I gotta say. I’m very happy with it. This is my first post here. I have a 63 Catalina and now a 73 Apollo. The cats on jacks as i battle rust and weld away. The Apollo is my daily driver. The Apollo’s 350 has a mild cam in it and a set of true dual exhausts. Interior is perfect and the radio works flawless. I use the tape deck everyday. I have to replace the valvebody as it doesn’t go into reverse and slips gears but nothing major that tactical parking can’t fix. I also replaced the headlights to new projector LED. essentially, someone gave the Apollo to a 20s something guy and he drove it but didn’t maintain it until he inevitably wanted to get rid of it from the problems. so far the work I’ve done to the Apollo: -new distributor, wires, spark plugs(hei) -new led bulbs all around and headlights -wiring was shot. Still in the process of cutting, splicing and right sizing. -Edelbrock carb as the qjet needed a rebuild. Got the edelbrock for free NIB -calipers, rotors, pads and lines to do list -valvebody -front suspension -wheels -rear window guide rail isn’t secured to the window sending it off the track. Not sure how to fix this -weather stripping, weather stripping, weather stripping. all in all I’m amped i got two great vintage cars. This Buick is the juice i needed to keep going in the hobby.
Cool! Way to go. Love your enthusiasm and the strategic parking thing is very familiar to me. I bought a 1978 BMW 320i many years ago that had a bent R shift fork, and drove it that way for months until I got to pulling the trans apart. On occasion I would forget and need to push the car back LOL.
Boy thats a twin to mine.. nice looking car. I have a few rando extra parts kicking around if you need anything. Is the car wet in that picture or did you dip it in vaseline??
LOTS of grease, elbow grease that is. When I first got it, it was covered in mud near head to toe. Thank you for your compliment. I did a bunch of work including ceramic wax which always makes everything look better. do you have photos of yours? I need to snap some more now that I am on this forum. Seems no one I personally know are into cars these days. I may take you up on your offer for parts but it looks like youre using what I was looking at! 3.73s, 2ooR4. I like the 350 a lot but not too many performance parts lying around for it. T/A performance seemed like the only place for heads and an aluminum intake.
lol, are you a car person if you've never had a car that couldn't go in reverse? Im happy im not the only one! best part is my driveway is on an incline so I can just pull out normally and 'look" like im in reverse. lol
Thanks Dano, Im hoping to utilize this forum to get more info on parts for the 350 in it and hopefully find a decently priced 2004R near me in GA. guess we will see!
now to dig it out! I really want to find some small stuff that make it a little more quick. looking for a posi rear and I heard advancing timing by 5 degrees wakes up the motor a little not sure if it's true.
Found a person willing to let go of a 200r4 out of a 1982 S10. I know I’ll need a new torque converter and a new crossmember. Summit had a 200r4 crossmember for 200 bucks that fits the Apollo. Has anyone run into other items that may need to be replaced for a th350 to 200r4 swap?
Sorry to Nitpick, but it's a 2004r. I have never done one of these, but have learned from these forums that correctly setting up the TV cable is crucial to it working and not burning up. FYI. Also with regard to timing your 350, There is a super informative thread here that Larry(The Wizard) wrote about setting your timing up for best performance, I just spent 10 minutes looking for it, and apparently I am stupid, because I can't find it. Hopefully someone else knows the link. Just advancing your initial timing 5 degrees because someone suggested that's a good idea, seems bad.
I am about 95% sure the 200 never came in the s10. In 82 the only engine options were the iron duke or the 60° v6, neither of which had a bellhousing pattern that would work with a 2004r..
Here you go...Ha! I beat Larry to it. Lol https://v8buick.com/index.php?threads/power-timing-your-buick-v8.63475/ Read through it, until it makes sense. It will eventually. Lol
Thanks guys for the info. I have the service books and noticed the car was to be at 4-6 degrees and it was set at 16. I know it has a mild cam in it but dumped it back down to 4-6 where the car ran sluggish and bogged. I readjusted back to 16 off of how the motor sounded and it purred like it usually did. I will be re-reading that post a few more times to learn some more.
And that V-6 is the 60 degree one. (2.8L) The 4.3 (derived from SBC) came later. The 60 degree V-6 does not have the same pattern (trans to rear of engine) as either the Chev or BOP patterns. The trans might? be the unicase three speed Turbo 200, in that light duty S-10. Avoid.
I stayed away from it. After reaching out to him a third time he said he was busy and couldn’t talk. Not sure what happened with the guy. My Apollo didn’t have any grounding straps and every now and then it had some quirks while driving. Didn’t think grounding straps would help as much as they did. I’ve got two on there. One on either side of the motor. now just waiting to get the new rear brakes and trans valvebody in. Also, not huge support on Buick heads and superchargers and turbochargers. Thought I’d see more with such low compression.
