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Well after lurking on here for about 6 months Im finally taking the plunge. I oficially commendeered my Pop's Buick. Its been sitting for about a year or so. The starter and exhaust were shot and he didnt feel like fixing it. He bought it about 7 years ago with 37k miles on it and proceeded to daily drive it like a dummy for 6 years. When he got it, the original tires, wires, and even the seatbelt instructions on the visor were still in place. Car is still very solid but no where near mint like when he got it (NE Ohio winters grrr)
I'm picking up an 03 LQ4/4l80e combo from an express van with 161k on it. Its a complete dropout and should have almost everything I need for the swap. Not sure if Im going to rebuild the bottom end or not yet. Plans right now are:
-Cam and springs
-Mill the 317s or pick up some 243s/799
-ls2 manifold
-Long tubes with full 3" magnaflow exhaust
-Nitrous
Obviously a lot more goes into a build than whats listed but that gives the general direction of the car. I dont have a HP goal in mind but id like the car to run 10.50s on a light hit of sauce(100-150) It will be mostly toward drag racing that i can drive to and from the track. I wanna keep the stock look as much as safely possible as well. There will be lots more to come but here is some pics of her and how she sits now.
Here she is on her trip to her new home a few weeks ago:
Then the teardown begins starting with this monster 66rwhp (est) 3.8l:
Thats better!
I have a lot of suspension/chassis mods planned such as cal-tracs, mono leafs, sub frame connectors, 8point, ect...but im still undecided if i wanna build the 8.5" rear in the car or use one of the 8.8" I have laying around.
Well lots of work to do and any and all suggestions welcome along the way. This is my first trip with any GM car on a build (sorry but ive owned Mustangs for almost the last 20 years and still do) Im extremely excited about this and where it will end up, especially for a budget brawler!!
Last edited by gonemad347; 02-16-2016 at 08:07 AM.
Lots of buicks out this year. Car looks good, ill be watching your progress.
I noticed that too. Even if I didnt have this car at my disposal I think I would have found a buick anyway. I have seen nova's from this era LSx swapped but have yet to see a Skylark or even a Skylark like this done nicely in any way. Wanted it to be slightly different but not to a point where parts aren't readily available.
Nice car. I agree with you in trying to keep the stock look. Resto-mod comes to mind. Nothing wrong with a built 8.5" rear end. They can handle a lot of power. Good luck with your build. As to Buicks I think people are looking for something a little different and also the price is more reasonalbe compared to the Chevelle, Camaro, Nova cars.
I've looked into a well built 8.5" they do OK and will be less hassel to toss back in the car. I have never personally broke an 8.8 in 17 years of drag racing though. My fox short times were 1.31-1.33 and never made a peep. I'm skeptical if the 8.5" is up to that. Plus 8.8" are CHEAP to find stuff for. I wanna keep the GM stuff but cant argue with the 8.8" for its strength and cost. The fox rear end is only 1/2" per side shorter than this too. If I get a ton of guys telling me that I have no worries with a 3400lb car in the 1.4x 60' on slicks then Ill stick with the original.
As far as a restomod i might not even go that far. Id like to keep the looks as humble as possible. Only upgrade I need is 15" wheels (17" are not off the table yet) just so I can have modern rubber and better handling on the street/strip.
Hey Darren, where in Ohio are ya?
Last edited by gonemad347; 03-06-2013 at 03:11 PM.
The new (to me) heart is now in the shop, its a mess and needs powerwashed bad. Everything looks good so far, lots of cleaning, painting and powdercoating to follow!
After pulling off the harnness:
Its a complete dropout from a 03' express van, LQ4/4l80e. I should have just about everything I need. Still deciding if I wanna send the harness out to be modified or save a couple hundred bucks and do it myself.
Next is looking for an intake. Id love to run a fast but prolly will end up with an LS2 maaaybe an LS6 if budget allows. And some motor mounts. I wanna set the engine in and get everything fabbed up then pull it back out and detail it and the engine bay.
Last edited by gonemad347; 02-16-2016 at 08:09 AM.
Got some work done last night, broke down most of the accessories, powerwashed and degreased it. Got the motor and trans seperated on on a stand. I also ordered some engine mounts and waiting to hear back on an offer for some 1-3/4" f-body long tubes.
Man what did i get myself into! Hopefully I can figure out where all this crap goes when Im putting her together again.
I hope to have the headers by next week and by the end of the month I'd like to have the motor set in the car and mock everything up. Once thats done Ill pull her all back apart for detail work.
Last edited by gonemad347; 02-16-2016 at 08:12 AM.
Cool build, don't be afraid to tackle the wiring harness, just take out one wire/sensor that won't be used one at a time. You don't have shred the whole harness down. And being a van harness it will be plenty long
any progress on this build? i need to get going on my 78 nova swap!
Well sometimes life gets in the way of cars. I'm now
married and trying for a kid since the last update lol.
But I digress and my situation has improved and allowed me to get back on this and good Lord willin and the crick don't rise I'll finish it this summer. Actually my pops wanted to get back into drag racing after a 30 year hiatus so this figures to be the perfect template.
I've been working on it again for about 2 weeks and made good progress. New front end, rear end is coming along as well as some uprades in the power department. I'll be updating with pics soon.
This is how it say 2 weeks ago when I got back to it.
Teardown ....
Getting busy with a wire wheel and mineral spirits.
Cleaned and painted front subframe and engine bay, VHT chassis paint and used truck Bedliner on the inner fenders and firewall
All new suspension and brakes. i used no of replacement 6cyl nova springs, should work well on the strip
Mocked up the fox body 8.8, will have 3.73 gears and 31 spline. They are sitting on cal trac mono leafs and I will be using cal tracs with adj shocks all the way around
Got some wheels last night and incouldnt resist powdercoating them and mocking them up. This is where it sits today.
Here are some other goodies I have so far.
Those are the 317 heads that came on the motor but I've spent about 30 hours porting them, they look good and I'm happy with em. I'm taking them to get machined this week taking aroun 30 thou off them. I also have the GM muscle car pan on the shelf. Planed parts so far:
Custom cam, springs...ect
Circle D converter 3600-4000 range
I have a full 3" magnaflow exhaust already
8 point roll bar
Custom subframe connectors
I have a NX single nozzle to use for now.(keeping truck intake until can afford a fast with direct port)
Reworked harness
HP tuners
Made great progress already but a loooooong way to go and these are just some highlights of what I have in mind.
Hi I did my 76 skylark. Its running moving but not finished on small stuff. Mine is 06 L33 5.3/4L65E. 8.5 10bolt 3:23 gears from Camaro. What oil pan and mounts you plan to use? I used GM muscle car pan (wrong choice) it hangs lower than cross member. Adaptor plates to sbc mounts. With the plates you cant set motor down where factory holes are. With plates the width mount to mount is wider. Ran into that and oil pan steering clearance. Right side inner tie rod hit oil pan turning. I put 3/8 plate under frame mounts so clear steering to oil pan clearance. Now motor higher the altenator touches hood when closing. Yet to take care of.
I Got some eBay adapter plates 3 years ago when i started . I used the mounts from the v6 and custom placed them. I set the motor in with headers before and didn't see steering problems with the truck pan. I have gm muscle car pan now and have not had motor back in.
What driveshaft did u use? I'm thinking custom is only option.
Btw sweet that you are doing a skylark too!
03-06-2013, 09:02 AM
78 Skylark Lq4/4l80e 
