Performance Upgrades for a '78 BUICK 350??

[rivijimi7178]

Hello all'

I am looking for suggestions for a future overhaul of my tired 350.

As of now it resides in my awesome '78 RIVIERA, but with a 110,000 miles, 155hp and a not so funny noise coming from lower end I believe the inebitable is approaching. I want to keep the original engine which is the Buick 350. It is coupeled to a TH400. This would be my first small block build up. BBB's have been the norm.

I know some of you will say keep it ORIGINAL,athough the the rest of the car is not. (previous accidents by previous owners)But a FINE example of the last rear drive Riviera.

So I would like to mildly flex some Buick Muscle....Any Suggestions???

[51 Dodge]

I had the same thought about keeping my '79 350 x-vin, but I'll tell you now it may have been cheaper converting to a Chevy motor. My old Regal had its day in the sun, although I had no regrets putting the car to rest the old engine with about 140k and noisy lifters still had some life. So I started a hotrod project with the Buick engine. Cleaning it, boring the cylinders, etc. cost what it would any engine. Unfortunately Buicks of that era are not commonly rebuilt, so every part from the timing cover to the lifters cost about twice that of a Chevy 350 of the same years. The engine is nearly complete aside from about $300 of external parts. In retrospect it would have been far cheaper to find and rebuild an old chevy engine. TA Performance has a lot of upgrades for your Buick engine, unfortunately $800 for roller rockers, and $300 for a performance cam were not in my budget. Of course your car might already have a Chevy, Pontiac, or Olds engine.... In that case go for it.

[BqUICK]

TA Performance www.taperformance.com has what you need to make your Buick 350 light your fire. The are supplying parts to racers with nearly 500 hp Buick 350s.

God Speed!