Anyone have any leads on parts? Tail light assemblies look pretty cooked. Need the rubber trim around the L rear 1/4 glass. Crack in the pot metal grill surround. Ordered a fuel pump and 4 new tires for it today. Pressure washed the first layer of crud off the engine this afternoon. will soak again in the morning and wash later in the afternoon. Unbelievable how much crap there is on this engine.
im pretty sure if its a 35o in 77-79 it was a buick v6 301 pontiac 350 buick and the bigger blocks are 403 olds. i know 80 up got the 307 or the 3.8/4.1 v6
No..buicks got 403s too..ive pulled 2 dozen myself in the late 90s...as a matter of fact..we used to hunt them down in the junk yards..and the buicks where the first place we searched
thats what i was thinking as well so its prob a 307 or 403? which i thought you had to get a electra to get the 403.
not sure on that..but it says 403 where avail in 77 Lesabre..i bet almost all the cali cars had 403s..the rest of the V8s couldnt pass smog..maybe the 301...but doubt that too..one of the reasons later T/As got the 6.6
I believe that they made 2500 non-windowed 403's between 1977-79. Those engines are desirable to an Olds person.
The VIN will have the engine code in it. My 78 Estate Wagon is an X code for the Buick 350 which was available to 1980. If you want to post the first half of the VIN I can try and decode from my 78 manual.
Going on what the seller had told me. He purchased from the orig owner and relayed to me she had told him she had special ordered with the Olds 350. Once I get it cleaned up a bit more will try to get some numbers off it.
4F37R7H568450. Have gotten down through the crud enough to find blue valve covers. Like Pontiac blue. However the shape is defiantly Oldsmobile. He purchased in 2008 with 51K listed on the title. Its now showing 51952.
I think they all went corporate blue in 77 in an attempt to fool the buyer that they were getting an olds engine in an olds, etc.
yeah all where blue in 77. i think even earlier than that they started to go blue. apperently the rocket was an option in 77. idk why. gm did weird stuff in the late 70s early 80s.
Yesterday I finished pressure cleaning the rest of the car. The frame rails were filled with redish dirt, old grass . leaves and sticks. But everything under the car was amazingly solid. I dont see how it could be under 52K miles with the amount of dirt and engine crud caked all over it, The wear on the int and a faulty trans( unverified at this point) I'll have the fuel pump today and get it running on its own long enough to warm up. We'll see what happens. That little voice in the back of my head keeps telling me to pull one of the running 455 / TH400 combos out of a parts car and drop it in there.
Today it runs on its own! yea! Fuel pump install , filled the float bowl and hit the key. Nothing. Found a loose red wire dangling near the battery. tested to see there was no voltage at the Batt term of the HEI with the key on. connected that wire to + and retest. 12V ok. hit he key and it starts, shakes, weezes smokes, and then smooths out. Let it run for 5 mins. little lifter noise that comes n goes. Check the trans. Its 4 qts low. Add fluid and it goes in R and D. drove it off the lift. did a little burn out hoping for posi but no such luck. Open Diff. Talked to the last owner. He bought the car in 09. It had sat for 10 years prior. He drove it for 900 miles but couldnt keep feeding the gas guzzler so it was parked again until I got it on Sat morning. The piles of crap on the ground is what got washed out from under the hood and chassis. I think I can probably find more.
