350 or 455

[Gert3116]

I have 69 Cutlass S that came with an olds 350 and I am planning on either rebuilding that engine or finding a 455 and rebuilding that. Can you get decent power out of the 350 without spending 2 or 3 thousand on parts. Also I can't find a repair manual like a Chiltons for my car. Can anyone give me a few suggestions?

[texasred]

It costs almost as much to go through a 350 as a 455. If you can get your hands on a non-smogger (pre 73) for fairly cheap, go for it. TH400 (stock with 455s) transmission uses a shorter driveshaft. You can keep your TH350 transmission and driveshaft, if you have the transmission built up.

Forget Chiltons. Get a Chassis Service Manual, Fisher Body Manual and Assembly Manual. Available as reprints from Year One, or go ebay. Best money I spent on my car!

C.J.

[Gert3116]

But can you make a 350 fairly hot or is it not worth it to put that much money into it.

[$tryker]

Short answer, yes. But, nothing beats cubic inches!!!!!!!


Bigger is better!

[Olds64]

If he goes to a 455 will he have to consider modifying the front suspension? I would think that a 455 would outweigh a 350 by enough that worn springs might sag with the added weight. Anybody ever have this problem?

[$tryker]

With a worn out suspension, that may be a possibility. I pulled the original 330 from my drop top, and replaced it with the BBO, utilizing an 8 quart pan and had no problems. All that was required was a front end alignment. Good thought.

[Redog]

Originally Posted by Olds64

If he goes to a 455 will he have to consider modifying the front suspension? I would think that a 455 would outweigh a 350 by enough that worn springs might sag with the added weight. Anybody ever have this problem?

This is why I put the 350 in My Delta instead of the 455, replacing the old 307

[J-(Chicago)]

I think they should weigh about the same. Especially if you put on new aluminum deelybobbers.

The problem is usually always with exhaust clearances.

[Redog]

But at $1500 top $1800 a pop, that's up to you, if you have that kind of money to spend.

I've read that my 350 weighed in at 560 lbs from the factory and the 307 was about 420 lbs. Since I swapped manifolds I dropped 38 lbs off that 560 down to a slimmer 522 lbs.

The car weighed in at 3990 to 4010 with the 307, and 4050 to 4070 with the 350, pending on how much gas was in the tank

[joe_padavano]

Originally Posted by Olds64

If he goes to a 455 will he have to consider modifying the front suspension? I would think that a 455 would outweigh a 350 by enough that worn springs might sag with the added weight. Anybody ever have this problem?

In stock condition, the weigh difference is less than 100 lbs. Sit on the front fender and that's how much difference it will make.

[Olds64]

Sit on the front fender and that's how much difference it will make.

I think if I sit on the front fender it would make a bit of a difference. I weigh in at nearly 300lbs.

[64Rocket]

BBO or SBO, it depends on what you plan to do with the car. With gas now days BBO is not great on gas. But if you hop up the SBO, mileage will not matter. You have the small block now, do it. Big block OLDS, lots of power.

Geno..

[shaks 442 clone]

Originally Posted by 64Rocket

BBO or SBO, it depends on what you plan to do with the car. With gas now days BBO is not great on gas. But if you hop up the SBO, mileage will not matter. You have the small block now, do it. Big block OLDS, lots of power.

Geno..

and what setup are you running geno?

and im talking from front bumper to taillights

[Oldsguy]

Originally Posted by Olds64

I think if I sit on the front fender it would make a bit of a difference. I weigh in at nearly 300lbs.

He is not fat, just tall........
I'm fat

[Olds64]

BBO or SBO, it depends on what you plan to do with the car. With gas now days BBO is not great on gas. But if you hop up the SBO, mileage will not matter. You have the small block now, do it. Big block OLDS, lots of power.

I wouldn't worry about gas mileage. Like 64 Rocket said if you have an Olds 350 you might as well rebuild that. If you put mild performance parts in it to make a strong street motor you will get respectable milelage for a muscle car as long as you keep your foot out of it. Any of these cars we drive get poor gas mileage compared to the cars of today. Actually, the gas mileage of today's cars is poor as well but that is another story...

[yogi442]

350 weighs in at 560lbs, 455 comes in at 640lbs stock weight. I did not changes to front end of my 76 Cutlass when converting nor to my 66 442 when installed 455.

[GoldOlds]

80 pounds, that's it?!? Damn, I bet they'd weigh the same (more or less) if you put alumn. heads on the SBO.
From what I've heard, the 350 SBO is a motor with good potential without having to go wild with cam lift/dur, compression, etc. Some might even say it responds as well to mods as a 350 Chevy . . . others would say that's crazy. didn't one of the hot rod mags do a GM 350 shootout (Chev vs. Pontiac vs. Olds vs. Buick or something like that)? If so, I'd LOVE to read that article...

- GoldOlds

One of the hot rod mags did a Buick-Pontiac-Oldsmobile 455 shootout, but I don't know what the results are. I know they started with an olds motor, but I don't know if it's gotten any farther than that or not. Not that it matters, cause we all know the olds motor would win.

Personally, I'd rather go big block 455 than sb350. But that's because I have a 455 project going on.

No Replacement For Displacement brother!

Oh yeah, and edit:

My philosophy is, if you're gonna build a muscle car, you'd better not care about gas mileage. It's a muscle car. If you can afford to build a muscle car, you better count on affording the gas it needs too. They're not designed to be economical, they're designed to be fun! Who says you can't have too much of a good thing?

[yogi442]

my 76 Cutlass came stock with 350. We did a mild build 60 over with Edelbrock intake and 260 comp cam and it performed great. But there is still no excuse for cubic inches and finally built a 455 for it.