I have a 371 in my 58 olds that is stuck. I hav been soaking it for 2 weeks and cleaning it up to no prevail. I am going to hold off on the 371 and find something to drive this big boat.

Is there an engine (other than a 371) that is a direct fit?

I have a few options in front of me.


1. Chevy 307/th350 combo.
2. Olds 350 (junk yard engines ranging from 250-300 bucks)
3. Ford FE 390/c6 transmission.

I know, KEEP IT OLDS, but for now I need something that will move just as good as the 371, for an ok price. I will save the $$$ to rebuild the 371 down the road, right now I am looking at about 500-600 total for engine & trans.

 

Even if it was free, putting a Ford 390 in would be the worst thing you could do. Go with the Olds 350 if you are doing a swap.

 

None of those engines would be a direct fit for your car. The easiest ones to accomodate would be the SBO engines (a 307 is an Olds engine). You can get a universal engine mount from Transgo that will fit under these engines and they you modify it to fit your car. Then you also get a unviersal transmission mount for the TH transmission that fits underneat the tailshaft of your tranny and modify it to fit your frame. Finally you have to get the driveshaft modified to fit your new transmission and 3rd member.

 

Stick with a rebuild on yoour 371 or find a good used one, they are available. An engine swap will cost you just as much in conversion parts and the rebuild unless it more power you want then the price goes up.

 

Stuck engines are very common, and in many cases after it's unstuck it runs fine. Keep working on it. If one of the cylinder heads is off, you can use a 2x4 piece of wood and a hammer to tap on the pistons, which often frees up the engine. You may have to remove both heads, but that's still a lot better than giving up on the engine and doing a swap.

 

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Norm