I'm hoping that most of the questions will apply to the BOP h-bodies. it's for a starfire that I will be swapping a carbed Aurora motor into, but no one in the Olds community seems to want to talk to me about them, and if they do, they don't know much about them. 1: what type of transmission does the starfire have? will the 200 R4 bolt up? 2: What rearend is availible? Also, where could I source an 8.5" 10 bolt to swap in if it's not already there? s-10's? 3: Are there already engine mounts availible for a v-8 swap, or am I going to have to completely fab these together? 4: What is the biggest rim I could fit under there? I'd like to get 15X8 at least. No, it's not going to be a hooptie, I'd just like a bit taller tires. if I can use 15's, I'll use steelies from a Delta 88. I think that's it for now, I'll probably think of more.
Matt, I'll try to answer the best I can... 1) If an auto, probably a TH200 (maybe a TH350, but would have to been a V8 car new). TH200's of this era are not the strongest automatic's around 2) They were 7.5" rear ends when new...lots of guys swap in S10 rear ends and upgrade to 5 lug front rotors, too. The 7.5's will take a mild amount of abuse, but not much. Posi's are hard to come by for them and gear's, too. 3)V8 engine mounts are for SB Chev V8's only. Buick V6 and Chev (Vega & "Iron Duke") 4cyl's were available also. The Aurora V8 ( a Caddy Northstar in reality) was 20 years from production when H bodies were designed. You'll have to piece something together. Not impossible, but there are no "bolt in" pieces available. 4) Not really sure...15x8's would probably be a stretch. You should go to the V8 Monza site...bunch of nice guys that are dedicated to the H bodies. Link is below: http://www.v8monza.com/ HTH
I posted on the V-8 monza forum. no one answered. Anyway, the reason I was asking about the tranny was to see if the crossmember had to be moved. And the motor mounts were, even though I would have to fab them, it's nice to know that there were v-8's availible so there are ample mounting points. Also, who knows? I might be able to use chevy mounts with some mods. Never know. Thanks a lot!
Matt, what year is your starfire? My 77 Skyhawk has a TH350 behind the factory V6. There is no bolt in rear end because it has the strut bar that connects from the rear end to the back of the transmission (ala camaros, firebirds and corvettes). Certain year S10 axles fit in the stock 7.5 inch rear end and will allow you to mount 5 on 4.75" wheels although 8 inch wide might be a stretch. The only swap kits are for SBC so you would have to fab mounts for the Northstar. Hope this helps!
Yeah it does. Thanks a lot! I'm looking at any H-body starfire at the moment. This project is in the very early development stages, and I've gotta get through 4 years of college first!
we have a 76 hawk with a mild 4.1 automatic. we found a monza that had a posi in it. and these rears are HEAVY. switched to 5 lug axles out of my son's 84 s10. there are 2 different axle lengths. both will work. just have to push in harder to get the clips in. now have 245/60-14's on it. looks really nice with the big tires. you will need to get offset rims for it. engine mounting, you will have to make your own brackets, unless you can use the chevy or buick parts. but most of all, check the underside of the car very carefully. these things rot all over the place. front fenderwells,front subframe, where the panhard rod bolts, up top in the rear wheelwells. the monza we took apart was wasted body wise. you need to go to v8 h-body talk on ezboard for thr complete s10 swap. john
