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Anyone swap in an OLDS 455?

78Suburban

78Suburban

1/2 ton status
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I have a line on a dirt cheap olds 455 I can hear run. Any body got a price/ part number on the bellhousing adaptor? How about motor mounts? Any things to look out for?
thanks,
James
 
My dad got one out of a junk yard, right off the ground for dirt cheap. Slapped it in place of his old 350L (diesel 350), no rebuild or anything, and it ran like a champ. It was still going strong when he sold the car years later. That motor had balls too. :thumb:

Olds Delta 98's in the early 80's had the diesel 350's (well at least some anyway). If you can't find the mounts online, you might try looking around the salvage yards for one of them.
 
Will my power steering pump and alternator bolt right up? What kinda carbs did they have? Q jets?
thanks,
James
 
A friend of mine put a 455 in his 1/2 ton GM short bed about 5 years ago used the diesel mounts with a BOP TH400 hooked to a NP205.Thing went like a rocket:grin: and was a easy swap,only problem he had with an open rear diff was melting 1 tire!
 
78Suburban said:
Will my power steering pump and alternator bolt right up? What kinda carbs did they have? Q jets?
thanks,
James
Click to expand...

I don't know for sure. It was years ago when he did it.. 1988 or so. I don't remember what, if any mods he might have done. I thought I remember it swapping over pretty easy though. :dunno: Shortly after I was away at college, etc. So I don't really remember looking around under the hood a lot. I drove it a few times for dates when my truck was down for repairs, but that's about it. You could run into an Auto zone and take peek at the Olds Helmes manual and see what the factory set up looked like. The one thing I do remember was, ... it ran like a scalded ass ape. :laugh:

There was a guy in a fairly new bronco who was a little impatient a few cars behind me once. When we got out on the highway I could see him coming on pretty hard. I waited until he was along side me with his full head of steam, and I dropped the hammer on that biatch.. left him in the rearview. Then, ... just for the giggles it supplied.. I let him do it again , and again .. each with the same results.. :haha: My girlfriend just looked at me weird while I laughed my arse off.... I'll never forget the look of frustration on that guys face. :D I couldn't even get mad when I fianlly let him go by while he shot me the finger... :rolleyes: But of course, being young, I just had to blast past him one last time. I thought he was gonna ****... :haha:
 
I'm really liking the sound of this.. I surely hope this motor hasn't already been sold.
 
I don't know how close the motor mounts etc are but I was looking at my 455 Buick and its gonna be cake to swap it in. Mine was in a chevy already when the po pulled it it had a BOP adaptor for the trans if you dont' want to get a new trans pretty simple peice. I also can't wait to get mine in as I havent had anything with much power for a long time
 
I really doubt the swap is gonna be a walk in the park. Your better off getting your current motor running.
 
Now once agian I am talking about a buick motor here but the part numbers for the alternator and power steering pump are the same as on my small block and from what I have seen buick pontiac and olds 455s had 800 cfm carbs while small blocks had 750 cfm. Not a big enough difference to worry about. Exhaust might be tricky, unless you are using stock manifolds. The starters look to be very similar according to Checker my 455 starter is the same price as a small blocks starter. I disagree with zero somewhat I don't think the swap will be that hard but it won't be a straight swap either. But man have you seen the numbers these motors put out stock! Awesome
 
Battery is on the opposite side, as is the starter. Alternator can be too, but that's dependent on AC or not. You've always gotta be careful with power steering pumps. I'd say you are about 75% sure to end up with incorrect pulley alignment trying to mix and match. There are probably what, at least 4 different power steering mounting methods, and the pumps themselves aren't the same. (the low pressure fitting location plus any studs used on the pump body for brackets)

Obviously it can be done, if the motor is complete, it is going to be a whole lot easier. Diesel drivers side battery tray would solve the starter issue easily.

I think R77K10 (hope I got that right off the top of my head) had some Olds parts out of a truck, perhaps the mounts too?
 
olds 350 was in a billion different vehicles 78-85

c-10 pickups, caprices, oldsmobiles buicks pontiacs, wagons, you name it,

go to wikipedia and look it up

ive owned a few, an 83 caprice and an 81 c-10 for starters, with 5.7 diesel, there was also a 4.3 diesel and a smaller one too, i think the 2.5

good luck
 
So what years was the diesel 350 offered in chevies (the pre 6.2 motor)? Does anyone sell these motors mounts online? This will probably be the hardest thing to find.
 
First year of the 6.2L in trucks was the last year of the Olds diesel in them, so I'm guessing 1981, as I believe the 6.2 debuted in 1982.

As was mentioned above, there were thousands of vehicles other than trucks that had them in it, I just don't know if say, the Olds mounts in a Caprice would allow you to bolt that motor into the trucks. I'm sure someone can answer that, it was extremely common to dump the 350 Diesel and swap in an Olds motor of that vintage.
 
I think 1978 was the first year that GM tried the Olds converted diesel in the trucks. I believe it was a 2WD 1/2 Ton option only if that helps you out while bone yard hunting for mounts and brackets.

Tom
 
455 Buick is a whole other monster. The Olds brackets, water pump, etc. are completely different from SBC. Dist. spins the other way, starter on the other side. An Olds 350 is physically bigger than a SBC. Olds 350, 403, 400, 455 all share the same external parts except the intake manifolds which are small block, big block dependent. You're on the right path with the Olds 350 diesel motor mounts. Find a set of those, and with the adapter plate (about $50 last I checked from Advance Adapters, assuming you're running an auto) and you'll be golden. Just make sure to get the motor complete. It will make the swap a lot easier. PM me if you have any questions with the Olds stuff, it's my other hobby.
 
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