rebuilding and addn performance 86' v8 307 engine

[Minion1186]

I had my 307 olds rebuilt,bored .40 over and ported heads and it runs a little better than stock,actually by getting lower gears like 373's from a 442 or such,you can abtain a better performance from the stock 307,the easiest (But dirtiest)is to do a carb swap,get an older rochester qjet which isnt computer controlled and an older (pre 80) hei distributor from an olds 350 and do a swap.This basically makes the 307 look like a genuine smallblock and not a smogged out octopus strangled block,plus better performance.If you have 5a cylinder heads,than get an edelbrock intake for it.Or on the pricer side,get 350 olds heads,350 olds intake,carb and distributor and have some fun and get a helluva lotta performace doing that.BTW the 350 heads swap is what i was planning on doing (in my head) until i realized i needed $1500 worth of valvetrain parts.

 

[kustomkyle]

I've had a few topics that I created and have since decided on what to do with the same engine you have. Personally, I don't think the 307 Olds is that bad, even considering mine has two cylinders that have low compression and assorted other problems. Sometimes I think the people who bash it have only ever driven race cars and look at only horsepower ratings. Some people also don't understand that "adding a little horsepower" doesn't mean 500+horsepower.

But anyway, if your engine is in good shape, get a VIN 9/H.O. cam, stronger valve springs (I am still trying to find an appropriate replacement), headers (Dynomax/Blackjack), dual exhaust (I wouldn't bother with cat-back stuff). There was a guy on eBay selling a set of Silvolite .30 pistons for $60 if you want to do that. The lifters are supposedly the same as some Ford and GM diesel truck engines. From what I have gathered, if you convert the roller VIN Y to a VIN 9 and open it up with headers and a good free flowing exhaust and some other tricks, there should be about 230HP/300 torque (Ithink the factory HO had 180hp/260 torque). It's about what an early 70's 350 Chevy got, not tons of power, but for a small 80's V8 with emissions equipment, that isn't bad at all.

 

[beeterolds]

True duals no converters, and a set of 3.08s-3.23s with no OD or if you have an OD trans move up to 3.73s

 

[HighHPCouch]

Some people also don't understand that "adding a little horsepower" doesn't mean 500+horsepower.

I dont know if this was a crack at what i posted but here is a little explination on my post and the reason that i posted this interesting article was....
First: To show all of the chevy boys that are reading the posts on this subject that the oldsmobile engines are gone but they are not forgoten there are still plenty of people out there building them and making all kinds of numbers wether they are huge or not. The thing is that they are still doing it for the same price or cheaper than all those chevy guys out there, and i plan on proving that to all my buddies when i build my 403!
Second: There was a lot of information in that article and many others on this pair of builders about building these motors. The article holds information on little things that could make these motors have a little more power or IF he had a little more to spend he could use more of the article to make some more power. It was just to plant the ideas in his head to see what he COULD achive out of his stock motor and still keep that stock block in it. Also power is all about time determination and the willingness to learn things that one may not have known before to build with what one has. That is all this was, a point in the right direction, to have a path to head down.
So if that comment was pointed toward me that is not what i was going for and if it wasn't i guess everyone got more information than was needed.....and if that it the case i am sorry for my babbling.....

 

[85salonn442]

figure i'd just throw this in but i just got a copy of popular hot rodding and i saw a built 307 pushin 435hp! didnt know a lil 307 could produce that many horses.

 

[custom442]

For all of you non beliving chevy lovers here is a little article you can read its about a 435hp OLDSMOBILE 307 😀
http://www.popularhotrodding.com/tech/0911phr_oldsmobile_307_engine/index.html
This guys did it on a budget not sure what it was though.......

This one's like comparing a 350 to 383. It once was a 307, not so much anymore. And i'm sure they did fit it into *both* of their budgets.


To the o.p. - youre wasting money on this engine, I've been there done that. If anything, upgrade your rear end and save cash for an engine swap. I care less if a guy's got an olds or chevy engine in their ride. They built it themselves so good on em. If you do go about building it yourself, some people on here swear by the olds 350. But I've got receipts to back up my talk, the chevy 350 is the most for the money (especially stroked) it has everything to do with the number of available parts on the market and for resale. If you want some serious power potential, then I've got no disagreement with their recommendation of a 403 sbo.

 

[beeterolds]

i put together a solid reliable 455 for my car it cost around $750 total 😀 and i have the reciepts for that too 😉 theres no replacement for displacement and you can score a big block olds running none the less for about what it costs for a big block chevy intake manifold... i did 😉 its not what you know its who you know, and where to find the parts.. Stabbing another Olds engine in there will be cheaper in the long run rather than doing an SBC swap... think about it... your not changing starters or frame/motor mounts and doing extensive exhaust work.. but its up to you

 

[custom442]

i put together a solid reliable 455 for my car it cost around $750 total 😀 and i have the reciepts for that too 😉 theres no replacement for displacement and you can score a big block olds running none the less for about what it costs for a big block chevy intake manifold... i did 😉 its not what you know its who you know, and where to find the parts.. Stabbing another Olds engine in there will be cheaper in the long run rather than doing an SBC swap... think about it... your not changing starters or frame/motor mounts and doing extensive exhaust work.. but its up to you

Theres a difference in building a new engine with all new parts and swapping an old one/freshen it up. If you build it virtually brand new yourself from the block, no the olds route isn't cheaper.

 

[agtw31]

that was the engine masters 307
those guys did some serious work on those heads,it would cost any of us thousands to have that done to a set of 5A heads

btw,there are 10 second 307 G body cars running NHRA stock eliminator

 

[beeterolds]

i put together a solid reliable 455 for my car it cost around $750 total 😀 and i have the reciepts for that too 😉 theres no replacement for displacement and you can score a big block olds running none the less for about what it costs for a big block chevy intake manifold... i did 😉 its not what you know its who you know, and where to find the parts.. Stabbing another Olds engine in there will be cheaper in the long run rather than doing an SBC swap... think about it... your not changing starters or frame/motor mounts and doing extensive exhaust work.. but its up to you

Theres a difference in building a new engine with all new parts and swapping an old one/freshen it up. If you build it virtually brand new yourself from the block, no the olds route isn't cheaper.

No not entirely true.. If your talking SBC's sure..they may be cheaper to build.. but step into BBC territory, ive never seen em close to being a true bang for your buck... While searching thru catalogs you may have a larger array of parts to chose from when building a BBC but theyre prices are about the same as comparable Olds performance parts...