looking for threads/info 455 Olds swaps

[dubbyx]

First time over here to you guys... did a search and found a little information about swapping a 455 olds into trucks, but nothing definitive...

can someone please give me an idea of where to look for more information on this? Looking to drop one in an 84 K10 Suburban...


Thanks---

 

[diesel4me]

A few members have done it.

You might have searched,and read earlier posts here about that..I know of one guy who bought 2 1980 GM 2wd trucks from our local phone company,with grenaded Olds 350 diesels in them,and swapping in a 455 gas motor was a bolt it swap pretty much..the torque converter was different stall speed,but that isn't relevant to your question..

I think the exhaust was close but needed tweaking to fit the 455--he used the OEM single exhaust on one truck,headers on the other one..so if you could get Olds diesel motor mount pads,it should be a do-able deal..GM did it,so can you!--diesel 350 blocks and gas Olds are the same,AFAIK...

Another poster said using motor mount pads from a 403 equipped Pontiac Firebird will let the Olds motor bolt to the GM trucks..

What exactly do you need to know??..are you using and Olds tranny,or adapting to the Chevy tranny? . I'm unsure if the oilpan will be a problem on a 4wd,--I know Caddy 500's must be changed to a rear sump pan from an eldorado to clear the suspension..might be the same on the Olds too,and using a Toronado pan would work?...

Almost forgot!!--WELCOME TO CK5!... ..climb abord,buckle in,and HANG ON!!

 

[YZEATER]

i have a '78 chevy 1/2 ton with a 350 olds in it. had a 455 in it when i got it but needs rebuilt. anyway, mine has a 350 olds tranny with a 203 t-case bolted to it. it was all together when i got it. it also has short tube headers from a oldsmobile delta 88. they are a tight fit and require a little custom clearancing. any other questions let me know. advance adaptors does sell an adaptor for a olds motor to a chevy tranny.

 

[dubbyx]

I'm still debating whether or not to do the swap to be honest... my 350's getting rattly and it's always been underpowered...

Mostly I'm needing to know how to adapt the engine to what I've already got in my truck... basic suburban, 350/700r4/208 setup...

I found an adaptor plate that I believe will work for the tranny, but didn't know if there was a flywheel/spline change there. Figured the motor mounts and the oil pan would be about the only other problems. Naturally, I'd like to have headers on it, but the engine now has good exhaust manifolds so I could (at least temporarily) squeeze exhaust tubing down to my exhaust if I had to.

The biggest question I have though is whether it's worth it? I've seen a lot of guys that have done the swap, but no real comparisons of the two setups.



Thanks for having me here... saw the site advertised on some big-ol-crewcab running around Lubbock the other day and thought I'd drop in.

 

[dubbyx]

talked to advance adapters today and they do not sell the adapter... however, they referred me to a shop in NM, Maximum Torque, which does Caddy conversions... they do have the adapter, and a lot of information for anyone wanting a cadillac engine...

lots of cross info on Olds stuff too... supposedly, the top half of cutlass motor mounts will work to the BB mounts on the engine using the chevy lowers... the oil pan will clear easy enough, but the only thing may be the flexplate, in which it's easy enough to swap those out.

only other thing they warned me about might be the tranny locker needing a controller... I think I just may do this afterall

looking at about $400 in parts, which would be the same as putting a new cam in my 350 and still risk flatspotting the first lobe again...

 

[diesel4me]

Go for it..

You can buy that tranny adapter plate from Jegs and Summit Racing for about 70 bucks..TCI makes it I think..the same one is used on caddy motor to chevy tranny swaps..

There are several caddy sites online,not sure if any of them have info on Olds swaps,but probably someone there has done one.. try www.500cid.com there is tons of info there on caddy swaps..

If the oilpan is no problem,the flexplate wont be any hassle--only possible thing I can think of is perhaps the 455 only came with a TH400,and the flexplate might have only the TH400 torque converter bolt pattern holes,instead of both the TH350 and TH400 patterns,like most Chevy's do....but a TH400 converter will pop right into a TH350,thats one way around that dilema,IF its even a problem--.. Seeing GM put the Olds diesel in pickups,its a good bet it isn't that difficult to do,or they wouldn't have done it!..

The caddy motors biggest drawback is the oil pan..sump is on the wrong end except for eldorado's,and the oil pump and pickup tube is different too..getting hard to come by now..

 

[dubbyx]

was looking over the tech sheets for the 455 I'm planning on putting in (out of a '72 Delta 88) and found another thing that concerns me... starter is on the driver's side...

I don't see much negative about doing the swap right now... the 455 is about 60 lbs lighter than a 454 chevy, was "factory rated" at 390hp, and has a substantial amount more torque than my 350 which I'm guessing is about 220hp. I suspect I'll be able to find the rest of the weak parts in the driveline pretty quickly after this.

sat up last night and talked it over with the wifey and we're going to pick up the car Sunday...

 

[YZEATER]

the starter isn't an issue. i thought for sure it was advance adaptors that had it, but it was tci that has it.

 

[dubbyx]

yep... tci has one, jegs, summit, most all of them now that I've searched a little more

supposedly the one I found in NM is a little stronger (according to the sales guy), and I should hope so for the extra $50 I'd have to drop on it...