ok , the 76-79 sbo motor in my 72 CS is in need of repair if possible , the engine knock is back again after being absent for the majority of the summer and there is to many other things that need to be looked at / repaired.... as some of you know I also have a 455 in my moms garage that I could put in temporarily until I can fix the 350 up again a hundred years later or get rid of it. The problem with that is , I had a mix of opinions on whether or not I could put the 455 in my car with all the belts and accesories that were already on the motor from the 68 Toro I use to own .... I never removed any components on the front of the 455 at all , I just removed the motor with all that stuff still on the motor..... is the reason because there will be some kind of interference under the hood because of the bigger motor ? or.... does one of the components need to be swaped for whatever reason creating the pulley to not line up with the center pully ? leaving you no choice but to swap all the pulleys and belts ? .... like I said , these are the couple of things I never got cleared up completely because if I end up putting the 455 motor in this car it would be good to know the reason why I can or cant ... if its not going to work then I would plan on swaping everything out while the motor is still out of the car and not the hard way....

thanks in advance
Bryan

 

I know we went through this all before , but I had all sorts of different advice on this matter and just wanted to clear a few things up.... I know about the motor mounts , starter , and the oil filter adaptor deal so we dont have to go there.... oh and almost forgot.... the only other thing I would need short term is those blasted W Z manifolds that I would have to find a way to come up with the money for.

 

I found an entry on a thread that I had forgot about.... that the wiring for the components on the 455 may be different then the wiring for the components on the 350 and that there are differences with brakets for the alternator and or power steering pump.... so I guess I answered my own question sorta... on another note , yesterday the car once again was not knocking , but the few times it was it seemed to mostly be around the top of the motor... not sure if that makes for an easier repair or not though.

 

OK you are WAY over thinking this. Remove all of the brackets from both the 350 and the 455. Use the water pump from the 350 and bolt all of the brackets onto the 455. You will need an alternator belt for a 455, but that's about it. ALL of the wiring is the same. Not sure where you heard it was different, but it's not.

 

Agree.


Agree. Maybe a P/S belt - not sure.
And no need to swap the W/P if it's the same length (measure it).

Sort of a[A]gree. If his Cutlass was originally a non-A/C car (ASSuming the Toro had A/C), the alternator will be on the other side, and he'll have to reroute the alternator harness, but that's extremely minor.

Not sure if there are any fitment issues with the Toro oil pan (I know people swap them out for higher capacity all the time - just not sure if they need to dent anything in...).

The SB exhaust manifolds will fit, they'll just be more restrictive than the BB manifolds. They could always be changed later.
I believe the operative expression in these cases is, "F_ck it, it runs!"

Bottom line is that the engines are the same length, the BB is 2-3" wider (requiring different belts for a longer ride to the pulleys), and, with BB mounts, the BB & SB should ride at the same height in the engine compartment.

- Eric

 

thanks for both your answers , that was huge.... the only thing I may have to get short term then is a radiator.... thanks again

 

If you look closely at what I said to do I said to use the brackets from the Cutlass and thus it wouldn't matter where the alt was on the Toro. Besides he can use the alt from the Cutlass and there won't be any fitment issues with the wiring that way.

 

Quite true.

 

At the risk of repitition, just as some of the others stated, this swap is relatively easy. Time, elbow-grease, and a few skinned knuckles, and you're riding. It sounds like you probably have everything needed and what you lack is easily attainable here on-the-cheap. Personally, I'd diagnose that intermittent "knocking" you refer to. If you really have a rod knock, spun bearing, loose flywheel, or something causing a definite "knock" it would NOT come and go. Are you sure it is not something loose, or even a carbon deposit/build-up? Have you checked oil pressure with a reliable mechanical guage? Is the noise possibly a loud "TAP"---lifter draining and re-pumpng? rocker-arm?
When does the noise occur? Revving? Under load? Down-revving? Free-wheeling? Let us know more about when and where you think the noise is coming from and MAYBE, just MAYBE, you won't need to "heart-transplant". Until next time..... Dave.

 

Hi , the knock in question seems to happen after the car warms up a bit... I notice the knock as im coming to a stop (1st gear) at that point I can put the car in park and it gets louder and faster as the idle increases.... the knock actually seems lesser under load..... something I forgot about..... I did notice the bellhousing bolts are loose.... must of been from when the last owner did the engine swap.

 

also , the carbon buildup is definetely a problem , the carb has been out of adj. for a while and the exhaust brings tears to your eyes

 

hard to beleive that in 2004 I had 5 cars , and now.... only two. it makes lengthly repairs impossible for me and the wife , for we need our own car everyday..... in a month I have to park the 72 CS for winter anyhow so im gonna do the fender repair and recoat the trunk pockets with por15.... hopefully I can come up with the $50 to buy a can .... those little rims with the bald tires look funny on the CS