Hello folks, my question may seem stupid but then I'm brand new to Buick, having driven Chevy for the last 30 years. I just bought a nice Skylark convertible with 350 engine; is this engine somehow similar to the Olds or Pontiac engine as I was told? The Olds valve cover seem to fit, are there any other similarities? As it's very hard to get parts down here (Dominican Republic) it would be great to learn about interchangebility. Will the TH 350 from my Chevy fit the Buick? Any help appreciated Please help a newcomer Pablo
Basically what he said. The only similarity between the Buick 350 and any other GM 350 is the displacement. None of the major parts are interchangable and you need to find a BOP TH 350 to mate up to your engine. oh, and welcome to the board. :beer
As far as I know, the thermostat will swap between all 350 engines you mention. However only pontiac and chevy use the same t-stat gasket. There are some chevy small blocks that can use the buick starter but those are usually only low performance 305's. Other than that almost nothing else swaps with chevy. Olds and pontiac can interchange starters with each other and are located on the drivers side of the engine. Oldsmobiles usually use the larger sized spark plugs 13/16" socket instead of 5/8" like buick,pontiac and chev. Buick is the only 350 with the distributor located up front in the timing chain cover where it is easier to do tune-ups. Buick, olds, and pontiac can interchange oil filters also.(Chevy is different). It is possible someone swapped engines on your car years ago. If the olds valve cover is similar you may have an olds engine in there!!! Another nice thing about the buick designed engine is the practically external oil pump. Look at the oil filter, the small aluminum thing it screws onto is the oil pump housing. Take the 6 or so bolts out and 2 gears will drop out. slide 2 new gears back in, prime the pump with vasoline and there! You just changed your oil pump., no need to drop the pan for this engine. Hope you enjoy your new car.
