NshoreFixR

Hi, my name is Craig and I have a car problem...well it's more than an itch but less than a red angry rash. Anyhow, I have owned my 1970 buick electra since I inherited it as a 15 year old. It got painted pearl purple, went to college with me, and shuttled my wife and I on our wedding day. I LOVE driving this car. It's not mint and not original (college left stains on the seats and 2 blown 455's). I commute daily with it and want to make it a little more commuter friendly.

My goal goal is to make this car a reliable commuter that can hit the low 20's for mileage on the highway for less than $1500. So far, I have purchased a 5.3/4l60E high mile "drop out" for $1000 for the local yard in Superior, WI. It came with all accessories, wire harnes, maf, starter, even the slip yolk. So without further ado, I will start tearing apart the buick. My hope is this thread will act as a journal of sorts as well as motivation to follow through on the build.

bczee

iTrader: (12)

Welcome. If your trying to stay in budget.. you will most likely have to DIY it a lot. but it can be done with using many of the old parts and modifying them yourself.

You should consider the extra that always throws the budget out of wack!..
Electrical
Fuel
Drive shaft
Mounts

If you can get those done on the cheap you should have a good cruiser !... Let us know if we can help with any Q & A's..

Keep the thread going !

BC

spacemanspif

iTrader: (5)

Nice looking car :-) Planning to upgrade those front drums to disc?

ls1nova71

iTrader: (4)

"College left stains on the seats"???? I'm not even going to ask.....

Good luck with the swap.

CattleAc

iTrader: (7)

Cool problem to have...

gofastwclass

iTrader: (2)

My sentiments exactly!

$1500 is a TIGHT budget, but I think you can get close if you have the ability to fabricate stuff. We just finished a total junkyard parts 62 Impala daily for a friend and I think he was around $1800 or 1900 -ish. Best wishes.

Pop N Wood

iTrader: (1)

There use to be a thread about $1500 swaps. I can't remember if it was here or over on Hybridz.org but I remember a sticky like that.

Hard to believe your going to finish the rest of the car for 5 bills. Exhaust and driveshaft alone will take a good sized chunk of that. Mounts should be something you can build for less than $50 in metal and urethane. Oil pan may or may not be an issue, but even that you can cut and weld for little to no cost.

You can almost certainly re use the stock radiator, so should just need hoses and maybe an electric fan. JY parts will keep that cost down. Hopefully the truck intake and accessories clear the hood. That will be a huge cost savings. Do your own harness work and electrical should be pocket change. You will need a fuel pump, but can probably reuse stock lines and don't really need to sump the tank if you just cruise. I replace all my fuel lines and the incidentals on that really added up.

I can see AC adding up if you need new lines or ends.

And of course a tune might be expensive if you don't already have hptuners or something.

The while I'm at it stuff is what adds up and kills most of us. Like front disks. Or finding a blown shock/worn suspension parts.

One good thing is you should have plenty of room in the engine bay. Cool car.

cruisin'73

iTrader: (8)

Welcome to LS1Tech, thanks for sharing your awesome unique Electra! I'm doing a budget 5.3L swap into my Nova as well and struggling to keep it budget. The engine side of the project is staying cheap but like PopNWood stated, it is likely you will find other area of the car that need attention while you are CLIMBING into that massive engine bay! Just like I did...

Best of luck to ya and BTW:

NshoreFixR

Thanks to all who replied, I plan on cutting the truck harness myself, LS1swap.com provides just enough info to make me dangerous. I guess I should have prefaced this with some personal info. I am owner/operator/head mechanic/secretary/toilet tech of the Tire & Auto Lodge in Grand Marais, MN so I will be doing ALL of the fab work myself...except for the $39 motor mount plates off ebay...like most newbies, I couldn't help myself and bought them. The Motor/Trans came with the cats cut off right behind the o2 sensors so I will try to tie into the stock dual exhaust I ran as a kid. As far as the drive shaft goes, I am going to try and shorten it myself. I have done a couple for enduro cars and mud trucks with some success but worst case scenario, I have to have one done at Driveline specialist. I am also going to fab up my own trans mount using the rubber that came with the trans and butchering my x member. As far as the fuel system goes, I haven't got that far. My 5.3 is a 2001? so it has the pressure and return line. I might just try and do an in tank walbro mounting it to the stock sending unit. Aside from having to run the steel line up the left side of the car instead of the right, that seems like the cleanest way to do it.

Oh, and I will be keeping the drum brakes, before I got married I did all the brakes, shocks, springs, bushings etc. This is a car to party out of, definately not ever going to see the auto cross course LOL.

garys 68

iTrader: (1)

take lots of pics
nice looking project

bczee

iTrader: (12)

I call Shot GUN !!... Party On ! well.. unless three are some unidentified stains on that seat LOL..

Sound like you have the means to be able to cut the cost down and keep it within a Budget.. But I agree.. them little things can add up.

Look at them Dorman Nylon fuel repair kits for the fuel lines. I have seen a few swaps with the pump attached to the old pick up tube.. so.. as long as you keep it under the Extreem G meter reading, you should be find for Party Cruise. just keep it above the 1/4 tank.

I would make sure the Drive Shaft is at least straight and balanced.

BC

darren roar

iTrader: (1)

Sweet, u have to like those old land barges. My last swap I came in around $1500 but I reused the original trans and I went carb'd.

NshoreFixR

Ok, Finally got started. Motor and trans went in and out 6 times before they were where I wanted. A little BFH clearancing on the tunnel for 2 trans bolts and the shift selector switch. The motor is a little farther back than I'd like, since I live on the north shore, I will delete the A/C (it never gets over 85 and it never worked anyway) but I will have to custom clearance the heater box cover around the pass side head. I am trying to do this on the cheap so I used the $39 sbc motor plates and stock sbc caprice clamshells with new $7 stock mounts I had laying around. The steering runs behind the cradle and it also has 2 welded frame braces that made oil pan clearance the only issue going in. LOTS of room around and in front of the motor, but I only have 1/2" between the center link and the oil pan at full lock. pics as soon as I can figure out this stupid computer...give me a half hour...LOL

NshoreFixR

I hope they load....

Accrdwgnguy

Nice work. To save yourself some cash find a driveshaft out of another car or truck thats the right length, even shafts from another make are usable with off the shelf conversion u-joints.

Also, since you are keeping it stock, the guy from LT1swap.com can re-program your PCM for $75. But you probably already knew that.

NshoreFixR

All ready sent it to BP automotive, I sold my 455/th400 for $1000 so I figured I would splurge and have him do the pcm and harness the right way.

Stuff on tonight's plate:

-route steel fuel line, using the front cut off's from donor vehicle to connect to engine
-figure out if I can scab an in tank pump onto my stock sending unit
-clean up engine compartment (it's dirty but not rusty so I just pressure washed it) and remove unneeded stuff
-install intake and exhaust

Mrpiercings

I will be watching this build... I have a 75 Pontiac Grandville that I want to do a budget build (2500-3K). I just have no skill when it comes to cars.... I will be purchasing several books and watching several builds.....

slocaddy

How's this project coming? Cool build

jlcustomz

One suggestion I have for fuel system would be to swap in a later model gm fuel tank. A tbi or multiport tank can be used , as the 2 different pumps are the same size. A late model tank swap would eliminate the possibly unreliable variables of diy internal mods & tank swapping itself is in range of the average decent skilled fabricator. Not sure what would be a choice for your model, but on el caminos like mine, people have swapped in the b-body caprice/ buick roadmaster wagon tanks from tbi or LT1 cars.

Just a thought that may save you in the long run. Good luck & enjoy the swap. I have an 11 year old LS swap I'm still enjoying.

LS1 pwrd NOVA

iTrader: (2)

What about ur oil pan? The truck will hang down too low.