jpaulwhite

All,
I know you all are going to try to talk me out of it but we are already set on doing this swap. Just wondering...what all is involved? Luckily the tranny will bolt up, but we are not sure which flywheel to use. I am thinking the one from the 350, but I am not sure if it'll matchup to the torque convertor, nor am I sure if the torque convertor will fit or not. I am guessing well have to get some 350 motor mounts too. The stuff for the front of the engine (Pulleys, etc) we already got. Not sure how the Power Steering is gonna hookup though.

Anyone have any hints, etc? Most of the other stuff we can figure out (No emissions so dont have to worry about that)

wondering in Northern VA..

Olds64

Sorry to hear that you are forced to do this. Too bad you couldn't keep the 307.

joe_padavano

You need EVERYTHING from a similar-year Caprice. Motor mounts, frame mounts, accessory brackets, wiring (everything's in a different place) exhaust manifolds and pipes, transmission (unless you have a dual-bolt pattern 200-4R), flexplate, etc, etc. I am not versed in the differences between 1970s Chevy motors and 1980s motors - accessory bracket mounting holes may not be in the same places. Of course you can do this, since the Caprice and the 88 are the same car mechanically. The reality is that by the time you chase down ALL the small parts, it will have been much more cost effective to install an Olds 350, which falls into place instead of the 307. I'm also in NoVA and I see Olds motors on Craigslist all the time. The other thing to consider is that the book value of that 88 is probably under $1,000 (I've bought same year Custom Cruisers for $250 here in the DC area).

jpaulwhite

Joe,
Thanks for pointing out the manifold differences. I forgot about that part. The reason we are going with this Chebby is because it's a street/strip motor that was in some guys truck. My cousin used to be friends with the guy, dude left the truck in my cousins yard then said he could have it. Since its a hot motor, and it came out of a 71 pickup (Heavy vehicle) my cousin wants to use it in his 88. The current 307 is knocking terribly.

One other thing is that this is our test bed so to speak. This is gonna be the first motor we put a cam in, replace the heads with hi performance ones, etc. We've swapped trannys, engines, heads, etc before but not for high performance. Probably will throw some nitrous at her too. We might even try to rebuild her ourselves when the time comes. This time instead of letting the machine shop tell us what to do hopefully we'll be knowledgable enough to tell them what to bore the cylinders to, etc

jpaulwhite

Oh we're gonna keep her...might even try to rebuild her (For learning purposes of course lol)

On an aside I got my 98 running good again. The $200 Craigslister was on POINT! Once I get my motor mount put in I might even try some burnouts and see if she'll lay down some tracks

88 coupe

Second reason to start at a Chev site.

First is: At a large Chev site, you are more likely to find someone who has actually done it.

Norm

joe_padavano

Sadly, Oldsmobile even did it, hence the class action lawsuit in the late 1970s.

jpaulwhite

Let's see. We had to buy frame mounts for a 82 Caprice with the 350. Didn't hookup the A/C. We had to swap the pulleys on the power steering pump and maybe a hose. Water pump connected using the stock Olds hoses IIRC. Alternator worked fine I think. Bought a flywheel for a 78 350, used same torque convertor. Used the Chevy carb. I'm trying to think of anything else we did worth mentioning but I think thats it.

Only thing now is that the tranny won't shift into OD but it runs good as hell.

Oldsguy

Glad it turned out ok for you.

jpaulwhite

Oh yeah! We had to locate a Y pipe too. And the motor mounts/frame mounts wer all one piece. When we asked for motor mounts for an 82 Caprice the ones they gave us bolted to the frame and the engine.

Next swap...LS engine. Then the LS is going in my Cutlass (shhhhhhhh) lol

Lady72nRob71

Did not sound like too bad a swap. I am sure that 350 really woke up that Delta!!!
The 307 was worth replacing.

J-(Chicago)

Normally, I boo hoo this sort of conduct, but the 307s are so slow, I'll have to give this one the ok.

jpaulwhite

Thanks for not flaming me to hell folks :-) We actually finished it up back in September. It's run perfect since then though. And the carb on the 350 was a Qjet, same as on his 307 (Electronic version) so that helped too.

djcrook73

no guts no glory brother! sometimes you just have to work with what youre given.. im not 100% but the converter could be the reason for the od not kicking in. i have also seen a switch hooked up afterwards to lock the converter manually. good luck with it and the hop ups!

Aceshigh

Exactly.

Drive one and feel the difference.

Once you get one, you'll never go back. I'm going LS3 once I get the rest of the $$$

jpaulwhite

Another update...here's some pics of the rear end lol

http://dclimo.dyndns.org:8069/shelli...on_broken.jpeg
http://dclimo.dyndns.org:8069/shelli...c/pinion2.jpeg

My cousin put some 4.10s in there but I don't think he replaced the race (I don't know which one. Maybe I'll start anew thread about the rear end) and when he tested it, it was humming so he hasn't drove it. Once it warms up I think he's gonna mess with it lol.

William Brett McDonald

Hey question I am doing the same 307 to 350 swap. Did you have to re drill the motor mounts to fit? The olds ones are to far back. Wondering if Chevy ones will line up with drilled holes on crossmember or if I have to drill my own holes ?

redoldsman

Maybe you don't realize this thread is over eight years old and the last time the OP posted on here was January 2018. There is a lot of info here on the swap but you may not get an answer to your question.

jpaulwhite

Hey I'm still around lol. We didn't have to drill anything the frame had an extra set of holes already there that we used.

I'm about to bring my 71 Cutlass S back to life so you may see me posting a bit more often soon.