401 (or other Buick) engine transplant for 65 Buick Special - opinions?
Dear Buick Enthusiasts, :shield:
I have a 1965 Buick Special Deluxe wagon with a 300 cu V8 engine that is getting weary. I joined Team Buick in order to get some advice on rebuilding the engine and truly discovered how little really I understood about the whole project!
In that thread (http://www.teambuick.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19792), BigRivy suggested if I consider any alternative engine, I should try to stick to period Buick engines: specifically the 401 Nailhead. Having learned plenty in the interim, I have to confess some interest in the 401 upgrade. Aside from the obvious - more - appeal :bgrin:, the Nailhead has a much larger following and many more enhancement parts. Perhaps not so obvious is that with its stock compression ratio of 10.25:1, it should run nicely on today's anemic premium gas (the original 11:1 high-compression 300 won't). My surfing the web uncovered one more unexpected benefit: the Nailhead equipped 1965 Skylark GS got 12.2 mpg at the time. My car was rated 12.7 (and indeed that was accurate). 100 more hp and almost the same gas mileage - where do I sign! :laugh_3:
So enough daydreaming. Obviously it must be possible to put a 401 Nailhead in a 65 A-body since Buick did it. My question is: can you make a Nailhead transplant into a car originally equipped with something else? Is it "reasonably straightforward" or a pain in the whatever expletive you prefer to delete. Reading around the forum, it seems like the engine mounting points should be the same and that it should be possible to bolt the Nailhead to my transmission without adapters - true? The car already has the heavy duty radiator, would additional cooling upgrades be desirable? Looking at photos of the 65 Skylark GS engine compartment, the only difference I could see was that the battery has been moved to the driver's side. Are there other gotchas in making such a transplant that aren't obvious?
Has anybody else performed this transplant? Why or why not? What do the 1965 Skylark GS folks think about their cars and engines?
Obviously this is still more daydreaming than not and my wallet may veto the horsepower upgrade. Still, I would be interested in what folks think about the idea.
Thanks for any and all pearls of wisdom!
Sincerely,
Edouard in Orinda
P.S. Discussion later expands to consider other late 60s Buick V8 engines like the 350 and 455 - see below:
Dear Buick Enthusiasts, :shield:
I have a 1965 Buick Special Deluxe wagon with a 300 cu V8 engine that is getting weary. I joined Team Buick in order to get some advice on rebuilding the engine and truly discovered how little really I understood about the whole project!
In that thread (http://www.teambuick.com/forums/showthread.php?t=19792), BigRivy suggested if I consider any alternative engine, I should try to stick to period Buick engines: specifically the 401 Nailhead. Having learned plenty in the interim, I have to confess some interest in the 401 upgrade. Aside from the obvious - more - appeal :bgrin:, the Nailhead has a much larger following and many more enhancement parts. Perhaps not so obvious is that with its stock compression ratio of 10.25:1, it should run nicely on today's anemic premium gas (the original 11:1 high-compression 300 won't). My surfing the web uncovered one more unexpected benefit: the Nailhead equipped 1965 Skylark GS got 12.2 mpg at the time. My car was rated 12.7 (and indeed that was accurate). 100 more hp and almost the same gas mileage - where do I sign! :laugh_3:
So enough daydreaming. Obviously it must be possible to put a 401 Nailhead in a 65 A-body since Buick did it. My question is: can you make a Nailhead transplant into a car originally equipped with something else? Is it "reasonably straightforward" or a pain in the whatever expletive you prefer to delete. Reading around the forum, it seems like the engine mounting points should be the same and that it should be possible to bolt the Nailhead to my transmission without adapters - true? The car already has the heavy duty radiator, would additional cooling upgrades be desirable? Looking at photos of the 65 Skylark GS engine compartment, the only difference I could see was that the battery has been moved to the driver's side. Are there other gotchas in making such a transplant that aren't obvious?
Has anybody else performed this transplant? Why or why not? What do the 1965 Skylark GS folks think about their cars and engines?
Obviously this is still more daydreaming than not and my wallet may veto the horsepower upgrade. Still, I would be interested in what folks think about the idea.
Thanks for any and all pearls of wisdom!
Sincerely,
Edouard in Orinda
P.S. Discussion later expands to consider other late 60s Buick V8 engines like the 350 and 455 - see below:
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