It's about to get nasty

[CamaroAdam73]

I'm grinning from ear to ear, Yeah so for the last couple months i've been debating on what to for the motori n my motne, either A.building the small block, or B. buy this 406 stroker motor SBC for 1500 from my friend.

Well fate came walkign through the frotn door of my job today, overheard me talking to my buddy about this motor, and for 1500$ offered the 455 HO from a 68 toronado,ironicly the deal included a Th400 LOL(laughing because of my prevoius post) the motor has 64k original miles, It's the baddest of the big blocks from the best possible time, the late 60's power battle between car companys.

Being as this is an olds motor, what all is involved here? I've never toyed around with an olds motor, whats the difference between a chevy 455 and an olds 455 HO?

 

[85salonn442]

well 1st off chevy made 454 not 455 the 455 engines were olds, buick and pontiac but there isnt much difference between the 2 depending on how there built but chevy's are A LOT cheaper and easier 2 build.

 

[Oldsmoletick]

Being as this is an olds motor, what all is involved here? I've never toyed around with an olds motor, whats the difference between a chevy 455 and an olds 455 HO?

How about whats the same? that's an easier question, lol. Cap, rotor, thermostat, maybe the generator and thats about it I think. Olds is a completely different animal. If the th400 he has is from the toro, it will not work, (or did they call that the 475). mounting the engine in your car- frame mounts from another 78-88 A/G body with a small block olds, new engine side mounts 78-88 sbo. Move your wiring harness to the opposite side of the car (olds electronics typically all on the left, have seen some with the generator on the right though), swap your battery to the other side of the car. if it is a rwd th400 cross member modification will be necessary (new one). This is just removing a chev and replacing with an Olds and th400 in general, BBO will probably require a bit more than this.

 

[CamaroAdam73]

Thanks for the advice guys, i passed up the deal and put a down payment on a 454 my friend has, it's a 2 bolt main and the engine originally came out of an RV, he says it runs but probably needs rebuilt. I've got a plan for this motor, i'm going to build it like an LS6 motor, obviously i'm talking about the 69/70 454 that produced 450 HP/ 500 FT/LB. The only thing i'm concerned about are the heads, I still haven't found any info on what heads the LS6 motor had other than they where rectangle port with Valve size 2.19 intake, 1.88 exhaust, closed 108.0CC / open 109.0CC .

I'm going to start from the bottom up though, i know multiple places to pickup a factory replacement crank from an LS6 454, pistons and connecting rods, A the same time i have the block at the machine shop to have the goodies installed, i'm going to have to turned into a 4 bolt main. Hopefully i'll have the project started and underway in the next 2 months, i'll keep you guys posted with pictures and updates!

 

[SafariWagon]

The easiest an most economical way would have been the 406. It really depends on your budget. A BB 454 will be more expensive. I wouldn't sugget building it to LS6 specs either. Way too much compression for today's pump gas. Heads will be expensive trying to find original LS6 heads. Just buy some aftermarket ones. Your not building a #'s matching car. By the time you find a decent set of heads and have them reworked it's a lot less hassle to buy aftermarket. Price difference will be comparible. 10 to 1 compression max on premium pump gas. Personally unless you have 4K minumum I wouldn't bother with the BB 454. It will take that to get a good reliable performer. If it's the same buddy and you want good economical power and the 406 is in decent shape I would go that way.