Newbie with a woody...wagon

Found this forum from my time spent on the Impalassforum.  I know its not an 91-96, but Boxy wagons need a home too.


(Don't worry. The stripes are magnetic tape.)

1989 Buick Electra Estate Wagon aka Firefly.

Did the BABE (Big Apple to Big Easy) Rally in 2011.  Found her for $500 and is my first car.



She is just a faded white, Ikea wood wagon, but I still have a sentimental attachment to her.  I know it'll just be trashed if I sold it.

Two years later just under 96,500 miles and continually trying to keep her running smooth.

Time and money permitting would like to take out the 307 and put in a direct swap 455.  Keep it Olds and Carbureted. Posi the rear and change up the ratios.

Might be a bit tired, but has never let me down when it counted and not many of them on the road.

Alex

"Boxies" are our older brothers, ( same parentage) and we have a home for them here, whether they have woodies or not.

Welcome to the darkside, the long roof forum.

Dave

Interesting old car,..boxies are welcome here for the most part,.. 

Go 403,. it,s a direct swap,.the 455 is wider,.403 will make more than enough horsepower, and is easier on fuel,.
BUT,. if you do decide to go big block,.i have a nice dual 4 setup for that killer old school lookand sound,.Nothing sounds meaner than a big olds slurping thru 8 barrels,.

nick

phantom 309 wrote:

Go 403,. it,s a direct swap,.the 455 is wider,.403 will make more than enough horsepower, and is easier on fuel...

Funny you mention it.  That was what I wanted to put in originally, but those siamesed cylinders or blowing the bottom end if tuned too roughly put me off a little.  I know they aren't made of glass and they can squeeze a lot out of 400 cubes, but its still a concern.

455 is taller but should be a direct swap on the mounts and has more parts available.  Plenty of room in the engine bay.  Should make 500 torque easy without going too overboard and with a ratio under 9.5 to 1 to keep running on unleaded.  And some Edlebrock heads would be nice...my wallet not so much haha.

Thank you all for the warm welcome.

Listen to the man Alex,with age comes wisdom.These wagons are HEAVY so the bigger the engine the better!

steel-and-fire wrote:

phantom 309 wrote:

Go 403,. it,s a direct swap,.the 455 is wider,.403 will make more than enough horsepower, and is easier on fuel...

Funny you mention it.  That was what I wanted to put in originally, but those siamesed cylinders or blowing the bottom end if tuned too roughly put me off a little.  I know they aren't made of glass and they can squeeze a lot out of 400 cubes, but its still a concern..

You need to research the urban myth regarding the windowed mains on the 403,..

google engine masters challenge,. read about the 403,.

The siamesed cylinders have a lot of meat between them,.much more than the sought after chevy 400,.

The urban myth about the weak main webs has been copied and pasted all over the web,.brought about by power levels that were guaranteed to break any engine,.,.a good stud girdle cures 90% of the main cap walking,.this all at power levels not usually run by street car,.

The big bore shorter stroke makes it a great rev happy street motor,.
I seriously doubt you would be asking for the kind of power levels that would stress the block,.

As a guy who has personally run a 13:1 403 motor in the past,. it never exhibited the bottom end problems that the stock 455 did,.(poor oil return on the bigger motor,.) i can tell you it survived many 6500 rpm passes, with normal wear and tear, and the bearings were good for 100 runs or more before they needed to be freshened,.
a 79 olds 403 trans am,.would make a 78 pontiac 400 look sick,.
403's are a bargain for 307 repowers,.

aftermarket olds parts are interchangeable between the smaller and larger blocks,. except intake manifolds,.

My opinion is given after real world experience,.not internet experience,.

best of luck,..

Nick

Welcome. You have a nice starting point for a fine old ride!
My '77 Buick Estate Wagon sports a 403" Olds engine, hence my username.
Unless you are racing or driving like a maniac all the time, the engine you have will last a looong time.

Welcome and glad another boxy found us. I love the look and the smoothness of those cars...have had three over the years. The only thing they need is an Olds 350-403 swap and they are perfect!

-Mike

Welcome to the forum I love my 86 caprice wagon and 88 custom cruiser, theres a separate section for these vehicles that can be helpfull if you have any questions as well love the Buick looks great!!