trackz man

We are replacing a 394 from a 1963 88, 10:25:1 2bc, single exhaust and putting it in a 1963 Starfire. The Starfire was a recent barn find, but the engine was under a juniper tree for way too long. We removed the heads from the Starfire engine only to be shocked that the cylinder walls had rust 2-3" holes in them-I almost puked when I saw. I guess this block is no good??? Several items of discussion are -
1. Can I replace the 2bbl manifold with a 4bbl manifold with no problems?
2. We have the drivers side exhaust manifold to make it dual exhaust, will doing both of the above virtually make it a 330 hp motor instead of a 280hp that was in the 88???

Also does anyone know the correct colors for the Starfire motor? The 88 motor was red and I have seen pictures of Starfire engine red, w/aluminum colored valve covers along with the air filter top housing. Any input would be greatly appreciated....

rocketraider

The Starfire cam and pistons are different, so by changing to 4-bbl dual exhaust you'd end up with a 330 hp job- maybe a little more since the 330 rating was with single exhaust. Neither should be a difficult swap and the Starfire should already have its throttle linkage set up for 4-barrel.

Starfire is red with silver valve covers and aircleaner. Most 63's had them chrome.

Are you going to put the Starfire heads back on this engine? since the external engine ID is on the left hand head above the center exhaust ports. The high-compression 2-barrel engine would have an H prefix and no suffix on the number, where the Starfire would have a J prefix (4-bbl) and an S suffix.

I guess you could have the Starfire block sleeved if you could find a machine shop capable of doing it, but all 63-64 394 blocks were the same so if you can find a better one, that's the simpler way to go. Just hope the Dynamic wasn't a really nice example. Not enough of them are being saved.

trackz man

Thanks rocketraider-

So the difference in the camshaft and piston appearance made up the additional 15hp? I have read many more of the 394 searches and it seems that the 394 is a substantial amount of hp for the Starfire-especially with dual exhaust.

Do you know if the valve sizes on the 394 heads are different with different hp motors or were they the same?

I will have to check the Starfire heads more throughly before replacement. I will check the letter designation and get back...

rocketraider

394 valve sizes were all the same and sound kinda small compared to what came later- 1.875 intake, 1.5 exhaust.

Olds liked to use piston dish to change compression ratio instead of combustion chamber shape.

Where I was going with using the Starfire heads is that nitpickers wouldn't be able to tell the engine wasn't the original Starfire engine that came in the car.

trackz man

Thanks rocketraider again-

I know the rivetcounters will not be able to tell the difference. Also we are going to rebuild the heads after the engine swap and then use the Starfire heads-after we do the frame off resto-Could be a few years tho.

Do you know what is the best way to clean up those old aluminum looking valve covers to be repainted..?