308 in a vn........

[PaRaDoX]

hey guys,

i just had a offer that im finding very hard to refuse
ive got lpg going on very soon

my mates dad has a 308 with a manual 4 or 5 speed sitting under his house, and he said i could have it for $200, the engines done 250,000km and both are in good condition,

i know ALOT of work would be required to convert this but it'd be running straight gas, which means the computer would still control the fuel usage anyway

now i know the buick's have lots of sensors what would i do about that???
ill have to talk to foam more about it, but ive got the facilities to burn a chip for it and do the engine change

i figure id need
new kframe with engine mounts (older one)
raises suspension at the front??? although i doubt it, got superlows in there at the moment
some fabrication required for the manual shifter
a manual licence
retuned ecu
remove cat converter legally for a bit more bang

since i wont be running petrol i wont need a new pump

and im pretty sure he has the rest under his house
i could get a few dollars back for the v6 as its in good running order and id be selling it with the trans, i also have half of another engine in parts (heads, pushrods, rockers, inlet manifold ect) id give away with it

anyway need opions, anyone think its worth it??

 

[azkwazere]

Im not much of smarty to know the the complications of a 308 conversion... but it does sound hard. This aside i voted yes.... EVERYONE told me i was a ******** for getting my VN converted to manual... they were all like..."just buy a manual VN" but i wanted MY car to be cool... so i did it and its awsome!!!

So get your hoework done, talk to as many mech's as you can and go for it! Group A calais with a 308 would be a wicked ride!

aZk.

 

[PaRaDoX]

lol cheers, yeah,

the dude whose selling the 308 has a engine hoist and he offered to help me put it in, so its just getting all the parts i need

would i need to change the radiator at all???

 

[greenfoam]

If you want to run the ecu to control the spark you will need the electronic dizzy and the ignition module and what ever else it uses but you can do it old school and change that later if you wanted. So yeah go and grab a V8 K frame on the cheap of from a VB-C-H-K-L and see what happens. Can you find out if the gearbox has the turbo gearbox mounts or is it the trimatic/aussie 4 speed bolt pattern (will be better if you can bolt the T700 up without an adapter). Theres a non registered VN here with a old 308 in it (running petrol) non ecu style, built just for burnout comps and it's a beast

 

[pandaman]

If you want to run the ecu to control the spark you will need the electronic dizzy and the ignition module and what ever else it uses but you can do it old school and change that later if you wanted. So yeah go and grab a V8 K frame on the cheap of from a VB-C-H-K-L and see what happens. Can you find out if the gearbox has the turbo gearbox mounts or is it the trimatic/aussie 4 speed bolt pattern (will be better if you can bolt the T700 up without an adapter). Theres a non registered VN here with a old 308 in it (running petrol) non ecu style, built just for burnout comps and it's a beast

yeah like he said if it's the old trimatic/aussie 4 speed pattern you could have some issues with the transmission. If the manual gearbox with it is the old 4 speed manual then it'd probably be a better bet using an adapter and sticking with the T700 auto you've already got. Running an old 4 speed manual would probably require an egineers cert because you'd need to modify the gearbox crossmember.

Gas is a really great idea for this sort of thing because if it's running any emissions gear you can just rip it straight off, no need for a cat either. So you'll have tough as old school muscle in a VN body.

 

[pandaman]

Oh, right forgot. Yes you will need to change your front springs to ones that are designed for the extra weight of the V8, otherwise it'll be reeeeeallly low.

 

[greenfoam]

I reckon you could use a crossmemeber and even front tail shaft from one of the early commodores no problem since the floors are the same and going from Victorias rules at least you don't need a certificate. But he's decided not to vandal his calais anyway. But it would be cool to do to something a bit less classic and lighter like an VN executive

 

[AirStrike]

Is is it a 308 or 304? If its a 308 you cannot legally fit or engineer it. You cannot by law fit an engine with emmisions that are worse then what was offered from factory.
AirStrike :air:

 

[pandaman]

Is is it a 308 or 304? If its a 308 you cannot legally fit or engineer it. You cannot by law fit an engine with emmisions that are worse then what was offered from factory.
AirStrike :air:

Apparently he's decided against it anyway, but the beauty of it would have been that he was intending to put it on gas so emissions regulations no longer apply. So he could rip off the EGR, throw the cat in the bin, run the loudest exhaust legally possible (unfortunately noise emissions still apply) and give the EPA the finger. Thats the main reason why I think it's a good idea actually.

 

[greenfoam]

Is is it a 308 or 304? If its a 308 you cannot legally fit or engineer it. You cannot by law fit an engine with emmisions that are worse then what was offered from factory.
AirStrike :air:

Yeah straight gas, you can run a 253 in your VS if you really want to :thumbsup: