Thread: Chevy, Olds Head swap???

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In my 47 International I have a 1977- 350 Oldsmobile motor.
I just had a friend tell me he thought I could swap 350 Chevy heads on it.
I was looking to buy a old Chevy 350 to rebuild and put in the truck.
But if anyone knows if it is possible and if it's a good idea or not.
I have a good Airgap rpm intake and carb I picked up for a chevy already
at a good price. The intake is a 7501 number which is not a vortec from what I under stand just a regular ol' chevy 350. I am just looking to get about 300 HP with about 10 to 1 so it will have some street power. Get a nice little roller cam for it too.
Thanks Kurt

Your truck is a perfect candidate for a donor car swap. Choose any 90's Chevrolet car or truck that has an LS motor. Buy the whole vehicle and use all the mechanical and electrical parts off it, then sell the remaining sheet metal, glass and interior to recoup some of the cost of the donor. Make no changes to the motor or any other parts. Put the stock motor, transmission and differential into your truck, with all OEM wiring from the donor. I can see 300+ hp for $1000 to $1500 cost of the donor. Lots of work, but you have to discount your labor on a project like this.

And no, Chevy heads will not fit an Olds block.

.

Uhh, no, Chevy heads don't fit an Olds block. However, if you want to put the effort into it, that 350 Olds can be made into a fairly good (understated) performer, and since you already have it in place, just rebuilding it, and not going through the extra mess of a complete new drivetrain swap might suit you. In '81, I had a '77 Olds Cutlass Salon with the 350 that blew a head gasket. When I took it apart, I just couldn't leave well enough alone, and I "warmed it up a little". I did a basic rebuild with bearings and rings - clearances were remarkably good, "niced up" the heads with a basic port and polish and new valves, installed an Erson cam, an Edelbrock manifold, and a re-worked QuadraJet 750, some Hedman headers and a true dual exhaust. What a difference!! That Olds, which was a fair runner in stock form, became a true street sleeper - - - NICE, and a lot of fun, because nobody expected an Olds to run like that one did.

Google "Oldsmobile Performance", and read to your hearts content. Here's a link to Mondello Performance, the original Oldsmobile Guru site; Joe is gone, now, rest him, but the shop is still going strong from what I understand.

Mondello Performance Products, Inc. - Oldsmobile - (805) 237-8808

On the other side of the coin, a complete swap like Tech suggests might be a viable alternative.

In 1977 many thousands of Oldsmobiles had the GM corporate engine which was a 350 chevy-------a court ordered GM to pay thousands of customers damages because they had a chevy engine in their oldsmobile----------


Sooooooooooooooooooooo-----------maybe you can put 350 chevy heads on it----------or,,,,,,,,,,,maybe you already have 350 chevy heads on it-------and manifold, distributor, block, crankshaft, oil pan , etc, etc, etc

When I ran the numbers it said it was a 77 Olds Jerry, but it was in a Caddy.
Though I am not sure what year the Caddy was because they took the body off of the frame.
Then they dropped the truck body on top of it. They told me it was a Caddy motor so I don't
think they knew it was a Olds motor in there. And your right Jerry I had heard the same thing
about Chevy doing or putting motors in other cars. They also did that with the Pontiac Grand prix
with a 403. They actually got a better motor and then had to pay people for giving it to them.
That's my problem with this motor right now is it has a blow head gasget and only about 150 HP.
If I can find a good rebuild able 350 or 400 chevy small block I think I'll go that route and just
pull one and put the other back in at the same time. And put power steering on it, that things a
bear to turn, why they took that off I will never know.
Thanks guys. Kurt

If you want to build up another engine for a swap, I would suggest getting a later 350 block that had factory roller lifters-----------

Thanks Jerry