Its been sitting long enough ,Its time to do something with it .disc brakes possible? lowering the car? Anyone ever put a BBC in one? Don't hassle me about it. Its only an idea and got to wondering . If I had a 394 in the same shape, I'd put that in, but I don't
I have to hassle you. I just hafta. Half the coolness of an Olds is the rocket under the hood, (notice I said under and not on, shave it off) don't take that away. Find one, they aren't rare. The other cool thing about an Olds is that it just is, an Olds. One real classy car when done right. Pics? 2dr? Hrdtp?
2dr sedan, I figured I'd get at least a bit of sh_t, LOL , no pics just yet,I'll get some when I bring it back from the shop. The ones I have now are under snow, I bought a 394 that was supposed to be good, but was'nt. So I have a great running 454 and got to thinking about that swap.
Other side of the coin. You've got the 454 and when coupled with a T400 you've got a bulletproof drivetrain. You'll have to fabricate motor and trans mounts and do a custom exhaust. When finished you'll be able to get parts at any auto parts store coast to coast. Try that with an Olds. Keep the hood closed and blow the doors off every early Olds you encounter. Frank
EXACTLY ,I know the Olds motors were the motor to beat back in the day (a short time at that) the only way to make any pre 64 Olds competitive w modern OHV's is to throw money at it in buckets and if it breaks in "resume speed" anywhere,your screwed. The early Olds V8 is worse than a flathead V8 for finding parts in a hurry.(this from personal experiance I have had 4 over the years,so don't get me wrong I do love them, BUT its a $$$$$ thing) I resent that billet and tweed crack , a BBC chevy in a 54 Olds is hardly cookie cutter + It'd be more of a F'glass bucket seats and roll bar style I am above all a HOTRODDER ,Not a restorer or Goodguys member. But look closely I did'nt ask IF, I asked HOW.
Barf! Another I got a BBC or SBC story. Damn-it! Put a cool Olds in it. Yea, its a little more work to rebuilt an Olds or heaven for bid, find one that some other smuck is swapping for a Chevy. I love Hotrodladycruzer Dad's 56 Olds 88 except that chevy power plant. grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr... Sorry man, just a rant. I worked for Olds in Lansing for years and still with GM. I'm kinda partial to the Olds in an Olds thing. Hey it's your car and for you to do as you please. The BBC would make a great engine, you just lose the soul of the Olds and some of the character. Best wishes. PS.. I'd take HRLC's Dad's Olds in a heart beat anyway. Just outta my range
the bbc in in olds would be a great swap that,s what hot rodding is about putting the motor you have or want in YOUR car
Yeah freaking man. That would be kickass. A few years back I bought a $300 55 Holiday hardtop. It was a barn mess. Anywho, the motor (324) "ran" when I bought it, so I was told. Got it home, prepped it, cranked over for a few mins and it locked. Awesome. Inside was a mess. Later on bought a parts 55, tore out the drivetrain, gave the body away. Took that apart, and altho it ran, I didnt feel comfy with it. Got sick of this shit, bought a beat assed 71 Chevy truck from a friend, pulled everything out (350/350/shifter/yoke/gauges/you name it) and used the entire stock in the 55. A ton of people gave me shit about it, but that lil $500 drivetrain was hard to keep up with in that 4k lb car. First ride out on the highway, 75 mph in the left lane and she wanted to keep going. So, everyones going to say run an Olds. If you have a 454, screw it, use it man! They arent going to help or pay for the trans rebuild or the $1500 basic rebuild kit. Dont get me wrong, the Olds is a cool motor...but so is cheap and haulin ass with what you have.
You ain't kiddin Chris. That 350 is still kickin ass in that Olds. If you're gonna swap out the original rocket, you might as well put a small block in it. Much easier swap as the 324 and the SBC are comaparable in size and the SBC will almost bolt directly in with 55-57 Chevy motor mounts, which can be had inexpensivly through Danchuk. The BBC is a killer motor, I'm not quite sure about fitment, but since I've seen plenty of 455s in your year Olds, the 454 will definitely fit. I would consider using front mounts either way , possibly with some sort of mid plate as well (if the 454 is a real thumper). Trans crossmember should be easy to fabricate since you can anchor it to the X frame, which is I beam construction. You'll also have to cut out larger holes in the X frame to route suitable exhaust. As for disk brakes, someone who has done it before should chime in here....
Yes and no...if I had to do it again, Id use side mounts. Best way Id say is either measure frame rail to frame rail on your car, and make your own, look at the ones on ebay (Opies1932) has..universal chevy frame mounts, or, call Danchuck. They make side mount conversions for Tri 5 Chevys, I believe they weld to the frame rails. I used a modified version of the front mount and the motor sat way too low in the engine compartment. I had to notch the crossmember, the edges of the control arms, and ended up with draglink/pan clearance probs. All in all it was poor planning by a spur of the moment idea, but it was a great fit other than that. The BBC would be killer in there with the sidemounts. Just be careful with the drivers side manifold (or header) clearance. The steering box is huge. I ended up using Nova (I think, I stole em from Joe's garage) manifolds that wrapped around the steering box. Perfect.
Oh snap, didnt read the rest of your question...I might be able to add a lil more. Look up a post that sawzall started back when, about lowering a Merc. Its got a pic of the square stock used as lower control arm spacers. You can do the same thing on the cheap, its just a lil more of a pain in the butt. Instead of 6 rivets per side its 8 with yours. You will also have to make or buy a longer sway bar link. I think I used thick gr 8 rod and reinforced it. There are dropped spindles out there, fat man has em, you have to heat and bend your steering arms to match tho. Only thing Im unsure of...Im not sure what year modern shocks came out in the front in lieu of the knee action. Im not sure what you can do with the latter, but 55 (which Im basing mine off) had modern shocks. As for brakes, Ebay had a disc kit at one point, if not Im sure master Power can steer you in the right direction, but those stupid firewall boxes are in the way of a booster/master. Just 86 em or figure something out for under the floor. If you have power brakes you might be able to do something, manual master for that is a whole different game (not to mention just trying to find a replacement that isnt rotted @ teh bottom of the bore is a chore itself). I ended up getting mine from Kanter due to lack of time, I think I have an extra around here somewhere tho. Hope this helps!
How's about stuffing a 455 olds motor in it? best of both worlds...it's still an olds, and it would routinely put Chevy's in thier graves.
...and it's 15 lb lighter than a BBC! http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=74373&showall=1
We have a nice disc setup, though am still working on the master issue- looking at 78-84 Challenger master with remote reservoir to solve this. I this was mine, I'd sell the 454 and get a wrecked 77-79 Olds 403 car- much lighter than a BBC and lots of torque.
<TABLE id=HB_Mail_Container height="100%" cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0 UNSELECTABLE="on"><TBODY><TR height="100%" UNSELECTABLE="on" width="100%"><TD id=HB_Focus_Element vAlign=top width="100%" background="" height=250 UNSELECTABLE="off">Go ahead put that 454 in it. Maybe you can even cut up some olds valve covers and make them fit. Really piss off us olds people. Sorry just couldn't help it. </TD></TR><TR UNSELECTABLE="on" hb_tag="1"><TD style="FONT-SIZE: 1pt" height=1 UNSELECTABLE="on"> </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
There's a bolt-on disc brake kit available through a company called Tanson enterprises, sorry I can't find the # for them. I do not know anyone who purchased it but the $1300+ price tag annoyed me since I bought a super high quality 4 piston caliper disc kit with big nice rotors for my other car which is a 55 bel air for only $700.(proof positive that chevys are easy!) The Tanson kit was stock calipers and rotors from a late model olds, and almost twice the money!. So I can really understand your desire to use your 454 since I am currently building my 324 from my 55 olds and it is costing me about $4500, which is what you can pay for a BBC already built on Ebay. I guess the question is will you end up spending the same money adapting the BBC to fit in there, If you are a talented welder the answer is most definitely no. By the way there is a 394 on Ebay that may be a good deal, maybe worth even more in parts alone, and I think it"ll fit right in on stock mounts. (someone confirm or deny this please) here's a link if you are interested and or fear the wrath of the hardcore olds guys. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=160144261094#description
here's another for putting a 455 in it if you're set on a big block. there's just something about 500 ft/lbs stock that's perfectly flat from a little over 2k rpm to 4k whilst still being lighter than having a bellybutton under the hood. add an aluminum manifold and the weight just dropped to around 45lbs lighter than an sbc and don't forget that a BBO is only about an inch taller and 2 wider than a SBO...which coincidentally is about the same size as a *shudder* SBC
you guys crack me up with the hard to find parts etc stuff on the early Olds, hell I have to import the oil filters for mine let alone anything else..... unless you want to be racing the early olds is fine (and the 394 up top looks worth following) and face it if you want to be going fast there are plenty of lighter 50's cars. At the end of the day, its your car and do wgat you want but the early Olds are a neat motor i wouldn't swap mine out (and haven't).
When I was putting my 53 88 2 dor sedan togather I bought a 50 dollar 59 dynamic 88 to get the drivetrain,the only thing I done to the motor was add a 4 bbl and it would walk away from 350 chevy powerd cars. I raced a local with a 57 chevy that had a new crate motor and a 4 speed and even letting him have a head start the olds walked away from it and there was the race with a corvette and even with the 53 loaded with 4 people it walked away from the vette on the highway. I thought it was a 394 when I put it in but I found out it was a 371 but it ran great and I only had 50 dollars in the motor and trans. Jeff
thanks for the brake info. NIX on the 455 or any other motors and the fake VC's too, I don't have anything else and would not even think of selling my 454 to get one , I'll put M/T VC's on it to leave no doubt about its intentions. Olds parts are not hard to get, just SPENDY and NOT at your local parts store -YOU WAIT until they get here. Enough already on the IF , thats a done deal now , Definately NOT going to be anything BUT a 454,the sniveling alone is enough of a reason.If I wanted to restore a car it sure as hell would'nt be a 54 Olds. The only reason was because I have them both in good shape, But now I have a better reason, It'll bug the hell out of the Olds fanatics Or maybe i'll just dump the thing back on Mike ,He's looking for another project, and move on to something more to my liking and better befitting a BBC.
Here's my 2 cents. As you can see by my avatar, Oldsmobile 394 all the way. I just get so sick of SBC or BBC conversions. Everybody has done it to death. Be different. Then on the other hand it is your car and don't let anyone's opinion outweigh your desires.
Ok we can forget it, I sold it this morning , I figure its in better hands now, he's an Olds guy, two calls and BAM - its GONE. I did well on it too. Soooo, now both Mike and I are BOTH looking for CHEVY cars to put motor's in. May as well stay in marque and avoid all the margue loyalty stuff.
well i know you sold it but here my (a nobody) take on it. i bought a 56 88cpe this spring with a early 400 sbc and t350 installed. it came with a "fresh 324,and hrdro trans".i figure if i keep it long enuff i may swap it back, or a 394 with trips. i drove it to columbus from home,about 520 miles got 18 mpg running the hammer lane the whole time. may swap on 3 x2s ,the fake valve covers , a mag nd the correct air cleaner to be sneaky ....only after my 700 hp bbc is back in my 64 GTO .....i tried to piss off everybody!
hell maybe i should put that BBC in the olds,and the 324 in the goat,......now who has a clutch pedal set up for my olds....
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