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why replace an oldsmobile engine for something else?
in something like, say, a 64 starfire with a 394 slimjim?
To my knowledge Buick & Chevy motors came from the factory in oldsmobiles from 73-77 om the A-body platform and also from 78-88 in the G body platform. and prob others as well.
you could get buick 231 or chevy 267 or chevy 305.. sure they were dogs.. but so was thecrappy dog olds 403 that they somehow dogged into a pontiac trans am in 1979.
calling all elitists, nay-sayers. purists, brand loyalists..
im sure you still run bias ply tires on your 60's and 70's cars.
im sure you still run single weight non detergent motor oil.
you must def run factory mufflers and resonaters that you find on ebay at the tune of $400 each
im sure you still run type A transmission fluid in all your old leaky gm slush boxes
drum breaks with asbestos shoes, solid core spark plug wires, points ignition.
no seat belts in pre 66 cars, loop carpet, horse hair sound deader, lacquer paint.
Cloth insulated wiring and AM tube style radios with single cloth cone negative chassis ground speakers,
YEAH MAN! im "All original!"
For the same reason that mike finnegan put a 426 hemi in a 55 chevy, for the same reason jeff lutz builds custom chasis, and for the same reason in the 1960's many a 394 found their way into chevy gassers and model a ford hotrods.
its because its fun to drive and race your cars. And its fun to be able to keep up with modern traffic on a road trip and not sit in the slow lane doing 70mph while a 1991 rusty corolla can blow past you at 90 while also being able to blInd you with his HID headlights, out corner, out accelerate, out brake you while getting 30mpg.. but imo he doesnt look as good.
sure original is cool and i dont diss it. but its also cool to upgrade sometimes and its cool to take stuff apart and re engineer it. thats why wildwood and baer and scarebird make disc break kits for our drum brake cars, thats why dupont makes base clearcoat now over lacquer, thats why edelbrock and holley make new carbs for our beat to crap warped bodied 4gc rochesters, the aftermarket goes on and on. i was patching cars together when there was very little aftermarket support. We put differnt motors and trans and rear gears than the factory did because its an upgrade man. we take stuff apart and put it back together sure theres nothing wrong with the old stuff but you know what. steam engines are cool too. If you have to be all olds, all the time, i get it and i appreciate it.
The 394 lets talk about that.. how much does it cost to rebuild one. hows yoru valvetrain, hows your cam selection. hows your header selection. hows your tranmission options.. how much does a set of pushrods cost? hows your compression ratio on 91 pump gas? and hows your gas mileage.. bad? its the equivlent of driving a motorycyle with a 1/2 gal gas tank.. Im not dissiing it, for the time, it was a monster. i feel like the HP and torque numbers are grossly overrated buy my Dyno is on the fritz and have no proof to substantiate it.
and i would never discard a running olds motor, its not becomng a boat anchor. im passing it on to someone that may want it to cherish. however that list of folks are mostly all dead now.. It will sit in the car and i will drive that thing with pride until someine comes along that needs it. If It didnt run like i said, guess what, it would be on my garage floor in a tire and i would be selling it like the countless other "rebuilt" motors on craigslist covered in bodo dust and grease on a garage floor where you just have to trust the owner that its got pop up pistons and cam new bearings.
And the ROTO 10?? really? I think i could swap a late model chevy fuel injected motor with OD tranny into one of these cars for less than the cost to just rebuild a slim jim the right way.
I dont typically go to car shows. i dont open my "jewelry box" to show off my fancy motor that you could eat off, my car has grease and rust. if you try to eat anything off my motor, your risking getting sick. but my struff runs and you can jump in it and drive it to from boston to maine if you want, in the rain,
you can sit in 128 rush hour traffic and my stuff doesnt overheat. i dont really care what motor is in it. but when i do go to car shows, i do dig looking at other peoples shiny motors.
I love cars, i love Oldsmobiles, buicks, pontiacs, chevrolets, i love opels, i love AMC, i love eagles, i love dodge, chrysler, plymouth.
I love honda, i love NIssan and datsun.I love fords and mercs, I love Fiat, i love mazerrati and alpha and all the itlaians and the list goes on and on. I love everybody.
I will run any motor you give me that runs and drives like a raped ape. in any car that needs it..
I love all you guys and i love the hobby and i love talking about cars.. to each his own.. build what you love. drive what you build, thanks for taking interest in the hobby, thanks for having me here on your forum. thank god for freedom of speech and for individualiy and personal freedom of choice.
Just my thought, but might have to do with Oldsmobile being gone -and using a drive train from a manufacturer still in production just seems wrong to some.
Ha.. moved to the back corner of the darkest part of the basement.. I get it.
whats funny is that if everyone went all oldsmobile, you would lose your elite status whichis what keeps you here in the firstplace.
god bless the oldsmobile.
I moved your thread to the non Olds Powered forum as that is what the intended use of the forum is. I agree not all cars can stay virgin as the wind driven snow.
If you run anything but Olds power you are going to offend someone/'s, don't ask me how I know . You are not going to change a purists mind with any justification other than its your car, your cash, and like wives your the only one that needs to love it. Not worth a pissing contast within the forums nor will it be tolerated.
You can start a build thread in this forum, I'm sure there are some interested people that will follow.
I moved your thread to the non Olds Powered forum as that is what the intended use of the forum is. I agree not all cars can stay virgin as the wind driven snow.
If you run anything but Olds power you are going to offend someone/'s, don't ask me how I know . You are not going to change a purists mind with any justification other than its your car, your cash, and like wives your the only one that needs to love it. Not worth a pissing contast within the forums nor will it be tolerated.
You can start a build thread in this forum, I'm sure there are some interested people that will follow.
Its your car your money so do as you please. But as a Oldsmobile fan when I see a non Oldsmobile under the hood I just keep walking.
I have huge respect for Olds racers and their perseverance in running a engine with weak aftermarket support up until the last few years.
Well, I put a fuel injected LS in my olds…...so yeah. I appreciate the effort of keeping everything original but I prefer to build my own stuff.
Also like the reliability, mileage, convenience of a modern drivetrain for a DD. Build what you want, it's yours.
Go ahead and put an LS motor in your Starfire . It's a free country .
But , do yourself a favor . Keep your hood closed at car shows ,
Someone might puke in your engine compartment !
I have been an Olds enthusiast since I was 12 when my brother sold cars at Yeager Olds in Milwaukee. Back then salesmen got demos and he would bring a new 66 Starfire 442 Toro etc. I was hooked. Although I have a 67 400E Olds in my Pro-Touring 64 F-85, I built the car the way I wanted it. The rest of the car has much more modern parts added during assembly for safety, comfort and reliability. LS swaps in these old cars is very cool, easy mods to get crazy HP, and they are very reliable, but have make sure the rest of the car is built around the added HP and torque.
Personally, I would go with something more modern than the old school pushrod LS V8 with no bottom torque and garbage 4L60-70E everyone shoves in with them. I would run a Coyote 5L DOHC V8, modern and more power per ci than even the Gen 5 GM V8. I love our Challenger GT, the 305 hp 3.6 Pentastar DOHC V6, ZF 8 speed auto with 3.07 gearing and AWD, kick *** even on our skating rink streets. Also the modern brakes, suspension and tech features puts it head and shoulders above any old car with a more modern drivetrain shoved in.
Go ahead and put an LS motor in your Starfire . It's a free country .
But , do yourself a favor . Keep your hood closed at car shows ,
Someone might puke in your engine compartment !
calling all elitists, nay-sayers. purists, brand loyalists..
im sure you still run bias ply tires on your 60's and 70's cars.
im sure you still run single weight non detergent motor oil.
you must def run factory mufflers and resonaters that you find on ebay at the tune of $400 each
im sure you still run type A transmission fluid in all your old leaky gm slush boxes
drum breaks with asbestos shoes, solid core spark plug wires, points ignition.
no seat belts in pre 66 cars, loop carpet, horse hair sound deader, lacquer paint.
Cloth insulated wiring and AM tube style radios with single cloth cone negative chassis ground speakers,
YEAH MAN! im "All original!"
I love honda, i love NIssan and datsun.I love fords and mercs, I love Fiat, i love mazerrati and alpha and all the itlaians and the list goes on and on. I love everybody.
if you try to eat anything off my motor, your risking getting sick.
Any engine in any car has been a mantra of custom car builders since someone put a 4 pot Cadillac engine in a Model T Ford.
It's probably easier and cheaper to put an LS engine into a classic old car than source all the right parts to build one exactly to original spec, or even rebuild the original if you have it.
There are some who want the challenge of restoring an old car to as it left the factory, even down to rubber insulated wiring with 6 volt electrics and bias ply tires. "Not because it is easy but because it is hard", to partially quote JFK. They won't lose any sleep over your thoughts on their view any more than you will over theirs.
I've posted these before......to mixed results. It runs about 50/50 from car guys of all brands, including olds, from those who think it's cool to outright hostility. I certainly don't care, It's just a little more fun than the numbers matching 165 HP chebby 305 that came in it
I've posted these before......to mixed results. It runs about 50/50 from car guys of all brands, including olds, from those who think it's cool to outright hostility. I certainly don't care, It's just a little more fun than the numbers matching 165 HP chebby 305 that came in it
That my friend. Is a F'n masterpiece!
Thats the motor that shouldve gone in the Bandit trans am and every other F-body for that matter. I always wanted to shoehorn one into 85/86/87 cutlass supreme but those motors are getting harder to come by. Love the BOP rallys as well. Berlinetta too, havent seen one of those in quite some time
Last edited by 70chevrolet; Dec 9, 2018 at 10:36 AM.
I think I've seen your pic before. It has the thermostat bypass to the water pump and the distributor in the back, but I can't see the oil filler tube. Am I blind?
I think I've seen your pic before. It has the thermostat bypass to the water pump and the distributor in the back, but I can't see the oil filler tube. Am I blind?
Nope, not blind at all. I removed the oil tube and fill through the valve cover. I just like things as basic as possible and thought it looks better that way. As we can tell I'm not a purist
I've posted these before......to mixed results. It runs about 50/50 from car guys of all brands, including olds, from those who think it's cool to outright hostility. I certainly don't care, It's just a little more fun than the numbers matching 165 HP chebby 305 that came in it
I like it a lot. I love how Chebby guys are saying it is still GM motor till you put a BOP motor in a Chebby body. Some are brand should match the body, the rest want chebby motors in everything. A few guys did not like me putting Olds V8's in a couple of Chebby trucks.
I've posted these before......to mixed results. It runs about 50/50 from car guys of all brands, including olds, from those who think it's cool to outright hostility. I certainly don't care, It's just a little more fun than the numbers matching 165 HP chebby 305 that came in it
where did you get the brackets and pulleys? That’s a nice setup
The alternator set up came from BOP Engineering. I like how compact it is but it's a weak design with only two long bolts, I've snapped a bolt three times at the head but the other one held thankfully. I have a plan to make a stiffener that will bolt from the bottom of the mounting ring to one of the fuel pump bolts I don't use anymore. I can't remember where I got the pulleys to be honerst, I think it was Summit. The PS bracket is stock
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Last edited by Grumbler; Dec 18, 2018 at 08:40 PM.
. You are not going to change a purists mind with any justification other than its your car, your cash, and like wives your the only one that needs to love it. Not worth a pissing contast within the forums nor will it be tolerated. 
