Where to start with car that's been in hibernation

I learned my lesson with old brake parts years ago. I was in my 74 Comet and had to make an emergency stop because some car ran a light. As soon as I applied the brakes I felt the pedal hold for a second then sink down to the floor and the red brake light come on. That was easily one of the scariest moments I've experienced. I was out of town and had to limp the car to a friend's house. Both rear wheel cylinders blew out and yes they were oem. Sometimes old stuff needs to be replaced, heck even seat belts expire.

 

"Supposedly " car sat as owner past away....widower did not seem to be a scamer to me, however, lesson learned. Dont buy until you hear it run. Only good thing, bought it very cheap.
Already have started a search for another motor, real shame, as this thing now starts up on half a turn with the key!

 

You mentioned it has a Aluminum intake?
What else might be modded? Wondering if this car was driven hard?
If it a solid car then finding another Buick 350 is a given as I hear there are plenty out there.

TA Performance has some nice 350 performance parts now
Like was mentioned I would pull a valve cover or even the intake to take a look at possible issues for the knock..

 

Yep, def will continue to investigate. Dont think driven hard, but you never know.....fingers crossed its something dumb!
Cant believe the way it starts up and runs!
As far as "lots 350s out there...." not too many Buick 350 I've found yet!

 

Well, I guess it was inevitable...had an engine builder stop by the house to give a listen to this 350 knock....again, started up on a half a revolution...
As he played with throttle, the look on his face said it all... lol
He said, def rod knock or piston....I told him I expected that, but found another 350 for cheap money, but only runs on a squirt bottle into the carb. Owner didn't want to run thru the old lines I guess....
Now I've got to decide if I wanna gamble yet again!

 

@koosh any auto zone will loan you a compression tester. Test the compression on the motor you want to buy. Takes 15 minutes.

 

thanks

 

Strongly suggest you read up about Buicks on this forum and the many differences compared to other makes of engines as far as building and rebuilding.
From what I have read you can't run the bearing tolerances on the sloppy side like small block chevys or big block chevys. Thats just one of few and also oiling mods.
These 350 Buick blocks are strong and deep skirted.
The big block Buicks have a high nickel content which is good and I think the little brother 350' are the same..
Jim Weiss, Ken Betts, and quite a few other's have made sticky threads on the 350's as well..

Sorry you found out it had a bad knock but i'm sure the mechanic has it somewhat isolated the area.. Also nice you found another block. Other than compression the 350s didn't change much at all during its run.

 

If you are intending to get rid of the motor anyhow, I would bring it up to temp and let it run for a bit. Maybe you can still get lucky?

 

Luck not in the cards for this dude.....engine is same at running temp, and it runs great

 

So, did find a 76 Buick 350 4 bbl..."low miles"
Hopefully will bolt right up, and the current th350 tranny