought up "Us Buick Guys," The day I turned 16 and that was 9 years ago I bought my 72 skylark, and I have kept it all original in all aspects, so yes I do have that mutual respect for buicks as all of us should on this site, so lets get back to the question on if anyone has done this yet.

 

If you've gotta go BBC, why not drop in the 572!? Might as well make it worthwhile.

Fortunately, only the Buick guys will know that it's not a Buick motor. Slap on a couple of decals and play ignorant - "I bought it this way." o No:

 

Interesting question.....

For some, the Chevy BB transplant may be the only practical low buck performance solution in the future.

Not too many new Buick 455's being made. :sleep:

My friend has a spare fuel injected, roller cammed Chevy 502 tow engine sitting at the back of this shop. Picked it up at a salvage yard dirt cheap. Says, I can have it for free if I want to put it in my Riv. He knows I like a glass smooth idle with all the torque that I can get, and claims that there is nothing practical / affordable that I can do with the Buick 455 to match this Chevy 502.

I'll pass for now. All of the those computer harnesses look a bit to complicated for my taste. But at least it's another option for the Riv.

Wonder how much a fuel injected, roller cammed 500+ CID Buick would cost. :ball:

Forgot to add that my friend's favorite car is this 65 Riv GS. He likes his Buicks, but likes his Chevy's too.

 

oh...no......Not Another One.................

ou: :sleep: here's a good sight for you...... these guys should be able to help :boring: :error:

http://www.chevytalk.com/ :Smarty:

good luck with your unoriginal swap :error: :boring: and good bye :moonu:

 

A friend bought a new FI 502 crate for a chevelle. He wanted one that had been dynoed. After shopping across the US his best price at his son's dealership cost was over 11K.

 

Here are the questions. Can you buy a 500 to 600 cubic inch Buick motor for the same price as a Chevy? Will the Buick be as reliable?

 

Any motor that you use for racing only may have some gremlins that have to get worked out. Reliability is often times directly related to how hard the motor is used.I've gotten great reliability from each Buick motor I've had over the years, and I've driven them all pretty hard. One thing you might want to do is keep your eyes on the "parts for sale " section. Last year we had a motor built, and while it was getting done I watched any number complete stout builds come up for sale for considerably less than we payed for our build. Although I wouldnt trade what we got from our builder for anything out there, had budget been a real issue for us we would have waited for a complete motor to come up for sale.

Wait for the right block if you can to keep your Buick all Buick

D.

 

Well its not just about money since there have been several good HP engines on this board that have sold for 5-6000. The block on the buick engine has been good for anything into the low 10s and have had a lot of success into the 9s as well . Not to mention the added 300 lbs to the front of the car the chitvy will help with. Its your car but asking Buick guys for advice about crossbreeding a c motor into your car is like asking a hemi guy to put a buick engine in his car.

I dont know where you got your price on the 502 but I work for a GM dealer and my cost is higher than that.

 

I have to weigh in here. I am in the process of doing a restofication on a 73 Boat tail. I was told why build up that big ol tank, seems kinda stupid. Try make a 5000# car perform yea right. I said just wait you'll see. I have had a rough time finding a posi for my car. Kinda like looking for the holy grail, ok maybe not that bad. I am not going for a stock running or performing ride. BUT my Ford friend says drop in a 9 inch, my body guy says have a Dana built for it. It was tempting but the longer I stayed on this site the more I convinced myself to hold out to find the holy grail. The car is not a race car but I know from info on this site I think I can shock a few of my Ford and Chevy buddys and thats the fun. Gotta find the B4B, find the machine shop familiar with the BBB, that color only came on your car that year hard to find, etc.... People with Buick knowledge to make these cars perform are on this site. They are extremely helpful to the point of amazing. If you want to do the GM crate motor why stop there, put in a lighter Chevy car and all the benefits of all of the other performance products that EVERYONE can get with these cars. Stuff for the Buicks can very hard to find but there is tons and tons of Buick knowledge and research on this site. I am still amazed that Mike with TA, and Jim W. and PAE and all you guys share your secrets and knowledge the way you do. WE ARE BUICK GUYS TO THE CORE.......... I just have a hard time with a GM Crate motor in a Buick. My opinion counts for crap here because of my lack of knowledge and not putting my time in under a hood but I am learning and I am trying to change that...

 

Cross breeder

The only guy I know that has done this is Steve Cagle. He races Pro Stock class in the Edelbrock racing series. He doesn't do computers so you can try to find contact info on www.fasteststreetcar.com . Its an A-body just like a Chevelle so a Chevy site would have more info. It will be hard to find any love here. But if you change your mind, you could find more than enough tech support to build a solid Buick 455.

 

With my limited experience and going by what I've observed, I would have to back up what Perry said. It's not difficult to build an 11.50- 12.50 Buick 455 that is completely streetable. All that it takes is the right combination. A 455 that is built right as far as clearances goes will only need a cam, intake, and headers matched to the right converter and gear to get you there. You should take him up on that offer!
________
STRAIN INDEX

 

I put my 4,100 pound convertible deep into the 12's with a 5K motor that is totally pump gas and highway driven. In fact, My combo is much more for the street/highway than the strip and Im sure If I had a different converter and gears and stepped the compression up a bit, Id be in the mid-low 11's.

There has been an early 70's Skylark in a local trader paper for MONTHS for like 4K with a 502 crate motor in it - nobody wants a bastard child. think about that if you ever plan on selling.

Ummm.....I think BullDog just gave birth to a new one this week - a whole new era for us Buick freaks is on the horizon :Brow:

 

...bad Things.......

Be Careful-i Heard That If You Put A Bowtie In Such A Buick Women Will Spit At You And Your Penis Will Soon After Fall Off-could Be Just A Rumor.

 

I know this is the RACE forum, but I feel that the Andrew's original question applies to the steet guys and gals too. So.....

True, and I'm really happy to see that. But, I there are some issues that some of us must deal with....

The new block is too expensive (for my current budget) for a street cruiser like my Riv.

My current block has some core shift, but still good enough for street cruising. I just don't trust it enough to invest in a future build-up.

If I do get around to building a new engine a few years from now, what are my options going to be? Search the savage yards and hope that there are still usable blocks? That is kind of a hit or miss affair, and the supply is dwindling. Will the Bulldog block even be in production and an option years from now??? Time will tell.

I think for a Buick freak, the cost of the new Bulldog block is not going to be an issue, even for a street cruiser. I more worried about the poor guy and gal trying to keep their Buick alive on a shoe-string budget. Options are good, even if it's a Chevy option.

Besides, most of my friends never knew Buick made their own V-8 engines and thought my Riv had a Chevy 350 under the hood anyway. :sleep:

 

Funny, my Buick friend told me to go with Ford 9 inch too. Pretty sad that most of us Riv guys just want a 3.42 posi (AC limitation???), and we're pretty much SOL. Maybe Bulldog can make the 9 3/8" 3.42 posi their next project. p

Talk to JW and consider using the Performer too.

Not true...that's why this board exists.

 

I will have to say that I respect all your guys ideas and thoughts, I am just trying to find out what would be the best way for me to go to build a fast street car, and I thought it would be a better bang for the buck to do a 502 crate motor. I new to some extent after posting the message that I would get some feeback that would possibly change my mind on buying a chevy motor and staying with the 455 I already have in my garage. I just posted it as a question to get advice and to see if there was anyone out there that has done it and could give me some feedback.
But bottome line is this, not only have I bought parts from different people on this site but I have participated in many conversations that were successful. But no matter what, any man on this site who is not a teenager should not act like one when responding to a question of any statis, no matter if the question regards something that does not totally surround buicks in itself. This forum is here for a reason and if you have an answer to a question and all it entails is telling someone how dumb they are in other words by asking a question they might not like then maybe you should not respond to it at all. RESPECT is the key word when doing buisness, and being placed in a specific catagorie from someone I have bought parts from just lets me know that even if you do great work and your repro parts are good, does not mean that gives you leeway to come forward and speak in any manner you feel necessary. Remember treat people the way you want to be treated yourself, and if you dont have anything nice to say about CHITVYS then do as your mother told you as she should have that "IF YOU DONT'T HAVE ANYTHING NICE TO SAY THEN DON'T SAY IT AT ALL." This saying sound so familiar, doesent it?