OK guys and gals.. I have a 455 sitting on the stand that I"m trying to figure out what it may have been out of. Did Olds stamp the engine code on a pad like Chebby did? I've had this thing for about 10 years, ran it in my old 71 Cutlass Supreme for awhile before I parted it out but never really knew what I had. I pulled it out of a '66 cutlass back in the days when I worked in a salvage yard so I know it wasn't original to that car.

Here's what I do know...


It's a '68 Block with 396021 F cast behind the timing cover and another "F" cast on the side of the block.

It has "C" Heads.. big or small valve I have no idea.

It has a "checkmark" in flywheel flange so I"m pretty that means it's forged.

4V intake and set up for single exhaust.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance Chad

 

Have you looked in the 'Tech Section' of this site?

396021F is the typical number you'll find on a 455 from 68-76. The large F on the block is also typical. C heads were 67-69 production

You won't be able to find out what kind of car the engine came out of unless you can match up the engine stamp with the VIN of the car it was born with or you know who the original owner was. There is an engine stamping pad at the front of the block just by the power steering pump. It will have the Olds division number, model year (single digit) production factory, and the last 6 digits of the cars VIN. Unfortunately, Olds did not keep these production records so it's highly unlikely that you'll find out what car it was out of. In 68 it could have been a Cutlass, 442, VC, Ninety Eight, or Delmont 88. Sorry it's not much help.

 

If you have it on a stand I would pull the pan off and look for the casting number 400943 on the crank. If that's the number then you have a forged crank, otherwise it's cast.

 

You'll find your engine info at Wild About Cars.

Wild About Cars. http://wildaboutcars.com. An information supersource, especially Oldsmobile. More Olds content than anywhere else on the internet and continuing to grow.
You'll find Chassis Service Manuals, Product Information Manuals (AKA Assembly Manuals), Inspector's Manuals, and other documents that will contain this and much much more.
Dealer Brochures, magazine ads and articles, and a home page for you online. You can even have your very own club there and a personal forum.
Free to join, free to learn.

 

Where on the crank is the casting number? I have a 455 mostly apart in the garage right now. It's going to end up as a boat anchor (2 machine shops have advised it will cost more than it's worth to fix - cracked block- but the crank looks to be in good shape.

 

You won't find a casting number on a forged crank.

'68 (& '69) 455 is limited to 88, 98, Toronado & H/O

 

Ok, well that settles that. There are casting numbers all over the dumb thing so it's probably not forged, just machined where necessary for the bearings.

 

Start with the partial VIN# - if it's 38Mxxxxxx in the range for '68 H/Os - there might be someone lookin' for it.

 

"N" nodular cast iron crank (w/fine parting lines) VS. forged crank pics (w/wide parting lines)
** there can be numbers on a forged crank, they just are not "cast"