shaks 442 clone

i wanna know the pro's and con's of both motors

a 454

and a 455

which can produce more hp?

which can produce more torque?

so on so on

i just wanna find out for once and for all

2blu442

I don't know a lot about Chevy, but I think it would depend on how and what you want to build it for. Factory numbers show the Olds with more torque and the Chevy with more horsepower. But if your going to build something either have the potential for way more than the factory numbers. If I were you, I'd consider what I want to use it for, street/strip, then how much I have to spend. Long term, I believe a car holds its value better if you keep an Olds in an Olds even though the GM motors will all fit with minor tweaking. Not that any of us plan to sell a car we're building, but life changes and many of the projects to get sold somewhere along the way. It's not as testy as say putting a Ford engine in a Corvette, but people tend to choose a manufacture that they like and want to keep it that way. John

GoldOlds

Wow, I'm currently pondering the same thing. Before I bought my '69 Cutlass, I was in the process of collecting parts for a 454 that'll push about 460 hp/520 ft/lb torque. I've been debating whether to put that engine in the Cutlass or sell it and find a 455 or 425. Obvious 455 benefits over the 454 include the easiness of the swapping process (although as 2blu said, any GM swap is possible).
At least in theory, I think the 454 can rev a LOT higher because of it's shorter stroke. I'm pretty sure 454 parts are also cheaper and easier to come by. Personally, I've never been against putting Chev motors in BOP cars, but I'm starting to think differently with my recently acquired Cutlass. I'm still trying to find out if the 350 Rocket that's in it is the original engine or not; if it is, that'll be a great excuse (oops, I mean "reason") to put a 455 in its place and keep the small block in safe keeping.
The bottom line is that I'm also eagerly awaiting responses to this post. For example, does anyone know which is LIGHTER between the 454 and 455?

- GoldOlds

Redog

Olds motors are better bulit IMO.

I just pulled out my tired old 307 that finally blew, with 230,000 miles on it. My mech and I just dropped in a Olds 350. The 395558 block which is the best block to get in terms of 350's.

Olds motors will drop in Olds cars with very little modding. Thw only problem we ran into was the motor mounts and then that lead to the exhaust manifolds being a problem.

We had the motor mounts on the front of the motor, but on the 307 that was in the car, they were in the middle. So we moved them back, but the down pipe for the exhasut manifold was right above the motor mount. We put the 307 mani's back on. I know I know, that's not good, but the ports looked the same as the 350's and the center one was open, not 2 ports.

The bottom line is that everything just bolts right up and makes installation much easier

joe_padavano

FYI, all Olds blocks (big and small) have the same three bolt holes for motor mounts on each side of the block. The 76-earlier full size cars use the forward two holes, the rest use the back two holes (Toros are completely different but have the same threaded holes anyway). The manifold problem is due to using manifolds from a full size car. Get A-body 350 manifolds and you'll be fine.

Oldsguy

As was said, more hp in the BBC and more torque in the BBO because the chevy rev's higher. Torque is power measured in a rotational axis and horsepower is the measurement of torque applied over time. So obviously a shorter stroke engine that is capable of rev'ing higher will achieve a higher horsepower rating over the same time period, unless it is grossly under powered. Application, drive line components and ratios make a lot of difference too. It is so hard to compare apples to oranges fairly. I prefer the BBO with the Olds but will admit that there are some screamin chevy's with BBCs in them.

4.03.79

Paint the thing Olds blue and call it a day! lol. Either of the motors are good. Either way you go you'll be putting forged parts along with arp bolts and good valve train . All I know is you're gonna have loads of power to break stuff. Im kinda doing the same thing you are. I have a Olds motor and am looking for a Camaro or Nova to put it in to.