got a line on a buick 350/400/d20 combo

[WillyPete]

should i just gank the th400/d20 adapter and d20? or should i go whole hog and get the engine, tranny, xcase, and all adapters?

i don't know if the 350 runs, but it probly has a better aftermarket than the 360 in my cherokee... lol

current situation with the cherokee: engine (304) runs but the starter is funky, tranny (t15) is messed up, xcase (d20) works just ducky. has twin 44s. now if only i could find a BOP 455 to couple to this tranny combo i found...

if nothing else, i can just get the th400/d20 adapter and swap out trannies on my cherokee.

i love junkyards :D

edit: i just found out i have a 304 in my 79 cherokee!! wierd...

[ February 20, 2002: Message edited by: WillyPete ]</p>

[Bigums]

The aftermarket for the Buick 350 ain't much better. The main speed guys that I've found are TA Performance (http://www.taperformance.com) . And they are REAL proud of their stuff.

I'm looking at going the same route you mentioned. BOP 455 or Caddy 500. :D

Forgot to mention, if the motor runs, its pretty nice in stock form. Gobs of low end grunt. Hell, mine runs crappy and still will pull the house down.

[ February 20, 2002: Message edited by: Bigums ]</p>

[PAJEEPER]

If its cheap go get it!! Thats my motto :D The Buick 350 is a real good engine. I have one in my '69 Skylark. Ask crazyjeepman he has a 350 and really likes it. Though about the only place to get perfomance stuff is TA performance. There stuff looks nice a little pricey. They have a free catalog too.

[La Wagoneer]

If the 350 runs good go for it. The Buick's don't
have the aftermarket of other motors but the don't really need it. Get a 4-barrel manifold and get rid of the 2-barrel. The 2-barrel motor is the same as the 4-barrel motor with the exception of the manifold and carb and is rated at 285 hp. The GS-350 motor (high compression heads/big valves and hotter cam) is rated at 315 hp. Duel exhaust helps but no one I've found makes headers for this combo. Good luck and have fun it's what it's all about!!!!!!

[66 Gladiator]

Go for the B350/th400/d20 setup. I swapped my stock 327 out, and the swap is not too much work. NAPA carries everything you need for the 350 no problem. my B350 came from a junkyard out of a '71 Buick and had a quadrajet. it's got more power than I know what to do with. and it's smooth.

[RustyJeep]

Make sure to nab the motor mounts if it is still in a vehicle. It'll make it a nice bolt in procedure.

[Green Giant]

Since the 350 Buick was optional in '71, how much trouble would it be to swap for the original 327 in my '66 Gladiator? Just ran across a '71 LeSabre with 40K miles that has been sitting unmolested in a garage since 1986. It has a 350 with what I guess is a Quadrajet. Too good to pass up since it is in a 2 stall garage with a bench and I probably can rent the garage for a couple of months AND get the car with the only condition being I get rid of the car afterwards. Do I need to swap mounts? I've done engine swaps but never from a different make donor, so any help would be much appreciated. :D

[LRRH]

i've found TA performance is a good place for stuff. I got a 4BBL intake from them and have been very satisfied. I'm actually going to order a cam from them soon too. I'd say go for, if the price is right!! =)

[66 Gladiator]

The swap is not too bad but there are a few critical parts to making a clean swap.
1. Motor mounts, if you have the Buick 350 mounts from a Jeep/Buick truck the engine swap is a drop in replacement.
2. The radiator, the 327 factory one won't work. I had a custom one made. The 350 rad. is wider and won't fit. $300
3. You need new driveshafts, but your old ones can be brought to a driveline shop to be modified.$300
4. Exhaust, you will need a new exhaust system $400
5. The bell housing adapter, you need the B350/TH400uni adapter, unless you have a B350/Th400 bolted together, in which case you need the proper tranny tail piece to mate up with the transfer case.$?

I bought a '69 wag and got all the parts I needed.

[WillyPete]

ahhh how i do love junkyard specials smile.gif

1) motor mounts: check
2) my 79 cherry has the stock radiator (360)... do you think it will work with the 350?
3) shafts: my current setup is a 304/t15/d20... or i could just gank the shafts from the 1970 waggy... that would work, right?
4) exhaust: will do
5) bellhousing: the entire 350/400/20 combo is still connected :D

junkyard here i come...woohoo! anybody want me to get anything else from this waggy? i'm already getting emblems for snakeyes.

another question ;) :
how much should i offer the junkyard owner for the whole engine/tranny/xcase combo if he pulls it and loads it in my truck? first time i've done this... so i have no idea what to offer him :confused: redface.gif

[66 Gladiator]

1. I don't know about the driveshafts. It would depend on the exact location of the driveshaft attachment flanges on your donee rigs diff's. Also the doner wag prolly has a D27 front, and your donee rig a D44. You would have to measure the doner rig carefully. But the driveline shop just cuts off the old axle tube at the u-joint attachment flange and welds a new driveshaft on. I was able to re-use the front axle from the doner wag only. My J-2000 wheelbase was too long to use the doner wag rear driveshaft.
2.The radiator is fairly simple to check. Carefully measure the width of the slot the radiator fits in the doner wag, and compare it to the donee slot. The 327 rigs use a narrower radiator, so it wouldn't work, and it was too much work to make the slot in my '66 J-2000 wide enough to take the B350 rad. The B350 with a quadrajet generates a lot of heat, too much for the 327 rad anyway, maybe a 360 rad has enough capacity. But check the location of the inlet and outlet locations of the B350 rad. against the AMC 360 rad. If they line up you are in luck, if they don't you may need a custom radiator, or longer flex hoses. I put a dimpled 4 row core and re-used the 327 top and bottom tanks, and have absolutely no overheating problems.
3. Try to find the HEI ignition. They go on sale on e-bay from time to time. They are awesome.
4. I bought a rebuilt Quadrajet from pep boys. I have to say my J-2000 is a runner now

I also swapped out the stock closed knuckle drum axles(D27/D44) and put in axles from a '78 J-20(D44/D60) so now i have an open knuckle disk/drum setup.

I don't regret the swap for a second. The B350 with the quadrajet has massive torque and is smooth. The disk brakes were a HUGE improvement.
IMHO, my J-2000 now has the best jeep V-8, best tranny, best transfer case, and the best axles, under the best cab (rhino)/bed.

Good Luck.

[66 Gladiator]

As far as the price, if the setup was guaranteed to work by the wrecker I would pay $400 any day. Above $400 and you need to make sure you are not just getting rebuildable cores.

I can't remember but I thought the '79 had a Q-track, that had the front diff on the drivers side. A D20 is on the pass side. I can't remember though. I never owned any Q-track jeeps.