wrbenson

Long time owner, first time newbie to the forums. I have a 71 CS convertible I've owned since 89. From what I've read in the last few days, I'm gonna start off by offending 90% of the members here. I have a 500 hp chevy 350 in my garage that I'm thinking about dropping in my CS for some fun. I looked thru the tech section and FAQ's but didn't see anything about how difficult this may or may not be. I'd like to keep my Olds 350 stock for resale value. Any ideas? And apologies to the people I've already offended.

gearheads78

Moved to the only part of the site that this discussion is allowed. Just treat it like a Chevelle and you will be fine.

Aceshigh

LOL.....don't mind those guys.

It's just another GM A-body, so if you want to put a Chevy motor in it, you get the Chevelle mounts for it.

Daverd

You gotta change the frame mounts
Get an adapter plate to merge the olds Trans to the Chevy
Motor and you gotta re wire the car cause the Chevy
Starter is on the passenger side olds is on the drivers side
Good luck

oldcutlass

It's pretty straight forward "A" body, like they said above!!! What transmission will you be using?

Allan R

Hey WR!
Welcome to C.O.!
I'm not one of those guys who will climb all over ya just because you're thinking of transplanting a SBC into your Cutlass. Just be aware that some of the Olds guys will not like this - but you know that already. Wear your thick skin when dealing with them.

The guys who are experts on this tranformation will kick in their knowledge and experience. I'd bet some of them are also on the Chevelle or other chevy forums gathering info and expertise there. Maybe one of them can also chime in with the changes that will be needed for the harness. IIRC the starter is on the other side of a SBC than olds. Prolly some other changes too.

Have a great time with your car; it's yours to build however you want it. I sort of keep mine more traditionally Olds through and through. Doesn't mean I can't respect changes others are planning.

This suggestion: Before, during and after the build, keep a picture and written history of what you did so if:
a) anything goes wrong - you have a starting point
b) if you decide to sell and put the car back to stock you have a resto point.

Good luck with your build!

ATrain1

What did you do to get that much HP out of a 350? That is a sweet engine. I have a 388 Stroker I just built that is putting out 500 HP. We did a SBC swap in my brothers 1965 Buick Special and it was pretty easy, just use the parts from a Chevelle. Just don't do what I see everyone do and put the mounts on backwards, my brother did it and he had to take it all apart and do it all over again.