Your Quick Question:
I have a '69 Jeep Gladiator with a Buick 350 engine. The engine is in good shape but I would like to build it with minor performance products (headers, manifold, etc). However, I have checked numerous parts stores and Web sites, but there are no products for the Buick 350.
Jp's Quick Answer:
It's true that the Buick 350 isn't as supported in the aftermarket as a Chevy 350 or even an Olds 350, but there are enough parts out there to wake up your engine.
If you just want to do a standard upgrade, you can get dual-plane aluminum manifolds from TA Performance (480/922-6807, www.taperformance.com) and camshafts from TA Performance and Kenne-Bell (909/941-6646, www.kennebell.com), as well as other companies like Comp Cams or Crane Cams. The manifold should be worth about 25-35 hp over your stock cast-iron anchor. Headers to fit your chassis probably don't exist and will have to be custom built. You can try Hooker, but it's a long-shot.
If you want a total rebuild, you can get pistons, bearings, and pretty much everything else you'll need through TA Performance. The '69 and '70 Buick 350s that came from the factory with four-barrel carbs were rated at about 10:1 compression, while the laters rated at about 8.5:1. You can up the compression to about 9.5:1 with TA's pistons or by milling your heads 0.040-inch. The '68-'74 heads came with 1.875-inch intake and 1.50-inch exhaust valves and don't have hardened exhaust seats for use with unleaded gasoline, while the '75-'80 heads 1.875-inch intake and 1.55-inch exhaust valves. You can install hardened exhaust seats into your early heads or just slap on a set of newer heads to get the hardened seats and bigger exaust valves. Both early and later heads have 59cc combustion chambers. The later engines lowered compression by using different pistons. If you go large with the cam, you should replace the factory nonadjustable rocker arms and valvesprings with ones like those offered by Kenne-Bell.
In the long run your Buick will be a lot more expensive to hop up than a small-block Chevy, but you can rationalize the expense by taking into account the cost of a Chevy conversion and the fact that you'll be running something different and cool under your hood.
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Your Quick Question:
I put a 3-inch lift on my XJ. I do mild wheeling from time to time, but I'm constantly afraid that I will ruin my Jeep's unibody frame, like pull it from the body! Are there some things I could do or install to keep the frame connected to the body without spending tons o' money? Would installing trailer hitches to the front and back make the Jeep's structure stronger?
Jp's Quick Answer:
Yes, the hitches would actually help some. But T&J's 4 Wheel Drive Center (714/633-0991) offers a weld-on chassis stiffner to keep the unibody in line. It will also make your Jeep handle corners and jumps better by keeping the movement in the suspension.
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