screw that 350

Unknown

Well guys, the other day I asked about motor mounts for a 350 I was thinking about putting in my 51 hornet club coupe but since then I,ve come across a good deal on a 70 olds 455 out of a 442............ now that baby should get it down the road.....

The question is has anyone else put a 455 in that car and will it fit without a lot of chopin??? By the way I'm also using a gm 400 tranny......... What ya think about that set-up vs. the 350/350?...................... Dan

[Deleted User]

ABC (Anything But Chevy!) shows you have the ability to think outside the SBC box way too many people are stuck in, giving the typical excuse of "parts are cheap" line about putting a SBC in just about anything.



That 455 Olds ought to grab the attention at the cruises and the car shows! I see a SBC in a car that a SBC didn't come in, and I walk right past it, no matter how nice the car may be otherwise.

rambos_ride

Big Dan wrote:

Well guys, the other day I asked about motor mounts for a 350 I was thinking about putting in my 51 hornet club coupe but since then I,ve come across a good deal on a 70 olds 455 out of a 442............ now that baby should get it down the road.....
The question is has anyone else put a 455 in that car and will it fit without a lot of chopin??? By the way I'm also using a gm 400 tranny......... What ya think about that set-up vs. the 350/350?...................... Dan

Of course it will fit!
I fit a 454/TH400 into my 49 with the original suspension intact. Here's a chart showing the basic differences - so I think the 455 would fit. The clearance of the oil pan to centerpoint steering is a concern as is the exhaust.





I had to make 3 modifications (besides making new motor and transmission mounts) and a set of Sanderson Block Hugger Cast Headers for clearance

1) steering/drag link modification
2) Alter the original x-member,
3) minor mod to the firewall (not really needed if placement was 1/8" different!)

[Deleted User]

I like the turbo 400 'cause of the overdrive. The Olds is a nice choice as well. Not sure how readily available parts are for it.

rambos_ride

Hudson308 wrote:

Careful, guys... the dimensions you're showing are for a Buick 455, not an Olds. The Buick motor was surprisingly compact for 455 cubes, whereas the Olds 455 is a bit wider... more like a Caddy. There's a guy running around here with a Caddy-powered '52 Hornet sedan, but he swapped in the whole front frame clip. Also remember that a TH400 doesn't have overdrive... final drive ratio is 1:1. They're a stout tranny that can take whatever abuse you'll throw at 'em, though.

Whoops! My bad. The Olds 455 still fits within the measurements of the 454 and is a whopping 80lbs lighter in reported weight than a 454 :eek:

http://www.carnut.com/specs/engdim.html

[Deleted User]

rambos_ride wrote:

I had to make 3 modifications (besides making new motor and transmission mounts) and a set of Sanderson Block Hugger Cast Headers for clearance



1) steering/drag link modification

2) Alter the original x-member,

3) minor mod to the firewall (not really needed if placement was 1/8" different!)

Rambo:



Would you be so kind as to ask Dan to post the directions and parts list for the sterring/drag link modification he made to your oh so sweet ride?



It looks great and would be a nice piece of information to have.



Thanks, Ed

[Deleted User]

Hudson308 wrote:

Careful, guys... the dimensions you're showing are for a Buick 455, not an Olds. The Buick motor was surprisingly compact for 455 cubes, whereas the Olds 455 is a bit wider... more like a Caddy. There's a guy running around here with a Caddy-powered '52 Hornet sedan, but he swapped in the whole front frame clip. Also remember that a TH400 doesn't have overdrive... final drive ratio is 1:1. They're a stout tranny that can take whatever abuse you'll throw at 'em, though.

My bad, I thought thats what the difference was between the 350 and 400 Turbos. Thanks for the correction.

rambos_ride

Pacemaker500 wrote:

Rambo:

Would you be so kind as to ask Dan to post the directions and parts list for the sterring/drag link modification he made to your oh so sweet ride?

It looks great and would be a nice piece of information to have.

Thanks, Ed

Hi Ed,

Not much of a parts list, the Pitman Arm was removed from the steering box and the ball-end was heated and bent 180degrees to point inwards towards the frame.

Care needs to be taken to not get the metal too hot and make it brittle - but I wasn't too concerned with this modificatopn because you could see the original heat rings where the Hudson mechanics bent it to shape originally.

The Drag Link I just used the ends off the original and an 3/8 solid steel rod which I bent with a compact bender then welded the original ends on after shaping and testing the bends.

I should note that I'm going to rebuild a new drag-link with the one pictured as a pattern. As now I am going to buy a real pipe bender and make a new center piece of similar diameter/thickness to the original - but with the bends and extra length to get my clearance.

It's not that I don't think my current modified one would hold, I built the best one I could at the time without having to buy more tools or heat the material used for the new center piece - hence the solid stock rather than pipe stock used originally.

But now, I have a shop, space, and some $$ to buy a pipe bender and I want to beef it up just a bit more.

When building the center of the drag link the center alignment needs to be always taken into account - constantly.

That's it - other than new grease fittings and some spray-can flat black.

[Deleted User]

Thank you, Dan, for those instructions/directions. It makes sense to me (that should worry some people!!!). If I had the tools for heating, I think I could get it done.



A good mod to know and undertand.