Earlier I posted on my plan to replace my current Edelbrock Performers intake for the Parts Place W-30 aluminum intake with the final goal of installing the RAM air assembly. I have additional questions before embarking in this new project. One question is, does it matter what cam and heads I have? Im not sure what I have, but I was told by previous car owner that I have a crate 455 motor with non-stock (a little more aggressive cam) and E-heads. Also, does it matter what carb I have? I have a Holley Street Avenger 770 CFM. I want to make sure that I will not have performance problems, overheating, or a disastrous combination with the potential to ruin the engine. Thanks.

 

Crate 455? No such thing.
The intake will sit on any 455 olds made back in the day regardless of heads or cam.

 

Alan thank you for your reply. I found these sites regarding 455 crate engines:

http://www.proformanceunlimited.com/olds.html

http://www.customcrateengines.com/in...ldsmobile.html

http://eddiescrateengines.com/index....mobile-engines

 

Have you checked the VIN on your 455 to rule out a rebuilt original?

I'm not sure that you'll get the results in fitment that you desire with the Holley - it will probably not be the same height as the Quadrajet. My OAI cars are still QJets so I can't say for sure. Hopefully someone who has tried or done this successfully with a Holley will speak up.

Good luck.

Terry

 

Good idea. I will check the numbers. I am the third owner and I was told that the first owner cloned the Cutlass Supreme to make it look like a 442. So there is the possibility that the original engine was a 350 and a 455 was put during the cloning. I'll check that out. Thanks. As far as the Holley, that's a good point as well. Are the Edelbrock carbs similar to the Rochesters in height?

 

OK, first of all, unless your 455 has some exotic aftermarket heads like Battens, ALL big block Olds intakes bolt up. Cam has no effect on intake fitment, however obviously if the intake is not matched to the rest of the motor components in terms of flow rate and RPM range, performance will be less than optimum. In your case, you have no choice, since only the factory intake or the E-brock O4B will clear the O.A.I. air cleaner and adapter.

Second, Ram Air is a Pontiac marketing term. Olds alternately used Outside Air Induction or Force Air.

Third, the real definition of "crate engine" is a BRAND NEW motor using BRAND NEW castings. The automakers have always had new short blocks and long blocks available as replacement motors from the parts counters. Chevy started using the "crate motor" term to refer to brand new motors for performance and retrofit applications that were not simple replacements for a specific application (think the ZZ4 SBC, for example). Unfortunately, now every engine builder who sells complete rebuilt motors calls them "crate motors". They are simply rebuilds. We shouldn't glorify them.

It's like calling a fake 442 a "clone", "tribute", or whatever BS term is currently in vogue.

Finally, stop stressing over this. Buy the intake, bolt it on, install the O.A.I., and drive the car. This is not hard and you are far from the first person to do it.

 

The combo is absolutely not dangerous. The carb may not be the precise height of the qjet, leading to potential issues with the sealing foam between the hood and the air filter lid.

In general, all olds heads and intakes (separated by SBO or BBO, of course) will bolt up. The only split on intakes are high rise single plane vs dual plane or low rise single plane. Former is better suited for the track, latter for drivers. Hood clearance comes into play with the w30 cold air induction, so want to stick with a stock height dual plane - no performer RPM, nor the toronado intake.

w.r.t. "crate engine"... Normally that means a production line engine from a large company like GM, Edelbrock, etc. Very repeatable, consistent build quality, good warranties, and the things are kept in stock. There's nothing like that for olds. There are a few machine shops that will call their olds engines "crate" builds. The ones I've looked at use very low quality parts and are really low-cost economy rebuilds. They just grab whatever cores they can get quickly and throw it together. They're perfect for grandma's grocery getter that just died in some horrible way. Throw a cheap and cheery rebuild that no one has to think about and send her on her way.

That's very different than saying you have a crate 454 from GM with a guaranteed power output.

 

Save your money & deal with an reputable Olds engine builder as can be found on this site. You will be far happier in the end. Your "crate" engine will likely be built by someone that does not know how to build an Olds engine.

 

How does that help? The engine is fine and is already in his car and on the road. He's not looking to rebuild or replace it.

 

The comment is directed to those who would follow the posted links to the "crate engines" as an advisory to NOT purchase them.


Is this more clear now?


It is too late to help the OP but not too late to help others.

 

I can get on board with that.

 

"
455 475HP Oldsmobile

Seasoned 455 2 Bolt Main Block
Bored And Honed With Deck Plate
Mains Have Been Align Honed
Block Has Been Decked
Dura Bond Cam Bearings Installed
Brass Freeze Plug And Oil Galley Kit Installed
Block painted with 3 coats of high temp ceramic engine paint customers choice of color (have your engine custom painted to match your vehicle for an additional $300)
New Eagle Cast Steel Crankshaft
New Eagle H-Beam Connecting Rods With ARP Bolts And Bushed Pins
Mahle Forged Pistons
Clevite P Series Rod And Main Bearing
Performance Rings Hand Filed To Match Application
The complete rotating assembly will be balanced
New Three Piece True Double Roller Timing Set
New Comp Cams Custom Ground High Performance Street Camshaft With A Muscle Car Chop
A Set Of Comp Tie-Bar Roller lifters
A Set Of Edelbrock Performer RPM Oldsmobile Aluminum Cylinder Heads
A Set Of (8) 2.072 Intake Valves
A Set Of (8) 1.680 Exhaust Valves
A Set Of 7/16 Screw In Studs And Guide Plates
New Set Of Manley Chrome Moly Push Rods
New Set Of (16) New Performance True Aluminum Roller Rocker Arms
Engine Will Be Assembled With All New Bolts
A Melling High Volume Oil Pump And Screen
New Chrome Oil Pan
New Chrome Dip Stick And Tube
New Timing Cover
Professional Products Performance Balancer
Edelbrock Torker Performance Intake Manifold
New Chrome Thermostat Housing
Edelbrock Carburetor w/ Electric Choke
New Chrome Air Cleaner
MSD Pro-Billet Ready To Run Distributor
MSD 6AL Ignition Control Box
MSD Blaster II Coil And Bracket
(8) AC Delco Spark Plugs
A Set Of Custom Fit Taylor 8mm Ignition Wires (Color Of Choice Black, Red, Blue, Yellow, Green, Orange No Extra Charge)
High Flow Water Pump
New Set Of Chrome Valve Covers
New Chrome Breather
Fel-Pro Performance Gaskets
Flex plate (for auto transmission)
Engines are photo documented during the building process so you can see the quality of parts and workmanship that goes into your engine
Each engine is live run tested, timing set and carburetor adjusted for optimum performance
We video tape your live run engine and send you a copy
Engine will come with a limited warranty

　
"seasoned 2-bolt" - wow
Is that different from all the other blocks I have lying around?
:-)

 

I get a kick out of ads like these

 

As I noted, these are just rebuilt motors, but the reference to a "seasoned" block brings to mind a story about Jack Rousch. Back in his drag racing days, he would get brand new blocks from Ford and allegedly bury then in the ground for a year to "season" them prior to completely remachining them. Supposedly this relieved all the internal stresses so that the re-machined block would hold dimensional tolerances. Of course, if you have a used block with a 100K miles on it, that's another way to relieve internal stresses.

 

So a 'seasoned beater pilot' is...???? And what if it's a 'seasoned' lady car mechanic? I wouldn't want to be around when the discussion turns to how many miles she's got under her coveralls. I doubt that would relieve any internal pressures at all

 

I recommend seasoning your lady the old fashion way. Compression may drop some over the years, but internal pressures usually will stay fine, occasional blow outs may happen. But I dont recommend burying in the ground method...though some may argue otherwise.

 

Heh.

An amazon.com review for 1/4" brass nipples:

"Look at my nipples. LOOK AT THEM!

OMG I am so pleased with my new brass nipples! My nipples came quickly and are the perfect size, as described. They are shiny and beautiful, much nicer than my old nipples. Maybe it's just the cold snap, but my nipples seem very hard - in fact, I was able to cut glass with my nipples. I might have to order more nipples for the whole family. The threaded part is pitch perfect too. The inside is hollow, just like it should be. It passes a large volume of fluid without turbulent flow. My nipples are incredible, and yours can be too. "

 

Chris? You are one warped guy. Funny, but warped. I don't know how much time you spent looking for that but it was worth reading. So far I don't have any issues with my nipples though.....