Hello Everyone,
I recently purchased two 455 Olds shortblocks one was in pieces and the other was assembled, they were priced right so I bought them both. I am new to BBO but recently purchased a father and son project so I find myself buying and researching as much as I can about them.One thing that I'm stumped on is Rod orientation. The stock rods do not look to be offset like a Chevy so looking at the rods that are in the block some rods face each other and some don't. The rods do have a distinct notch or casting that I was using as a refrence but are in the block with no consistency. Any handy tips are greatly appreciated. Also both blocks are Fa blocks and both are +30 bored before I got them. Was thinking of a 268H comp cam as well, any thought.

 

The notches should all point toward the inside of the block, they supply oil to the cam surfaces.

 

If you do not have a chassis service manual, you should get one.

 

I sent a couple pictures to show the orientation of the rods. If someone sees something that looks wrong, let me know. To me it looks like some of the notches on the side of the rods are facing the inside and some facing the outside. I do need to find a service manual so far I bought the "How to build a High Performance Olds Engine book" but they say to ditch the stk rods and dont go into specifics on it.

 

They’re soft and a waste of time and money if you’re planning on making any real power at all.
The irony is the aftermarket ones are not only 5 times stronger, but also lighter, go figure.

 

What type of aftermarket rods would you suggest? The crank is a CN cast crank so I think thats ok.

 

Both Scat and Eagle make them, take your pick. It would be money well spent.

 

Thanks for everyones opinion. Getting all my parts cryo treated and then off to the machine shop.

 

Waste of money for a build like yours. Save that money and buy the H beams instead.

 

Friend of mine is doing it for free, he has a cryo freezer so im sending him the block,caps,crank. Will do the rings,pistons,and bearings when I figure what sizes are needed. Going with aftermarket rods and now im thinking of aluminum heads instead of the C heads that I have. I do this all the time, origanally was going to go basic then I bump myself 2 or 3 times as I go. Was thinking of FITech as well.....see what I mean.