got a 400 chevy small block in a 72 nova that i wanna put in a recently purchased 71  buick skylark.

i know i need some motor mounts(chevelle i assume)?

the 350 trans on the chevy is going in also, will the buick drive shaft go right on or will i have to fabricate?

also the nova has powersteering, so does the buick. anyone know which one would work?

buick has a buick350 with a 4 barrell and 3 speed autotrans.

thanks for any help. this is my first actual build. the rest were under financed pipe dreams so i wanna get it on!

I helped a friend do this change in high school. (A 72 sbc 400 into a 71 Lemans.)The driveshaft will slide right in assuming the buick tranny is a TH350 as well. Though the buick trans won't bolt to chevy engine.Use the buick tranny crossmember. If the buick trans is Th400, which is 3 inches longer, you will need a different driveshaft. If you got the driveline out of the Nova, it might be the right length.

You will need frame mounts from a 70-72 chevelle.

You all the chevy accessories. alternator, powersteering pump. Or at least you will need the chevy brackets for these. Your power steering hoses should hook right up to the steering gear.

Hope it helps.

Friendly suggestion: Trade the Skylark to someone who loves Buick-powered Buicks (not someone who wants to build another boring SBC-powered abortion) and find a proper Chevrolet for your JY 400.

GM built about 300 million Chevys, so it shouldn't be very hard.

If you insist on crapping up the vintage Buick instead, its a bolt-in deal.

(You might also think about learning where the "shift" keys are on your computer's keyboard . . . .)

I'm not sure but I think a 350 turbo and a 200-4R are the same length. And all 200-4R's are varibolt fitting chevy and BOP so could be a viable candidate to ease the swap, Plus you get OD. Motor mount wise I think you will probably the bucket style mount to make it work like those on 72-88 chevy pickups and 80-86 V-8 Caprices, Monte's, Regals, Ect.

The only other problem I think you may find is I think you'll need the long water pump and accesories brackets. Not sure though But someplace to start looking. Might check starter Also Most chevy's are on passenger side most BOP is on driverside so wires might need extended. Have fun wrenching.

I think if you want to put your 400 small block into your Buick go ahead.  Buick Skylarks in that year are just fancy grandma grocery getters on a Chevelle frame.  My daughter has one (same as yours) that we are hot rodding and we bought that car body (running even) for a fraction of what any of the Chevelles were costing.  All available suspension parts are interchangeable between all GM A bodies - Buick included, and my girls car came standard with disc brakes.  If she looses interest I plan to cash her out and finish it as a strip car.  It would be perfect for that, or to fix up for her - either way.  What I am telling you is it's a great platform to build on and you aren't going to be any farther ahead canning the Buick in favor of a Chevelle.

Lets face it.  I love to see Buicks with Buick engines in them, but you have to have a few bucks sitting around to make them strong.  Oiling problems plague the Buick big and small block engines, and even finding someone who knows how to get around them can be tough.  Big block Buicks are considered good engines when built properly, but aftermarket heads for them can be pricey.  Edelbrock has just introduced heads for the big block Buick, but I still haven't found any pricing on them yet.

The last thing I might offer up to you is that it is your car.  Your car to put your own signature on, to have fun with, and to sweat and bleed on.  Consider yourself an artist and do it the way you want.  That's what we are doing, and it's great.

Just a little food for thought...... Bowser

"Consider yourself an artist and do it the way you want.  That's what we are doing, and it's great."

That viewpoint would go a long way toward explaining all the "Elvis-on-black-velvet" paintings down at the flea market . . . and about 80% of the mechanized abortions we see "Rollin' " in hip-hop videos, NOPI events and lowrider magazines . . . .

Nobody ever said Car Crafting was cheap or easy.   "Wouldn't you really rather have a Buick [in a Buick]?"

On the other hand, someday everything will have either an electric motor, a rice grinder or a small block Chevy in it, and then I'll be able to stay home from cruises and events to . . . yawn . . . catch up on my yard work.  

I'm enjoying thinking about how the GS clubs would respond to that "grandma grocery getters" comment . . . .

Your opinion and you are entitled to it.

In my post I don't think you heard me say that I was going to put "another small block Chevy" into our '71.  As for the "grocery getters" comment, there was no smear intended.  Face it - that's what most people think of when you say "I have a Buick".  Agreed that the '71 my daughter and I are working on has been much maligned, and probably doesn't get the credit or respect that it deserves.  It's a good car.

If I didn't like the car and feel that is was worth working on, it wouldn't be in my garage.  Nuff said.  The fact that I can build a stronger Pontiac or Oldsmobile engine and stuff it in there doesn't make it any less Buick or any less GM. 

As far as mixing and matching goes, you can put some guff straight at GM for putting Chev engines in Oldsmobiles and Pontiacs (in Canada), and Olds 403's in Pontiacs.  These "abortions" came that way from the factory.  It doesn't make them bad cars.  I would love to see you throw the "Elvis-on-black-velvet paintings" comment at the local Pontiac club. What will really bake your nugget is that some of the late Buick Riviaras were endowed with Oldsmobile engines.  How do I know?  My uncle used to own one and believe me it was all bone stock factory original.  To balance out the board, it's fair to say that the '61, '62, and '63 Olds F-85s had the all aluminum Buick engines in them.  How do I know?  I used to drive one.  So please temper your term "abortion".  It's not only offensive, you are putting down a bunch of cars that don't deserve it.

As for "Cheap", there is nothing cheap about the car crafting I do, have done, or plan to do.  Doen't matter what you shell money into, you are still shelling out money.  I've built a lot of cars, and one thing is common to all of them.  It takes money to make them run and if your're smart you stick with what you know best, and do best.

By the way - do you know the weaknesses of a buick motor?  Do you know how to get around them? Do you know someone in your town who can do all the work for you or do you do it yourself? If you answer yes to more than one of these, then you are better off than most.  I am not meaning this as an insult.  I purchased a 400 Buick to rebuild, and when it came down to it, I couldn't find anyone around who knew enough.  I sold it because I couldn't glean enough information from any one source to do a decent job of it.   

cheap is my middle name!  

And I don't disagree with that completely.  There is a line between doing good work for cheap, and doing bad work just because it's cheap. 

I am a firm believer in the concept of not doing things "just because".  A good example is if you have a block with good tight clearances and is in otherwise good condition, why bore it if you don't have to.  The 400 Olds 442 I am doing right now has hone marks evenly distributed throughout each bore.  There is no ridge, and there is only a slight taper.  I plan to select rings and pistons that will work best on an overhaul like this because I don't plan to bore it out.  I don't plan on racing the car, so overbuilding the engine would be kind of a waste.

Now, on my '67 Cutlass, that thing was built with the works.  No expence was spared because I plan on racing the car and generally beating the crap out of it.  If there is a weak spot, it will surface, so the engine was carefully thought out, and assembled for excellent, reliable performance

So I think the term cheap or spendy has to be tempered by what you have planned for the mill. 

Bowser

Sorry, didn't see how old this thread was.