hey guys. my parents have a 84 buick electra park avenue and they want to get rid of it and said they would give it to me for a project car if i wanted. it has an oldsmobile 307 in it and dont know about the tranny. i thought it would be cool to try to make it sort of a budget build street/strip ride. i was hoping you guys could help me on what to do, what to get, and where to get it. please let me know if you guys think i would be better off just getting a 350 or some other motor if the 307 isnt going to do much to get that huge thing down the track
ANy Olds motor (330 to 455) should drop in, they are all the same basic block, I think. A Buick engine wiil require a bit more work as the dist is at the front of the engine instead of the rear & the starter may be on the opposite side, I don't remember. May also need different mounts?? A Chevy engine will require a different tranny. Also 350 Olds heads will fit on a 307. Try an Olds site for more info. If the trans is a OD it is probably a THM 200r4, if a three speed it could be a THM 200, 250, or if you are lucky a THM 350. Use the search engine here to find out how to ID a GM trans. Good luck and have fun.
BBO is a "big block Olds". There is actually no such thing as a small block Olds & a big block Olds as they used the same block for all engines as far as I know. However the 400ci plus engines may have a taller deck height??
also, be real. 307 is a boat anchor. and a 84 park ave aint light. you will be MUCH happier with a 350 buick, or olds, as both will bolt up to your trans. more cubic inches is the way to go. :3gears: :3gears:
yea i kinda figured that. if i was gonna go bigger id probly try to find a 455 if it will fit. someone said its the same block, so could i buy some parts for the 307 and take em and put them in a 455 later? and for the weight in the park avenue, id probly gut the whole thing trying to bring it down the weight a little bit. and boost would be fun to do down the road if everything else goes well and it shows potential at the track
boost "down the road" equals another rebuild to drop compression.... Nitrous needs no drop in compression though
what would be the compressions differences between boosted and just a regular street setup? nitrous is tempting but i love the sound of a supercharger...or turbo. still not too sure what i want. just kinda throwing around ideas and doing some reading
I am by no stretch of the imagination an expert on boost, but the compression needs are dependent on the amount of boost. Do a search on here and you will find a lot of good info from people who know a lot about this subject. Check out this thread on a turbo setup for a stock 350. http://v8buick.com/showthread.php?t=191092&highlight=350+turbo Sounds like a great way to go. You get power, don't need an engine built for the task, and keep the street drivable nature of the car.
My "street" engine has 13:1 compression, lol. Most post 1971 engines have in the area of 10:1-10.5:1 compression. I've heard of people dropping compression to 8.5:1 with as little as 8lbs of boost. You could have slightly more compression and boost but then I'd look into "methanol injection" or at least a water sprayer to run it on pump gas. also, octane matters. Octane refers to resistance to "ping" or detonation from compression.
True, some street engines are highly radical and you don't want to do anything like add boost but a stock engine can become a potent power plant with the right amount of boost. I suppose that a start to the question of what should be done with the 307 car would be what's the budget? You can find a good running 350 pretty cheap if you keep an eye out. When you start making lots of power you had better be thinking about your transmission holding up and finding a posi so that you can control that power.
No you can not buy parts for a 307 and then use them on a 455 because they ARE NOT THE SAME BLOCK!!! Oldsmobiles are divided into big and smallblock engines, only Amc and Pontiac did not have two different size block castings. I think someone built a 307 once for the engine masters challenge in Popular Hotrodding once, so maybe look for info on their website.I found a little info in the Feb. 2009 issue. The motor was built by robinson analytical in Canada. They might help with info if you can contact them.
