New Member with his New Buick! 1989 Electra Estate

You did notice, it's 2 different cars/links rite? They are apx 30 minutes from me, wish I could take a look for you, but I'm stuck at home for a couple weeks...health BS, can't leave:banghead3: However if you come down let me know, your gona pass my house, I'll have a pot of coffee on....but you have to bring your wagon.....and come alone......at nite....... and don't tell anyone.......

 

Don't steal it! It's my baby. I'm only interested in the 305 Cutlass you posted, not the 3.8. Extra 200 bucks for better condition.

Still want to try and find a motor for the Electra -- that or get this 307 tuned proper. Any leads on 5A heads?

 

Your bigest problem with a motor swap is finding one to begine with, the island has almost become extinct for a good 350 chev, and finding a Buick 350 is gona be like finding hens teeth. IMO youd be better off finding a whole running car so you atleast have a good idea of what your getting.

 

There's a delta 88 in Vanc for 650 with a 350 Olds in it

 

These guys have done me alot of good over the years and still keep some oddities,

http://www.maxwellsauto.com/


Phone:
250-743-9326
800-962-6551 - Toll (Canada only)




3330 Trans Canada Hwy
Mill Bay, BC V0R 2P2

 

The Cadillac 425 out of the late 70s will slide right in the same way. When G.M. did a slight restyle on the full sized cars for 1980, they left the frame alone. In fact they used the same frame right the way through the end of the run in the 90s. Oh, and that frame was based on the mid-sized sedan frame from the 70s, so any of the engines from 73 up can bolt right in with the proper factory mounts.

 

So could I not bolt in an LT1 from an Impala or Caprice 9C1? I'd need a transmission swap in that case because of the BOP 200R4 correct? It's all about the mounts that it came with, but the actual frame + brackets are the same?

 

You know, I went to the kitchen, and when I came back, I viewed your pic here from a distance, and Canada is shaped sorta like Iraq. Pumps oil, too!

 

Boy, this is the truth. One of the oddities of cardom is that your odds of picking up a decent engine are better if you buy a whole car. It's usually cheaper, too.

 

This is what I would do. You can pick up a whole vehicle on the cheap, and have everything you need to make a fast, reliable runner that gets decent mileage.

 

Is this a Canada-only deal, Mike? I ask, because (if I recall correctly) here in the States, I thought the only only engine options on any of the newly-downsized big rides in '77 were the Chevy 350, Olds 403 & Pontiac 400. Clue me in.

 

WELCOME BC BROTHER, FUNNY THING I SELDOM SEE OLDER 80S WAGONS AROUND VANCOUVER, MYSELF AND MY WIFE ALWAYS POINT AND COMMENT WHEN WE SEE ONE. $750 YOUR LUCKY i DIDNT SEE IT. I DONT SEARCH FOR THEM BUT I DEFINATLY NEED A WINTER WAGON. SOMETHING I CAN STILL FIND PARTS FOR.OH AND I WAS WONDERING ABOUT THOSE REFLECTORS UNDER THE HEADLIGHTS THEY WERE ADD ONS RIGHT?

 

As far as I know yeah, they're just stick on. Not sure where they came from, came with the car.

 

Jimbeau: In 78, it depended on where you were which 350 was offered you. Almost always, the Chev got the Chevy 350, as it cost less to build (About $250 less, which was the basis for the court case over the Chev engines in Oldsmobiles). California cars generally got the Olds 350 because it was the most inherently clean engine, so easier to meet the California emissions standards. The Buick 350 was a 49 State and Canada option, denoted by X in the V.I.N. for the engine code. The Buick 350 had the most torque of the bunch, and when tuned well, was incredible of gas. I did about 30 mpg (Imperial), or about 26 mpg (American) out of a 78 Buick Electra Limited coupe, and that was with a Turbo 400 automatic, the factory single exhaust and horrible catalytic converter. The 403 that was available was the Olds engine, and you could always tell which cars had any of the Olds engines. They SOUND different. The Pontiac 400 lasted through the end of the 79 model year. Caddy engines varied by year, and I don't think they had any options besides the horrible diesel that was connected to a Turbo 200 transmission. As an aside, when I had the 78 Electra, my pipe organ teacher had a 78 Olds 98 Regency Brougham with the diesel. If we had to go anywhere at a distance together, we took the Electra as it used significantly less fuel than the diesel 98. Enough less fuel that it more than offset the lower price of diesel at the time.

 

...i saw that add...your lucky i only buy Fords

in Port Hardy?....I spent a year there one month
I built some apartments up there in 1979....they probably fell down by now:banana:

is the the Thunderbird bar still there?

to the board from the mainland