Hello, I've read lots of good information for my olds 455 swap on this site, along with some other g body sites. I figure this could add more helpful info for anyone else who goes this route. The car is a bone stock 86 buick regal. Olds 307, 3 speed transmission, stock 7.5" rear. The car ran smooth. I am doing the corn harvest a couple hrs north east from my home in amarillo. I drove it all the way here. It did great. Got rained out a couple days so I drove it back to amarillo. When I drove back this way, the poor old 307 pooped. When I went back to town for another short time off we hauled it home on a dolly. Now she sits in my driveway. We bought an olds 455/th400 combo from a 72 Vista cruiser. It has ga heads on it and z/x exhaust manifolds(factory dual exhaust manifolds), stock iron intake and quadrajet.This is my first big block olds. I have read for countless hours while waiting to be loaded in the feild... about these engines, and the work involved in the swap. I'm excited. At first I plan to just swap in the 455, using the transmission in the regal. I know it won't take abuse, but I will run it to get me around. I won't have a problem being gentle. I plan to put an hei in it, and send the quadrajet off to have it refurbished. I will be running ac, and all of my 307 accessories. I have done the research on the mods needed to the brackets. I also have all accessories from the 455. If the 455 runs decent, I plan to start upgrading the car a little at a time. transmission, rear, nice exhaust, and everything that would support a strong big block, then have the engine built like new. My long term goal is 12's with as mild a combo as possible. Iron intake, quadrajet, exhaust manifolds...455/th350/3.55 gears in a Ford explorer 8.8 with disc breaks. All comments or questions welcome. Thanks
new member with a 455 olds
- Thread starter malo
- Start date
- Status
Welcome!
Should be a fun project.
Do Yourself a favor and get an aluminum intake when your funds allow it.
A 455 is only 60 lbs. heavier than a 307, and an aluminum intake will help cancel out almost half of that...
Should be a fun project.
Do Yourself a favor and get an aluminum intake when your funds allow it.
A 455 is only 60 lbs. heavier than a 307, and an aluminum intake will help cancel out almost half of that...
I like that idea, and it may happen. But I would love to reach my goals while still using the iron intake. I have wondered if the edelbrock would improve it much. From what I've read the main gain is from the weight savings like you said. If that's the only advantage I'm not sold. Sure would look nice though...
malo said:
IIRC, the only aluminum intakes that will fit under a stock hood are the Edelbroke performer ($250) and the factory W30 intake ($1000 used). Both are nice intakes and weight a heck of a lot less than the cast iron unit.
Welcome here is an old carcraft article which may help some. It helped me a little with my build. Good Luck
http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/engine/ccr ... ine-build/
http://www.hotrod.com/how-to/engine/ccr ... ine-build/
Anubis said:
Offenhauser 360 equa flow intakes fit under the stock hood however I don't think they work as well as a dual plane Edelbrock. The offenhauser I had on my 455 years ago needed a 2" 4-hole spacer to fix stumbling and driveability issues.
- Status
