BudBeard's Buick

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Decided not to build the 700r4 picked up a th400 with low mileage out of a motor home with a 6.5 diesel in front of it, so it has straight cut planetary's instead of helical. Supposedly it has a shift kit time will tell. Came with a deep pan, 2800 sun coast converter and a lokar dipstick so I can't complain for 400 bucks.
 

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I have been working the past couple days on getting the motor slid in there to no avail. The gentleman who I got the car from had welded in frame side mounts for an LS or so he said prior to me getting it. He did have an LS sitting in the bay when I went to look at the car, but there is absolutely no way possible the mounts would line up the way he had them so I had to cut them out and start from scratch. I spent most of the afternoon second guessing myself and stressing about getting it mounted in there perfect as not to throw off the driveline angle. Just as I was satisfied and going to tack the mounts in I tripped and fell into the cherry picker and threw everything off, so I opted to wait until tomorrow so I didn't pull my hair out
 

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That th400 should be bulletproof. No overdrive though.
You'll get that motor mounted. Just be patient, so you don't have to redo it.
 
Well it took a lot of patience even more trial and error but I finally got the engine mounted. Not a ton of room between the frame rails for exhaust so I'm thinking I'm gonna run straight pipes out the fenders, what is commonly referred to as hater pipes. I am considering cutting the hood and running a hilborn style scoop. This would allow me to keep the 2in carb spacer and allow for a decently sized air cleaner but I'm not sure.
 

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That th400 should be bulletproof. No overdrive though.
You'll get that motor mounted. Just be patient, so you don't have to redo it.

I'm hoping it is bulletproof lol. Yeah the lack of overdrive is what originally kept me from going th400 but it is what it is.
I was able to get the engine mounted today I posted some pictures.
 
Thanks guys. It's definitely a load off my shoulders, I was stressing about getting it right that's for sure. I'm happy with how it turned out and proud of the progress so far..
A bunch of stuff came in today including the wire I ordered to get the msd box all wired in so I can get this thing started😎.
I'm gonna try and get something done later this afternoon, but my back took a bit of a beating yesterday so not sure how much will actually get accomplished.
 
Put in a little bit of work today wiring so I could fire this thing up for the first time. I wasn't able to get it to idle before I had to quit for the day but she fired up a few times. I'll try to attach a short clip my buddies son took he was quite excited
 

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Well I did a thing yesterday🤔.. picked up a l96 out of a 2011 van with only 83k. For those who don't know the l96 is a fourth generation 6.0 iron block LS. They come with 823 heads which are essentially the equivalent to the poor mans LS3 heads. It made 360hp and 380 torque in factory trim, so I'm thinking it should make somewhere around 450 with the cam I'm gonna run.
Using the factory cam is not an option as this is a vvt engine so I'm gonna have to delete that.
 

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Well I did a thing yesterday🤔.. picked up a l96 out of a 2011 van with only 83k. For those who don't know the l96 is a fourth generation 6.0 iron block LS. They come with 823 heads which are essentially the equivalent to the poor mans LS3 heads. It made 360hp and 380 torque in factory trim, so I'm thinking it should make somewhere around 450 with the cam I'm gonna run.
Using the factory cam is not an option as this is a vvt engine so I'm gonna have to delete that.

This has some tips for modifications on the L96. Sounds like if you're trying to make that much power from a cam change, there's the possibility you'll have to do some other mods.

https://www.onallcylinders.com/2018/08/17/l96-6-0l-engine-upgrade-guide-expert-advice-for-l96-mods-to-maximize-performance/
 

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