Hi,
My name is Fred Menna from N. Scituate , RI. I'm new here and have never owned an Olds. That may change tomorrow. LOL I have previously owned 8 Mustangs and 3 Chevelles,
I'm going to look at an Olds tomorrow.
Car is 1964 F 85, but things get interesting. It has a Chevy 427 engine, 4 speed, with a Curry 9 in. rear. Car is red with white interior. Car looks stock. I will probably have a lot of questions.
Thanks,
Fred

 

Sounds like a good clean car, except for the chevy motor between the rails.

In '64 I think the BBO was the 425, I'm sure you can find one and drop that in place. I would get matching numbers too.

There are guys on here that can decode the VIN for you too, so you can drop the correct motor in. Car would be worth some coin then, and you'll have a BBC 427 for one of your Chevelles, or a new project

 

In 64, the Cutlass had a 330 small block. Big blocks fit right in with the same engine mounts, bell housing, etc. Back then, numbers matching was virtually non-existent. You can check some date codes, but Corvette thinking does not apply very much. I think you would be happy with the same drivetrain but an Olds under the hood. You can sell the chubby engine for enough to do an Olds, hopefully. The point is mostly for it to be an Olds, not a mutant Back then, Olds engines were competitive with the technology, cams etc. of the time. Today's Walmart aftermarket stuff has made the chubbies and hemis take off, and do things they couldn't do back then. You can build your chubby with NOTHING coming from GM! How's that for "brand loyalty!"

Olds didn't build the 4 speeds or rear ends in 64, so there is little reason to worry there. Ford was a drivetrain vendor to Olds (top loader HD 3-speed trans) so I don't see any reason to squirm over the use of Ford rears or trannies. In fact, Ford was an honest competitor whereas chubby lied and cheated, keeping Olds from having a level playing field within GM.