allright guys, this board has helped me out soooooo much so far as to building my Buick. THANKS:TU: Now, i need a little more advice if anyone has any suggestion or good advice. Pretty soon ill be dropping this 455 in to my '79 Trans Am. This is my first restoration project and first motor i've rebuilt and so far I think i'm doing a great job. I bought motor swap brackets from Poston to swap a 455 into a '79 Reagal, i was told that these would work with a little modifcataion which is'nt a big problem, yet. The only thing is to find out excatly where to mount these brackets and weld or drill and bolt them, which i plan to bolt. One of my ideas so far, which I think is the best one yet, is to hook up the drive shft and turbo 400 tranny, then bolt the brackets to the motor mounts on the motor and drop the motor in and bolt it to the tranny and check to make sure everything is good and works then mark the brackets to the frame unbolt the motor and pull it out again. then ill drill the new holes and bolt the brackets to the frame and drop the motor back in, right?? this should work? Of course the'll be a ton of other things to check but i think i'm on the right track. anyone whos done this before of anythinf simalar, any help or tips would be greatly appreicaited.... Thanks again, ~Vinny
Vinny, Thats exactly how we put my 455 in my old 84 cutlass.... Just bolted it all together, dropped it in there with the drive shaft in place, Leveled it out, and made sure it was in there square. Only we Tack welded the mounts where they needed to be and then welded them in good. easier than marking, drilling and all that hoopla....lol. How did the headers turn out for ya???
Thanks 4 the tip Jeff:TU: Oh and the headders, i checked the tracking # again today and then call them and they said theirs was a problem with the address, something about it not exsisting or unoccupied ? i dont know. theirs MORONS man, they have the right address i confirmed it with them. anyway, they said their gonna try again tomarrow. Lets hope they get it right this time.. Thanks again Jeff i owe ya. PS- ill let ya know when i get em'
I actually have the templates on where to drill the holes in the frame for installing a 455 into a camaro/firebird chassis using the PAE frame pads. I gave a copy of those patterns to Poston years ago. I can send you some copies if you need them. Jim Burek p.a.e. enterprises
Hey Jim, if you can send me those templates you would be my hero!!!:grin: :grin: !!! HA HA!! That would be a BIG help to me. When I talked to the tech,Tony, over there he never mentioned a template. They probably lost or fogot about it, how many people do this swap anyway?? not many. My question is, what is the template made of? If its paper can you email it to me or is their shipping involved?? Let me know. Thanks again ~Vinny You can PM me or Email me at xvin99@aol.com
Just finished my second conversion. First was a 455 buick to 85 Delta 88 and second was 455 to 84 Lesabre LTD. ( same thing) located Trans mount, Dropped w/ pedastle attached to mounts, Leveled and drilled.
when you guys say leveled, do you mean literally? If so, How did you level it? did you put a level accross the intake or on top of the valve covers or just eye balled it to l;ook like everything was straight?
Literally.... Put a level across the valve covers. Do it straight across.. then diagnolly from left front to right rear, and vice versa. You DO NOT want that thing in there with one side lower than the other. But if your getting templates, then you shouldn't have to worry. I'm sure that Jim got everything right when he made them.
Here's a full write up of levelling and centering a 455 in an Regal. the process is the same for your TA. Levelling & Centering
Torpedo Level on the carb flange of the the intake. Even with the old duece and a quarter frame pads it came in level front to rear, had to ofset 1/2" to the left to get it level transversely.
Just wanted to add how versital GM Drivetrains and Chasis are. I used the stock crossmember from the Lesabre. My T400 trans mount fit right in the hole designed for the 200r4. Using all stock pieces: 1984 fan shroud 1972 225 brackets, fan and radiator 1972 mounts and pads 1984 power steering pump w/ 72 bracket (metric threads in box) 1985 Olds power steering pulley. Its bigger in dia. than the Buick I was amazed that, except for the small amount of bias due to 72 frame pads, everything lined up perfectly. The fan is even exactly whre it needs to be in the shroud. I had to whittle on the shroud to allow for the 72 radiator mounts and trim a bit of the fan area to clear engine offset. The only fabrication required was I had to have a 77-96 driveshaft from a F/S car w/ 8.5" differential shortened and fit with the T400 yolk. I decided on the Lesabre/Delta/Caprice/Parisienne 115.9 platform for the following reasons: Driver comfort Availbility of stronger Differentials Doors don't fall off Sleeper effect Only a 200 pound penalty for all the above.
