Want more power out of my 86 estate 307!!

Need ideas of how to get more horsepower, out of my 86 buick estate with a 307, I'am going to put full magnaflow exhaust, air filter, what about upgrading distributor, coil, electronic ignition? Also it is the computer controlled carb, and I do not want the upgrades to affect the drivability, I use this wagon as a daily driver for our business. http://thedentco.shutterfly.com

 

a engine swap is your only help, unless you put a 150 NOS shot on it or a turbo or blower.

your a victium of the corp change over with all the divsions lost their ID, when corp GM puts in what's good enough, insted of when under Buick, you got more then enough.

only the turbo 3.8 cars were exempt from that, those left in Buick made sure they didn't ruin that last final hurray and it was all Buick.

 

What are you talking about? The oldsmobile 307 is a good motor, and I know there are plenty of people out there that have made descent power out of that motor, I just want to know what combos people had the best luck with!

 

Your 86 has the roller cam 307 with the tiny-port 7A heads. You will spend a lot of money on bolt-on parts and will see very little improvement. Swapping the 307 for an Olds 350 or 403 is by far the most cost effective way to increase HP in this car. Be aware that anything you do to increase HP will dramatically shorten the life of a stock 200-4R transmission.

 

the only way you will see any extra horsepower out of that 307 is dumping tons of money into it. i have a 88 with a 307 and i did the performance parts and all that and got no more horsepower. best bet is engine swap.

 

My wife's '89 Cadillac has a 307 Olds engine. I don't think all the performance parts available would help it. Drop in a 350 or a small block 400. If you have a highway gear in the rear end, swap a set of 3:55s.

 

Don't waste your money on a 307 if you want performance. Nothing wrong with the 307 as a driver but if you want power your best bet is an engine swap and tranny build. With that said, you can check out Popular Hot Rodding mag, issues Feb 09 and Nov 09. These guys got 434 HP out of a 307.

 

Hey, Fox, did it mention what it cost to build that 307? I would buy a 350 crate engine either ready-built or stock and add some extras.

 

I don't remember, DG. My car builder friend showed the articles to me and I perused them rather quickly. HE said there wasn't as much money in the Feb 9 issue engine as I might think. I question that statement but this guy has built a LOT of engines in his day. The reason I scanned the articles quickly is because I felt then and feel now that your plan would be more cost efficient and give you more power if you wanted it. My answer was always to build a 455 and drop that in. I love the 455 big blocks but they do flatten out at a little over 4000 RPM's unless you build up a lot of HP. And any of the OEM heads were just not conducive to a lot of power along with the typical Olds oiling problem. If I did another box wagon today I would likely do what you suggest. I would probably get a 70 Olds 350 and build that a little. I think it would probably be the operative engine for those wagons. I know GM, like everyone else, was fighting the emissions battle at that time, but, I wish they would have put in the Olds or Chevy 350 from the factory. It would have been the perfect wagon IMHO.

 

I loathe my 307's performance. 0-60 in 20 minutes lol. Leaks oil, burns oil. It is very reliable though in the fact that even when it was -30 outside it would still start.

 

Pull the valve covers, clean out the sludge and clean out the oil returns in the heads with a wire or something, CE. Then put on new valve cover gaskets, run SeaFoam through it or the stuff that HandyAndy recommends and you will see a marked improvement.

 

Yeah, and that engine was hand-built at a cost of well over $10,000. It also was completely un-streetable. Peak HP number sound impressive but it's the area under the torque curve that matters for street driveabilitiy, particularly in a heavy vehicle with a low-numerical rear axle. To get peak HP numbers out of a small motor, you need lots of RPMs and sacrifice torque in the process.

 

Yup...that's why I always liked big blocks. Lots of torque. HP puts smiles on faces but torque wins races. I don't ever suggest building a 307 as I have indicated here often. Just thought I would show that others have done it. I don't know why but they did it.

 

The Engine Masters Challenge has somewhat convoluted rules that take into account cost and displacement in addition to HP and torque when scoring the winner. This engine was built specifically to the rules for the 2008 competition with no consideration for driveability.

 

Also OP its a wagon, not a stripped down 2200lb gutlass, you got a 6000lb wagon........

The 307 is fine engine but not in a tank............