1964 skylark restoration ?'s

[skyleezy]

hello, im a new user and just purchased a 64 skylark 2-door hardtop from a very old lady who kept this vehicle in very nice shape. I need some help on resotring this beast from you guys. here is what it has...310 v8 automatic benchseats air-conditioning powersteering power brakes.These are some things i want to do with it.....basically everything but paint for now since i will be driving this car. i want 450 -500 horses so i was thinking 454 or 455 depending on what will be skinny enough and mounts available for my year. th350 or th400 with a shift kit again mounting difficulties, exhaust, intake, headers, i want to lower the car and put 15x7's on it or 8's depending on back spacing for it, front disc conversion, i need bucket seats and a console currently has split bench front, i also need a steering column for the floor mounting shift kit. basically i just need to know if its possible. If any of you guys have any info that i may need to know about 64 as to other years give me a heads up because from what im finding is not much...maybe im not looking hard enough. but any helpful sites or suggestions that would be dandy. Thanks

[YellowLark]

Just about anything is possible for a 1964-72 GM A-body. Just don't ask Buick owners for advice on fitting a Chevy engine in your car. Interiors and other parts show up on eBay all the time.

The info you want has been discussed many times on this board, and on wwww.v8buick.com, and on www.buickclub.org. Also, the Buick Performance Group on groups.yahoo.com has many posts about such modifications

You are looking at a lot of work. Many people are happy keeping the 300 engine and some mods.

[Tom Gallagher]

[img]graemlins/wavey.gif[/img] Hey Skyleezy!

I see that You are a New Member Welcome Aboard! [img]graemlins/thumbsup.gif[/img]
If You are open to Suggestions and /or Opinions My thought would be to put in a Dual Quad 425 Nailhead from a '64-'66 Riviera.

For one thing I think that the motor would slide right inwithout Major Modification/Fabrication
(Buick put 401 in the '65 Gran Sport)

The Nailhead is Very Nostalgic as well as Handsome and being a Vintage Buick Engine it will look like it belongs in the engine compartmet.

It will give you plenty of HP and Loads of Torque. and it will keep Your Buick a Buick. [img]graemlins/wavey.gif[/img]

A Lot of nice dress-up accessorys are available which will make You Car Quite Unique. If You ever saw a Nailhead all decked-out. You will Know Exactly what I mean [img]graemlins/banana.gif[/img]

Happy Holidays [img]graemlins/beers.gif[/img]

Tom Gallagher

[Bob]

I know I would be happy to slide a 401 in there. With a basic rebuild and a little attention to detail it would haul *** and look at home with the hood open. I have one sitting on my shelve waiting for such a project. Of course the 425 dual quad would be much nicer, but harder to find, and if you just want to burn a few sets of tire off the 401 would be just great! Put a switch pitch 400 with or a 4speed, ( I prefer the sp400)

[Topless64Skylark]

Hi Skyleezy,
I'll respond by going down your list item by item.
1. - To achieve 450-500 HP can be done with a Buick 455 with some cash outlay. Plus, the Buick 455 is about 75-100 lbs LIGHTER than a big block Chev. As Yellowlark says, putting a Chev into a Buick is frowned upon, but it's your car, so do what you wish. In order to make the Buick 400-430-455 engines fit, you will likely need to modify the heater/AC box a little. Motor mounts are available for this swap. You will need either a BOP Turbo 350 or 400 transmission. Your present trans will not bolt up, nor could it handle the extra power.
You could also go with the 401-425 nailhead motor as Tom Gallagher suggested, however I believe that the exhaust manifolds are specific to the Skylark. As far as I know, exhaust manifolds from the full size cars do not fit the Skylark.
Of course, you could just use headers for either swap.
2. - To mount a Turbo 400 trans, you need to relocate the crossmember, easily done. You would need a custom driveshaft to fit, again, easy enough to get.
3. - You didn't say how you will lower the car, so I'll leave that up to you to check out. Either air bags or custom suspension will work, probably have some expense here. As for wheels, I'm not really certain what will fit, so I'll defer to another expert.
4. - For the interior, finding a factory floor shift steering column will be hard, many guys, myself included, want one. Buckets and console are almost as tough to find for 64 and 65 cars. It'll depend on whether you want factory original or not.
5. - Check out Buick Performance as well as
V8 Buick for some more info.
I know that the engine swaps have been discussed there before, just use the search feature.
6. - Welcome to the world of GM's "other" A body, unfortunately, there isn't anywhere as much available as for Chevy and Pontiac A bodies.
The 64-65 Skylark is one sharp car, and I predict it will become more sought after, thus more valuable. Well OK I'm somewhat prejudiced, since I've got three of them in various states of completion.
7. - You can also swap a later buick 350 into your car. There are far more of these available, plus it will bolt right in. It is not, however exactly the same size as the 300. The 350 has a higher block deck height, so intakes will not interchange. There are more performance parts for the Buick 350 than the 300.
8. - Lastly, you could simply add a few goodies to your 300. It is a pretty good little motor. If you are going to add a 4 bbl, there are NO aftermarket manifolds available. You must find a 64 only aluminum manifold, if you've got the aluminum heads. A 65 iron manifold will not work properly.
Good luck, with enough time patience and, of course, money, the Skylark can be made into a real sleeper.
Or, like yellowlark also suggested, keep it original, and just enjoy it!! [img]graemlins/banana.gif[/img]