Need some advice. Restoring 64 cutlass convert, the 330 engine has 62K. Upon further inspection of engine, discovered it needs a total rebuild, so I did a 350 swap. I am unable to afford rebuilding the 330.


Is it wise to keep the 330 because if I sell the car one day, it will technically be a numbers matching car, since I still have the original engine (for the purist), or, should I junk the engine and part out what I can because there doesn't seem to be a demand for 330 engines.
Thanks for your opinions.

 

If you have a spot for it, save it.
They don't eat much and will make
you car more appealling if & when
you do decide to sell it. If your goal
is to keep and play with the car, then yeah,
get what you can for the engine parted.

 

don't those 330 engines have steel cranks ?

 

Yes they do. Bonus.

 

If you're going to store it, be sure to protect the cylinders with some sticky oil. No point in keeping it just to have it rot.

 

I would say a 64 convert is quite desirable and even more so with the original engine. If you don't have a spot for it I would make one.


Cheers, Mike

 

"there doesn't seem to be a demand for 330 engines."

Then you advertise it as an underbored 350 with a forged crank. Easy to put std sized 350 pistons in and have a forged crank 350 with new bores.

Most folks have no clue what a 330 is, because they were made briefly so long ago.

 

Imho, a 64 330 is not very desirable with the shaft mounted rockers. I would be almost certain if your not doing a body off, every nut /bolt restoration, that anyone will care that it does not have the original engine. I doubt if any future owner is going to want to put it back in.


This guy is looking for 1:


https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...0-block-2.html

 

Yes, I am looking for one. I found one that was seized up and the guy wanted $500...OMG, are you kidding me is the thought that ran through my head. As many have eluded to, there is very little demand for a 330. I'm looking for one that has julian date 89-105 by the distributor and a #2 above that number. This means it is a 4A, 4B or 4C on the data plate, model year 1964.

 

Thanks for your opinions. I'll oil it up, shrink wrap the engine, and find a place to store it!

 

Just to clarify, unless you have the Protect-O-Plate, there are no numbers that "match" on a 330 motor. The term "numbers matching" has become so misused as to be meaningless. What it really means is that the VIN derivative stamp on the engine (and other parts so stamped) MATCHES the VIN of the car. Unfortunately, Olds didn't start stamping the VIN derivative on the block until the 1968 model year. There is an engine unit number stamped on one head of your 330, but unless you have the Protect-O-Plate, there is no way to match this engine unit number to the VIN.

Now, I'm sure you meant that you wanted to keep the original motor, and that has some merit for a lot of reasons, but it will never be a "numbers matching" car without the Protect-O-Plate simply because there are no numbers to "match".

 

Not to nitpick here (but why the hell not). The 330 was introduced in 1964, and, over the course of the next four model years before being discontinued after 1967, was installed in literally several hundred thousand cars. So, yes, they were not made for as long as, say, the dozen or so years the 350 was made, but I would hardly describe their tenure on earth as "brief."

 

Not to pick nits, but
shouldn't that be the "next THREE model years" for a total of four model years?
:-)

I maintain that the production ended so long ago, and compared to the nine model years that the 455 was produced, and the... 12-13?? years of the 350, including when no BB's were available... therefore many more 350's were used... what we have is a generation of folks that have no idea what a 330 is, or why they might want one instead of a 350. Heck, even back in 1980, it was hard to find anyone who knew how a 330 was different from/ better than the 350. Most of the hulks that got saved evidently were BB cars... leaving few 330's to be found nowadays.

Oil it, wrap it, and save it, if space allows.

 

No. I meant my comment as meaning that the 330 was introduced at the beginning (a word I did not use before) of the '64 model year and was used through that year plus the next three for a total of four.


None of this is untrue, and it's all beside the point.

Yes, as I acknowledged earlier, production of the 330 was far smaller than that of the 350 (and 455), and you can cite statistics and production numbers all day long to support this. But that doesn't mean it's appearance was "brief." I disagree with the use of that word and what it suggests.

 

Like I said the only negative of that early vintage 330 is the rocker setup. It's not a very viable engine for rebuild. The later versions had the same setup as the 350's and oiled well.