Will a 1968 Buick 455 fit in a mid 1970's Olds Cutlass?

[30DodgePanel]

A coworker has a mid 70's Cutlass and he's wanting to put a 455 in it. He's wanting to know if a 68 Buick Riviera with a 455 will work without major modifications before he makes an offer on it.

 

 

Sorry, I'm not a Olds or Buick guy so I thought I'd ask the experts who would know. 

Mods, feel free to move this to either the Buick or Olds section if needed.

 

Here is the donor that he's considering. 

68 Riviera rolling chassis - auto parts - by owner - vehicle... (craigslist.org)

 

Thanks

Dave

Edited October 3, 2022 by 30DodgePanel (see edit history)

[rocketraider]

70s Buick A-bodies could have Buick 455s, so stands to reason one will fit in an Olds A-body (which could have Olds 455s).

 

It will bolt to the transmission easy enough, and into the chassis using Buick engine mounts and frame pads. What he'd get into with wiring and cooling system, don't know. Make sure he gets all the Buick accessory brackets. Doubtful the Olds pieces will bolt up.

 

Might want to double-check the Buick's displacement. 67-69 had 430s.

 

Do by all means let the folks down in Buickland know where this Riviera is. They's always hunting good parts!

[1939_Buick]

As above would be checking what engine-transmission in the donor. It may not be the original.

Of just put the donor back on the road.  Rust - title - ??

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buick_V8_engine

 

https://www.v8buick.com/index.php#engine-tech.5

Edited October 3, 2022 by 1939_Buick (see edit history)

[Crusty Trucker]

Buick did not offer a 455 cu. in. engine until 1970 - in the Riviera, Electra, and Wildcat. Prior to '70, the Le Sabre came with a 350. For the premium lines, a 430 was offered prior to 1970 as Buick's largest engine.

 

 

 

 

Edited October 3, 2022 by Crusty Trucker (see edit history)

[joe_padavano]

As noted above, all the A-body frames were designed to accept engines from every division. The Cutlass and Skylark have essentially the same frame. You'll need to source the frame pads for a Buick 455 and use the matching motor mounts. Olds motor frame pads will NOT work, and I doubt the pads in the Riv will work either. That means finding a Skylark parts car. Olds starters are on the driver's side, Buick on the passenger side. Accessory brackets and pulleys are completely different. Exhaust manifolds and routing are completely different, and again I don't know if the Riv manifolds work in an A-body. Can this be done? Sure. Is it worth it? Unlikely by the time you chase down and purchase the myriad of little parts and make all the plumbing and wiring changes needed to do this.

Edited October 3, 2022 by joe_padavano (see edit history)

[rocketraider]

Or he could just find an Olds 425/455... not nearly as involved a swap!

[1939_Buick]

From wikipedia link

 

Quote

The 401/400 became Buick's full-sized and later intermediate muscle car powerplant of choice, used in the company's Skylark Gran Sport, Buick Sport Wagon and Buick Wildcat models, among others. The engine was variously designated the Wildcat 375, Wildcat 410, and Wildcat 445 depending on the torque each version produced

For a time Buick had the "torque" as the headline number.  Was a little deceptive, for those who did not read the literature.  Decades later some people still think its the cubic inch.

An air cleaner with a label means nothing.

[Pfeil]

On 10/3/2022 at 7:56 AM, rocketraider said:

Or he could just find an Olds 425/455... not nearly as involved a swap!

And, the car would be ALL Oldsmobile!

[30DodgePanel]

On 10/3/2022 at 7:56 AM, rocketraider said:

Or he could just find an Olds 425/455... not nearly as involved a swap!

We've finally located a couple of 455's parts cars in the area, one out of a 1969 Delta 88 and one out of a 1969 Delta 98.

Would one be better than the other considering any accessories, brackets or other factors?

Again, I know nothing about an Olds swap, but I'm just thinking of what to look out for before he purchases one over the other.

He's going to be turning 40 soon so it's encouraging to see a kid about my sons age really getting into the hobby and I'd like to help him get it right as he'll be doing a lot of the work himself with the help from buddies he grew up with and family members. He won't be paying for any of the work on a 69 Cutlass he's wanting to get as close to original as possible.

[rocketraider]

The 1969 Olds engines will be pretty much identical. Get EVERYTHING. Brackets, exhaust, as much of the wiring as you can salvage.

 

There are differences in water pumps and accessory mounting brackets between air conditioned and non-air cars.

 

65-69 big car engines used specific driver side dual exhaust manifolds if so equipped. Those don't fit the Cutlass chassis but they're worth some coin to a big car guy. For dual exhaust use the W and Z code dual exhaust manifolds. They're available reproduction, fit and flow well and you don't get into the aggravation of headers.

 

A Turbo 350 can be built to handle a moderate 455. Turbo 400 better, and will fit in the Cutlass chassis. You need a short-tail version. If car is currently a Jetaway 2-speed a 455 will hurt that.

 

Tell yer young friend to join www.classicoldsmobile.com . He'll be welcomed. There's a lot of knowledge there and people there do these big-block swaps all the time.

[joe_padavano]

1 hour ago, 30DodgePanel said:

We've finally located a couple of 455's parts cars in the area, one out of a 1969 Delta 88 and one out of a 1969 Delta 98.

Would one be better than the other considering any accessories, brackets or other factors?

Again, I know nothing about an Olds swap, but I'm just thinking of what to look out for before he purchases one over the other.

He's going to be turning 40 soon so it's encouraging to see a kid about my sons age really getting into the hobby and I'd like to help him get it right as he'll be doing a lot of the work himself with the help from buddies he grew up with and family members. He won't be paying for any of the work on a 69 Cutlass he's wanting to get as close to original as possible.

The exhaust manifolds from the full size car will not work in your A-body. You'll need the correct A-body W/Z manifolds (repros are available everywhere) or headers. You'll need the motor mounts that match your frame pads (assuming the car was originally an Olds 350 car). Do NOT get "455" motor mounts. Get Anchor 2261 mounts or equivalent. Note that there are three bolt holes for motor mounts on the sides of the Olds block. The 1969 full size cars used the front two of those three. The A-body used the back two. Because of this, the spacer used on the bottom rear power steering pump bracket is different on the full size cars (it is thinner by the thickness of the motor mount tab). You will need the correct A-body spacer to get the pulley lined up correctly.