It looks like I will be swapping a 350 into 67' Skylark.

I have been collecting parts and working on a 430 to swap into my wife's 67' Skylark. I have been doing it in my spare time and trying to keep it a budget build. In the meantime I stumbled across a 350 Buick engine deal I could not pass up. The car is a 300 2 barrel 2 speed. The current engine runs still but not well. Valve train clatters like crazy and it is down on power. That is one reason we got the car for a good price. We purchased it about a year ago and I had hoped to have a new power plant for this past summer. She was bummed she did not get to drive it. While I am getting close to ready for assembly on the 430 this 350 was an opportunity I thought worth trying. I am a mechanic (aviation) and very familiar with these cars as I have had a 66' of my own since the 80s. I know the 350 is a pretty easy swap overall so I am going to get this engine ready to swap in. We will probably only leave it in the car for a year or so but that is fine.
I picked up the motor yesterday and had a quick look at it while also giving it a good cleaning. Here is the backstory and what I have found on the engine. The motor was built for local short track stock car racing. The man I bought it from got it from his uncle who had it built for his mid 70s buick stock car. I can only go from the guys word but it supposedly has aftermarket pistons and rods, balanced internals, ported heads, custom cam and oiling modifications. It is supposedly 400hp but I will take that with a grain of salt. Much more likely 300 or maybe 350hp. I showed up to have a look at it and spotted a Poston intake. The first thing I wanted to do was hand crank it over as it was sitting on the floor in a shed. I went to grab the flex plate and realized it had a flywheel. I mentioned it to him and he told me there was also a clutch, bellhousing and manual transmission with it if I wanted it. I kept my composure and said I would take it off his hands. LOL. I could turn the engine over freely so I agreed to pay for it and loaded it up. I saw this engine for sale on Marketplace a month or two back for $700. I even shared it to my Buick Facebook group as I thought someone should grab it. He dropped it to $400 a week or so ago then to $350. At that point I could not help myself. A killer deal already then he throws in a bellhousing clutch and 3 speed Saginaw. Hard to go wrong. So yesterday I pulled the front dress off of it as well as starter. I put it on a stand and washed it up. I can spot externally it has a booster plate, HV oil pump and an external oil bypass across the back cam oil galleries. I pulled the valve covers to get the casting numbers and spot adjustable push rods and aftermarket shafts for the rocker arms. It is using the stamped steel rockers. The engine is spotless inside. I pulled the plugs and poked my borescope in there. The cylinders look mint and the piston tops don't even have a layer of carbon. I can read the piston part numbers and that they are .030" over. Low dish pistons. It has a custom oil pan with large sump. I may investigate further by pulling the pan but otherwise it is just going to get a coat of paint and get swapped in. I see it has a long front water pump so I will swap that out to short and use the 300 front accessory dress. I will need a flex plate but should be able to use the 300 one. I was going to leave the 2 speed for now but I am concerned it will have a fair bit of cam in it and be really sluggish out of the hole. I already have a built up TH400 that was going to go in with the 430 so I am leaning to swapping that in with the engine now. About the only thing that will be holding me up is that I do not have headers or any exhaust manifolds for the 350. The engine came with a Holley 2 barrel common to many local stock car classes. It also has the witness wire seal on the head bolts that some classes require so you do not take the engine apart. I have a couple of good quadrajets so I will swap one of those on. It has an HEI distributor but it is pretty beat so I may go through it with some modifications and fresh parts. I am looking forward to seeing it running. Kind of curious to see have it performs. If anyone has any advice on swapping it in feel free to mention it. I think I have most of the info I need already but might have missed something. I don't need to hear opinions on Poston intakes and HV oil pumps though as I have my own experiences and opinions on them and I am not going to change those pieces so you can keep that info for yourself. I mostly thought I would share my project and have a thread going for if I have a question or two. I have attached pictures of the cleaned up engine and the car it will be swapped into.
Cheers.
Greg

 

I am probably going to try to find some unmolested valve covers, preferably some 68/69' style. These ones are too butchered up. The engine is missing the dipstick tube and dipstick so I will have to find one of those as well. Then for the exhaust I may modify a set of Pontiac A body headers I have sitting around and weld some new Buick 350 flanges on them. A new set of headers shipped up into Canada is just too much money. I live near Vancouver BC. If anyone is close and has some pieces of use let me know.
Greg

 

Looks like a nice deal...
You got a lot of goodies.

 

The high stall of the switch pitch converter might work pretty well if the motor has a big cam in it, if the current trans is working ok.

Sean is up in your part of the country, isn't he? He should be able to help you with stock manifolds, valve covers and dipsticks or know where to find some. Not sure if the 300 flex plate would work on the 350.

Nice car!

 

Try member Cole. He is in the Kamloops area IIRC.

 

I am not so sure it is a switch pitch version of a ST300. It has no wiring or switches at all. That could just be that the previous owner removed the switch pitch switches though.
Greg

 

I already contacted Cole. He is going to have a look for the requested parts this weekend for me.
Greg

 

Awesome, cole should have what you need. I’m in Edmonton but no spare headers at the moment. Great deal on the 350! Buy some new headers, the hookers fit the best on the cars, and use Remflex gaskets. The th-350 is a bolt in swap and easy to find. Possibly replace the adjustable pushrods with solid? The poston intake is fine, HV pump is fine too. You can easily re sell the headers later for almost full price they sell easily on here. Let that 350 breath!

 

I could probably find a pretty cheap TH350 but I have a freshly prepped TH400 sitting there already that was going to go in with the 430 swap. It makes more sense to just swap it in. We still plan on the 430 swap at a later time. The adjustable pushrods should be fine but we could consider swapping them out one day. I wish I had the cash to buy some new headers but we have to stick to a budget at the moment. I will have to work with manifolds, used headers or some home made adapted headers to stay on budget. I have Remflex gaskets already. Thanks for the comments.
Greg

 

You'll need to shorten the driveshaft with the TH400 swap. Get rid of the factory 2piece sleeved driveshaft and get a new one made. The original 2 piece rubber sleeved driveshafts are a nightmare.

 

Yes I know all about that. Went through all that with my 66' that I swapped a TH400 in years ago.
Greg

 

I was digging into the engine today to check it out some more today and can't believe the goodies in it. This motor must be a little screamer. It is spotless clean inside. I don't think it has much time on it at all. It for sure has aftermarket pistons and rods. The rotating assembly is balanced. Double roller timing chain. The oil pan has a windage tray with sump baffles that have hinged doors. Looking at the top end I spotted the rocker shafts are custom. It has double valve springs, adjustable push rods and it appears to be a solid lifter cam. I was told the heads are ported and there are some signs of that when I stick my borescope in the ports. It looks like a very small dish on the pistons and the head gaskets are MLS so I am thinking the compression is quite high. Now I am considering what options we have to make that all work in the car. It will need a torque converter and a some rear gear to work with a cam like that. Our other option is to swap in a 4 speed. I have a couple in my stash of parts and this engine came with a bellhousing, flywheel and clutch. The only issue there is we need to purchase the pedal and linkage or hydraulic master cylinder and pedal setup. The transmission came with a home made bracket and slave cylinder setup already. One of the 4 speeds I have has pretty low first gear and the rear axle I have to swap in that car is 3:08 Positraction. It would be nice to have steeper gears yet but it could pull those gears. I am just trying to get this together with the least amount of cash outlay. Stick shift cars are fun and my wife would like it that way. I need to do some thinking. Pretty happy with the motor though.
Greg

 

Looks like 74-80 style rods in ARP bolts. It would be a shame to put manifolds on that. I vote for the 4 speed swap

 

Good to know on the rods. I tried looking all over them for GM and a number of any sort but could not see anything. Hard when assembled anyway. Yea. No point in manifolds at all now that I have seen the internals. They would be a disaster. It will be headers for sure.
Greg

 

You got a great deal ....
Different rocker locators instead of the push in plastic buttons.
That Poston intake is probably worth 300-350.
The deep pan is a pricy deal too.

 

The rods you have are very strong, good for about 550 HP, the older style not so much. Very cool engine you sure lucked out! You might as well pull the cover to get the number off the front of the cam. That would help determine if its something in need of a converter or a clutch. Likely a Poston 114 cam

 

Doesn't the cam have the part number or possibly specs vibra etched on the back journal of the cam not the front? If anything I think I would be better off pulling the back cam well plug out and looking there? The other thing I can do is grab a dial indicator and put the cam degree wheel on the engine to get an idea of the cam specs. It is a solid lifter cam so I don't think it is a Poston 114 as they are Hydraulic aren't they. I am thinking something like a TA 210s in there. All just guesses at this point.
Greg

 

Yep, numbers are on cam rear, not frt.
Poston catalog from 99 only lists hyd 350 cams. Could be a TA or KB.?

 

The back cam well plug looked like it had been leaking and had gobs of silicone smeared over it. I thought I might as well pull that plug and reseal it and then I might be able to learn something about the cam. Unfortunately the markings on the cam are nothing that I recognize as useful. Only way I will be able to get an idea on what the cam is will be to put the degree wheel on it. By the markings I was thinking maybe someone used an original GM core as a blank for a regrind.
Greg

 

Remnants of a stamping...

Seems this area has had numbers ground off....cam looks parkerized except where the fresh grind is.