mike819

Hey all,I have an 87 cutlass and a 79 buick electra. I want to take the 307 out and install the 350 from the buick. Any thoughts on the swap?

Oldsmaniac

If the Buick 350 is an Olds engine it will all fall into place like the 307, externally they are the same.

mike819

thanks for the reply, any thoughts on the tranny? I'm not familiar with what is behind either motor. Both vehicles are bone stock.

joe_padavano

I'm pretty sure the Electra has a 350 Buick motor. If the distributor is in the front, it's a Buick. The motor mounts and frame mounts are different between the 350 Buick and the 307 Olds motors. In fact, EVERYTHING is different, as they are completely different designs. Exhaust, starter location, accessory location, etc. is all different. The on thing that is the same is the trans bolt pattern. The 79 likely has a TH350 trans. Your Olds likely has a 200-4R (is it a three speed or four speed trans).

mike819

Thanks Joe, sounds like this swap may not happen.

66400

It's really not that far off. Key parts you'll need to source will be engine frame mounts from a Buick powered 78 and newer Buick Regal and exhaust system mods to tie in the exhaust manifolds. Use all the buick engine accessories. Every thing else you need will be on your pull out Buick engine.

Henry

mike819

That doesn't sound too bad. I'm actually going to be doing this for a friend. I'm just in the planning stage. Gotta go put my eyes on it yet. Thanks for the input, be back later.

Mike

joe_padavano

Actually, the 1977-1990 RWD B/C-body cars use the same frame mounts as the 1978-88 A/G-body cars, so you can pull them from the donor. There are some differences between the accessory brackets on the full size cars and the intermediates in that period, though I've never been able to understand why. The different starter location will require wiring changes - in fact I believe the Buicks put the battery on the opposite side of the car for this reason. Different accessory locations will require additional wiring changes. And of course you'll need to have custom exhaust pipes bent as the 307 pipes won't mate to the Buick motor.

Oldsmaniac

According to Wiki this is correct with the Olds options being the 403, 307 and 350 Diesel.