What to put in an 83 olds

im getting an 83 olds and i want to build it in to a kickass sleeper. what would be a good engine to put in it that i could find in like a junk yard and rebuild for cheap?  

Hello,

I think you would get the best response by listing the model as well.  I immediately thought cutlass, because it is the sister car of one of mine (Monte Carlo).  If it's larger, like a the B-body (Delta 88?) you'd be best to go with a big block for cheap power.  A small block can work for the lighter cutlass. They're also much easier to find in the junkyards by me, and performance parts are cheaper.  

~sam  

but which olds are you getting...   cutlass...88,  98???   rear wheel drive right...

which motor does it have already...     3.8 V6 buick built motor????    4.1V6 buick built motor...   260 olds motor... 307 olds motor... 305 chevy????  

depending on what model you got... and what your smog laws are...  you will find that no rebuilds are cheep...  even when you do everything your self...

almost any engine can be put in early 80s gm rear wheel drive cars... and thats without cutting or hammering too much...  

its a buick lesabre and it has the 307 v8 in it  

thays a good start, now whats your intended usage, daily driver, weakend worrior, street-mostly strip, drag strip?
rear end gears?
transmission, you have, or will be using?
budget?????
rpm band?


the olds 307 has a 3.625 stroke i believe, just incase you wanted to use a 350 chev block, and get a 360, or bigger cheap. if it's a large journel, it should go right in,  but idk wether pistons are cheap for that app.
a chev motor will bolt right in, but if you want to be different, get an olds diesle 350 block,(there suposed to be thicker, heavy duty casting) and accomidate more stroke. the only exception with parts to a standard chev is oil pan, timing gears/cover, i belive everything else is a simple bolt on.  

im still in school so my buget is tight. its got an auto trans in it now tho and the stock gears and everything. this is my first car so im learning as im goin. and it would be more like a daily driver  

i would goes with a chevy 350 bored over .30 making it a 355cid. this is a great budget built motor. and you can find all the parts need at a good price form summitracing.com if i got a regal or cutlass i'm going that way  

the 307 olds is not a bad motor.....  i bet it has a feed back carb on it....   you have a great learning tool...  

as all later fuel injection systems started with this system....     most of the sensors have not even changed...

if you learn this system...  and how to tune it properly...   you will have the advantage on other people who just want to throw parts at stuff....

even with the size of that ride... you can get over 20 mpg  with the carb and electronics working properly...

you can get 350 olds motors... 400 olds motors...   and even 455 olds motor that will bolt in... with almost everything fitting ...   nobody would know that it's not a 307.. or even a 260 olds...

one thing.. if the valves get noisy... change the rocker arm fulcrums... they are aluminum.. and wear... so the rockers get out of adjustment and they start making noise...  

Hey,

I would figure out what tranny you have.  If you have a universal type bellhousing you could easily switch to whichever big block you find in the yard first (Buick, Olds, Pontiac, or Chevy).  You could also find a Chevy 350 and take advantage of the inexpensive aftermarket available for these.  If you have the Olds only bellhousing you could look at Olds small block (350) or big blocks.  Another alternative is to swap the tranny as well.  However if you're on a budget don't underestimate the value of knowing the condition of parts especially auto trannies.  Speaking of autos, install a tranny cooler.

Also I'd like to clear up something that might be a point of confusion.  Everything I have ever heard, read, or seen suggests that Oldsmobile derived V8s and Chevy derived V8s do not share parts.

Good luck.

~sam  

i am going to say something that i wish someone had said to me 25 years ago.
decide what you want from the car first, do you want to be able to drive it every day anywhere in the country (road trips and such, read reliabilty) comfortably, or do you want a boulevard terror for the weekends? yes i understand you really want both, we all do.  to build one that fills both requirements takes much more money.
the point is that if you want to drive in style and comfort, follow the previously given advice by another contributor and learn to work with the engine management system that you currently have.  get the car in good running condition (tune-up, brake system, transmission in good working order, make sure the exhuast isn't held togehter with coat hangers and bailing wire, wiring harness is in good shape and everything works right, the suspension is in good shape, it is no fun to break ball joints after midnight in the middle of nowhere..trust me) and you can start to enjoy your ride. i know all that sounds extremely over-whelming but if you start increasing power and hanling abilities on a vehicle that needs basic maintenance first you will be left with a broke-down hot rod and all your money has already been spent on "performance" improvements.

now the fun can truly begin, do you like straight line performance or do you like cornering at twice the posted suggestive speed!, or is the factory ride quality sufficient?
either path is relatively easy, but knowing which you'd rather have most is going to save time and money in the long run
i will say that a big motor and marshmellow suspension can be difficult to control while a stock motor in a car that handles like it's on rails can really be quite a thrill to drive

the point of all this is to have a plan of execution
figure out what you want the car to do and build it accordingly before buying a bunch of parts because that's what everyone else does

i know i'll catch manure for this but experience will tell you to build the car first and then build the motor, if you do it the other way around, you could find yourself chasing your own tail and that's no fun..(yes, i shot the budget on the motor and neither the tranny or open differential was up to the task and instead of a fast hot rod i had a cool sounding slow car)

you can obviously do what you want, but like i said in my opening, i wish someone had said these things to me when i got my first car

hope you have many years of enjoyment from your car(s)  
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the red-headed step-child of the mailing list

fuzzy dice, air shocks & N50's rule

thanks for letting me know about the olds and chevy v8s not sharing. im still in the process of getting the car over here so i dont exactly kno what trans it has.

thats really great advice that i will follow considering im the guy that takes the turns at twice the suggested speed (or sometimes has the car sideways). it wouldnt be a road trip car tho more of a boulevard terror with some top end performance here and there  

an 83 olds with a 307 will have a 200r4.. with a lock up converter...


by the way.. those are being built up to handle more power than the 700R4.. as there are fewer holes drilled in the input shaft..

several company's are building them up...

california performance transmission is one of them...  

there is one thing you might do when you first get it...    if it is not already broken.. the cruise control box is on the drivers side inner fender...  it has a speedo cable that runs up from the transmission.. and another that goes to the cluster...  it needs to be lubed...  the bushings dry out.. and it causes the speedo gear that is on the transmission output shaft to wear away.. causing the speedo to not work...   since it is a 200r4.. and there is no removable tail housing.. the entire transmission has to be taken apart to install a new gear..    been there too many times...  

I'd find an Olds 350, some good heads for it, cam it conservatively with an aftermarket intake and some headers. Then enjoy. It'll bolt right into your car using all the same brackets and accessories.  A torquey low end and the 200r4 will net you some pretty good mileage and I think you will like the power of an Olds 350.  
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The Silver Buick- '77 Skylark coupe w/ a Fuel Injected Buick 455&TKO-600, '72 Centurion Conv't - 455w/TH400, '67 T-bird 4Dr (suicide) w/428&C6. Needing to replace a '69 Firebird 400.

http://www.bangshift.com/forum/index.php?topic=6189.0

since daily driver is your goal, NO BIGBLOCK...
they can really chug the gas.

a 383 is a little more money than a 350 but will give you more neck snapping torque.
the bad side is they require more frequent rebuilds.
i'd also stay under a 220 degree cam at .o50 on the intake. a 212-215 degree cam is better for a daily driver, gas is getting up there again. i like short cams, and good heads, best of both worlds.

you'll definatly want a trans cooler.
and yes, make sure the rest of the car is mechanicaly sound first.
all very good advice...

if budget allows gat a good set of cylinder heads, get a set of long tube headers 1-5/8" primary tubes. but make sure you save to get all the parts and machine work at one time, if you try to piece it together, you might find, budget, and build change directons.

due to the cost of cylinder head rebuild, you'll find, getting a new performance set is not a bad investment, especialy since heads are where the powers made. and if it comes down to either building a stroker, or getting good heads, get the good heads.

invest in a tach, before you build, then you can truly tailor your engine to where you need it.

don't get caught up in a horsepower race, torque is king on the street. especially when it comes to gas milage, and reliability.

fast/cheap/reliable... pick any 2 out of the 3.  

glad to hear that you like curves, anyone can drive straight
when it's time for suspension and bushing upgrades, take some time, do some research find a company that sells stuff in kit form, it's easier that way

i've got a 75 monte carlo that recieved polyurethane bushings front and rear in 1994
i got all the bushings, springs, ball joints, tie rod ends at one time from a supplier i still use...unfortunatly i've done suspension work on every vehicle that has been in my driveway    not until recently have i found a company that makes upgraded control arms and/or better trailing arms for my application

call me crazy but i turned a lower ball joint replacement into a complete polyurethane rebuild on an Astro van   talk about a brick with handling capabilites    
my point is that if you have to go so far into something, why not go a little farther and repair/replace/upgrade while there...hence the handling package on a mini-van...i had to remove the shocks and the coil springs, so while i was in the neighborhood, i changed everything else...this isn't always going to be possible to do but it's some philosophy that got passed to me early on and has served me well...in my case, if the lower ball joints are shot, how far behind could the rest of it be

also keep in mind that the chassis (rearend) will have to accomodate any power increase of the motor, the larger the increase the more work on the rearend to get it to stand up
some modifications/improvements aren't sexy  but serve the whole better than others
nobody wants to sink a bunch of money into rearend upgrades (posi, gears, stronger control arms, springs...) when they can't be shown at the cruise spot, but everyone wants to pop the hood and show off their new phizell-wigger bloober-schnichett
cams and intakes are what people like to talk about but being able to use the results are what people will remember...big power gains are cool but putting down two black marks at the same time is cooler
don't get me wrong build it in what order you like but spinnig one tire gets old quick  
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the red-headed step-child of the mailing list

fuzzy dice, air shocks & N50's rule