Car is a 1960 Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 Convertible that had a 371 in it. After pulling the motor, I decided to put a 394 back in the hole. The 394 came from a 61-62 Olds. The issue: Although the motors are extremely similar, they use different heads and therefore use different exhaust manifolds. When installing the 394 motor, I quickly realized that the exhaust manifolds will not fit between the upper control arm mounts in my car. The 394 setup is a bit wider and to get anywhere close to fitting, I have to raise the front engine mount almost 7/8" to get clearance for the exhaust manifolds. This really isnt a good idea. Thought about making custom pipes, but that first cylinder would have to have an immediate 90 coming off the exhaust port to even make it slightly possible SO, anybody have any grand ideas?!?!? Can anyone tell me if a set of #18 heads(1960 371) will swap with and fit on a 1962 394 with #23 heads ? To make the engine swap work( 62 motor into a 60 dynamic 88 ) I need to use the 1960 exhaust manifolds Thanks for any help!!
Tony from Ross Racing is a member here and an Olds encyclopedia. If he doesn't see this thread, call him, they are in Ohio. Don
I had some time this morning, so I did some Googling to try to find out if 371/394 heads interchange, but struck out. I did have the very same engines in my shop, a 1960 371 that my buddy gave me when he put a 455 in his Olds, and a 64 394 that I was using for my rpu project. They were pretty much different animals in a lot of respects. As you mentioned, the heads are different on the 59-60 than 61-64. The front timing cover was also different, as was a lot of the accessory mounts and stuff like that. It seems that Olds did a major revamp in 61. Like I mentioned, if no one else on here has an answer, Tony will, and he is always very gracious about helping someone out with his wealth of Oldsmobile knowledge. That is pretty much what they play with, and he made me a few parts for mine and helped with a ton of info I needed. Don
The Jalopy Journal
