I have one in my '69 GTO with a Muncie 4 speed. We found a flywheel from an old 430 Buick, tranny and belhousing were stock Pontiac (BOP belhousing). I wouldn't worry about the 8.8 rearend. That thing will break the tires loose so fast and easy you won't stress it
Keep the 8.8, they are just as strong as a 9" but weigh less! They used 'em in heavy Ford pick ups for gods sake! Buick is cooler, the cadi. mill is overplayed!...this from a guy who is gonna use a 327 in his rod!
gads, the Buick 400 to 455 engines are great street engines for rods, still available, cheep, light weight ,dont require a lotta go fast parts. if you really need to, just the 3 C,s [compression cam and carb, just a little of each]. the nailheads were torquey, but the 400,s havmore. dont need a a big automatic. 350 hydro is just fine. just run a 2.75 gear rear, junkyds are full of them, it wont giv a rip in a lite rod, tune it up , and all you have to do is hang on !! you wont need no overdrive or under drive. hmm do I sound like a Buick guy?
The 8.8 can handle a lot of power if the right parts are used. There are a boatload of high HP Mustangs running 8.8 with no problem and beating the crap out of them
Are the G-bodies the same width or wider? I'm guessing wider. Anyway...I know it fits in the G-body. GM actually fit a 454 into an S-10 Blazer out at their AZ skunkworks. Have fun with it.
*8.8 ford has the same strength as a chevy 12 bolt. Not sure for certain but I know they use s-10 axles in g bodies something about the guts being tougher and the width being the same. And the s10 manual steering box is what they put in g bodies for drag racing. A buddy has a 454 in his 79 Malibu and it's tight tight tight around the headers but not much tighter than the old 71 firebird or the 68 nova. I picked up an 82 regal recently and although I know the 430 I have will fit It's gonna be tight. I don't like jacking up to change oil so I'm thinking of lopping off the frame rectangle tube the front to make room for my Mitts and then running a gasser axle and center drive trailing arms on it with a 6" lift so I don't have to stoop down into it or jack up for pm... but it's not for the HAMB... its the other meat. Looking at the s 10 frame you might be able to straight axle it like shakey pudding and get lots of room. I'm sure the old truck frame would be better but if you don't have one...
If you keep the cam stock and don't beat on it the engine might be fine, but I would definitely modify the oiling. I had a 1970 455 in my 3750 lb 1965 skyark. It was a torquey motor stock, it ran 13.50's at 100 with a quadrajet and stock iron manifold, poston swap headers and 3.55:1 gears shifting at 45-4600 rpm . I put in a poston gs113 cam and Edelbrock B4B manifold on it and it ran a best of 12.50 at 105. while at the track a buick guy asked what I had done to the motor, and asked if I had modified the oiling I had not , so spinning the motor to 5200 playing with it and the dragstrip trips melted the cam bearings like cheese, I had to beat the cam out from the back freeze plug hole to get it out. Save yourself some time and money and fix the problem before it arrives.
My first thought after reading the post title: "Whoa, a big block Buick post, C9 would have really got his teeth into this". Guess he did. Nothing says HAMB like reading a post by C9 about Buick engines, fabrication and materials, or even one of his many stories that he shared here. If a guy was going to drag up a five-year-old post, he could do a hell of a lot worse.
Got a 455 4 speed setup in an 81 Regal, bolt in except for frame mount holes, uses 68-72 Skylark headers with minimal trimming. all you need for std.is a flywheel and pound in a common GM pilot bushing. Motor is narrower than Caddy 500. I have an Offy 2X4 setup from swap meet ($125 with carbs & linkage) and a free 8V 71 blower that are going on it now with a chain drive. I refuse to pay $4500 for a blower setup I can do for pennies on the dollar
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