Hey Guys,

So I just wanted to get some thoughts before i really did anything serious. I currently own a 1970 Cutlass S with a 350 4bbl. I recently came across an opportunity to buy a 455 out of a 1970 Toronado GT. I can actually get the whole car for about 1200 bucks, the car itself is not worth working on as it has frame damage but the drive train is in really good shape. I have a direction that I want to go with the car overall and one of those was to rebuild the 350 to get it around the 375HP mark to just make it a fun street cruiser. But I am wondering if it might be a better investiment to do this 455 instead? But my main questions are being the Toronado was a front wheel drive car, is there actually going to be power loss changing this to a rear wheel drive? would i have to look at getting a new transmission or will this mate up and work well with the TH350? How much work would actually be involved in doing a swap like this? I guess overall is it worth considering or would it make more sense to just build the current 350 overtime to keep the integreity of the car?

Thanks guys!

 

It would be smarter investment to do a 455, you can mate it to your 350 it wouldn't be a bad idea to upgrade the 350 with some HD components. All the pulleys and accessories from your car are compatible with 455 so it wouldn't take that much. It's really a simple swap. I wouldn't worry about the integrity of the car, it will be much more desirable with a 455.
The only thing you have to do is buy new motor mounts for small block(assuming that yours on 350 are worn out) and mount the engine with those. You are going to need exhaust manifolds or headers. Others may fill in what else you might need. JMO

 

The cheapest horsepower is cubic inches. No power loss putting the engine in a rear wheel drive car. The 455 in a Toronado is, for all intents and purposes, the same 455 that was put in rear wheel drive cars. Assuming the Toronado engine is in good shape, getting 375 horsepower out of it can easily be done without tearing into the motor itself. (I believe that factory HP rating for the 69' and 70' Toro 455 was 375 but I've heard that number was a little inflated) A good intake manifold, carburetor and some headers should do it. You'll probably have to change the oil filter adapter as the Toro one angled the filter to clear the starter.

Scott

 

Those were, indeed, the factory ratings. All cars prior to the 1971 model year used Gross Horsepower, which was the engine on a dyno without accessories or stock air cleaner or exhaust manifolds. Starting with the 1971 model year, automakers were required to use Net Horsepower, which included the effects of the air cleaner, stock manifolds, and accessories.

Of course, as we've talked about previously, the stock ratings were somewhat questionable. For example, if the 1970 Toro W-34 motor really put out MORE HP and torque than the W-30, why would Olds waste the time and money to tool up the F heads, aluminum intake, 328 degree cam, and special carb? The 370 HP rating on the W-30 had more to do with staying under GM's 10 lb per HP limit in a 3700 lb car than it did with reality.