455 Olds in 84 Cutlass - motor mounts?
- Thread starter Mallard Road Garage
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You probably have slightly larger than stock clearances, .002 clearances have to be part of the equation an maybe the factory balance. I took out my 403 bottom end twice, first multiple overheatings, then a 307 crank unbalanced swapped in and revved to 5500 rpm. I have seen a few stock 455's and BBC 454's for that matter blow the bottom end. Any 455's that come up for sale are either smog motors or have a knock in the $500 to $1000 range. My last $120 76 Olds 350, which is still in great shape, the seller also had a 455. He was acting like it was worth so much but had a knock. I got him $30 lower on his 350's price, why would I pay him too much money for a motor that might be very rough inside? Maybe the mid 70's Olds 350's didn't have enough power to hurt themselves, they were incredibly reliable for their time. Also with the new lighter, billet stroker 4" crank available in 5140 and 4340, the poor little small block Olds now easily makes 400+ hp and 500+ ft/lbs with crappy iron heads. There is definitely more 455 bottom end failures and it has to be the weight of the parts in a block that is no stronger than the little 350. I don't hate the 455, I just love the the no respect given Olds 350. If the original poster has a 77 to 80 350, then by all means swap it out. A weak block and garbage heads makes it pretty undesirable. I could have got two for nearly free, I let them go.
With a 455 it’s about clearences and attention to detail,your correct there’s more 455 bottom failures but i’ed be willing to bet at least 50% of them are the builders fault,attention to detail is critical when running a heavy stock bottom end
That's why Travato recommends "enough clearance to throw a cat through ". The 455 crank gets noodley at high rpm.
Thanks for all the replies and suggestions folks. My 455 is bored .030 over. Trying to locate proper head gaskets, any suggestions? I found some SCE gaskets from Summit Racing but there is a note that O-ring of block or heads is required. Not sure what that means?
O-ring gaskets are for uber high compression engines or boost. Drop some cash on Cometics. Call Bill Travato at BTR Performance in Rochester, NY.
I run regular old felpro felpro gaskets but I planned my engine out to run them so my quench is correct on a stock or low compression engine this isn’t as critical
Just a note I run a torquer intake and a quadrajet with a aftermarket hood that combo may or may not fit depending on the condition of your body mounts under a stock hood
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