82 cutlass supreme to 355 sbc

[dave_s1987]

Hey guys, just thought I would post a new thread showing my cutlass supreme motor swap. I am very new to this sort of thing and originally got this car as part of a trade and planned on selling it right after. I ended up shoving it in my garage for 8 months and then one day when i was bored I figured it was time to get it running and finally sell it. After doing a few small things and putting it on the road i realized I liked the car too much to sell it now.

I wasn't really enjoying the original 267 V8 that it has in it now.. although it only has 56000km and still runs like a champ. I decided I wanted to try to put a new motor and transmission in it this spring with the help of a friend. (I dont know nearly enough to do this swap on my own) so I began looking around for a decent 350 to put in it. I ended up buying and old SBC 355 off of kijiji a few weeks ago so now I can begin to make it look pretty and add some performance parts to it over the winter. I dont know a whole lot about motors but I figured it was a good starting point. My buddy that i got the motor from tells me it has 10.5/1 compression ratio and is quite the beast. I plan on replacing the edelbrock performer intake to something else (not sure what yet) and I also plan on replacing the 882 cylinder heads that are on it now if I can find the right deal on some rebuilds. It has a holly 600 carb which I also plan on replacing but again not 100% sure what I will switch it to yet. I also have been looking around for a nice rebuilt th350 transmission or something like that to go with the motor as well.. but have all winter to find the right deal on that

Anyways just thought I would show some pics of my new/old motor before I start on the project. I'm sure I'll be back on here every day as I go asking for some advise. Thanks for reading!

Finally got some new rims to replace the ugly oldsmobile alero rims that are on it now lol

 

[Judge Mills]

That's a great project! Good luck with the 355 install.

 

[HAFROD]

What octane at the pump fuel you got up there in Canada? 10.5 compression is high for a daily driver. It must have dome pistons to have that much compression with 882 76cc heads. If its just flat top pistons with 882 heads, your good. If it is domed pistons, get some aluminum heads. Get the heads off and post a pic for us.

 

[dave_s1987]

What octane at the pump fuel you got up there in Canada? 10.5 compression is high for a daily driver. It must have dome pistons to have that much compression with 882 76cc heads. If its just flat top pistons with 882 heads, your good. If it is domed pistons, get some aluminum heads. Get the heads off and post a pic for us.

Hey, I haven't been on in a while and just saw your post now. I think 94 octane is premium here if im not mistaken and as far as I know they are just flat top pistons in there. When I had the top end apart replacing the gaskets and what not over the winter I did snap a pic of one of the piston heads so I'll add that into my post and you can tell me what you think. One question I do have is that its says .040 in the middle of the piston. Does that mean that this motor is actually bored .040 over and not 30 over like i was told?

anyways Ive been busy all winter buying parts and getting things ready for my motor swap next month so I have plenty of pics to share and questions to ask as I get going and any help will be greatly appreciated along the way. Thanks again!

 

[SoFloG]

Those rallye wheels are awesome i have a plain black set with all the centers and rings but i have to take the window chrome out of another rusty set i have. I also have 882 heads, but .060 over sbc with flat tops and am supposedly right under 11:1 comp according to the person who put the rotating assembly and heads on my block before i bought it. Keep up the good work, tuned in.

 

[dave_s1987]

Those rallye wheels are awesome i have a plain black set with all the centers and rings but i have to take the window chrome out of another rusty set i have. I also have 882 heads, but .060 over sbc with flat tops and am supposedly right under 11:1 comp according to the person who put the rotating assembly and heads on my block before i bought it. Keep up the good work, tuned in.

Thanks, I'm pretty happy with the tims too. It took me a little bit to find 4 good condition trim rings for a decent price but they look good now. I have brand new Bfgoodrich radials to put on it so I'm pretty excited to get them on my car later this week when I break it out of storage lol sounds like your motors it's pretty sweet. What kind of horse power do you think you're getting out of that?

 

[565bbchevy]

One question I do have is that its says .040 in the middle of the piston. Does that mean that this motor is actually bored .040 over and not 30 over like i was told?

Yes, your engine is .040 over it is a pretty common overbore typically done if was previously .030 over or to clean up a damaged cylinder wall sometimes you have to beyond .030. None of this is an issue though.

 

[dave_s1987]

Yes, your engine is .040 over it is a pretty common overbore typically done if was previously .030 over or to clean up a damaged cylinder wall sometimes you have to beyond .030. None of this is an issue though.

That's what I figured but I wasn't 100% sure. Thanks a lot for the info.

 

[565bbchevy]

So you really have a 357 SBC

 

[dave_s1987]

So you really have a 357 SBC

That's actually exactly what I was just thinking about.. its now a 357 chevy. I'll take those extra 2 CI and love every minute of them haha dying to see what this thing is going sound like in my cutlass next month. Its all i think about right now lol