1964 Buick Skylark "Project Angry Bird" budget build

[64G-lark]

After Spending time with Tom and Sam at Charlotte I caught the LS bug. I began researching the engines and looking at classifieds on Craigslist, Ebay, and LS1 tech. I thought I might pull it off if I used a truck engine or a LS1. I eventually found what I thought was a pretty good deal so I talked with Tom to get his opinion. During the conversation Tom mentioned he had a L92 that he was thinking about selling. It didn't take me long to determine this was what I really wanted and after a few more conversations with Tom we closed a deal. This would give me a aluminum block engine with the better flowing LS3 type heads.
Now the hunt was on to find a T-56 transmission. After about another week Tom texted me one day to tell me Sam had one that he was going to sell so he could upgrade to a magnum version. So now the Farrington family had come through with the first two big items I needed.
After several weeks of planning my family and I set out for a road trip weekend headed to Indiana. We left out on a Friday afternoon headed north from our home in the mountains of western North Carolina. We decided to break it up a little and make it fun for Chase by spending the night in Louisville Ky. Friday night and getting up the next morning to tour the Louisville Slugger Museum. By mid day we were back on the road and made it to Mooresville, In. by about 2:00pm. We had a fun visit with the Farrington family and toured the estate, the new mega garage and collection of cars. My wife Robin got to meet Deb and talk while Tom, Sam, Chase and myself loaded the new engine and trans. You cant find a more down to earth family that is always willing to help others. Thanks guys. Saturday night we drove back as far as Harland Ky and made it home by Sunday afternoon. My only regret was not taking some pictures with the Farringtons. Heres a few pic's of what we brought back home.

[1989GTA]

Nice looking motor you have. A few Skylark conversions on LSTECH for you to gather information. It saved me from some posible pitfalls.

L92/6L80 in my 65 Skylark. This is an earlier picture. I have tidied it up some since then. The first time on the dyno we got 471rwhp. However come to find out that was third gear when it should have been 4th gear. Looking for 480+rwhp next time out on the dyno. I also expect to get 25+mpg.

[64G-lark]

Nice ! 1989GTA.

Next a few purchases to start the swap.
The new style Holley oil pan 302-2 and Improved Racing trap door style baffle that I hope will provide clearance for my inner tie rods and accommodate the front crossmember.



A 2012 Camaro LS3 intake, TB, fuel rails and injectors courtesy of LS1tech member.



I really wanted to run a Ricks fuel tank but its just not in the budget. I settled on a Tanks Inc. fuel injection tank with the built in fuel tray and a Walboro in tank pump.

[1989GTA]

You are doing what I have done. I just wish Tanks Inc had that tank available when I did my swap. I used their tank but had to do it the old fashion way for the fuel pump. Same with the Holly oil pan. I have the -1 version and with the -2 that you have you should have no problems. I did have to limit my stops a little with the -1 version but no big deal as I can still make a nice u-turn.

[gearheads78]

Very cool build. I like a ton of different cars but 64-67 A-bodies are my favorite. Up until the LS swap your build was near identical to the 66 Cutlass I built a few years ago. Can't wait to see more.

[64G-lark]

Thanks Gearheads78.

The Buick motor and the 4 speed are now back out of the car for the last time along with the gas tank.
Started cleaning up the transmission. Looking for some opinions on color choice for the engine. Should I keep it black or give it a little nostalgic look by painting the block the 60's buick green color like the previous engine? Thoughts?

[1989GTA]

The Buick green would be a nice tribute to the original. I tried to keep as many original parts as posible and when making changes I tried to keep the theme of the car intact. However that is just me.

[Zoomin]

Love what you've done so far!

I'm working on a 66 Skylark myself, and mine also had the 300 in it. Reliable as a boat anchor but just lacked suds, so I'm putting an LS1 in it. Like you, I have been wondering how to give it a nod to Buick. I thought about the green route, but there are only a few people that would have a clue what that was about. Still ruminating on it.

[gearheads78]

The Buick motor and the 4 speed are now back out of the car for the last time along with the gas tank.
Started cleaning up the transmission. Looking for some opinions on color choice for the engine. Should I keep it black or give it a little nostalgic look by painting the block the 60's buick green color like the previous engine? Thoughts?

I would do block and heads Buick green. It will look great IMO

[64G-lark]

Thanks Zoomin.

Still haven't decided on what color to paint the engine. The other option would be the Buick red. In the mean time I designed some motor mount adapters, Then my oldest son who is learning machining made them on a CNC mill at school. They turned out pretty nice. I had him make them out of 1/2" thick 6061 to start with and I can mill the backside to thin them out if needed. I purchased some stainless bolts from the bolt depot.com to finish it up.




Here is the completed mount on the engine. The multiple holes allow a lot of adjustment and the recessed areas clears the back side of the Energy suspension urethane motor mounts.

[64G-lark]

I removed the truck style oil pan, oil pump pick-up and windage tray and was pleased to see the inside of the engine as clean as a pin. Tom had already upgraded the rod bolts with ARP fasteners.



The Holley oil pan is cast and the casting was very coarse on the inside, so before installing it I spent a little time knocking the roughness down. This turned into about a two hour project. Hopefully this will aid drain back a little. The picture doesn't do it justice, its much smoother than it appears. I also spent some time smoothing, opening up and radiusing the oil passages.


The truck style windage tray would not clear the front of the pan. This is the new Holley pan 302-2 that is the tightest pan in the front section to hopefully clear the inner tierods. After some careful measuring I cut out the front section to provide the needed clearance. Both the pan and the windage tray got a through bath before going back on the engine.
The Holley oil pump pickup tube has provisions for two bolts on the oil pump end so I added the second bolt with a little Loctite on both.



The oil pan then got the Improved Racing trap door style baffle Holley part number 302-11 bolted in.



My youngest helper posing with the finished install.

[64G-lark]

Time to start on the top side and ditch the truck style intake and fuel rails.




Test fitting the 2012 Camaro LS3 intake, fuel rails, and DBW throttle body.



Its been a balancing act between working on the car, engine and spending time selling off the original parts to keep funding the next purchase for the build. I have been fortunate and have had good luck selling off the Buick parts.

[1989GTA]

Very nice.

[64G-lark]

Thanks 1989GTA. Those are some nice numbers you got. What cam, ECM and harness did you use? Did you retain VVT?

[65_LS1_T56]

Nice progress Mark. Looks like you are really doing your homework! And it was nice to talk to you last week.

Oh, love the billet mounts

[tommycomfort]

Looking great Mark! You guys are really going to town on this thing.

[1989GTA]

Thanks 1989GTA. Those are some nice numbers you got. What cam, ECM and harness did you use? Did you retain VVT?

My first pass on a Superflow chasis dyno was 471rwhp but that was done in third gear instead of forth. By the way that was with California 91 octane gasoline. The camshaft is a Texas Speed VVT3 so yes I retained the VVT. A lot more people are doing that now because there is more power available under the curve.

I used the factory 2007 Escalade harness. However I upgraded the software to the 2011 Corvette version including the 6L80 transmission and E38 ECM. On May 6th I am going back on the chasis dyno for the final tune. We shall see what the final power numbers will be.

I like how your build is going.

[64G-lark]

A few more parts arrived over the last few days. Got an F-body bell housing for the trans. Decided to go with the BRP mid length headers. I thought it might offer the best ground clearance and I might not have to fight the issues of hitting the floor board or hanging to low while trying to get the engine where I want it. I know I may give up a few HP but I like the simplicity. Also needed some bolts for the bell housing, water pump, balancer, etc. The engine already had ARP Head bolts so I went with ARP on the balance.







Test fitting bell housing and factory crossmember that was lightened.

[64G-lark]

Performed the dreaded tunnel-ectomy yesterday. This is the part I have worried about the most. I hated cutting up an original floor pan with no rust issues.

Before


Prepping




After



I purchased a cheap air saw from Northern Tool with a gift certificate from Christmas. I couldn't believe how well it worked. It really made cutting the tunnel easy with no sparks and flying debris to deal with like I would have had with a die grinder and cut-off wheel.

[64G-lark]

Chevelle mounts courtesy of the Farringtons bolted in for test fit. They will get cleaned up and painted for the final fit.


Time for the first mock up of the engine and trans.

This was a challenge in the confines of the garage. I will have a taller ceiling in the next one! I had to change up the rigging several times. Its very tight getting enough angle to get the transmission started into the tunnel, and getting everything back far enough to drop the oil pan behind the front cross member. Unfortunately this wont be the last of these maneuvers. My Wife (Robin) came down to the garage to celebrate the success of seeing it in the car.