I am looking at a boat with a 455 olds that has water in the oil. Any special concerns with these motors besides lookin for a head gasket leak? What is the bellhousing pattern? Can I bolt anything chevy into the boat? Looking for a cheap swap since the boat is pretty cheap.
Could the water in the oil be from a faulty exhaust? Maybe the water came back into the engine? I dont know how the exhaust works on these?
Bell housing is standard BOP. Water in the oil, well that could be anything. I would see if there is a way to pressurize the coolant system. Fastest way to determine the condition of the engine in this regard
What do you find out with the cooling system? It doesnt have a radiator, but I could plug one end and add some presure with my air hose.
That will work. If it holds pressure then it's a good sign that you have neither a cracked head, block or gasket. If it does have any of those you should be able to identify which one fairly quickly by the water coming out.
does it turn over? I bought one with a bad piston, it wore a hole through the cylinder wall. I've got $1500 in machine work/ parts to freshen my other 455. I shoulda bought the running 76 delta 88 for $1000.
Olds and Chevy have different bellhousing bolt patterns ,,Olds is Same as Caddy ,,but there are adapters to bolt Chevys to Olds TransMissions ,,HOWEVER ,,if that's a Jet Boat ,,you don't have a transmission ,,just an aluminum cover over the flywheel ,,the Jet Pump is hooked direct to the crankshaft via a drive shaft /u-joint configeration ,,THAT will bolt up to a Chevy ,,an aluminum Chevy flywheel cover is available thru boat accesary shops ,,some Jet Boats used a flywheel cover with rear motor mounts ,,most Chevys ,,however ,,used traditional side motor mounts bolted to the stringers ,, Typical old Olds jet Boat motors sitting around in cold weather got cracked blocks or heads ,,or both ,,if not winterized properly ,,
Regardless of make, my first thought about a boat motor with water in the oil is a cracked block - most likely in the valley area. As was mentioned the bellhousing pattern is the same as Buick and Pontiac. Chevrolet is different - however you can purchase adapters from Trans-Dapt, TCI, etc.
How does the exhaust work on these? I have been searching for sbc exhaust manifolds but I dont know what will work besides what is n there, it has the log style finned aluminum manifolds. Nicson I think they said.
Those are water cooled exhaust ,,water is pumped outa the lake/river by the jet pump thru the motor then thru and out the exhaust manifolds ,,you CANNOT run those dry ,,or you'll melt the exhaust manifolds ,,
If you're gonna put a Chevy in there ,,those Olds exhaust manifolds WILLNOT bolt up ,,you'll need water cooled exhaust manifolds for a Chevy ,,Coast Guard / FED Rules Prohibit Dry Exhaust in a Boat ,,they Must be Water Cooled ,,otherwise,a total fire hazard ,,
What keeps the water out ??? not sure what you mean ,,outa what ? the engine ?? the exhaust blows it out ,,,YES ,,Chevy Marine Manifolds are available ,,go to your local book store or the magazine rack at your grocery store ,pick up a copy of "Hot Boat" Magazine ,,it's full of advertizers for Marine Parts ,, PLUS ,,What jinda boat is this ?? the Brand and the make of the Jet Pump ,??
Oh, and what olds motors will bolt to the bell housing and manifolds? can I find an olds in different sizes?
Its a berkley jet and its a 19ft baja with an open bow, nice interior and trailer. The price is $800. I want to know if I can drop another enjine in and get out on the water! The manifolds and the berkly jet seem to be worth the price of the boat itself.
Sure,,,the Olds 350 and the 403 ,,i have a Hurst/Olds 403 in place of the 455 in my '78 GMC Motor Home ,, the Hi Perf 403 would be the choice ,, but,,don't throw that 455 away ,,GM don't make cranks ,,rods , and other stuff for em anymore ,,the parts are werth a bunch to a 455 guy ,, BUT,,,first things First ,,you need to pull that 455 outa there and finger out whats wrong with it ,,might be something simple ??/ or something bad ,,,but find out first,,,,,,,
$800 Bucks ??? you bet ,,Baja and Berkeley Jets are prime stuff ,,that Jet Pump is werth that ,,get it a pull the motor ,,need help ? call your local machine shop or a Hi-Perf Boat shop ,,
Keep the Olds. Pick up the catalog and manual from Mondello. It tells you all about interchangeability with Olds motors. I have used these books allot. Great tech info. Well worth it. http://www.mondellotwister.com/99cat.html Have fun with it. Vintageride
Keep the olds , stay away from mondello . I build olds and have some spare parts, well LOTS of spare parts but only some I will sell, I'm greedy : )) I'll be happy to share any info to help you keep that olds going proper . also you cna check out realoldspower.com , they have a boat section too
The intake won't. I think the other stuff will. Too bad you don't live here there's an Offenhauser intake on a 350 Olds in the junkyard.
Anyone know for sure that the exhaust will work? thats the expensive part I wuold rather not pay to replace.
Great thing with Olds is many parts DO interchange between big and small blocks. the exhaust,most gaskets, cams, timing sets, dist., oil pans and so on do interchange. the 74 350 is decent,low comp so it will run on any gas lol, pull pan and use the one from the boat and toss a timing chain in while your there and youll be good. I have cams and intakes if you decide to spruce it up some
I have a guy buying my 55 chev this saturday so when that comes in, I will be buying the boat. The 350 is $500 and I can hear it run before I buy it. Is there a special pan for the boats? It has a 455 edelbrock 4 barrel intake if anyone would want to trade for a 350 4 barrel.
This makes me wonder, every Olds I've done over the past 25 years I've used his parts. I'm interested in the justification for this remark.
alot of it is rebadged from other sources, and he oversells some stuff, so I hear. the machine shop I used is owned by a guy who used to race him back in the day. anyway, there are cheaper sources for the same shit.
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