1976 Skylark S/R

i think Buick took the "S/R" from the then popular high-altitude survailence and recconscence(spy), plane(SR71Blackbird). interior parts are available online, depending on what you need. i drive a '79 le sabre four door with 276,000 miles on the drivetrain, its a 350 4 bbl. buick engine, who would of thought one of these motors would last over 30 years.

Never thought of the SR71, I figured they didn't like chevy's RS, LOL. Thanks. I drive a 76 Skylark S/R with the odd fire V-6 with 320,000 miles on the original drivetrain, heck of a motor! I'll do some more digging online and look, again, Thanks!

your welcome, i thought about gettin one of those "nova" based 'larks and puttin a 455 stage I motor/short shaft th 400 from like a '74 le sabre lexus in it. keep the single exaust. i suppose a guy could source a X-member from a appalo,ventura,omega, maybe not an omega cuz no big engine option for that model. the only real foreseeable problem would be a visual inspection for the emmision controls, like no real reference for that engine/model combo in '75/'76. maybe set the stage motor up with '76 vacuum/emission routing/q-jet/air cleaner assy. heck, even a stock 455 in that car would be fun(r), to drive. up grade to a 3.42:1 posi unit in that 10", set of buick 5 on 4 3/4 15X7 wheels, HD front sway bar, not sure what mods you do to a leaf rear set-up, as i've only owned a/b/c-body's, is that a x body?

Yeah I thought about the 455 also! I don't have to worry about emissions and already have dual exhaust. The front springs and stuff are already set up for a v-8, I guess it was ordered with it, I have load leveler shocks on back and front still sits higher than back. Had air shocks on it at one time and that lifted it up but the wife didn't like the ride. It is an X body also. It has a th350 trans that I built for it to replace the junky th200! running 235-60 tires all around, going to do something just not sure, thought about stage 2ing the V-6?? It would be unique. It also has a front sway bar but I've never measuered it to see if it's the heavy duty or not, it's got a nice diameter to it though. I had a 77 skyhawk with the V-6 I built and it ran real good until some guy rear ended it, ran low 12's on stock tires and good nights. Just not sure if I want the V-6 or up to a 350 or 455, decisions decisions LOL

cool, thanks for the info. i never have heard anything good about the th 200, i think GM was replacing quite a few of them under warrenty for awhile, finally used the th350 as a service replacement.

s/r stands for sport/rally. i own an all original s/r with 35k and have the original brochure stating what the s/r means.

S/R = Sport Royale -- a european inspired variation on R/S and S/S

Thanks, that's what I thought but wasn't sure. So Porsche31, what year is yours? Mine was all original until I changed the trans, again, a TH200 is nothing but a boat anchor. We are the second owners, I have the owners manual but didn't see in it what the S/R stood for, may have over looked it, not like a read it like a book! LOL Again, Thanks

...i think after a few years GM was putting TH350's under warranty in place of TH200's. thats a nice looking car. with a 350 motor it probably runs strong. cool

ours is a 1975 with the 350. it doesnt say s/r in the owners manual. I have an original dealer sales brochure that states what the s/r means. I also have the original set of dealer service manuals. We just bought a 1976 s/r in texas with 32k original miles and we are flying to texas in a few days to pick it up and drive it home to halifax, nova scotia, about 2500 miles. we will be on the road for 12 days. looking forward to the roadtrip, and the wife is looking forward to some shopping. Where are you located? We drove our 75 with the 350 on a recent road trip and got a solid 21 mpg, i thought this was amazing, but i also took the original cat off and installed a full dual exhaust. this really helped. if you need any more info let me know. i could photocopy the original sales brochure for you if you want.

I'm in Georgia on the east coast.I saw a skylark for sale in Texas, is it white and black? Yeah the wives love shopping don't they! I get about 14 mpg but again, it has over 300,000 miles, if not 400,000, we baought it in 86 and it showed 22,000 and I know it had rolled over at least once and it may have had 222,000 when we bought it, the original owners weren't very talkative about the actual mileage. And we have put over 200,000 miles on it ourselves. I also took the cat off and installed duals, still running original carb, the only thing I've done to the motor is replace the timing chain, twice, and valve cover gaskets. Thanks on the sales brochure, I'll keep that in mind, I have been looking for interior parts, but can't find any. A Skylark was on ebay a few days ago in Canada, but they wanted $16,000.00, not worth it, I just wanted it for parts!

hey, we were visiting friends in canton georgia a few months ago. We love that whole area. The skylark we are picking up in texas is red with red interior with the 231 in it. wow, you put a lot of miles on the car, you might as well enjoy it. Thats why we prefer to drive the long road trips. We get to see a lot of the U.S. and meet a lot of great people. Check out the completed ads on e-bay for a 1977 nova i just bought. It is an original 350 4bbl, m20 4 speed, 308 posi, heavy duty suspension, and bench seat car. It was special ordered and has all the original documentation. It seems to be a very rare car. I am very excited to get this. Now my wife has to drive a car back to nova scotia, shes not real happy about that part but she wants to drive the nova. We are picking up the nova in maine. wow, 16000.00, that would have to be an amazing car. Prices in canada tend to be high, thats why i buy my cars in the U.S. Its good chatting about the s/r , they are rare. Enjoy putting the miles on yours.

S/R is the special edition performance package that was available for few years. And you can find the aftermarket parts in Amazon. http://bautos.net/

Sports/Rally I almost bought one in 1976 when I bought my 76 Skylark

The S/R is nice, the V-6 has surprised me to go over 300,000 miles and just add timing chains to it, would like a V-8 tho, maybe soon. Hey Porsche, hope all is well, send some pik of your cars to me! gopherteft@hotmail.com would like to see them and let me know if your back down this way!

Hey porsche31! been awhile hope all is well. If it isn't to much trouble I would like a copy of the brochue if you can! I can put it up with the extra owners manual I have. just email it and some pics of your cars if you don't mind to gopherteft@hotmail.com. Thanks and take care1

Hey gopher. We had a great trip to Texas and there were no surprises with the Skylark or the Nova. The Nova we picked up in New Hampshire. Both cars worked great and are home in my garage now. I will send you some pics of our cars and the sales brochure. I will be sending from my home computer. You will be getting on e-mail from m_e_b60@hotmail.com. Good chatting with you. Talk to you soon.

i am new to rebuilds, please help!!! i have a 77 skylark VIN(fifth digit) "C" that needs a new motor, i was told that you can only use the 231 v6 "odd fire" to pass smog and get through CA DMV but then i did a bunch of research and found that other people where putting 350's and 455's in. my question is if i were to put a 350 in or the 231 v6(even fire) what do i need to do?... ie. change bellhousing? change flywheel? egr? smog pump? what are all the necessary things and way to go about it, can i just use the bellhousing i have with any one of those motors??? i know someone who has a 231 even fire that is set in a manual vehicle supposedly, can i put that engine in my 77 skylark?? and what do i need to do if soo???? thank you!

Not sure how far back your DMV goes for smog controls, here in Georgia, it's 25 years which puts your car past the time and you can put what ever moter you like in! If you go with the V6 even fire you do not need to change anything, just use your automatic transmission, bellhousing and all! You may need to change the flywheel, check with your local parts store and see if your engine uses the same one as a 77 V6evenfire automatic engine, if it does, ok, if not, you will need to buy one for the 77 V6evenfire automatic. I am guessing you have an automatic? If so, it is either a TH200 or TH350 transmission, more than likely. Either one will bolt directly up to the evenfire engine, course a TH350 transmission is better. If you go with a 350 engine, your transmission will also bolt to it, again, check for the right flywheel again. If you go with the V6evenfire, everything should transfer from your oddfire EXCEPT the exhaust manifolds! Of course, this holds true for the 350 also, but oddfire and evenfire V6 exhaust are different! Smog pump, altenator, PS pump and the such should be the same or you can just use the oddfire set, it should not matter. Exhaust and flywheel are the only things I can think of that you will need to change. Check the flywheel, pull the motor and exhaust manifolds from the evnfire car and install in yours and you will be set! Going with a 350, you will need new exhaust, flywheel, brackets for PS, Alt and such unless you get it from a junkyard and all of it is included. Good Luck and Have Fun! If you need anything else, Ask!

To Gopher- CA DMV is 30yrs so 75 and older, so I am stuck with strict emissions regulations. I was told if I put in a different motor other than an odd fire 231 v6 early 77 I will have to have all the original emissions controls that comes with the motor and I will also need to have the same wiring harness. If I put in a 91 newer v6 in will I need the wiring harness for that engine?? I'm assuming so cause newer engines have newer wiring harnesses and different connections than a 77 wiring harness. If this is all true for CA I will need to make sure I have the transmission /bellhousing and wiring harness and all emission contorls for the particular motor I choose to install....so ive been told by CA BAR our emissions headquarters. Again I am new to rebuilds so sorry for the redundancy you've probably heard and know about. Thank you.

OK, Sorry, I thought the evenfire V6 you were talking about was a 77 also. In that case, the 91 evenfire is way different. And yes, on the 91 you will need the newer wiring harness because of all the computer sensors and crap they put on them. But 30 years only goes back to 1982 so you should be OK! If not, Not sure about your finances, but check Advance Auto or some other parts store and see how much a 77 oddfire V6 long block would cost. Nowadays it is cheaper to buy a rebuilt than rebuild it yourself, junkyards sometimes offer good deals but you really do not know what your getting. As far as other people putting in a 350 or 455, if you get around the same year as your car, it is not too much trouble, the wiring harness may actually be the same. The exhaust manifolds, flywheel will definitley need changing and a few other things may need changing. The transmission and bell housing will still work. If you go that route, check with the local Buick dealer and see if the alt, AC and power Steering brackets are the same, if not, hit your local junk yard for them. Let me know if I can help any further!

True, I wasn't doing my math on the 30 year thing but CA DMV is 75' and older for now, they are trying to pass...well they did try and it was revoked but they tried to pass a bill this year to make it 81 and older, of course CA doesn't want to give up more ways of taxing people so they wont shave off those years.. yet?! It erks me that most other states are 25yr but ours is 37yrs...WTF..lol. Ok thanks for the info, been online researching since I got the car. I love it I just want to make it run and pass smog, it passed smog before but now that it has a thrown rod or has bad rocker/spring/pushrod that can make close to the same sound "a really loud clattering" it does not drive very well and presumably won't pass smog. I would prefer to put a powerful engine in it but I need it just run and not get tickets sitting or towed so Im trying to find the fast cheapest way to fix it for now until I can fully upgrade. Yeah I checked out a couple places "remanufactured.com" and such and they will build me that year and a couple other places too, I just gotta get the block and head numbers. It's not bad it will only cost me about 1700 for the block, shipping and everything, I already have all the other parts to transfer and emissions control, just trying to find something local and cheaper for now. Been thinking on having a local mechanic tear it open for me and rebuild it if it just needs a new bearing/rod conn. crankshaft or possibly the other pushrod/lifter/spring cause it's not dumping oil so it didn't puncture the block, it does however over heat in about 5-10min.???? Not sure if you know a more approximate reason why?? Thanks again for all your help, you have been a great deal of help!! Thank you!

Well I don't mind, I would love to see you get it running because I know how much I enjoy mine! If it is overheating in 5 to 10 minutes, either the block IS cracked, a head is either cracked or warped or the head gasket is blown, or a few other little things. Is it loosing water? The block can be busted and not loosing oil, just depends on where it is broken.'A really loud clattering" can be a few things, buick engines use plastic plugs to hold the rockers on the arm, one or more of those could have broken. Connecting rod could have broken, push rod broken or bent, dropped a vavle or 2! Does it smoke? Check the water level and oil, make sure no oil in water or water in oil. Having a mechanic tear it down could be expensive! Some good mechanics can just listen to it run and pretty much tell you what is wrong. Buicks also use a dampner on the timing chain, when they wear out, the chain will slap against the timing cover making a loud clanking noise! If that is the case, timing could be off causing bad running and over heating! How many miles are on the engine, the timing dampners usually go bad after 100,000 miles, but could go bad before of after also! Definitely something to look at, alot cheaper than a new motor! Not sure of your mechanic skills, but you can get the number one piston UP on compression stroke, take distributer cap off and the rotor button should be facing where the number one spark plug wire hooks to dist. cap! I would check that first! Cheaper, easier and a problem buicks have!On my 76 Skylark S/R with the oddfire V6, I use to change my timing chain every 110,000 miles, then I put a double roller timing chain on it and that did away with the dampners and no more problem! I have over 400,000 miles on my engine! Check that out, check the water and oil, we will get it running one way or the other and hopefully cheap! The car looks good!

Yeah my mechanical skills are ok, I have helped take apart an engine and install a couple so I know what to look for. Yeah I know about TDC and everything you just mentioned, I just don't know that much about which engine to swap but now between you and doing a ton of research it is getting more clear. What makes it really hard is the emission laws in California. I called a rep here and they said if I go with any other engine besides the odd fire which in 77 they stopped making them mid way through the year and I cant put in any engine older than 77 in california, that gives me a six month window from early 77 to mid 77 lol. also I have to make sure all the original emission controls are on it...lol F cali for that! Im all for clean air but somethings are just retarded..lol. They made the 231 v6 odd fire from 75-77 and I can't put in a 75-76 in cause it's older than 77 but it's the same engine!!! So if I decide to put in another engine anything besides an odd fire 231 v6 I have to put the matching factory bellhousing/transmission and emissions control that goes with that particular engine, it's just mind numbing that's all lol. I will pop the valve cover off and check the springs, slappers and rods and I will check the timing chain as well. Found out the water pump has a blown gasket that is why it's over heating and leaking too. It does blow "smoke" or vapor out the exhaust but there is absolutely no water in the oil or any signs of metal fragments, so no blown head gasket or serious internal damage yet...so far just from checking that.

Unfortunatly, you can still have a blown head gasket with no metal fragments or water in the oil or vice cersa, just depends on where and how bad the gasket is blown! A 77 evenfire V6 will use the same bell housing and such, but will not use the same exhaust manifolds. There were a few brief months in 77 where Buick used a oddfire block, evenfire heads and a oddfire distributor! I had one in a 77 skyhawk! Now IF you have that, a evenfire V6 will work perfectly! Yeah California laws suck! Not just car emissions either! LOL Good Luck and Let me know what you find!

Bad news but expected and u were right, opened up my valve covers and there were metal shards all over and on my pushrods....crap! I figured anyways, just hopeful thinking. Going to have to get a new block. I might be in luck, talked to a different rep and he said I can put whatever I want in it as long as it has the emmessions controls that go with that motor and obviously if it bolts up. Yeah I have the TH200 on my car 6 bolt pattern. I'll get it worked out. Thanks for all ur help and if I need any more I won't hesitate to ask...lol. Thanks again!!

Well good luck and let me know if you need anymore help! A TH350 trans will bolt right up in place of that TH200 with no problems except you need a vacuum line for the modulator valve! Good Luck!

I actually do have another important question, I just did a little research and will chevy engines bolt up to the th200 metric 6 bolt pattern? I saw on some forums that chevy engines won't?! I am so confused now because chevy made my engine the 231 v6. Does It have to be a Buick/Chevy engine...??? I was about to go buy a Chevy long block from someone and they told me chevy engines won't bolt to my Buick???? I do not have the universal bolt pattern for the th200 only has a 6 bolt pattern not the 10 bolt. So my other question is what engines and engine makes will bolt up to my Buick Skylark 6 bolt th200 metric with no conversions or mods, just fit right in and work...of course for california it has to be engines between 1977- 1994.

i think you're gonna need a Buick Oldsmobile Pontiac (BOP) engine to fit the BOP bolt pattern on the trans. was there an option for a larger motor, like a V8 for that car? probably was, i haven't been following this post, just sort of looking at some of the answers. if there was a chevy 305 option are you allowed to put that in there? i think the metric 200's were problematic and people swapped in TH 350's, like it was a bolt-in type installation with no mods. if this were so maybe source a complete drive train from some late 70's car and put that in there, with all the smog stuff, air cleaner housing, carb., mainfolds, etc. one things for sure, even a mildly warmed-over small block with the right mods. will pass calif. smog and probably run circles around whatever you can do to the V6 and keep it driveable. i could be wrong, who knows?!? i drive "a" and downsized "b" bodies in a smog exempt county. i try to keep all the smog stuff on there and working. i've learned how to trouble shoot the various parts and pieces and since the carbs. and distribs. are calibrated for smog i don't try to reinvent the wheel so to speak. it's simply a matter of "if a want more power, go to a larger engine", and all the stuff i need to get it to work. good thing there's a pick-n-pull close by, and a good supply of 70's GM scrap metal...i mean cars.

...by the way...is that picture of that silver car with the chrome buick ralley wheels the car you're wrenchin on? that cars clean. i thought the 'larks changed over to the nova-type platform in the early 70's and the regal/century was an "a" body. maybe the bodies look the same...hmmmm. i'd so want to 455 that car, but i guess your not allowed:( are those wheels the 15", with the 5 on 4 3/4" bolt pattern? just wondering what size brake drums and rotors they used on those cars. does it have coil springs all around? i drive a '79 le sabre with the standard brakes and it has wheels similar to those. did they use the 8 1/2" 10 bolt diff. in those? maybe i'll look into this, thanks...cool car

Yes it has to a Buick, Olds, Pontiac (BOP) engine and NO chevy did NOT build the 231 V6! Chevy made the 229 V6 and total different monster. Any engine made by those 3 will work, no chevy. I would not recommend a big block or even a 350 on a th200, your best bet is to add a th350 trans and the only thing you will need is a vacuum line for the modulator valve on the th350. I would go with the th350 trans even if you keep the V6! There were options that year for a v8, like a 260 and 307 or 305 or something to that nature, but a BOP 350 will work fine. bluRAYwhale, remember the saying "there is no replacemnet for displacement"! The bigger the better! LOL Course, I had a Buick V6 doing 11's in the quarter and street driven! Funny thing is, in the end, it wasn't worth it! To much time and money to drive everyday and have some ahole rearend you and ruin it all! But replace the th200 with a th350, use a BOP v8 or Buick v6 and let her rip! If you want a chevy engine, get a chevy trans! But I would keep it all Buick!!!!!!!!

I don't know how far you are but there is one in new jersey

Im in Cali but can I order it online and have it delivered, I got a 305 just the other day but if this engine is too much trouble I am going to keep searching for the v6 again?? TO: GOPHER TEFT~ So, I got myself a Chevy 305 V8 small block!!! year of engine about 87-88, it seems to have some new connectors and sensors of course than the 231 in my car now, my question is do I need to get the wiring harness for that year engine 87-88 or can I just use the 77's wiring harness and get put my bellhousing conversion plate bolted on and drop the motor in and hook it up leaving the other sensors not connected on the "newer'ish" motor. Buick Skylark offered the 305 as an option for the 77 Skylark so Im assuming I can just drop it in and go but I want to make sure I won't get dinged and fail smog if I don't get them same wiring harness or not connect some things. My ultimate question is if anything what do I need to do to get this 1987-1988 305 v8 small block (1 piece rear seal) dropped in and passing smog for me!!! Thank you! P.S. Im keeping the TH200 on the car, I won't be changing that out...yet. I just want to get it driving and registered and passing smog. : )))

That newer chevy engine has alot more sensors and crap the V6 doesn't have, I would just leave them plugged, The carb may cause a problem if it is throttle body or computerized, same with the distributer! You may have to buy a 70's or early 80's carb and dist. that is not compertized to swap for the ones on your 87-88 engine. Your other problem might be the radiator, is it big enough to support the V8? Sorry, but engine swapping ain't easy! And now of course you are going from a V6 to a V8 so your exhaust manifolds will not work! But Yeah, I would use the original wiring harness, it should still wotk, check the carb and dist. to make sure they are NOT computerized, change exhaust manifolds, get the V8 motor mounts and you should be good to go until you hit the little things that may pop up!

In the long run you will probably wish you had stuck with the V6! The oddfire V6 is what Nascar used in the old Grand National series back then. You can get ALOT of torque outta them babies! Plus it would really piss other guys off with V8's to find out they were beat by a V6! I know, I use to do it! LOL

Yeah its computerized, I'm going to have to get a new distributor anyways cause this one is not complete, could I just use my v6 carb?? I figured I would have to change the exhaust. Could I also use my same smog pump and BPV/BOV from my v6? Really I want to keep the 231 v6 I have and keep it as original as possible but I found metal chunks and shavings all the way on top of the heads under the valve covers where the springs are so I'm assuming it circulated all through the engine and the engine is toast and not reusable......... Unless u think it can be salvaged and it by chance didn't get in the piston bores????? If it is possible that I can just rebuild the 231 with out having to re-bore then I'm down.... I just don't want to get into re-boring but I'm down to change some rings and connectors and crank shaft.

Not sure if the V6 carb will work, may be to small. As far as not boring the block, who knows, you would have to take it to a machine shop, let them clean and then mic it!

Thought you guys might appreciate this!!! This is the 231 V6 3.8L Odd Fire engine that I pulled from my 77 Skylark that I am rebuilding thanks to GopherTEFT's advice. She's a beaut, with the metal gaskets and all and nice original blue paint under all that grease!!! It's like stepping back in a time machine, it's awesome! Pulled almost all original pieces and they all are still good to use, the valves, pushrods and everything seems to check out 35 years later!! WOW.

Nice! Glad you went this route! Just remember to throw in a Double Roller Timing Chain to get rid of the dampners!!!

Would anyone by chance have the 77 skylark 231 odd fire vacuum schematic for California emissions or at least the basic diagram for the 77 231 cause I have searched endlessly and can't find it except buying a 30+ dollar manual for 1-2 pages of info, Ive already been on autozones listings and 100's of other sites. I found the 78 version but it is different from the 77 231 v6. If u do have this please post the pic. = )

.....or post good pics of the vacuum layout of ur car if it is the 77skylark 231 with an air pump and bypass valve(BPV)...it can not have those emission extras if yours doesn't. Also does anyone of you have spare parts like pistons, connecting rods, timining cover, crankshaft, block, rings, bearings, hydro lifters, gaskets etc that are in good usable condition, I will be willing to buy them from you for a fair price. Check my question above this one too please if you missed it. Thank you!!!

The vacuum layout should be on a sticker under the hood, if not, check with your local buick dealer, they can print it out for you! There is a website out there but I can not remember it, sorry. As far as extra parts, I have none. I have a 78 V6 Turbo engine sitting in the garage, but it ain't going anywhere! LOL

Hey gents! I rebuilt the motor every things back in the car but I am can't seem to get the timing down on it. I have read several forms and some say its 1-6-5-4-3-2 for my odd fire 231 v6 and some pics show a distributor with the numbers collating to the cylinders however when I bought it it ran and I noticed they had the distributor wires backwards according to the pics I have come across online and leading to the cylinders in opposite order.... being diver side 2-4-6 and passenger 1-3-5 but I've always known cylinder 1 starts on driver side!!!??? this is completely throwing me off. I know you have set the timing for your car, if you have an odd fire engine please tell me what you did please! what wires go to what banks and which bank? and do I point distributor at 1 or 6 cylinder because the diagrams online showS 1 pointing at 6!! It is all backwards! Just tell me from start please...like find TDC OR BDC?, then point which distributor tower where because the online shit is completely misleading. Thanks guys!!

The firing order is 1-6-5-4-3-2, with cylinder one (1) being on the drivers side front. Get engine on TDC, being if you put the timing chains on mark, number one (1) will be the prong just before the protruding base for the battery, tach and computer wiring hookup! Which makes cylinder 6 the first prong AFTER the connection space! Remember, it is an odd-fire engine and will skip because of the missing prongs on the dist. cap! If you look at it, it is an 8 cylinder cap with 2 prongs missing! At TDC, number 1 cylinder wire will point to #1 on dist. cap. Hope this helps, if not, let me know and I will try to take pictures and download them!

P.S. if everything is aligned right, the protruding hookup on the dist cap will be pointing towards the upper radiator hose, or in that general vicinity.

sorry, just to clarify, drivers side cylinders are 1,3,5 and passenger side cylinders are 2,4,6.

thank you, yeah i got all that down, made sure to line up timing marks before assembling and TDC and everything. funny thing is that my plugs were set up to be 2-4-6 driver side before i removed the engine and it ran before i removed it, (this is if you are comparing the references of the cap prong locations online) but i did a bunch of research and a few other people had it hooked up as if #1 was on #2 prong and even #3 prong saying that it actually ran better in this position. #1 prong on the cap is suppose to be by the battery hook up like you said and thats what it shows online but a guy said that #1 is by itself and has a short combustion spark time, if you look under the cap you will see that #1 and #2 are both short tabs and the rest are long tabs for a longer spark time. it is suppose to fire as 1- 65 - 43 - 2. (1 and 2 tabs are alone, 6-5 and 4-3 are together...so ive read) but this guy and a few others ive seen online have #1 wire at either #2 prong or even #3 prong on the distributor cap... weird but they quoted it ran good at this setting because since #1 wire is now on #3 prong it is on a longer tab for a longer spark time for number 1. go figure??! my engine won't start in the position you are talking about for some reason and ive checked everything like 50 times (carb, vacuum lines, distributor placement, reassessed my rebuild...everything) so i am going to try these other ways and get back to you and let you know what i came up with. thanks for all your help.

the pic above is not my distributor, this is how somebody else has there's set up, notice the numbers on the wires and where they lead, i have like 3 other pics like this that they have the wires on "different prongs" according to the online info. here is another from someone else

here is another.... this is the "2-4-6" driver side set up.... weird, i know. this is how mine was set up but the "battery / tach" area was facing down at the throttle spring or what would be #1 cylinder driver side but is now #2..lol like the pic above. i know its really just relative to what wire leads to the "first" front cylinder and if the rotor is pointing at that prong and the cylinder is at TDC, theoretically the engine should start no matter what at that point.

Got her to fire up yall!! Thanks for all your help!!!! ALLOT!! I think I might be 180 out of phase but in the next few days I will correct it. Sounds good, with a little rumble and tumble. This has been an awesome experience. NOTE: I had to buy longer pushrods because the damb Gasket set that I got came with the new FEL PRO PERMA TORQUE and those are like an 1/8 of an inch thick, very thick head gaskets, those of you who have changed the original head gaskets know the original gaskets are as thin as a sheet of paper and metal much smaller than the FEL PRO'S, if you go with another head gasket that is thicker you are going to have to buy longer pushrods to compensate for the raised head... or change out the gaskets again and as you know these engines don't have adjustable rockers....I didn't want to change the head gaskets again so i footed the bill and got longer pushrods 8.85 to be exact. That was the whole problem why I thought i had the timing off in the first place, turned out to be the valves were not opening and closing at all because of the raised head from the thicker gaskets. I rebuilt this engine from almost all used parts from pick n pull, i lucked out and found an engine that had a good crank and bearings and pistons and replaced what was needed. Thanks again Guys!!!! Love hearin my baby purrrrrr.

Congrats! Hope you have fun riding around in it, especially being proud that YOU put it together! That makes it that much more enjoyable!

Thanks to GopherTEFT and others again on helping me with this rebuild, CHECK THIS OUT http://77buickskylark.weebly.com/ Looking back on these post It is funny to read how little I knew about these engines and I thank everyone for being so cool about it and now I can tell you pretty much anything you need to know about this 231 odd fire because of your help and all the research I did. I gained allot of knowledge from this rebuild. All those questions up top I can answer now...even the different conversions. You can put any engine in this car as long as you match the transmission and emission controls with the engine you are putting in...doesn't matter. 305, 350, 455, even putting in a chevy engine as long as you get a conversion plate or the trans with the universal bolt pattern, if you go with a larger block you will have to update your suspension for the weight. Keep the engine under the year 93 or 94 I believe it is, when they started putting in the OBD and more complicated computers and wiring harness, otherwise you are going to have change your wiring harness if you go with anything over 93 or 94 on certain engines. I know I said it like five times but Thanks Again, most people on other forums completely ignored me and left no response but everyone on here was very helpful with me despite when I fist got on here I was like a badgering child. Very much grateful for your help and I wish the best for you all.

Hey Man, Glad to hear she's running! Take care of if, their a gem! We all have to learn sometime, it's just sad when some people take offense of somebody asking questions all the time! I know I bugged the crap out of my brother when I was learning and I don't mind returning the favor to someone who is really interested! Feels alot better riding around in it knowing YOU rebuilt the engine, doesn't it? If you are like me, I was smiling ear to ear when I rebuilt my first motor and got to cruise around in it! Anyway, Take Care of yourself and the Buick and Have Fun! If you need anymore help, just hit me up and I will do what I can! gopherteft@hotmail.com

Any one know what the idling RPM's are supose to be at for the 77skylark 231v6 3.8L, I have the sticker but the RPM's have been rubbed away? I also need the vacuum/emmissions diagram specifically for the 77 231 v6 3.8L. They have 75,76 and 78 online but of couse not the 77. I need the correct diagrams to pass smog here in california. Thank you.