Buick 307 with TH200C - any good?

[turbojimmy]

As some of you may know, my brother came across a totaled '86 Regal. It's been in storage for about 10 years. At the time it was totaled, it had 25k miles on it. It's like being in a time-warp when you look at this thing. My brother bought it primarily for the transmission, which we had assumed was a 2004R. It's not. It's a TH200C. So now we have this 25k mile drivetrain laying around. It's no big deal because there were a lot of decent body and interior parts for him to use in restoring his T.

Anyway, my dad's been looking for a drivetrain to put in our '33 Buick Victoria Coupe. It currently has a straight-8 and a 3-speed. Not ideal for crusing around. Is the 307 and 200C a decent, reliable combination to drop into the '33. We're not looking for a street rod or anything, just something that will pull the car around decently and make it more reliable.

TIA,
Jim

 

[Joe Cancer]

The 307 is a reliable engine.But,whatever you do don't mention 307 and power in the same sentence.

 

[darkred87T]

It is a 4BBl and it's a very clean, low mileage engine/drive line too. I hope to get it running this weekend once I unwrap the core support off the engine.

 

[turbojimmy]

We're going to hook up a come-along to it and pull real hard. There's some potential for disaster so we'll tape it. It might not be as entertaining as the airbag video, but you never know.

Jim

 

[whtT]

The problem with that combo is really the 200C tranny.

Unless I'm completely off-base, the 200C is a three-speed with no overdrive. The 307 really needs some serious rear gears to move out of it's own way. But with those gears, you're going to turn some big RPM's cruising down the road with no OD.

In OD, at 70mph with 3.73 gears I turn ~2250rpm. Considering the engine redlines at 5500 and really doesn't like to be twisted above 4500 too much, you're going to have a run a lower rear gear. Just don't expect to leave anything behind at a stop light then.

 

[turbojimmy]

I think we'll probably put that Regal rear in the '33 as well. We're not looking for a drag car, just something to cruise around in. The straight-8 and 3-speed is a lot of work to keep running.

Jim

 

[SilverSleeper]

I would consider it reliable.
I got 130k out of my motor and trans before I swapped it for the GN drivetrain. Wasnt very good on gas without the OD though. Yes I had the 200C as well, which only had to be fixed once when I lost reverse gear on it.
It may not be a horsepower monster, but its quiet, reliable, has decent torque and lasted me a long time. 130k is pretty good considering all I did was throw new plugs wires and the general tune up stuff at it all those years. I put a K&N open element on it, with a better coil and splitfire plugs, a lower temp thermostat and that was about it. I actually modified the GN hooker dual exhaust to fit behind that motor before I swapped everything, and it really helped it out when you let it breathe better.

 

[turbojimmy]

I would consider it reliable.
I got 130k out of my motor and trans before I swapped it for the GN drivetrain. Wasnt very good on gas without the OD though. Yes I had the 200C as well, which only had to be fixed once when I lost reverse gear on it.
It may not be a horsepower monster, but its quiet, reliable, has decent torque and lasted me a long time. 130k is pretty good considering all I did was throw new plugs wires and the general tune up stuff at it all those years. I put a K&N open element on it, with a better coil and splitfire plugs, a lower temp thermostat and that was about it. I actually modified the GN hooker dual exhaust to fit behind that motor before I swapped everything, and it really helped it out when you let it breathe better.

Thanks for the info. Here's another question. If we go through the trouble of mounting up the 307/200C, how hard would it be to eventually swap in a LC2/2004R? Are the mounts in the same place?

Jim

 

[darkred87T]

We got it running this morning. It started right up and ran great.

 

[turbojimmy]

I hooked one end of the come-along to the hole that was left from the shattered RH parking lamp and the other end to the crushed rad support through the area where the headlights used to be. I cranked it down and it pulled out very nicely. The radiator is obviously shot but like Mike said, the stupid thing fired up like it had been running minutes before. It had been sitting in storage for almost 10 years. We didn't even change out the fuel.

Drove it around the driveway a little. If we could see past the crushed hood I'd have taken it around the block to hear the secondaries open on that Quadrajet. Even if it is slow it's still a cool sound.

The fun part is the 'hood thinks my brother wrecked his T-type. This thing is the same color so it looks identical. The fun part will be when mom comes home - she's been away for a week and doesn't know about the car. She's gonna think Mike had a pretty serious accident. Okay, maybe it's not funny. Here's some pics.

http://www.turbojimmy.com/86_limited.htm

EDIT: BTW, there will be lots of 25k-mile Limited parts on this thing that will be up for grabs. E-mail if you need anything.

Jim

 

[Alky V6]

The 307 is a good torque engine. It was the first engine I hotrod'd in high school. I didn't have a bunch of money, so I worked with what came in my 68 Chevelle, my first car. Eventually, did 12.0s with a mild street/strip build up. The 200C will be just fine for the purpose you stated. I built up a special 200C that took 650 HP with no problem. Go over 650 and you have problems with high clutch. All said, You'll be fine for the purpose you plan on using them for.

 

[whtT]

The 307 that was put in the Regals is a different motor than the one you're thinking of I believe. The 307 from the Regals was an Olds motor that makes 140hp and 255 ft./lbs. of torque. The 307 Chevy motor that was made from 1968-1973 was a 200hp and 300 ft./lbs. of torque motor.

Jim - make sure you check the Q-jet, almost always the secondaries won't open all the way from the factory. There's a bar you have to bend out of the way on the passenger side of the carb. Makes a huge difference.

 

[Alky V6]

Good chance your right on that one.

 

[darkred87T]

That's interesting information, my dad's 1980 Corvette has a Q-jet and it never seems like the carb opens up all the way. I wonder if it's that rod? I know there is another rod off the choke that holds the secondaries closed until the car warms up as well.