I have a 1965 riviera need some suggestions on swapping over to chevy motor.I know it is not 401-425 but came with no motor or ****** and i already have chevy motor & ******.
Welcome to the HAMB. You will catch alot of flack for not doing an intro, so go back in and get it done as soon as you can. The Chevy in a Riv albeit a very poor choice if you have the means to put the Buford back in. But if you don't then run the Chevy. It also depends on how nice a car you want in the end. Yes people will give you a ration for going that route. But if it's what you got and you want a really *****in car to drive just go for it and leave the hood shut. Most of all enjoy the car. It's not theirs so they can say what they want. It's really dissapointing though to not see the Straight up covers in a Rivi. As an option if the Chevy runs you might just be able to trade it for a buick motor. The Le-Sabres and some others had the very same motor/trans in them. Many of those old cars can be had for almost free that still run. Buy the whole car and take what you want out of it. Just remember to finish what you start and it will all be gravy! Tim
Chevy motor is a VERY difficult install due to oil pan/crossmember/center link interference. It's been done and i was going to do it but changed my mind after I learned what all was involved.
Find a "Pick-a-Part" junk yard. I'll bet they have em in your area. Theyre the best and have everything,every now abd again. I found a R/F fender for an Amb***ador that was even the right color. VERY reasonable. Ya kinda gotta go every week, I still cant find a downside to that.
Your going to catch some **** here for this.( I can think of one guy that is going to go nuts!) HOWEVER, I have done this swap many times. The last one was a '65. You can run the "b.o.p." trans that is in the car..but.. a Chevy turbo 400 bolts right in.. Drop the drag link at the idler arm.. Attach the motor to the trans, drop them in and bolt the trans mount.. This will Give you an idea of the motor mounts ( they are as easy as they are going to look ) You will have to "drop" the darg link about 2 inches ( cut and weld thing) Exhaust is easy.. The guy that owns the '65 had the nailhead rebuilt twice.. The third time it started spewing oil from everywhere.. We did the S.B.C.. He has been driving the **** out of the car for 5 years now.. It is quick and dependable. Fuel mileage is pretty good too.. And if he spits a waterpump in east bubble****, Autozone will have one in stock. Most of the experts that look under the hood openly state.. very mater-of-factly.. "oh.. It's a Canadian Buick! ya don't see many of those..". The swap is no big deal.. The car runs great.. And you can bolt the Nailhead back in anytime you want...
Worst intro ever... Please don't call it a Buford, there should be not Ford parts in there... b.o.p. ? what trans are you talking about. Nailheads were not BOP. So I guess that's why you go with the Chevy. As for the Nailhead being rebuilt twice, that's the mechanic he took it to's fault. Period. Not the the engine. As for the water pump remark. My local parts place as well as the local Napa and Car Quest have them in stock for them. No problem there either.
The 65 I did the swap in had a B.O.P 400. I have no idea if it was the stock trans.. I ***umed it was.. Didn't really care.. But thanks for the info.. It took napa 3 days to get him a water pump on the first rebuild. Hence the water pump comment.. But.. Thanks for the info.. Thats why I love the H.A.M.B. There is always somebody that has the info.. Have a nice day..
What did you cut and weld on the drag link-the mount or the link itself? If I have any problems with my 425 when my 64 finally gets on the road I'm going the SBC route if I can no matter what anybody thinks.
The thing about these threads that kill me is people thinking engines other than a SBC aren't reliable. Very much not true at all. If you are having a problem then something was/is wrong. If you have an engine rebuilt and it grenades, someone did something wrong. If it is done correctly they will last many many trouble free miles.
Agreed. I've seen plenty of blown up sbc's. But if you are on a serious budget the non-sbc engines can be cost prohibitive. If I had to pay retail for the 425 parts it would cost 3 times what the sbc parts would. If a guy had a ratty Riv like mine and wasn't going for a restoration but still wanted that body style then the sbc could make real sense. The effort to install the sbc would offset it slightly but wouldn't necessarily mean near as much cash out of pocket.
I've watched these swaps nickel and dime people to death. To where it would have been the same or less to fix the Nailhead. Everyone that someone has told me they have everything to do it ended up not even close. The other thing to take into consideration is the value of the car. The SBC definitely lowers that. Just thoughts.
As far as lowering the value of the car.. Other than the drag link, exhaust head pipes and moving a few wires.. The nailhead is still a bolt in. To each his own.. The guy that owns the '65 I did was going to run the s.b.c. for a while and switch back to a nailhead.. 5 years later he won't change a thing..
A few things. I'd rather see the Riv running down the road with the small block Chev in it and being enjoyed by the owner and people who see it than sitting beside his garage because all of the sudden he feels that he has to bow down to the would be purists and wait until he can find a "proper" engine to suit them even though it isn't in his budget at the moment. As Tumbleweed Garage said, it isn't one of those hack it up mods that can't easily be changed back later. It would probably be easier than attempting to put in a 455 Buick with it's front mounted oil pump a**** other things. 1DWN54 I'd say that if you are gong to do the swap do it in a manner that doesn't call for changing anything on the car that can't be unbolted and replaced. The engine should fit in there and have plenty of clearance with the exception of the pan. You could always paint it the proper color for a 65 Riv engine and put a Buick air cleaner on top of the engine and half the guy who looked under the hood wouldn't know the difference. I'd do that and get it on the road and then decide if I wanted to find a proper Buick engine and trans for it. The other option would be to find a big Buick from that year with a good running engine and bad body and swap that engine into the car and sell the small block to pay for it along with selling the left overs from the car that donated the engine.
There is no way that a SBC looks as good sitting in a cl***ic like the 63-65 Rivi like the NailHead. The Nailhead just oozes cool!! Even though mine has a 7" crack in the block, I will replace the 425 with another 425.
One of the best looking Rivs I have ever seen was a the Route 66 Rendezvous this year. It was beautiful. It could have had anything in there for an engine and it wouldn't have mattered because nobody could see it anyway.
By no means do I think my engine is a looker. But I do not have the hood open at shows unless someone asks. I like the lines better closed. But I thinks it's presentable. I'd do the same thing if I had a Rivi.
Mine has a 327 (let the moans and groans begin). The nail head is just too expensive for me to rebuild, regardless of what anyone says. It fits nice, i did relocate it though, now its nice and low. put a bend in the drag link so it goes around the front of the oil pan sump. First time i put it in there, i had it just above, which was fine, but i needed electric fans. got tired of it, cut the mounts, moved it back and down and it looks nice. pm me if you have any questions.
I was on my dad's user name: I dont have any readily available. I can maybe take a couple tomorrow, as it is already getting dark.
I can't see putting anything other than a nailhead back in a Riv, but the chevy is do able if thats what you want.
If ya build a good lookin car you wont have to pop the hood. If it has a hood who cares what is under it. I am a buick lover, but if the dude picked up a ride minus motor, well hes gotta do what hes gotta do. Not all of us a sittin on a stock pile of Buick mills.
No you don't have to pop the hood. I usually don't unless someone asks. But I like the car to be a complete work. I also believe something worth doing is worth doing right. There are deals to be had on Nailheads out there, you just have to look, and keep looking.
Oh I get it, I do like a car to be done down to the last nut, but I seem to like the look of cars when they are closed. Whatever gets ya down the road.
hello jesse here new to h.a.m.b. and glad to see some people that have gone through this as well. im in the process right now just got done modifying the oil pan to fit the steering linkage. as far as that i got a short shaft 2 speed power glide trans which now after reading this saying the 400 would fit right in i might go with that. would like to know if this riviera to 350 swap was finished like to know what i might to reconsider
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