Thread: chevy 350 swap

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Hi all, so I have a 72 buick skylark with a buick 350, and a th350 trans. I want to drop a chevy 350 into it, and I'm looking to get an accurate idea as to what this swap will look like. I have read some posts that say it is an easy swap, that the chevy350 fits right in and bolts up to the th350 trans. however, i have also read that it does not fit, i need new motor mounts and a different tranny. Any advice?

I wouldn't expect the trans will mate up.

B.O.P. = Buick Oldsmobile Pontiac. Any of those should mate up to it, but not Chevy.

If you have to change transmissions, then potential problems are driveshaft (length and yoke), shifter linkage, and cross member.

Engine issues: exhaust, radiator hoses, linkages, mounts,

The TH350 wasn't a "BOP", it was a CBC Project, Chevrolet-Buick-Combined - The Novak Guide to the GM TH350 Automatic Transmission. I don't think you'll have any problems with your '72 Skylark swap.

The dowel pin and lower block bolt holes line up---------above the dowel the BOP trans bell housing curves in more-there are some 1/4 adapter plates available

Originally Posted by jerry clayton

The dowel pin and lower block bolt holes line up---------above the dowel the BOP trans bell housing curves in more-there are some 1/4 adapter plates available

Looks like I was wrong. There are two bellhousing designs, even though the tranny was CBC. You'll need the adapter, as Jerry points out.

Common item less than $100 from many sources---tranny places, Summit, Jegs,Speedway, Wilcap,etc-------

Originally Posted by jerry clayton

Common item less than $100 from many sources---tranny places, Summit, Jegs,Speedway, Wilcap,etc-------

Common sense would say that when two divisions of the same corporation are working together to develop a new piece of hardware (CBC) it would be common to both lines, but GM continued to spend tens of thousands of dollars to support continuing the differences. Not sure who in the executive ranks had the stroke to make that happen, but it doesn't seem smart. I suppose that it may have been a labor issue, as going to a common design would have resulted in fewer workers needed. No big deal, just interesting history.

I'd be thinkin' Buick 455, not Chevy 350.

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So I went with a 350 vortec motor. I now have a concern, as I know the vortec is a fuel injected engine, the distributor runs off computer. I have two questions.
1) I was wondering if anyone knew how to mount an old distributor onto this engine, and where, so I could run it carbed?
2) if running it fuel injected off a computer would cause a problem with the th350 shifting capabilities? Or if this could be bypassed with a pcm reprogram