whats up guys i just got back from a trip in florida. Also a trip from hell. Anyway i picked up this 1965 buick skylark. Its got an unoriginal 350 engine in it. Home in my garage i have a 70 455 that came out of a riviera. Im wondering if anyone knows if this engine would fit in this specific car. And what conversions do i need to do to make it fit if it does? 68 buick-GS-California 350 2 speed 65 buick skylark 350-soon to be 455 84 Boneville-winter beater and garbage can tanker
Well I can answer half of your question, yes it will fit. I believe TA Performance offers the motor mounts and the few other things you need. From what others have said it's a easy swap then hold on tight.
455 swap Check the oil pan type on the 455. If it was out of a 70 Riv it probably has a mid-sump pan. I believe that you will have to change this out to a rear-sump type oil pan & pick-up. You will probably also need a new flex plate, unless the 455 came with one. Tom :TU:
i have a 65 and i put a 455 in it. no problems except and i mean except headers. i used TA performance's conversion kit motor mounts, and mounts. Yes u will need to get a rear sump pan for that. the header problem might not be so bad if you use 1 7/8 primaries. i used 2 primaries. the problem is the driver side. it wants to hit the steering shaft. you need to heat #3 and 5 i think and put a small dent in them to clear the steering shaft. it sucks a big one. other than that everything fits fine. forget the manual clutch fan, it won't fit , you will have to use an electric. if you have any questions though feel free to ask. :beer
I would love to do this kind of engine swap in my car but it seems like a big job and i dont have any knowledge when it comes down to taking out and putting in a bigger engine.... But i heard that in doing this swap you have to shorten the shaft and do something to the transmission..is that right? o No:
no nothing is needed to shorten anything on the transmission. For god sake don't use the factory 2 speed 300 tranny. It is a pile of junk, and first time hooking hard with it will blow the guts out of it. Plus there is not much aftermarket support for them. i used a turbo 350. now most guys don't agree with this. they say to use the 400. thats fine if you want more weight in your car and a tranny that takes uses more horsepower. remember every little bit counts. If you know what you are doing and how to beef a turbo 350 up, it is capable of handleing as much load as a turbo 400. If u do decide to use the 350, you need to to bring it to a transmission shop who know what they are doing. there is a lot of tricks you can improve on the 350 to handle some serious torque and horsepower. this is just my opinion. the other plus to a 350 is it is a direct replacement for the 300. no need to move the crossmember and the motor will mount straight up to it.
really, how hot does the car get in traffic on a hot day. that would be nice to run a manual fan but if you don't have the proper fan to shroud ratio the manual fan it usless. simply won't pull enough air.' if this works maybe i need to try it
Okay well thanks alot for all that info on the swap. Well so far it sounds like an easy swap after i get the engine rebuilt. I dont think im going to hop the engine up to much other than Cam, Headers, Intake, Ignition and maybe a carb. I believe the car is a one wheel wonder, not sure how thats going to work with all that torque. Its probobly going to be a spin-a-thon. What gears would you guys suggest? 68 buick GS-California 350-two speed 65 buick skylark-Unoriginal 350-soon to be 455 84 Bonneville-winter beater used for tanking garbage cans Lardo "the pig" Lewis
Keep us posted on how it turns out. I want to do the same with my 69 GS Calfornia and am a little nervous about the problems I may encounter with it.
