I swapped a 231 Buick into my 86/80 Strait Axle Toy. I currently have the opportunity to have a 95' GMC Sierra for FREE... The GMC runs great and has the 305, although, it does have high miles, and will probably be parted out. The Buick 231 in my Toy now has a Holley 600cfm 4160 Carb on it, with a Holley Street Dominator Intake setup. My question is: Would it be possible to swap the TBI setup from the GMC onto the Buick Motor??? Anybody have any good leads reference info for such a swap?? What could I use for an intake etc?

Thanks,
Ian

 

the TBI setup might be a bit rich for the 231 -- a better bet would be to get one off of a 4.3l chevy V6.

that said, you've got way too much carb and the wrong intake for that buick in a truck app....

 

I'm pretty new to the whole Carb thing (with exceptions to wheelers and bikes) and this is my first carbed motor in a truck.. I've had the truck for a year, and have done loads of work to it, trying to get it on (or better yet OFF) the road.. I've been trying to work the kinks out, and have thus far had no success in doing so.. The engine misfires, it overheats, it's just a bumbling mess... it starts
right up beautifully, but that doesn't last long.. This is the second 231 I've put in it... threw a rod on the first one... The first time around, I had a 390cfm Holley, on that same Holley intake.. I still have a stock 2 barell intake for the motor, and several different carbs... but with the exception of the one that's on the truck now, they all have to be rebuilt.. I believe I have a valve train problem on the motor now.. Vacuum skyrockets when you stomp on the gas.. so I'm thinking new heads/cam/lifters/roller rockers/ and pushrods hoping that will solve that problem which may be associated with the engine mis-fire and overheating.. Any suggestions on an intake?

Thanks Again,
IAn

 

for the intake you'll want something dual-plane and a bit milder most likely. maybe the one edelbrock makes, or something similar. single plane manifolds are better for high revving race apps.

as far as the carb goes, a 390 would suit that engine better. you could try one of the small truck avenger carbs, they're designed to go offroad but i don't have any firsthand experience. 670 is a pretty good sized carburetor -- my old work truck had a 383 chevy and a 600 holley on it and at times it almost felt like too much carb for that engine. IMHO i wouldn't go higher than a 500 on that buick engine, somewhere in the 400 range would be better if it was somewhat built.

 

A smaller carb would be better, Even a 250CFM would give you better responds, If you build it up with cams and such you shouldnt go over 400cfm at all.

To bad, I just sold my Wiend supercharger manifold for that engine.

 

hey would you prefer the 225 over the 231?

 

Epic bump.
IIRC, the 225 is the older buick engine that people swapped into CJ's and whatnot.
The 231 is alot newer, and is externally balanced. The 225 is internally balanced..

Also, i think the 225 is just a V8 with the front two cylinders removed, and it has a really strange idle. That could only apply to the odd-fire 225, though.

 

The intake won't work for sure. Just get all the injection stuff from the Chev engine and Megasquirt the 231, you might need an adapter for the throttle body due to it's 3 bolt mount flange. I belive the 229(3.8) was a 305 missing 2 cylinders and the 262(4.3) was a 350 less 2. I would run a 470cfm truck avenger on it if you want to stay carb'd, my buddy has one on a 229 v6 and it runs great.

 

I had a 231 in a 1980 Monza- worst engine I ever had. STOP spending money on it and either put the 305 complete into the truck or look to a 4.3L, or something else- 5mge? Sorry- I have to qualify this remark- unless the 231 is out of a GN turbo, I somehow doubt that tho

 

dfarr what is your opinion on the 225?

 

pulling my 231 this weekend to prepare for a TBI 4.3 swap......is this another route you could go?

 

Buick first introduced this series of engines in 1961 as the 198 cu fireball v6. I think it was one of the first v6's offered in an american car. It was essentially the Buick 215 v8 less two cylinders. In 64 its bore and stroke were increased to displace 225 cu. GM used this motor until 67 when they sold the tooling to kaiser-jeep who produced it under the name dauntless 225. Its was an option in the CJ series and J101 till 1971 when kaiser sold jeep to AMC. GM bought back the rights from AMC in 1974 when the oil crisis hit. The bore was once again increased to displace 231 cu. In 1978 GM redubbed it the 3.8, GM continued to produce this series of engine until 2008.

In my opinion this is one of the finest made motors ever produced and the 47 year long production run is a testament to the durability of this engine.
In fact I plan on putting a L36 in my truck when the 22re dies.

 

so ive got the 3.8 buick engine in my 83 was thinking of putting alll new parts in this engine or do i find a 4.3 to drop in? what would be more promising $$ wise??