hey thanks for the help I think this project will be easier since we guys have gotten some advice from the 'pioneers ' on this swap... still looking forward to some pics tho... another thread made the 2004r sound like the trans to have...cake and eat it too, so to speak... thanks Jim
Thanks! Great Info, Guys. I am planning this swap for my 76. Question about the Poston frame pads....what year are they for..........64-67 or 68-72? Also, if the brake booster is that close to the tall valve covers, how do you go about converting to manual brakes? Is the rear suspension with just traction bars adequate? I'm considering CalTracs or the new Competition Engineering Slide-A-Link bars as a ladder bar set up looks too expensive right now. The new aluminum stage 1 heads ought to ease the problem of trying to install stage 2 headers! You guys on this list give us all something to be thankful for!! Happy Thanksgiving to all!
The frame pads are for the 70-72. The engine will fit but it sets very close to the brake booster. It will fuction ok when used. As for the manual brakes. I guess it would be just getting the correct master cylinder rod . The Traction bars are probably not adequate for the stage2 motor now in the car. Even when the car had the stage1+ motor in, traction was limited. But these were on an old set of ET streets. We were going to take it to the track to do some tuning on the suspension. To see how the car launched. We will be doing this soon but as of right now all I can say is It is trial and error. The Cal tracks bar will defenitly help but it is pretty much a race only piece from my understanding. If It is the same as the wolfcraft piece. Let me know what you would like to see I am going to take some photos of the car tommorrow. So I will Try and post them that evening
pics Phil, if you can get some pics, that would be really really great. for my education, pics of the left and right near the firewall, front engine to frame detail, header clearance, just anything you want to take pics of would be great.. thankfully, Jim
Re: pics Jim, you gotta be careful there man. I am not real sure we want Phil runnin around all "crazy" just poppin' off pictures,lol. anyways.... we'll get you some pix of the install and all that, no sweat. and i would think between all of us we "should" be able to decide where the "hard spots" are. we'll fix you up. see you in a few Phil,, later..................................
some of you are looking at daves location and mine all i got to say is dave is a serious buick racer. Or he is at his outlaws in texas. and for that picture comment, I will see you shortly and we will get down to basics for you dave. give me a call when you leave. I need to call my buddy and let him know we are enroute. later ya'll
Dave, you guys have got the wheels in my head turning if you know what i mean....:Brow: I look forward to seeing pics.
HOLY WOW what a car,,,,,,,, we spent the better part of the afternoon(and part of the evening,are you in trouble Phil?) with Karry and all i can say is what a way to do T-giving. got a nice fill at lunch,(missed the nap though:ball: ), hung out for a few minutes then bailed into the car for a short drive to meet Phil before the adventure began. finally get to parking lot to meet up with Karry and up a rumblin' comes this "street car"(and i use that term as loosely as MG does in the description of his car). WOW !!! on to the car as i know some of you are waiting for some answers.....so . first off STAGE 1 !!!!!! may i repeat STAGE 1. the car that Phil will post pix of is a Stg.2 car with the bigger headers 2 1/8" as i recall. anyways from what i was told, a-body street headers(like what we use on a stg 1) WORK in this with NO interference to the framework.to quote Karry,"put em' right in". ya know now that i think about it, i never asked which motor mount holes he was using,,, . anyways,,,, if you stg. 2 this car as per the example we looked at you do have some probs with the header on the left at both the upper a frame and the steering knuckle. "A" frame fixed with a Makita, steering fixed with a universal. if yall want i am sure that we can get you all the info you could possible need. anyways..... A/C ????? AIN'T NO WAY BOYS AND GIRLS !!! it aint happening. you think things are close in a regal ????? HA HA HA HA. and to the other side for some more "news"...... valve cover to booster clearence ????? about an 1/8". YUP THATS ALL !!! But,,,,solid motor mounts and thats fixed. other than the silly idea of gettin' the valve cover off for any reason, without removing the booster. and ,,,,as the hits just keep on a coming,,,,, the hood.... :error: ...Karry runs a adapter for the Dominator from a SP-1, and a plate for the "great blue equalizer". what this means is a 6" outlaw cowl induction hood scoop. NOT for looks but out of need !!! so ,while its fresh in my mind yall, ask away. i have seen a VERY NICE example of this car done RIGHT(in my humble hick opinion). I am very impressed with the car and even more impressed with the owner, this being the second time i met him. I know Phil has a bunch of pix to post for yall so look for them soon(i think he said tommorrow). seems like alot more NOS powered Buicks are showing up out there. kinda makes a guy do a little thinking...:Smarty: ....it aint the 80's anymore,NOS is here to stay. we're just a block away from being able to spray one HARD. later.................................... P.S. Al i will be in touch in a couple days,:TU:
bad buick ? Dave, from your report the sound of an awesome motored buick made the not haveing a nap after a big meal of turkey , an ok trade off <g>. always a neat day to hear and see a fine crafted machine. thanks to you and Phil on the update. Jim
DITTO Thanks a bunch guys. Can't wait for the pictures. Can't wait to start my own project. Hope to be up and running this spring. BTW Question 1. These guys must be using some serious traction control devices to harness that blue bottle. I've been told that the GSE cars are using CalTracs with basically stock suspensions. (Also my plan) What are they using? Question 2. How do I change over to manual disk brakes to avoid the booster problem? Thanks again!
on those power to manual brakes issues just remove the power master and all the lines an then just put the master cylender back on with new line less the power master i had a 77 skylark with manual brakes and the master cylender is the same os the power brakes other than the power master its all the same oh and in car craft there is a 78 olds omega with a olds 455 in it with no hood mods justin 77 skylark 350
i am also in search of a radiator support for one of these x-body skylarks i had a fenderbender with mine and thats the last part i need if anyone has oone i am willing to purchase it thanks justin 77 skylark 350
Way to tease us Phil. That is a great looking car. That tall cowl induction scoop is a real blast. Looks like slapper bars for the rear? Justin, thanks for the info. Does the master cylinder just bolt to the firewall in place of the booster? No mods to make it bolt up? Also does the push rod work? Do you have to move the push rod to a different hole on the pedal shaft like some others I have heard of? Shorten or lengthen it? Sorry for all the questions and good luck with finding a core support. I'll keep an eye out around here. Where are you located?
as far as i know it takes the same 2 bolts ans the power master and im not sure of the pedal location everything looked the same but looks can be decieving i am located in s.e. mass near providence r.i.
Phil. Thanks for the teasers, I love that color. that should hold us over for now. cant wait to see the motor. blueskylark any rad support from a 75-79 omega, phoenix, nova, or skylark will fit. Paul
MAN did those pix come out BAD !!!!!, dont worry guys i am sure Phil can get some good ones taken of the engine soon. and really, those pix do the car NO justice. i have been trying to remember info about the car for yall since i saw it. a few more things........the rear. 81 camaro 8.5" bolt in swap. yea those are slapper bars down there. one of the things that impressed me about the whole deal. this car is run with a 230 h.p. hit of NOS right from the jump. meaning the gas pedal and the button are pushed at the same time. rear is a 3.31 (as i recall) and the motor never goes beyond 57/5800 rpm's. all this on street tires and through the 3" exhaust(getting bigger soon) now , from what i was told, a set of slicks have been bought that will put the car in the 10.0's on the bottle.granted this is with a stg.2 but my thinking is.....with the low 3 series gear and the RRR's never getting really that close to 6000, thats pretty impressive.and your not beatin' on it to run good numbers. and even a stg.1 would get some good results and with just a little work. but i was warned,,,,do your homework on the NOS if your gonna use it!!! ain't no need to go spittin' Buick out on the roadways . Phil,,,,,,,,get these guys some pix man !!!!!!! they NEED to see em'. AND....................Karry................i know your lurkin'...........:Brow: .......thanks for making my T-giving that much better:TU: and thanks again for the short cut, i knew exactly where i was at the 2nd light,lol. OH yea.............who cares about the nap Jim. we had a blast. stood around and lied to each other for awhile in the garage, watched a old nats video for awhile, back to the garage for some more lyin', and finally leave outa pure fear of the wifes.which reminds me Phil, mine called and asked if i was ever coming back :grin: , did Donna get on ya when you got home ???? later.....................................
Hey dave, My wife looked a little mad, I left at 1:15 and got back at 8ish. But it was all made up yesterday when she got me back by waking me at 4 and said time to go shopping "day after turkey day sales" Shopping sucks! As For the car, The motor mount holes were drilled for motor positioning. Guys you will have to mock it up. The gear set is a 342. And last but not least, Those pictures are pretty bad, But as for the lying I was not involed it was all dave:laugh: Dave have a safe drive back to kansas, Watch out for all the nuts not that you maybe one:Comp:
all i can say Phil and Dave, all I can say is WOW, love the color, the car is just an awesome thing,,,,but like the other guys, I feel like whoever it was in a fairy tale - tiny tim ?- that wanted ''just some more please'' Beasts that live on the street like that fine example are so righteous....if not for the hood, wow , the ultimate sleeper... can't wait for more...thanks for the extra work and effort on getting us the 'tease' , and hope you aren't in the ''dog'' house because of it...i tell mine she won't miss me if i'm home, so she shouldn't miss me if i'm gone ( just kidding honey ), but you guys know what i mean... I would think the high rear end gears would help kill off some of the excess torque producing tire spin, right ? justin, what issue of car craft ? anyone who saw hotrod tv this week....great fun seeing that bad black gs kill off the other cars in the stock apprearing class..fun fun fun Jim
Dave My understanding on the camaro rearend, is that it is 1-2 inches wider than the skylarks. the mounting pads would have to be relocated for it to be a bolt in swap. the V6 cars had 7.5 rears, while the V8 cars recieved the 8.5 rears I've talked to a fellow that has a stage 2 in his car. he said he was able to use two of the frame pad bolts o No: maybe with a mixmatch of mounts and pads it might work? Paul
