g- body and a 455 olds motor

[krazykyle]

i starting to work on my 83 olds cutlass and i'm planning to install a 455 olds motor.can someone give me an i sight on what i'm suppost to expect.examples-say like steering and suspenion along with stopping the vehicle.will the car handle good with stock suspenion or do i really need an upgrade.rear end wise i'm running an 8.5 with 373 right now,will that be enough gear or should i go with something less or more.what do i need to expect fitting that motor in a smaller car.just some question now.

 

[breeaad]

I would think V8 front springs would be OK. If you are upgrading from a V6, I would recommend an upgrade. Braking will be fine. As for the gear, I personally would only run a gear that steep with overdrive. If you have a 3 speed, I would recommend something in the 3.20 range.

 

[dan2286]

You may have clearance issues with the heater box depending on what valve covers are used. Use 307 motor mounts and frame mounts. Headers for this swap are pretty expensive. The 455 makes tons of low end torque, so you really do not need that high of a gear. You can get away with it, but it will just waste more gas. I would go with a 3.08 or somewhere around that. You also need to watch what intake manifold you have, or it might be to tall and hit the hood.

 

[dogsht]

Here is a great reference. www.robertpowersmotorsports.com on a 455 Olds gbody. Today you can buy good ready made 455 Olds headers for the gbody.

 

[Blake442]

What motor is in your car now? What trans are you planning on using?

I rebuilt my whole front suspension with new bushings and balljoints, but kept my stock F41 V8 springs.
The car doesn't handle any different than when it had the 307 in it. The 455 is only 60 or so pounds heavier than a 307, and most of that can be made up for with just an aluminum intake.
Brakes are stock.

Unless you're planning on an overdrive trans like the 200-4R, I'd change the rear gear.
I've got 3.73's and a TH400, and think I'll be swapping to a 3.23 or 3.08 when I can afford it.
Either that or I'll get the 200-4R rebuilt and put that back in.