Diving in head first
July 22nd, 2011, 04:09 AM
#1
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Posts: 473
Diving in head first
Okay, so im new here, here's a little backstory on me...
Im just shy of 20, live a few miles south of Indianapolis in Indiana, always been huge into muscle cars, everyone at my school always talked about their ricers and were always trying to impress me with them but its all so dull. I grew up with muscle and its kind of a family passion now. My mom had a 67' Camaro, my dad had a 71' Cougar XR7 and now has an 81' Turbo T/A, my uncle had a 69' Barracuda 340-S and a 65' 442, another uncle had a 67' Impala SS327, another uncle had a 79' T/A, and my brother has an 88' Firebird. My first car was a 91' RS Chevy Camaro (no im not copping out and saying Cheby or something, thats retarted in my oppinion, first of all its all GM so its all in the family anyways, second of all i love all muscle regaurdless of make, year, model, its all the same amazing, beautiful formula and while a little friendly rivalry is fun, there are those people who take that stuff WAY too seriously and really kill the mood, not to mention the lack of maturity. Besides, Olds guys would much rather drive a Chevelle than a Nissan right?). My Camaro was never the fastest in the parking lot but it sure looked and sounded a hell of a lot better than all that foreign tupperware. Then my friend got ahold of a 72' 454 Chevelle and that was the end of the line, i HAD to have something like that. It shook the parking lot when he drove, it rattled windows in my house when he pulled up, the car was scary at 1/4th throttle and no ricer would even acknowledge its existence for fear of what might come. My Camaro was nice, but it was no classic and the lack of chrome was pretty bleh to me, so my search was on...
NOW, with all that said, the reason why i join an Olds forum specificly:
I started my search simple, looking for a motor. My original idea was to craigslist a Chevy 350, stroke it to 383, and worry about what it was going in later. During my search I came across an Olds 455 that some guy was selling for $100 (I didnt know much about Olds motors at the time, but it was a classic big block, 72ci bigger than i intended to end up with, was cheaper as a long block than any short block 350 id come across, and on top of all that it would just be a much more unique and interesting motor than the vanilla 350 build every guy and his mom has done since 67') So i jumped on it, bought it, toted it home, and tore it down...here's the motor's story since its been in my possession...
First i did my homework. A LOT of homework. The guy i bought it off said he didnt want it cause it was a G head motor that he assumed was from a Toronado and it had a spun bearing. Turns out there was a LOT of grease on this mother and lots of scrubbing revealed it as a Ga head motor. Upon closer inspection i i noticed the notches in the valve covers signifying it was indeed from a cutlass, not to mention the smaller non-toro oil pan. So i was hyped, a 72' 455 from a Cutlass. Me and 2 friends cracked it open, tore it down to bare block in half a day, everything looks amazing and very gently used, the crank most likely needs turned but everything else looks re-useable. My plan as of now is to ditch the 8.5:1 pistons for some flat tops, get the block prepped, heads done, crank turned, drop in a cam (been interested in a Comp Cam XE274, any experience with this cam? Any suggestions for something else that i may like better? I want a wicked idle, slight power increase, not going too crazy cause its a 455 and its gonna be a torque monster anyways, plan to drill the crank or use aftermarket bushing (see, told you i did my homework haha) and run a 4-speed). The Ga heads are fine with me, Im not gonna cry over the C head difference, especially since i already have a set of Ga here and ready right now (any suggestions here would be nice too, i want a road warrior thats still daily driveable). Pistons and rods would be good conversation too, im lookin for flat tops and thinking about using the stock rods, any advice? Im definatly trying to squeeze as much out of this motor as possible with as little money as possible and as much at-home work as possible.
After getting my motor ive been looking into Olds a lot. I love it now. I always wanted a wicked driver muscle car and now im looking for a 71'/72' Cutlass S to drop my motor in once done. The 71'/72' 442s look AMAZING, i love the added curves over a Chevelle or GTO (not to mention there are millions of GTOs and Chevelles out there and ive always wanted to drive something rather unique to my area). And olds has always been known for its monster torque king motors and torque rules the street so all of this has fit together perfectly for me. Im definatly hooked on 442s now =D
So thats me, this is getting pretty long winded, sorry about that, im just bored/excited right now (if that possibly makes sense haha). Thanks for welcoming me to your forum, any advice on my motor build and Cutlass/442 searching for mid-Indiana would be extremely appreciated!
Im just shy of 20, live a few miles south of Indianapolis in Indiana, always been huge into muscle cars, everyone at my school always talked about their ricers and were always trying to impress me with them but its all so dull. I grew up with muscle and its kind of a family passion now. My mom had a 67' Camaro, my dad had a 71' Cougar XR7 and now has an 81' Turbo T/A, my uncle had a 69' Barracuda 340-S and a 65' 442, another uncle had a 67' Impala SS327, another uncle had a 79' T/A, and my brother has an 88' Firebird. My first car was a 91' RS Chevy Camaro (no im not copping out and saying Cheby or something, thats retarted in my oppinion, first of all its all GM so its all in the family anyways, second of all i love all muscle regaurdless of make, year, model, its all the same amazing, beautiful formula and while a little friendly rivalry is fun, there are those people who take that stuff WAY too seriously and really kill the mood, not to mention the lack of maturity. Besides, Olds guys would much rather drive a Chevelle than a Nissan right?). My Camaro was never the fastest in the parking lot but it sure looked and sounded a hell of a lot better than all that foreign tupperware. Then my friend got ahold of a 72' 454 Chevelle and that was the end of the line, i HAD to have something like that. It shook the parking lot when he drove, it rattled windows in my house when he pulled up, the car was scary at 1/4th throttle and no ricer would even acknowledge its existence for fear of what might come. My Camaro was nice, but it was no classic and the lack of chrome was pretty bleh to me, so my search was on...
NOW, with all that said, the reason why i join an Olds forum specificly:
I started my search simple, looking for a motor. My original idea was to craigslist a Chevy 350, stroke it to 383, and worry about what it was going in later. During my search I came across an Olds 455 that some guy was selling for $100 (I didnt know much about Olds motors at the time, but it was a classic big block, 72ci bigger than i intended to end up with, was cheaper as a long block than any short block 350 id come across, and on top of all that it would just be a much more unique and interesting motor than the vanilla 350 build every guy and his mom has done since 67') So i jumped on it, bought it, toted it home, and tore it down...here's the motor's story since its been in my possession...
First i did my homework. A LOT of homework. The guy i bought it off said he didnt want it cause it was a G head motor that he assumed was from a Toronado and it had a spun bearing. Turns out there was a LOT of grease on this mother and lots of scrubbing revealed it as a Ga head motor. Upon closer inspection i i noticed the notches in the valve covers signifying it was indeed from a cutlass, not to mention the smaller non-toro oil pan. So i was hyped, a 72' 455 from a Cutlass. Me and 2 friends cracked it open, tore it down to bare block in half a day, everything looks amazing and very gently used, the crank most likely needs turned but everything else looks re-useable. My plan as of now is to ditch the 8.5:1 pistons for some flat tops, get the block prepped, heads done, crank turned, drop in a cam (been interested in a Comp Cam XE274, any experience with this cam? Any suggestions for something else that i may like better? I want a wicked idle, slight power increase, not going too crazy cause its a 455 and its gonna be a torque monster anyways, plan to drill the crank or use aftermarket bushing (see, told you i did my homework haha) and run a 4-speed). The Ga heads are fine with me, Im not gonna cry over the C head difference, especially since i already have a set of Ga here and ready right now (any suggestions here would be nice too, i want a road warrior thats still daily driveable). Pistons and rods would be good conversation too, im lookin for flat tops and thinking about using the stock rods, any advice? Im definatly trying to squeeze as much out of this motor as possible with as little money as possible and as much at-home work as possible.
After getting my motor ive been looking into Olds a lot. I love it now. I always wanted a wicked driver muscle car and now im looking for a 71'/72' Cutlass S to drop my motor in once done. The 71'/72' 442s look AMAZING, i love the added curves over a Chevelle or GTO (not to mention there are millions of GTOs and Chevelles out there and ive always wanted to drive something rather unique to my area). And olds has always been known for its monster torque king motors and torque rules the street so all of this has fit together perfectly for me. Im definatly hooked on 442s now =D
So thats me, this is getting pretty long winded, sorry about that, im just bored/excited right now (if that possibly makes sense haha). Thanks for welcoming me to your forum, any advice on my motor build and Cutlass/442 searching for mid-Indiana would be extremely appreciated!
July 22nd, 2011, 10:23 AM
#2
Past Administrator
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Rural Waxahachie Texas
Posts: 10,052
Good complete story, thanks for sharing. I think you are on the right track with the 455, I personally like using them because of the available torque and parts for them are just about as available as they are for any of the other Oldsmobile motors. Hope you can find a good car to put the engine into, our members would surely like to help out. Welcome to CO.
July 22nd, 2011, 07:34 PM
#6
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Posts: 473
Thanks guys! Yeah thats one of the things that got me into Cutlasses as well is the price of them, theyre veery well priced right now, people looking for Chevelles seem to shell out $6k for project cars but you can find a great, solid, running and driving Cutlass for that much, and personally i think they look better anyways 
July 22nd, 2011, 08:57 PM
#7
Registered User
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: Plano, TX
Posts: 11,798
Welcome to CO!
Sure like your frame of mind and maturity, as well. I like all makes and models of old American cars, particularly the ones with good motor under the hood.
You are also choosing Olds the reason I do - they are different and have more luxury and looks than their Chevy cousins.
Hope you find a car to put that motor in - should not be too hard.
Good luck in your project!
PS - love the avitar. I am a nautical / pirate fanatic...
Sure like your frame of mind and maturity, as well. I like all makes and models of old American cars, particularly the ones with good motor under the hood.
You are also choosing Olds the reason I do - they are different and have more luxury and looks than their Chevy cousins.
Hope you find a car to put that motor in - should not be too hard.
Good luck in your project!
PS - love the avitar. I am a nautical / pirate fanatic...
July 23rd, 2011, 06:41 AM
#9
Registered User
Thread Starter
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: Indianapolis, IN
Posts: 473
Welcome to CO!
Sure like your frame of mind and maturity, as well. I like all makes and models of old American cars, particularly the ones with good motor under the hood.
You are also choosing Olds the reason I do - they are different and have more luxury and looks than their Chevy cousins.
Hope you find a car to put that motor in - should not be too hard.
Good luck in your project!
PS - love the avitar. I am a nautical / pirate fanatic...
Sure like your frame of mind and maturity, as well. I like all makes and models of old American cars, particularly the ones with good motor under the hood.
You are also choosing Olds the reason I do - they are different and have more luxury and looks than their Chevy cousins.
Hope you find a car to put that motor in - should not be too hard.
Good luck in your project!
PS - love the avitar. I am a nautical / pirate fanatic...
Nice 442 by the way, thats pretty close to exactly what im looking for, a 71' or 72' like that
And with the mind-set, even i can admit...its fun to tease Ford maybe a bit more than they desirve xD its not even like Fords are especially bad its just that Ford guys take it so seriously that they're fun to get riled up hahaha
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