jxnslotcar

I bought a 65 Jetstar 88 convertible off of Ebay. The engine was in pieces. It is a 330. It will need to be completely rebuilt including boring cylinders which means new pistons,ect. I was thinking that I might instal a 5.3 LS engine that I have sitting on a stand but I am reconsidering doing that. It will cost me approx $1100 to install the LS engine in the car along with a 700R4 trans.
I assume that the Olds trans would need to be rebuilt as well as the car has sat apart for 25 yrs in a guys garage who took it apart,let it sit for decades and then passed away.
Does anyone have some sort of estimate to rebuild this engine and trans. I have a good local machine shop and I know it will cost around $150 FOR MACHINE WORK. I saw somewhere that it could be bored out to use 350 Olds pistons. I already have the LS but would need to buy new carb intake,carb and MSD box to run ignition. I also already have 700R4 trans. I almost forgot would also need to buy exhaust but was thinking that I would need to buy new dual exhaust for the Olds engine as well. I would appreciate whatever anyone can tell me about cost to rebuild Olds as well as best place to get parts. Thank you Jim

captjim

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...arts-list.html

Not sure how the machine work can only be $150. And if you bore to 350 specs, it will be a lot more than that. There are not a lot of choices for 330 pistons, either. Here is the breakdown from the above link,
Core, $100
Machine work, clean, bore, hone, align hone,
Cam bearings installed, deck .015 $700
Head work, new liners, race valve job, seats
Port work (3 hours per head) , clean-up mill $750
Crank work, cut .010 on mains and rods $300
And balance
Rods, recondition and resize $100
MACHINE SHOP TOTAL $1950

PARTS
Bottom end,
Speed Pro 2320F30 $420
ARP rod bolts 184-6001 $ 62
ARP main bolts 184-5001 $ 36
Rebuild kit, rings, bearings, gaskets $230
Oil pump, stock Z224 $ 43
Cam bearings Clevite SH1354S $ 25
Oil pump drive shaft Melling IS-22F $ 13
Cloyes timing chain 9-1113 $ 67
Cam and lifters, springs varies
greatly, low end is $400
Freeze plugs SP Z381 $ 12

TOTAL PARTS SHORT BLOCK $1308

Parts, other
Valves $175
intake manifold 7111 $250
Intake gaskets MG 4694G Ultra seal $ 23
Water pump and thermostat $ 40
Comp roller top rockers 1441 $265

TOTAL $763

TOTAL PARTS AND MACHINE WORK $4021

jxnslotcar

hhmmnn,as much as I hate to say it,it would seem alot cheaper to put the LS engine into the car. I would have more horsepower,newer style ingintion,ect. This car won't ever be a "collectors item". I need to find out what frame mounts I need to find to be able to install a SBC Chevy into this car as that is what I would use to install the LS engine with adapters for the SBC frame mount.
As far as cost of machine work,I have a buddy who owns a machine shop and he owes me a huge favor. At the same time he is always reasonable in his costs to machine blocks,heads ,ect. Could be why he is absolutely swamped with work.

RAMBOW

Where do you live?

I have a good running High comp 330 that i'm going to be pulling out of my 66 shortly to swap in the 455 i've been building. Going to put it on local craigslist for $600.

krooser

A stock rebuild can be done for around $2K plus or minus. You don't need to balance the engine or buy expensive pistons... stock replacements will do fine. And you can reuse all your fasteners and misc. parts.

My local machine shop charges $110 to bore 8 cylinders... a valve job is $80... check around for a good shop.

I would bet installing that LS will be pretty pricey when you get into it... a local guy put an LS into his '67 Camaro and spent north of $3K by the time he did the electrical work, oil pan change, motor mounts, custom exhaust, radiator, etc. It adds up fast when you have to buy so many aftermarket parts.

captjim

I have had a bunch of arguements on this topic. Please give a detailed list of parts and machine work, as I did. Not sure where you live, but $80 for a valve job? Liners are more than that. Seats? $110 to bore is fine, are you not going to hone? No new cam bearings? No hot tank? No clean-up deck? No align hone? No balance? He said it needs bored, 330 pistons are tough to find and are not cheap.

jensenracing77

In 2005 i built a very nice stock 350 for $1600. Balanced, bored 30, ARP bolts. The heads were the most expensive part with the machine work a close second. I am sure it will be higher now than 2005. My next 350 will likely be 4-5k but it will not be stock. Also know nothing about the 330. There are alot of good running Olds 350s out there, have you considered getting a 350? it will drop right in. The transmission should run you around $600-700.

oldcutlass

I checked into this for my 330, it's going to be somewhere around $3-5k plus incidentals. I'd say closer to $5k by the time it's installed for a decent quality rebuild.

jxnslotcar

1st off,I just want to say that I appreciate you guys taking the time to voice your opinions and facts about this subject.
It makes no sense to rebuild this 330 even if I could get it done for around $2K. It would make more sense to maybe find a good running 350 Olds to drop in it with a good BOP TH350 or 700 R4 trans. Someone asked where I am at. My shop is in Jackson,Michigan so the cost to transport from the State of Washington would be quite high.
With that being said.I do have the LS already. My thoughts on using that was to keep it as simple as possible. Use the carb intake,MSD ignition box,carburetor and a 700R4 with the electric kit. By doing that it would be fairly inexpensive and simple. No need for high pressure fuel system,no need for a wiring harness,fuel lines,use stock truck manifolds that look like they might work,ect.
But the easiest would be to find a 350 Olds engine for sure. Please let me know if there are any other thoughts.

krooser

The bore and hone is $110. $80.00 for a stock valve job is the going rate... some shops are up to $95.00. Sure you'll have more $$$ for a hot tank, seats (if needed), not sure what liners you are talking about, the block and heads MAY need to be surfaced but may not. Line hone? Unneeded in a stock rebuild. Balance? Again not needed.

He could use cast 400 pistons which can be had for a reasonable price. Scanning ebay, CL and this sites classifieds can yield many bargains.

I did my blown Hemi six years ago and spent about $1100 on machine work including bore and hone, decking, line bore, 3 angle valve job with new hard exhaust seats, heads surfaced, cc'd and assembled to spec, all parts baked and shot blasted, etc. Not very expensive but, then again, I live in the backwoods.

We, as enthusiasts, often like to go overboard when we do many things. Sure we know the BEST way to do things but the best way often isn't needed or affordable. We scare many newbies away from this hobby when we start rattling off all the things WE did to OUR engine all the while making the point that the only way to go about HIS rebuild is to spend cubic dollars. That's one of the reason many guys stay with Chevy engines... they get a catalog and see so many bargain priced parts for Bowties and higher prices for the non-Bowtie stuff.

I was a HD line mechanic at GM and MOPAR dealerships in the 60's and early 70's. I can guarantee the engines we rebuilt never got align honed, decked or any of the other big dollar stuff. We honed the cylinders while the engine was still in the car... sometimes we'd even bore one bad lung (in the car) to get the car back in operating condition for the owner. Seems crude these days but it was common practice back then.

I'm not criticizing just making an observation...

380 Racer

Yes biggest question is budget? Next question is how do you want it to perform? Last but not least......How long do you want it to last? How do you think machine shops survive?........the answer is Chevies, they need it more often than the Olds.

blueRAYwhale

you didn't go into detail about how many pieces it was in. so assuming the guy who bought the car 25 years ago didn't buy and store junk for 1/4 century, then you didn't buy junk either. 65% of what you have is good. let the machine shop figure out what needs to be redone on the lower end. three weeks and $1,500.00 in and running, minus trans. work. this includes machine work, new cast pistons with compression change, bareings, plugs, gasket set, performance cam, roller chain, lifters. redo the heads yourself if the guides are good. lap the valves, reuse springs, rockers, fulcs. push rods. reuse the manifolds. get into the 'zone for all the pumps, distrb. chem tool the s**t out of the carb.

captjim

Lap the valves? Really? What do you think the chances are of the valve guides being good on a 45 year old engine? You guys crack me up. But, like Nick stated, how do you want it to run and for how long.

Also, you guys are assuming he has the tools, space, and experience to assemble it.

cutlassefi

[QUOTE=jxnslotcar;500984]BOP TH350 or 700 R4 trans. No such thing.

Someone asked where I am at. My shop is in Jackson,Michigan so the cost to transport from the State of Washington would be quite high.

700R4 with the electric kit. Have you ever used one of those?

By doing that it would be fairly inexpensive and simple. ,use stock truck manifolds that look like they might work,ect. Are you sure? I doubt it.

But the easiest would be to find a 350 Olds engine for sure. X2QUOTE]

jxnslotcar

I should go into more detail as it is a very open ended question. I own a repair facility. I have been in the business for 38 yrs (it hurts to say that. )I have built quite a few engines and I am NOT paying retail for machine work or parts. The thing is that I have not done a 330 engine but knew that there are quite a few on here that probably have and would know what I am looking at in terms of typical parts,ect. I have been told that the 330 were not that good an engine when they were new. I have been doing quite a few FI engine swaps into various older cars. ( we just finished up an El Camino that we installed a TPI 383 into it). That is why I have this LS engine sitting here. My thoughts were to go the simple route with carburetor induction instead of EFI. This will save quite a bit when talking about fuel delivery alone. I have the adapter plates for the LS engine where you use SBC engine mounts. I know the Olds 88 is a "b" body but the frame is different than say an Impala. I would have to make some kind of frame mount for SBC motor mounts to fit over and bolt to in order to install the LS that I have.
Again,I have been told that the 330 is not that good of engine even when it was a new engine and that is why I did not want to wast time and money on an engine that was not worth it,if in fact they ARE NOT a good engine. The engine that came with the car is in rebuildable condition. It would need the heads redone including new valve guides,possibly new valves,springs,pistons,rings bearings,cam bearings,cam,lifters,different intake (it came with a 2 bbl intake),water pump,timing chain and gaskets. as far as machining, it will need to be cleaned, bored, heads rebuilt incl guides, honed, cam bearings, honed for pistons and rings, crank checked and turned if need be, deck checked and decked if need be, ect.
I am perfectly capable of assembling the engine myself and have the correct tools to do this myself. I realize now that I should have gone to new member thread and introduced myself. The car had the front clip off and in pieces,it needs a new convertible top (which I will install myself) and new interior tho it is in driveable condition as it sits as far as interior.
An LS engine can be a cool engine and it is fairly easy to get 400hp out of a 5.3 and I am thinking it would be quite difficult to get 250hp out of a 330ci Olds engine. I would like to make the car a cruiser that could be taken through the Autocross course on a weekend.
I have a Buick 455 sitting here,maybe I should fit that in the car. Just kidding. The trans bolt pattern is the same and I do have a BOP trans that will fit the Buick and thus,I assume, an Olds engine. I wish I could find a decent Olds 350 that ran good and I could put a Comp cam into it to give it a little attitude. Any I have found is too much money and I am a hot rodder at heart. I am used to using what I already have or trading for what I need. So far I have not found anywhere on this site where someone has put Chevy engine frame mounts into a mid 60's Olds and how they did it.

captjim

A lot of guys do the LS swap for the reasons you listed above. They are light and make a lot of power. For the same $ it would be difficult to get those results with a SBO. We just hate to see Oldsmobiles bastardized, but I can certainly understand why it is done.

oldcutlass

The 330 was and is a very good motor, if it were the hi comp. The crank shaft is the best and the block can be bored 60 over. Getting 400 horse out of it is another story and can be expensive. I'm not a fan of the LS motors myself, I like the simplicity and the looks of the older iron. However I am a firm believer of anyone making their ride what they want.

krooser

I really love the old style traditional engines... Hemi's, Rocket's, Nailheads, Y-blocks, flatties etc. That said, the LS engine is an amazing platform for making HP. It's modern (if you can all a pushrod engine modern), reliable and can a great power plant. But I'd rather eat worms than put a modern engine in my vintage car.

The 330 is an excellent engine. I used to routinely run up against them with my '64 tripower GTO in the mid to late 60's and they ran very well. I blew the 389 in my Goat street racing a '64 Cutlass in '67... From the factory they were rated at 290 HP IIRC... more can easily be had.

If you decide to sell that 330 at a reasonable price let me know. I truck thru northern Indiana almost every week and it would be a short hop to Jackson to pick it up.

tmaleck

I too will chime in and say the 330 hi-comp is a nice small block. Forged crank, high nickel block, etc. The pistons are the dicey part of the rebuild, if you use the newer 330 the cam and everything is the same as a 350. I would not be afraid to rebuild it and expect 100k+ miles out of it.

My .02,
Tim

blueRAYwhale

...yes...put the 455 in it i have my buick 350 short block at the shop right now getting pistons, bareings. next week it goes into the '79 lesabre. i had them put 20 over 9 to 1's in it with a crower cam, i think it will make close to 250 HP and it's not much bigger than a 330. seems like as soon as one person says some engine isn't as good as another, ten people say otherwise. how can a guy dispute what someone's owned and run for fourty years right? buick 455's make sic power with not much other than cam swaps. it shouldn't be to difficult finding a good olds. 350, unless the domino effect starts...and five months from now you're building a 375 HP olds. 455

captjim

Not sure if you realize it but the 403 is also a drop-in swap. They made a gazzillion of them from 77-80.

I am of the "run-what-you-have" school. I had a nice 10 to 1 fresh Olds 355 on a stand and put it in my wifes 71 Skylark. It would have been nuts to sell that engine and rebuild the Buick 350 just to keep it all Buick. So, do what you think is your best bang-for-the-buck.

As to the 330, some of the early ones had the odd cam bank and also some had a rocker shaft. Also, the whole "high nickel" thing has been pretty much de-bunked. Perhaps Joe P. or someone knowlegable will chime in. 350 cores are abundant and with flat tops 325 HP should be a piece of cake.

coppercutlass

https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...rans-sale.html

Im all for budgets and this is a great start but i just cant have too much stuff lying around. Just thought i would put this here as it seems you might have a bit of a budget.

67 Cutlass Freak

I have to agree with the others about the 330 being a very good and reliable engine. The steel crank is what really sets it apart from the other SB Olds engines. If your motor came with the odd lifter bank angle or shaft rockers, I would not rebuild it. If you want a 350 block I have a couple extras from the early seventies. I live in SE Wisconsin. You would spend a lot of time and money converting to a Chebby. Different engine harness, radiator, maybe crossmember, cut drive shaft, accesory brackets, pulleys, frame mounts & exhaust. The early 330 heads had very small combustion chambers which would net higher compression. Theres a lot of porting and other mods that can be done to the stock heads but for the money the new Procomp aluminum heads look pretty nice. That short block engine coppercutlass has looks like a pretty good deal. Just to give you an idea here's an engine, (not for you), that I built for a friend that wanted to go racing-
https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...ort-block.html
In the long run I think you would be happier with an Olds engine in that ride, and it certainly would be worth more to just about anyone who wasn't brainwashed to love Chebby. If you really want to burn some rubber stroke that SB using Chevy rods and pistons that are a lot easier to come by, or you could slide a 455 in there. You should go here and check out some of the builds-
http://72.22.90.30/phpBB2/viewforum.php?f=16

olds 307 and 403

All the early SBO were very good motors. Even the later window main engines can last many miles if the rpm are kept reasonable. Our SBO powered cars outlasted our sbc powered vehicles by a pile of miles.

jxnslotcar

that is a good deal that Copper cutlass has. I could not build that short block for that amount of money. Elgin is quite aways from me tho. I need to immerse myself in more engine threads. The stroker chevy rod and piston idea sounds interesting as well.

coppercutlass

I'm willing to meet you half way if you are intrested. You mentioned you where in michigan or was that someone else ?

krooser

Just remember that the 330's had the 45 degree cam bank angle so you will need a cam specific to that engine (64 to 67). Most cam guys can grind a cam for you just ask... I got mine from Camcraft in NC.

400 pistons work well and are readily available... gives you about 10 extra cubes, too.

jxnslotcar

I have just bought Coppercutlass's 362 shortblock and a TH350 core trans. This will make a good engine and trans drivetrain. It will be good to get the old girl back on the road again. It was last plated in 1971.
I still need to get a decent set of heads unless I use the 330 heads but would rather find something to let her breathe a little. I will also need to get an intake and headers as i would like to put duals on it. This car is going to be for me and my wife to enjoy.
I am finishing up a 1962 Ford F100 Unibody that is entered into the Detroit Autorams. that is why i am here in the shop on a Sunday but I am running out of time and still have lots to do to get it done. It has a Lincoln 462 BB as well as a C6 trans and 9in rear diff. I am doing a theme version. It is going as a Bonneville push truck. Ought to be a fun weekend for sure.
i wanted to thank all of you who posted in this thread as you have bee alot of help to me. When I start on the car i am sure I will have lots of questions. My last Olds was a 1970 442 W30 that I had back in 1977-78. I lost it when it started on fire while driving down the road. painful lesson to be learned in that never drive with the air cleaner off the carb.

krooser

if you have #4 heads they are the smallest cc combustion chamber (63 cc) of any sbo and flow about as good as any sbo head made....

oldcutlass

Keep us posted on your progress, perhaps start a build thread.

coppercutlass

63 cc's will leave him with compression above 10 to 1 on that combo I sold him.

olds 307 and 403

Procomp heads are around $1000 a set. Add on new roller rockers to that price. You should be around 9 to 1, depending dish and how far in the bore the pistons sit.

jxnslotcar

how do you find out what heads are what number? Is it something to do with the casting number? I realized today that the car shows 59K miles on the odometer and it was 6 yrs old when last plated,so I am guessing that the 59K miles are probably original. The brake does not show any wear as well which is always a good indicator.
Now I need to find a good convertible top. It's been awhile since I replaced one of those.

coppercutlass

i like the procomp idea thats wht i wanted to do with that short block. Jxnslotcar there is a number on the head up front on the drivers side usually gunked up .
Look at the cylinderhead next to the #1 sparkplug. Also dont ask about the yellow paint i used it to get faster coverage with gold paint lol.

krooser

I may see you Autorama Extreme....

krooser

Who built the lower pulley?

coppercutlass

chinabay my friend., I bought it with a water pump pulley as well . very nice pieces for 50 bucks.

67 Cutlass Freak

This chart should help with cylinder head ID-

As far as flow goes, the BB heads have conciderably larger ports and could be bolted on, but they also have a much larger combustion chamber that would lower your compression ratio. I'm glad you scored that short block from Coppercutlass. I think it will suit you well. I would run the 330 heads for now if I were you. Send them out for a good quality 3 angle valve job and save your money. Those Procomp heads would be nice, but with the lower compression, may not perform as well as the 330 heads. Of course you could mill them but then you would also have to mill the intake to match. A good choice for an intake for you would be the Edelbrock Performer RPM or the Holley Street Dominator. I think rallyebob has one for sale over on ROP-
http://72.22.90.30/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=86393
You also may want to contact Jim @ J&S machine about his 5 main Halo girdle. Here's his website-
http://www.jsmachineoldsmobile.com/home.html
I'm not trying to spend your money for you, but I look at it as cheap insurance. Here's what it looks like installed-
112-1254_IMG.jpg
My final recomendation for you would be to contact Mark (CutlassEFI) to have him set you up with the correct cam for your application. When you do get a hold of him, he's going to ask you a lot of questions about your specific combination. So be ready with the answers. Hope all this helps.

Oldsmobile guru

Oldsmobile guru

Well I have the exact same car. It's taken ten years to piece it together and it's not finished yet. As far as tips for motor parts 350 and 330 are the same except for the bore and stroke. All parts are interchangeable delta 88 parts and some other models have interchangeable parts. But as far as your connecting rods and your pistons, for new Oldsmobile pistons it's $800 a piece. The transmission should only cost $600 for a full rebuild and I am assuming you have the jetaway 2