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Thread: Silly Olds story- Convert Olds to Chevy, Pontiac or Buick?

  1. #1
    Boostedballs
    1975 20' Kona. Factory Olds 455 (of course), Berkley, Place diverter, etc.
    So here's the scoop- bought boat last year as a shell, installed new floor, carpet seats, upholstry, wiring, and olds 455 from some guy that says it runs good.
    Installed 10quart pan and double remote oil filters, installed engine, fired right up, ran strong. J heads, yuk. Got 50-55mph out of it.
    Made ticking, then BANGING sounds. I though there was a monkey with a hammer in the engine bay. Turnes out, there was no monkey per say. Compression checked good even though engine seemed to be running on 7 cylinders. The engine got the shakes.
    Pulled intake, found crack in heat riser passage of aluminum edelbrock performer. Hmm
    Noticed that a clip had come loose on one of the lifters and had been jumping around on the end of the push rod for long enough to rand the edges good. Ordered edelbrock performer cam and lifter kit.
    Found some nice G heads to replace the J heads. Ported, polished them, sent them to maching shop.
    Pulled J heads. Found that piston 1 and 3 have been hitting head lightly (could still see machine mark on piston). Looked at head, yep, it had been hitting the head. Hmm
    Looked into bores again for wrist pin damage. Found none. Hmm, the oil pressure on this engine was always 40-60psi so I figure the bottom end is good.
    Noticed that the pistons looked a little small for the bores! oh crap! I see rings and pistons rocked side to side about .060" estimated. Measured bores to be 4.125", that's standard bore! WTF? These are Olds-looking pistons with the 3/8" deep dish. Confused...
    Now I'm looking into replacing the olds with something else, probably a 454 chevy. I do a lot of metal fab so I'm not worried about engine mounts or headers but I am wondering what parts I can use from the Olds on something else. I know the bell housing is the same for Olds, Buick and Pontiac. But what about the flywheel and U-joint? Does anyone know if the crank bolt pattern is the same for big block chevy and olds? I have a butload of smallblock chevy stuff, can I use a smallblock flywheel in a big block chevy? I know the distributor and bellhousing is the same for small and big block chevys, but what else?
    I would like to slap on a couple turbochargers on whatever engine I throw in there and I know the big block chevy is a prime candidate for that, I've done a couple of them. I know power can be made with the Pontiacs and Buicks but?????
    What do you think about all of this?
    Chuck with bad luck in Oregon...

  2. #2
    pw_Tony
    Why you ruling out the Ford and Mopars? Both good contenders. You GM guys psh..... lol jk

  3. #3
    BrendellaJet
    Not a lot will cross over. Maybe the alternator & carb. Not sure if the distributor will work or not.

  4. #4
    Boostedballs
    I'm not ruling out the Fords, I like the up front distributor and the 460, 351c, 351w, 302 were great engines. I just have a lot more experience with the GM stuff. Hell, if money was not an issue- I'd be running a turbocharged Viper engine!
    The distributors do interchange, carbs do of course, and I only run the GM alternator in just about everything I build. It's simple, cheap and reliable.
    I was talking with a machinist about the olds and the way the pistons contacted the heads and told me that the olds main webs tend to give out and cause that. Hmm, I already KNOW someone put the wrong pistons in the engine. I wonder if the deck height of the pistons is wrong as well. Maybe the other pistons in the engine are running too tight as well...

  5. #5
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Posts
    2,626
    The distributors do interchange,...
    No, they don't.
    Did you ever disassemble and inspect the short block?

  6. #6
    Boostedballs
    I meant the distributors interchange from sbc and bbc, not chevy into olds. I just wanted to see if I could put some of my shelf parts back to work.

  7. #7
    Boostedballs
    I just realized this forum is based out of Havasu! (right?) I lived there from 1998-2000. Man I miss it.
    I used to work at JD machine before they burnt down.

  8. #8
    Boostedballs
    I haven't taken the short block out yet. I'll try to get that done this weekend. Should be a much easier job than instaling the long block. I had to jack the cherry picker up with blocks, let the air out of the trailer tires and jack the tounge all the way up to get the engine to clear on the way in. Talk about scary! If the short block is workable, I'll wait till it's back in to put the heads back on. I sure hope it's ok, there aren't many olds 455s around here and I already dumped some cash into it.

  9. #9
    malcolm
    Where in Oregon are you located?
    I'd guess you've got some spun rod bearings making your pistons hit the heads. Maybe you also have some collapsed skirts on some old junky cast pistons in there making your slop in the bores. I've been Olds powered for 9 years now and they've always run pretty good. They don't like RPMs over 5000 and can't be held wide open for more than a couple minutes at a time without major mods. If you go to another brand, I'd stick with Chevy or Ford. No sense going to another engine with little aftermarket support.
    I was toying with the idea of going to a 500 inch Caddie, but I came to my senses.

  10. #10
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Feb 2009
    Posts
    2,626
    I meant the distributors interchange from sbc and bbc, not chevy into olds. I just wanted to see if I could put some of my shelf parts back to work.
    OK, I thought you were referring to being interchangeable among the various GM engines.
    .......I'd guess you've got some spun rod bearings making your pistons hit the heads. Maybe you also have some collapsed skirts on some old junky cast pistons in there making your slop in the bores.
    Yep. This is exactly what I was thinking when I asked if the short block had been inspected. As a mechanic, I've seen this scenario more than a few times through the years.......

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