Will have to do more work than thought on my 75 h/o with a 350. Should I bother with basic upgrades on a stock motor or just buy a 68-71 455? Not looking for race car performance, but I don't want a dog in that big of a car. Have a line on a 69 toro motor, have a turbo 400 I can rebuild and extra driveshaft.

What was planned for the 350 was headers, small cam, intake.....perhaps swap to early heads to bump the compression some.

Any input?

 

You're not going to get race car performance with either motor unless alot of work is done to either one.
You can put the Performer RPM heads, intake, and cam on that 350 and wake it up big time.
It only had 190 hp stock.......probably less these days if it's old and tired.

The biggest weakness of Olds motors is the factory heads.
Compile that with the mid 70's emissions choked motors, and it got even worse.
They don't flow very well at all.

The benefit of a 455 is major torque, but at the sacrifice of alot more gas used.
Its more fun to romp on the pedal, but not as much fun each time you have to fill the tank up with $100 in gas after less then 150 miles.

What kind of realistic budget are you working with to consider options ???
You can do a Gen III 5.3L fuel injected 300hp motor for ~<$2500.

 

Brother talked some sense into me, stick with the 350 with some mild upgrades. Already have two fast cars, a cruiser would be nice.