I might have a possibility of trading my Olds 350 for an Olds 425. I see they only made them for a couple of years in the late 60's before the moved to the 455. Any comments on this engine, good or bad?
Check here: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=313223 Maybe you can find some useful information!! BTW: I got a 425 too ;-) Really impressive Motor, and didn't even see (hear) it running!!!
Do you have an auto. or a clutch??? Get the 425 flex plate with it you'l be ok.. if you need a fly wheel, good luck finding one (same as '64 thru '67 330-400-425) I've never seen a 425 with a clutch set up....olds didn't drill cranks for pilot bearings when a auto trans was used...9to1CR or some of the 4 brl engines were 10.5 to 1 cr!!!!!! toro's, and starfires were HOT!!!! It's a short stroke 455!!!!
425's kick mucho ass. in fact all of the "little big engines" from g.m. kicked ass. I would buy it in a heartbeat. all the power of a 455 is easily attainable.(probably more.) a touch higher r.p.m. redline. they are easy to convert to 4 speed. p.m. me for details. they are rowdy motors with very little modification. but then again, so was the 427 Chevy, 428 Pontiac, 425 Buick and 425 caddy.
Had a 67' 442 when I was a teenager. I bought it with a 455 in it and when the 455 spun four rods and two mains I replaced it with a 425. The yard I got it from always said thier engines "have only 35k miles on it". He said it was out of an old mans Delta 88. Ha! more like 90,000! This thing had 2" of grease on it. I dropped it in with only a clean up, my rusty old headers, and a new Q- jet carb (with tuning tweeks). On street tires, with a 3:73 posi., and a 400 Turbo, it ran a best of 13.9's. Not bad for a junk yard dog 425
I just picked up a 425 Olds myself (it's in pieces). I'm having a tough time finding a flexplate for it though. It's a 67 Toronado engine so it has all the good stuff including 10.5:1 pistons and decent flowing big valve heads. They were supposed to have 385 HP and around 480 ft/lbs torque from the factory. Good luck with yours!
if it is indeed a real toro motor, be aware that You will need a specific camshaft for it- the lifter banks are at a funky angle.
The 67 Toro engine has the modern 39 degree cam bank angle, but it does have larger (0.921" vs. 0.824") lifters. I may still need a special cam shaft due to lifters, but not because of cam angle.
Good engines. The A,B or C heads will out flow most any production SBC head except maybe the Vortec's. 4.125 bore X 4.000 stroke with a 7.000" long connecting rod (1.75:1 rod ratio), cooool! Had a mildly built one in a '64 Olds 442 convertible that ran 12.80's/108mph at lower altitude and low 13's @ 104 at Palmdale with 3.42's in the rear.
I'll have a bored .060 over 455 short block available soon... I just finished a 455 short block with a 100 oz. lighter swing assembly that I'm ready to install! Basically the 425 engine especially the crank are highly sought after and can throw a higher rpm into the torque mixture! I'm so happy with my mild 455 beating out so many High dollar engines at the strip that I wanted to spice this one up a bit more to spank some blower motors while retaining a very docile street durability. My 455 weighs less than most small block Chevy's and although it might have less Horsepower than them I make it up with "MONSTER TORQUE". On the dyno with everything "WRONG" about my set-up... I've pulled 289 hp and 398 ft lb's of torque at the rear wheels! I'd tell you a higher number of torque that was calculated at the crank but you wouldn't believe me. I love this "Orphan engine" and feel that it doesn't get the respect that it should. If you don't buy it... I know several people that will... and the they will spank some Hemi's!
I flirted with Olds power once or twice back before I was a hard core Pontiac man....425s are GREAT motors. Lux touched on one thing you MUST know before you buy any valve train parts, the lifter angle. Some blocks were one angle, some were the other. It is hard to pin down to early, late or whatever and neither is better than the other. Just make sure which one you have before you order parts. Mondello Olds can show you how to tell which one you have. Good luck, -Abone.
There's another thin to think about when dealing with the olds 425: The 455 block and 425 block are interchangeable, so if you have a good rotating assembly (mainly the good forged crank and rods) of the 425 you can always find a decent 455 block and make a 425 out of it. If your 425 block has damage or 45deg. cam bank angle and can't find a cam, or you have the modern 39deg. and don't want to spend big bucks on the oversized lifters, you can get a more modern 455 block (usually cheap too). I'd find out what vehicle the engine came from originally and find out what heads it has. If it's big bucks and has small valve heads and old style cam bank angle it may not be worth spending alot of money on. However if it has good flowing heads, good rotating assembly ect... and the price is right buy it up.
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