I just picked up a 1963 oldsmobile starfire. No motor and trans, trying to find a 394 and having it rebuilt is out of the question for me, im not trying to build a $25,000 car, don't care about re-sell value, just want to build a primered,lowered cruiser on a budget and have fun, so im considering useing a chev 350 motor and trans i have just sitting in my garage, now i know alot of times these swapping ideas turn into money pits so i want to avoid that, anyone have any knowledge they can share on this swap? What motor mounts will work? Clearence problems? Im not the type of person thats gonna let this car sit for years its gonna be make it work for cheap or sell it! Thanks all.
Sell it, why hack it up to sell it later. You're time has to be worth something. NO, you aren't going to get rich on it. Figure it out..........
I have a 350 chevy in my 60 olds and the only issue i have had was the olds steering box in in the way. I used a set of block huggers. or any 80s f body v-8 manifolds will workthe olds 394-425 is jusst to costly to rebuild.
A friend of mine put a SBC in a 61 Olds, if I remember correctly he didn´t have to jump a lot of loops, kinda dropped right in. He had to fab and modify motor and transmission mounts though.
Here´s a link to his homepage. If you click on " mehr Bilder" you´ll get more high resolition pics and detailed build shots. Hope that helps! He acuactlly cut up a 4dr to fic the rag top--- cool build i think. http://www.oldschoolcustoms.de/proj...s/detailansicht.html?tx_oldschool_pi3[uid]=22
I would at least put an Olds 350-455 in that car. I understand the cost of the 394 rebuild. You should be able to buy a running 70's Olds for quite a bit less.
black62 wrote "get it running with the idea of being able to go back to rocket power if you want to... " I like that idea! im also open to the idea of using later model oldsmobile motor, but I need information on the exhaust manifolds, will the steering box be a problem? earlier this summer gave away a 350 olds motor & trans because just got tired of it sitting and not being used. the guy had a project going and working with little cash, he did put it use and got his car running that week, so no regrets giving it away. KEEP THE HELP COMING GUYS, IM LISTENING.........
PLYMOUTH 52 WROTE "or any 80s f body v-8 manifolds will work" I will go to pick n pull to see what they look like, what year did you use? what did you do for motor mounts?
1964 Jetstar used the 330 motor in the big car chassis. 330-350 same motor. If you look there are your mounts and manifolds. 64-63 big car same chassis.
At last, a sensible idea. Definitely put the 350/350 combo in there. It will take a little finagling but it will fit, and work well. The car has a conventional open driveline. The engine compartment is designed to take a V8. Chev PS pump is compatible with Olds PS. You may need different front springs because the Chev is nearly 200 pounds lighter than the Olds. The 394 was a great engine, the Jetaway trans not good. You will be way better off with the Chev drive train.
This is the way to go. If you can find a old junked Jetstar 88 you will have everything you need. The automatic used behind the 330 was a switch pitch 2 speed; I don't know if a turbo 350 or 400 will fit without modifying the tunnel. The slim jim was used behind all 63- 64 394's except the ones that were sticks. Please don't put a Chevy in a Starfire.
Going with an Olds motor would be the easiest way to go. The Olds engines from 330 to 455 use the same mounts and are very easy to fab. The big blocks are wider than the small blocks by about 2.5 inches at the valve covers. The exhaust manifolds are readily adaptable and somewhat easy to obtain. The driver side is the most problematic but there is a manifold used on big cars that has a center outlet that might work very well. PM me and I can get the manifold casting ID for you. The trans mount location varies with the type of trans you use. If you want an OD trans, the 2004R fits very well and is available with the BOP bolt pattern. Lots of luck and I hope you keep it all Olds.
I used early 60 smal motor mounts and built a pad to the rear of the W member. go to my photo album and theres alot of the shots how we did it all. good luck. The 350 olds would not work due to the upper A arm mounts for a good fit the motor would have had to come up and i would have carb to hood issues.
sorry the best manifolds are the 86 thru 90. you need rear dump on both drivers and passangers side. as i recall the olds you have is a X frame. I used a dummy block and 350 trans to set where i needed them built my mounts. now that said my 60 had a front motor mount stock i think you have side mounts so this should be alot easyer then mine was.
I agree, the Olds engine goes in easier and is a better engine than the Chev. But good luck finding one. I haven't seen an Olds with a decent 350 in a junkyard in years. They loused them up in the late 70s. Even decent Chev 350s are getting hard to find.
If its a 330 car the olds motor is the way to go but if its a 394 life gets hard from there. I have a friend that has motors but most need rebuilding. My problem was the front head ports were setting in the A frame mount on a 60 there real tall. I am told that a set of 425 heads on a 350 would have fixed the problem but I never looked into the fix as I had a good 355 chevy and there much easyer to get parts for these days.
Thanks for the input, i have been searching for a oldsmobile motor, found a 1964 olds jet star super 88 4 door with the 394, very cheap price, owner says it runs but now will not start due to fuel problem, so im going to go see it and bringing gas can and some fuel line, not buying it unless i can hear it run and im going to do a compresion test, so now i need help again........... What compresion numbers am i looking for? And how i do make sure it is the 394? Thanks all!
Last update......... 394 i went to go see was junk! Im done with this project and not gonna let it sit around, just put it in the hamb cars for sale section now.
okay im back again with this topic, decided i did not want to install the chevy and sell it as i said i would do, (see classifieds 1963 oldsmobile starfire) but after a few months still no buyers at $1,500. every other day im getting text messages from scammers and no real buyers local. so since I have had it for sale and no buyers im guessing in this bad economy its just not worth spending a ton of money restoring it correctly to original, I hate to part out a nice 2 door like this and scrap whats left over, right now im paying storage on it and about ready to do something I really hate to do but it is cost effective for me. DROP THE SMALL BLOCK CHEVY MOTOR IT IN. i have the motor and trans sitting here in my garage. have discussed it with some friends and have there help when im ready, ANYONE HAVE ANY MORE INFORMATION ON THIS SWAP FOR A 1963? I understand that 61-64 frames are the same but would really like information on someone who has done the 63 just to be on the safe side and not have it turn into a long term money pit project,
I looked(email pics) at a 61 88 with a SBC and 700R4 in it that was for sale in Manitoba. The pics weren't real clear on the install but it seemed to fit okay. He was using a block hugger header on one side and a manifold on the other so I'm not sure what that was all about. You will need to manufacture engine mounts and a trans crossmember for sure. I might possibly do the swap on my own '61. I have a good 394 but my trans is a little iffy so I haven't decided to swap it all out or buy the $1000 adapter so I can install a TH350.
wow! Block hugger and stock manifold! As someone previously mentioned im going to use the 86-90 f-body manifolds.
I have a 1959 Olds 371 motor for sale: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?p=9600848#post9600848 just saying.. Dave L
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