Questions for everyone, Non Mopar

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rp23g7

rp23g7

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So, i guess Chevy guys can smell a ignorant Mopar guy even online. I tried to get answers on some chevy forums but no one answers me.

My son has a 1979 Monte Carlo. It has a 200 V6. 60 degree, distributor in front. Not sure of the trans. The car is a few hundred miles away.

Its pretty tired, over 190,000 miles on it. Its time for a new motor and trans, the motor has hardly any oil pressure at idle (light flickering) and the front trans seal is shot.

I was wondering who had the best Reman engines, planning to stay with the 200 for better milage. ART has a pretty good price on a long block. Planning to go with a aftermarket manifold, headers etc. Also wondering if anyone knows what the standard trans in it would be, markings, pan shape etc, to have my kid look at it and tell me over the phone.

I have read they came with TH200, TH200C and 200R4, I assume the 305 Montes would have a TH350.

Will a TH350 attach to a 200 V6? Thanks guys
 
Boy, I don't know. Sometimes a local, small rebuilder can be pretty good, so those of us out of the Seattle area would not know about 'em. You do know, of course, that is NOT a Chevy engine. Dist. in front would be a derivative of the old Buick/ Olds V6. The Chivvies all had the dist. in the rear.
 
You're dealing with a 231 Buick v6 (they are torquey little bastards, at least the one I have) and it should have the th200 bolted to it. Unless the th350 has a BOP bolt pattern then it wont bolt you. But understand that the non-turbo motors are seriously lacking in power and the th350 takes a decent amount to power it. You're better off with the 200R4 which give you the o/d gear.
 
You might look into having that motor gone through. I would bet it is in line price wise with buying a long block and if the engine is original to the car, you keep the original.
 
rp23g7,
Couple of quick questions. Is that the original motor for the car? IIRC the 60 degree 200 V-6 Buick (distributor in front) was not produced until 1980. The 90 degree 200 V-6 Chevy (distributor in rear) was available in 1979 as well as a 231 CI V-6 Buick. As far as the transmission the only AT options for 79 were the TH 350 and the TH 200. The TH200c was not available until 80 and the 200R4 became available in 81. The easiest way to tell the difference between the TH200 and the TH350 is the TH350 had a vacuum modulator on it and the TH200 did not. The TH350 was made with both a Buick bell-housing and a Chevy bell-housing so you can buy one to match your application. Where is the car located. I am 150 miles south of Seattle.
~Michael
 
41husk said:
You might look into having that motor gone through. I would bet it is in line price wise with buying a long block and if the engine is original to the car, you keep the original.
Click to expand...

Trust me on this, even with the factory motor the car will be worth more by dropping a very healthy V8 in it.
 
If you're bound to stick with that engine, Jasper makes some nice remans.
 
Sounds like a 231 with a 200 metric trans. I have owned a few of those in the past and put out better mileage with a 350 and TH350 running a 600 Holley carb. It is and easy conversion and the frame mounts are sold cheap at parts stores like Autozone and the like.
 
Dartman1969 said:
rp23g7,
Couple of quick questions. Is that the original motor for the car? IIRC the 60 degree 200 V-6 Buick (distributor in front) was not produced until 1980. The 90 degree 200 V-6 Chevy (distributor in rear) was available in 1979 as well as a 231 CI V-6 Buick. As far as the transmission the only AT options for 79 were the TH 350 and the TH 200. The TH200c was not available until 80 and the 200R4 became available in 81. The easiest way to tell the difference between the TH200 and the TH350 is the TH350 had a vacuum modulator on it and the TH200 did not. The TH350 was made with both a Buick bell-housing and a Chevy bell-housing so you can buy one to match your application. Where is the car located. I am 150 miles south of Seattle.
~Michael
Click to expand...

It must be the original engine, it sure looks like it was born in there. If it is a actual under bored 231, cant i just get a 231 and put in there, or does the 3.3 have different mounts than a 3.8?

I cant find any info about those engines anywhere, they must be the red headed stepchild motor.

Some info says that it was the first GM V6, made from a 267 by chopping 2 cylinders off, if thats so, why does it have the distributer in the front? Or did they borrow motors from Buick or Olds till they had a V6 for 1980?
 
rp23g7 said:
It must be the original engine, it sure looks like it was born in there. If it is a actual under bored 231, cant i just get a 231 and put in there, or does the 3.3 have different mounts than a 3.8?

I cant find any info about those engines anywhere, they must be the red headed stepchild motor.

Some info says that it was the first GM V6, made from a 267 by chopping 2 cylinders off, if thats so, why does it have the distributer in the front? Or did they borrow motors from Buick or Olds till they had a V6 for 1980?
Click to expand...

Chevrolet didn't offer a 60 degree V6 until 1980. It was built in one displacement of 171 cu in and available as a rear wheel drive configuration only in the Camaro and S10 pickup.

In 1979 and 1980 Chevrolet produced a 90 degree V6 of 200 and 229 cu in based, not on the 231 Buick, but rather the small block Chevrolet V8. If the car is a 1979 and has a 200 cu in V6, then that is what it is. It uses a common pin crank with the adjacient rods offset 18 degrees on the shared journal. In addition to the normal unique components of a V6, this offset rod journal means that although it shares architecture with the SBC, there are enough odd components like the crankshaft, rod, and rod bearings to possibly make it more expensive to reman than much more available V8.

This motor is internally balanced and shares all transmission related components with the SBC. The motor mounts and/or frame brackets to install motor mounts for a V8 are readily available, as would be a larger radiator if needed, as the car in question was also offered with a SBC.

The small block Chevrolet has been produced in the kazillions making it the most inexpensive and available motor produced by anyone and means finding a good junkyard or rebuilt example should be easy in any locale anywhere. For that reason I suggest the decision to install the V8 should be considered first and foremost. Finding a 200R4 to go behind the motor would make the decision even more of a no brainer. This motor and transmission combination would give you a usable and long life vehicle, far more enjoyable to drive, and very nearly as equal economically.
 
I had an 80 Olds with a Chevy 2.8L - 60º V6. A persistent issue with that engine was no matter how often you changed the oil, the top end oil galleries would eventually clog, really screwing up oil distribution, and pressure.

The only fix I found that really worked was to pull the valve covers every 35,000 to 40,000 miles and use a solvents and various oil gallery brushes ( bottle brushes) to clear the galleries. I would normally do this with the oil drained, and the oil filter and the drain plug removed. It usually took about 30-45 minutes, and if you do it during an oil change, your only cost is the solvent and some RTV for the valve covers.
Safety Kleen Worked well.

Just remember not to skimp on the solvent, and run plenty of it down the galleries through the oil pan and out into your catch pan.
You can rig up a catch pan as a sump to reuse the solvents pretty easily, too.

Hope this helps.
 
Yeah may as well shove a 350 into it, its too hard to find parts for that garbage V6 and parts you do find are way expensive. Jeep guys really like those V6's for their CJ's dont they?
 
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