"Love & Hate for my "1978 Buick Lesabre, 2 Dr. Custom Coupe"

[Churd]

Hello to all the Bbodies out there, my name is Corey....I took on this project after I returned home from overseas combat in the fall of 2009. It was a way for me to take my mind to a more positive place. What has frustrated me the most with this car is that parts are a rare commodity for this car, and it actually took me some time to figure out that the car had the old Pontiac Bonneville engine in it. I am desperately trying to find or restore the A/C distribution box...so if anyone out here has any ideas, am all ears.

 

[Churd]

I forgot to mention that the engine is 4.9L 301 2BL ; 84,000 miles

 

[Photon440]

Hi Churd! While your Buick is indeed a B body, this is a Chrysler powered B body site. It's been almost 100 years since Walter Chrysler was president and general manager of Buick.

However, you never know. There are a bunch of guys here with general car knowledge that might have just what you need. Welcome aboard!

 

[Churd]

Great, thanks for the reply, am ready to take the car to the next level.

 

[dieseldazzle]

Green 9 second sleeper just like yours on YouTube. Small block on nitrous you should google it.

 

[polywideblock]

g'day from Australia , hey that ain't no mopar

 

[YY1]

I remember a class action lawsuit about gm putting "the wrong" engines i their cars mid 70's to mid 80's.

Pontiac with olds engines, chevy with buick engines all sorts of that.

That led to the "corporate" engine designation and eventually all chevy sourced power.

I knew several people that were part of the suit, and got new "correct" engines put in their cars for free.

 

[Billccm]

My dad purchased a similar car in 1979. That Pontiac 301 was bullet proof for almost 200k miles. This car was the last of the GM rear drive cars.
Looks nice. I like it!

 

[themechanic]

Thank you for your service. Welcome to FBBO.

I found another site that may have information you are looking for.

Good luck restoring another piece of American history.

https://www.gmbbodyforum.com/t216-buick-lesabre-coupe-1978

 

[Budnicks]

Another thanks for your service, it can't be said enough
Welcome to FBBO from NorCal

unfortunately your probably in the wrong place

I had a 97 LeSabre 2dr HT 12k miles silver/platinum
3.8ltr with a sofa like leather interior, that I inherited from my granddad...
Ain't no Mopar B-Body, but it was a great cruiser/freeway car 25-mph...

good luck with your quest

 

[Homstead]

A bit lost? Welcome to the site anyway! Maybe we can convert you to a Mopar?

 

[Bobo]

Hello to all the Bbodies out there, my name is Corey....I took on this project after I returned home from overseas combat in the fall of 2009. It was a way for me to take my mind to a more positive place. What has frustrated me the most with this car is that parts are a rare commodity for this car, and it actually took me some time to figure out that the car had the old Pontiac Bonneville engine in it. I am desperately trying to find or restore the A/C distribution box...so if anyone out here has any ideas, am all ears.

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Thank you for your service! Hey does this mean I can SNEAK IN My 70/GS/HEMMI KILLER! Going fast with class

 

[aldal]

Hey Churd, you got a beautiful Buick there. I'm sure if you get in touch with some hard core Buick folks you will be on your way to a really fun time. Good luck

Also thanks for your service man.

 

[rumblefish360]

Nice Buick! Wrong forum for extended help. LOL. But the best of luck with it.
Sorry to say I do not know much about Buicks or your madel.

But again, Nice car and best of luck!

 

[Billccm]

I remember a class action lawsuit about gm putting "the wrong" engines i their cars mid 70's to mid 80's.

Pontiac with olds engines, chevy with buick engines all sorts of that.

That led to the "corporate" engine designation and eventually all chevy sourced power.

I knew several people that were part of the suit, and got new "correct" engines put in their cars for free.

I had forgotten about this; I believe it started with Olds Cutlass that had Chevy 350s rather than the Olds in the late 1970s. Then GM started disclosing on the bottom of the window stickers the source of the motors.

Many Trans Am cars with 6.6l 403 Olds motors rather than 400 Pontiacs (the Pontiac being the better performing motor). Then the 5.0 Camaros with some having 305 Chevy and others 307 Olds (both bad motors in my opinion, but the 305 was probably a little worse).

I sometimes wonder if the failure of Pontiac and Olds had something to do with the 'dilution' of the separate make's DNA in the late 1970s. By 1978, a Catalina, LeSabre, and Delta 88 looked identical and the engines used were a crap shoot on who had what.

Of course, the same could be said about Plymouth and Dodge...................

 

[YY1]

But Mopar and fomoco had true "corporate" engines that were used across the lines of the different divisions since at least the 1950's.

 

[Greg Ducato]

Welcome to the site and thanks for your service. I own a 1984 Caprice and can tell you from experience there is a great deal of mechanical interchange between the B body GM's from 1978 to 1990. Try doing a component search on www.car-part.com in salvage yards in your area for potential leads on a parts car.