[VintageNewSkoo]

Basicly my olds cutlass had a sbc when i bought it a while back. I never worried about it. Today I went to look at a 86 v6 regal. The motor seems to be dieing. It Idles rough has a bad motor mount. And turns off when it goes in reverse. Also its an electric 2bl the owner says the problem is the carb which it may be because only black smoke comes out onces it is reved a good bit.

Any how Im wondering what would I have to do to get a v8 from a 86-up sbc in the g body?
I have a pretty good Idea so far.
New hoses
78-88 monte carlo mounts
accessories.

What else am i missing. I think the radiator will be fine.

Im not sure but it might be a 200r4 there but if its not what type of crossmember would i need to place a th350. I just need this thing roadworthy untill i can get a better set up.

[curtis73]

The G-body is probably one of the easiest swaps to do with any GM engine. At one point or another, every GM V6 and V8 (except caddy) was installed in them from the factory, as well as multiple GM trannys including the TH350, THM200, THM200-4r, 700r4, and a couple other derivatives of those. So, instead of sweating the little things, GM made provisions for every engine and almost every tranny in every G-body.

Basically, every G-body has the same frame, so if you got an El Camino with a 305/200C, it was the same frame as a Grand National with a 3.8 turbo and 200-4r, and the same as a Monte Carlo with a V6/TH350. The frame is drilled for the multiple tranny crossmember possibilities, and the engine mounts are drilled for multiple GM engines.

Its pretty much as simple as buying the right motor mounts, moving the tranny crossmember where it needs to be, and then working out the details. Across the GM family, things like starters, alternators, distributors, sensors, and fuel pumps were on different sides of the engine. You might have to extend certain wires and shorten some, or extend a fuel line to the other side of an engine, but otherwise the swap is gravy with mashed potatoes.

There are also common aftermarket kits to make Caddy engine mounts work, and I've seen several Caddy 500s in G-bodies. There is also a ton of tech on the web about swapping in manual trannys. The factory did such a small number of manuals in G-bodies that its not common to just find a junkyard swap, but many folks have put T5s, T56s, T10s, and many other common manuals in G-bodies using common, off-the-shelf parts.

To me, the G-body is the ultimate easy swap car.... so easy that I wanted to swap a 302 Windsor into my 87 Cutlass just to be different.

[VintageNewSkoo]

Thanks guy, I looked through some more google searches and found exactly what I needed but it never hurts to get some GOOD extra advice. Just wondering though would I need to get the drive shaft balanced/shorted or is that where the " moving the transmission crossmember to fit " come in?

Oh btw sbf cutlass that made me smile.

[1ownerT]

If going from a TH 350 to a 200 R4 or the reverse, the driveshaft is the same.
I had a G body Monte with a turbo 3.8, changed it out with a 355. I was able to reuse the pads on the crossmember for the engine mounts. I did have to relocate them though, the holes are there already. It is a PITA to get to the nuts on the inside of the crossmember though.

[curtis73]

Across the g-body line, GM engine/tranny combos always meet at the same point. That is to say, regardless of what engine you use, it will always have the tranny flange at the same point. So, if you are swapping transmissions, the length of the tranny itself will be the most important. The 200, the 200-4r, and the short tail 350 are all the same length and use the same output shaft, so swapping between those three can use the same driveshaft. The difference with those trannys is where the tranny mount is. Even though they are the same overall length, the mount on the 350 is much further forward on the tranny. That's why you might have to move the crossmember.

Take a look here:

[VintageNewSkoo]

wow that chart is so good it should be a read me somewhere

[curtis73]

It is...

Transmission Information.

[Chevrolet4x4s]

3.8s will work with normal gen 1/gen2 transmissions right?

Shane

[1ownerT]

Originally Posted by Chevrolet4x4s

3.8s will work with normal gen 1/gen2 transmissions right?

Shane

Not sure what you are referring to.
In my case, the Monte had a Buick 3.8 w/TH350. I changed the trans first to a 200 R4, dual pattern. Then later changed the 3.8 for a 355, used the same trans and drive shaft. I used the cross member from the 87 Monte donor, and made a bracket for the passenger side frame rail on the 80 Monte, since they did not have the OD trans in 80.

[Chevrolet4x4s]

Thats what I was needing to know..I forgot to add V8 after gen1/gen2

Thanks
Shane