A guide to building the lil guy. The Mighty 300

Felpro TCS45930

 

231 V-6 is what I used

 

Well, I just discovered this thread today,,, The 64/65 skylark with the 300 ''optional'' engine, fell just into the top of the old G Stock automatic class back in the late 60's.... based on advertised hp/weight ratio... Buick kept the hp figure very conservitive so it was a class winner...
Before building a engine , one should determine just what kind of performance he wants to get out of it... back in my day there was zero speed equipment available for the engine and we had to make do with what we could get,,, by scavinging parts off of other cars and basic tricks, like lightening the vehicle or gears and posi's..... I got real good at scrounging wrecking yards and swapping parts...
I built the ''optional'' engine, kept the switch pitch 2 speed, lightened the vehicle, port matched everything I could... installed bigger exhaust... cold air pkg... ect... I won more , broke less than with any other engine that i have had...
Now you have good cams, turbos, better mufflers, better transmissions, ect... but you need to make up your mind just what kind of car you want to build...
If I were going to build a performance 300 today, I would borrow as much GN tech as i could make work....
There are some things that would have to change, it would have to have forged pistons,,, forged rods, and the crank really needs to be hard chromed... naturally the oil system would need to be blueprinted for performance...
I regularly turned up to 6000 rpm with my engine and never had a problem, but now I know better.... :Brow: but better ignition systems and rev limiters that you get now days will take care of that....
The low budget racing is fun with this engine,,, a good 4 bbl intake , [I dont know if it would take the ''Doc dual plane'' mod or not] i would check it very, very close before doing one to be sure....
A 600 or so cfm carb would be good....cold air pkg...
a good cam....anti pump up lifters and good valve springs...
what ever head work the rules alllow...
port matched factory exhaust manifolds with bigger pipes and mufflers...
a good trans,,,[switch pitch] / gear ratio/posi. ect....
air lift air bags inside the rear springs....
Do your homework, research the project X 57 chevrolet that was in the rod books in the late 60's and do the car like that,,, you will have a lot of fun for a little money....
brings back memories....

 

OK, well on the 300, can anyone tell me the cfm flow volumn difference on the discharge ports of the 2bbl intake VS 4bbl intake. I know matting faces are identical, but do they change anywhere within. If ya follow my madness, can it be done.
Thanks
Wil

 

The ports of the manifold/s both intake and exhaust are sufficent to support a large 4 bbl....with vacume secondaries....
I am sure that one could improve the heads with a port job.....port match both the intake and the exhaust manifolds... the exhaust manifolds are very well designed....you might check into doing the ''Doc dual plane'' mod to improve the intake manifold....but be very cautious here , because I have never done one of the 300 manifolds and do not know what is possible....I do know that there is a water passage in the manifold and so you need to be carefull if you do it.....

 

1999 Range Rover valve covers and headers I picked up for cheep. The valve covers look great with a little work.

The headers need some welding and grinding. The ports are much smaller than the 300 heads (I have the aluminum 64 heads). I ground them out to fit the heads without too much work. The header on the right side is a perfect fit. The header on the left side will need to be cut and welded to clear the steering shaft. I cut about 1/4" pie shape out of the bottom of each pipe next to the mounting plate, bent the plate inward and welded it back up. I don't think these are as good as a long tube header since they have a 2 in 2 design but I think they will be better than the original manifolds and they look great. If you get a set from a wrecking yard make sure you get the down pipe conection. These are 2.5" pipes but they have a strange 3 bolt mounting flange that is not standard. I didn't get the down pipes so I had to modify a 3 bolt plate by slotting out the holes. This makes for a very tight fit on the bolts but it works.

 

Need a distributor gear for my 300. Any cross reference on part numbers? I keep getting the "Oh, a Buick 300!, Good Luck!" or "Sorry no listing for that"

I read some where that any SBC distributor gear will work. Correct?

 

I don't know the answer to this. But a Buick 350 distributor gear should work.

 

Yes it will, confirmed by T/A Performance. Till what year can I ask for a 350 buick, more recent the better. T/A shows a different part# with HEI.

 

I want to add the T/A stage 1 intake and a cam and lifter set up to my stock 350. Do I need any head work or will the stock heads be fine?

 

Might want to re-post elsewhere...this thread is for the 300ci engine !!! o No:

 

I have 300 in my skylark and it is one reason why i bought it. IT is one off but thats the challenge. Only stock now 310 wildcat but want to warm it up.Want to install 4v carb and manifold and duals(67 iron heads wont change) and posi rear next. ITs a nice cruiser but needs a bump up FRIDAY :Smarty:

 

Has anyone test fit some of the TA Performance 215 aluminum heads to the 300 yet?

I'm wondering about performance numbers versus the stock 300 heads, iron or aluminum.

I've owned three of the little 300 engines in the past. The first was in a 65 skylark with a two barrel carb. It was a daily driver.
The second was pulled from a 64 LeSabre. It was a two barrel engine with aluminum heads and an aluminum two barrel intake manifold. I put that engine in a 68 Special Deluxe. I raced it a little....:3gears:

My last one was in a 65 special. It never ran when I bought the car, so I pulled it and dropped a 350 Buick in. I never knew there was any aftermarket support, or I would have built it up.

I am considering a 300 build up for a near future project. Somebody please tell me if there is any documented evidence of using the TA heads!

Thanks for the great info to everyone here!

 

Also, do the 340 4V intakes and heads fit the 300?

 

I just completed the spec sheet and one of their guys called me. His recommendsations were 50232 if it's a daily driver and 50233 if it's a a toy...I am leaning towards the 50232...he mentionned anything smaller may cause detonation issues due to comp ratio...

 

I've used the 50232 cam in the past and been very happy with it.

 

Matt,

Did you have any issues with retainer to valve guide boss clearance with that lift?

 

Michel
That's an excellent question. I wish I had an answer for you, but I put that cam in while I was just out of high school and didn't know enough to check.ou:

There was no valve to piston interference, originally a 2bbl engine 9:1 comp. However the retainer to guide clearance remains a question. There were no obscene noises, etc and the engine ran great for 60,000 additional miles after the cam swap so I just don't know. Since your engine is assembled it'd be a pain to pull the heads off now; but maybe your shop cut the valve guides for additional clearance when you had the engine apart? What I do now is give Greg Gessler my engine/cam info and have him set the heads/valvesprings/etc up to match. It really helps that he lives about 20-25 minutes away from me.

But anyway to answer your question I don't know. The fact that the 50232 cam is still less than .500" lift with 1.6 rockers you "might" be okay. But I would check.

 

The intakes are different and do not interchange. The heads are different as well but do bolt on... The 340 heads would give a change in compression ratio likely.

 

Sean, are you sure about that. what is different about the heads?