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Hot Rods What do you think about a 455 olds?

Discussion in 'The Hokey Ass Message Board' started by jsteph, Nov 14, 2010.

  1. jsteph
    Joined: Oct 16, 2010
    Posts: 30

    jsteph
    Member
    from phoenix az

    Looking at getting a 455 olds, any comments questions, ideas?? Thoughts on the engine itself??
     
  2. justinpba
    Joined: Nov 5, 2010
    Posts: 29

    justinpba
    Member

    One of the torquiest motors to come out of Detroit! I love 'em. If you're not planning on running after market heads, look for one pre '70 or find a set of heads off a 425. They had a 'C' casting. Best flow. Good luck!
     
  3. Oh, yes yes. I have one in my 55 Caddy. Came out of my pops 75 Olds 98 Regency, his second to last car he owned. Awesome , torquey motor.
     
  4. hotrodladycrusr
    Joined: Sep 20, 2002
    Posts: 20,765

    hotrodladycrusr
    Member

    LOVE my 1970 Olds 455 in Big Olds. I've got 114,000 miles on it. It came out of a streetrod with who knows how many miles from that AND who knows how many miles in the original Oldsmobile that it came from.
     

  5. mohr hp
    Joined: Nov 18, 2009
    Posts: 929

    mohr hp
    Member
    from Georgia

    If you want a very pretty engine with iron Olds heads, the top of the exhaust ports will always look bad because of the heat. Not a problem on a beater. rugged torquey motor. not much oil pressure, but doesn't seem to care.
     
  6. joe_padavano
    Joined: Jan 18, 2010
    Posts: 263

    joe_padavano
    Member

    As far as Olds heads are concerned, all the big block head castings except the "J" code smogger heads flow within about 10% of each other. If you plan to do any porting at all, the J heads flow as good as any and are dirt cheap. All BBO heads have chambers that run about 80 cc. Olds varied compression ratio with the size of the dish in the pistons. 442s and Toronados came with 2.070"/1.625" valves. Others usually got smaller valves. The heads can be machined to accept the larger valves. Also, 1971-76 heads (codes G, Ga, H, J, K, and Ka) all have induction hardened valve seats. Earlier heads do not.
     
  7. Just go get it j
     
  8. HotRodMetal
    Joined: Apr 13, 2007
    Posts: 165

    HotRodMetal
    Member
    from USA

    Great Motor. My Dad had one in the Olds 98 we had. Gobs of torque.
     
  9. Deuces
    Joined: Nov 3, 2009
    Posts: 23,752

    Deuces

    May as well build a home made RAM AIR setup for it.... It should be good for another 10 ponies or so... :D
     
  10. 1957Custom
    Joined: Jul 26, 2009
    Posts: 231

    1957Custom
    Member
    from Tulsa Ok

    I learned some really good secrets about Olds heads. Big old Oldsmobile's rule!
     
  11. mickeyc
    Joined: Jul 8, 2008
    Posts: 1,363

    mickeyc
    Member

    Hello jsteph, MickeyC from the Louisiana bayou country. Picture this in your minds eye. A30ft. long 13 foot wide cypress wood constructed shrimp skiff. Cypress wood stays wet and heavy by nature. also 400 hundred lbs of ice, A thousand lbs or so of various tools, nets trawl boards. Plus a 100 gallons of gas, and a pair of 200+ lb. steely eyed
    shrimp slayers. All powered by a cast iron 455 Olds with very heavy cast
    iron water cooled exhaust manifolds and a borg warner cast iron gear
    (transmission) This skiff was cranked at 4:00 a.m. and run in the four barrel for anywhere from10 to 20 or miles. Then would pull a 50 foot trawl
    for 2 hour tows as many as 4 or 5 times a day or night. After a full day of work, we would then run back to the dock with ( hopefully) several hundred pounds of shrimp. This went on for weeks at a time. The big Olds
    kept on keeping on. Ultra reliable motor with gobs of torque.
     
  12. Vintageride
    Joined: Jul 15, 2009
    Posts: 204

    Vintageride
    Member

    I agree.

    I miss my W-33 powered delta. I had lots of puzzled looks from folks at stoplights.

    You will have no regrets with the Olds 455.

    Vintageride
     
  13. Stevie Nash
    Joined: Oct 24, 2007
    Posts: 2,999

    Stevie Nash
    Member

  14. 56oldsDarrin
    Joined: May 9, 2009
    Posts: 396

    56oldsDarrin
    Member

    Usually the 70's motors have "smogcamitis".
    The modern high-lift , shortish duration cams do wonders.
    I am running the Performer RPM cam, and Its docile enough to drive everyday.
    Other than that, my motor is a 75, J head, smogger.
    However, in an older Higher compression engine, the W30 cam sounds real good.
    also,
    I ran the car with a points distributor for a long time (it ran fine).
    But, then I chose to go GM HEI,... yea it runs better/gets better milage.
    The damn thing smoothed out what little "lumpty lump" the RPM cam had.
     
  15. dieselc
    Joined: May 17, 2004
    Posts: 1,315

    dieselc
    Member
    from ohio

    Olds are good engines. Strong and reliable, go for it.
     
  16. My pal, Willy has one in a Cutlass Convertible. Hauls ass. Torque Monster!
     
  17. 440shawn
    Joined: Sep 25, 2009
    Posts: 1,716

    440shawn
    Member

    Had a 68 Olds 455 ran great with tons of torque, go buy it.
     
  18. tjet
    Joined: Mar 16, 2009
    Posts: 1,335

    tjet
    Member
    1. Early Hemi Tech

    I have one in my '59 pickup. It really stands out from the crowd of SBC's. They also have a very nice exhaust note & sound healthy, even with a stock cam.

    Very solid following on the web. http://www.realoldspower.com & http://www.442.com just to name a couple. Most of the issues with oiling & heads have been sorted out by Olds perf engine builders

    As far as used speed parts, Olds has the advantage over Caddy, Buick, & Pontiac due to the heavy marine jetboat use in the '70's. While not as cheap as a SBC, you can build a very strong 455 for less $$ or equal to a BBC. Another plus: An aluminum head 455 weighs the same as an iron head SBC, & the spark plugs are way easier to get to.

    I suggest you get this book too

    http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Olds...80287293418QQptZMotorsQ5fManualsQ5fLiterature
     
    Last edited: Nov 15, 2010
  19. BOWTIE BROWN
    Joined: Mar 30, 2010
    Posts: 3,252

    BOWTIE BROWN
    Member

    there is one in town with alum. Heads & been worked , jeeez does that then move.
    good motor .
     
  20. jasonp
    Joined: Sep 18, 2007
    Posts: 706

    jasonp
    Member
    from Aurora,IL

    I agree with everyone else, lol
     
  21. Deuces
    Joined: Nov 3, 2009
    Posts: 23,752

    Deuces

    Find out what internal goodies went into the 1970 W-30 motor and build it along them lines.... With RAM-AIR... I'm sure Edelbrock makes a cool intake for it..... A 750-800 cfm Holley carb with vacuum secondaries slightly tweeked for headers is what I'd use...
     
  22. my buddy had a 73 Hurst Olds with a built 455 in it. MAN WOULD THAT THING ROCK! It would get sideways at 60 mph
     
  23. 36couper
    Joined: Nov 20, 2002
    Posts: 2,014

    36couper
    Member
    from ontario

    I have a friend whose Dad was an engineer at Ford in Dearborn. He worked in the engineering department where they tested competitor engines on a dyno.
    They had an Olds engine on they dyno and for some reason, the dyno malfunctioned and the Olds was going full tilt. While the engineers scrambled to get it shut down, the RPM's were going higher and higher. It just wouldn't blow. Eventually they evacuated the area and eventually it blew. I can't recall how long it ran for now but when it did blow, they found a piston lodged in the cemet wall of the dyno room. My friends Dad said that by far, Olds engines were the best on the market at the time.
     
  24. Holt shit! What a visual. I can just see the engineers, knocking each other out of the way, scrambling for the door. I would have loved to have seen that........from a distance.:eek:
     
  25. 3Kidsnotime
    Joined: Oct 4, 2010
    Posts: 247

    3Kidsnotime
    Member
    from Utah

    They are a great engine, DO NOT run a HV oil pump in them they have a oil return problem can be worked around with restrictors, if you get serious about building one do some research, other than the oiling issues they can produce alot of power. I think they look a little industrial this is one I built for a car of mine and did some clean up to make it look better, this pic has some brackets I was building for a PC set up, Car is NOT FITTING for this site I know but the engines can be cleaned up.

    [​IMG]
     
  26. FIFTY2
    Joined: Apr 9, 2008
    Posts: 340

    FIFTY2
    Member

    Got one in my 52 business coupe, dont know how many miles are on it, but its very reilable, and has tons of torque.
     
  27. 42 chevy
    Joined: Nov 1, 2006
    Posts: 623

    42 chevy
    Member

    I just picked up a '76 Olds 98 Regency for the 455 and TH400. I had the opportunity to ride in a '76 Caddy with the same year engine, wow was I impressed. I am putting it into my '42 Chevy to replace the Olds 350 in it for more power. I can't wait to see what it does in a car that weighs 1k less. Goget it, I don't think you will regret it.
     
  28. guitar man
    Joined: Sep 13, 2010
    Posts: 210

    guitar man
    Member
    from Tulsa OK

    Great engine. It's on the list of "engines my wife can't tear up" so it's gotta be a tough SOB. :D :D
     
  29. Captain Chaos
    Joined: Oct 16, 2009
    Posts: 652

    Captain Chaos
    Member
    from Missery

    Great motors . dont get caught up in myths about them. the 2 biggest failures are " build it like a SBC " and "call mondelio"
    Olds engineers did a good job for it's applications .When rebuilding realise it's an Olds not a SBC , usually the clearances end up to tight on bearings and valves and a poor cam choice is made resulting in low poer and short life ,also pointed out do not use a HV pump unless you use a larger pan .
    The book listed is written bt Bill travato , a real olds racer/engine builder, also look for Olds IN Action , full ot tips for the top racers back in the 70/80s such as Dave Smith , FJ smith , Dick Fortmen etc.
    If your just crusiing dont worry about no special heads, they all work and we had put even the "junk J" head in low 12s in a 49 Olds . A proper rebuild w the right cam choice and you'll have lots of fun.
    Plenty of used intakes and valve covers out there to dress it up with .
     

    Attached Files:

  30. I used to have 69 delta,4 door electric everything, used to get second gear rubber with a th 400 getting on the freeway. embarrassed many a hot rod with that sleeper.Pete.
     

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