vega Posted November 5, 2004 Share Posted November 5, 2004 Ok I did some searching here I know one of you guys mentioned the taht you "knew a guy" that had done it. Well one guy did post that he did it here although it wasn't much help and he hasn't emailed me back yet (in his post he said mail me if you want to know how to do it) So does ANYONE know FOR SURE what is involved in the olds 455 swap in a 240z also instead of a 240z do you all think i should get a 260z. I'm not going to buy the thing until I am ABSULUTLY sure what is going to go on through out this project. Well for the most part there is always going to be problems... HELP! thanks everyone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest butlersZ Posted November 5, 2004 Share Posted November 5, 2004 I think a 280Z would be better suited for a big block because of the added structural stability. I have a 455 sittin' in my shed if you want one, it's nothing but but a paper weight to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Magnum Rockwilder Posted November 5, 2004 Share Posted November 5, 2004 I talked to "the guy" Tuesday. He sold his 280Z with the Olds 350 in it, and the 455 that used to be in it is in pieces in the back of his shop. He said the way he did it was he went to the junk yard and bought a 455 from an old fullsize car ($150), tranny($35), and he also bought the crossmember with the engine mounts on it ($20). He used a torch to cut the Olds crossmember so that it would sit on top of the Z frame rails. Then he welded the crossmember in, although he said you could also drill a couple holes and use heavy duty bolts to hold it in if you didn't want to weld it. He said he met someone who used the Scarab mounts from Hooker and the Chevy truck w/ Olds diesel mounts, and it was a bolt-in aside from the fact that he had to make slotted plates to allow him to move the motor front and back for header fitment. He told me I can stop by on any Saturday and talk more, but he doesn't have any diagrams or copies of the mounts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vega Posted November 5, 2004 Author Share Posted November 5, 2004 So your saying all I need to do is buy the old - Olds cossmember that has the motor mounts on it and replace the old crossmeber with that? That is after I take out the engine of course. "Scarab mounts from Hooker and the Chevy truck w/ Olds diesel mounts" Or did he combine the two of these so it will work??? I'm a little confused. Or is the kit not even nessisary? I know that it is better to have it back and low though. What is the "Hooker" website? Could this be done with the JTR kit instead? What rear end did he use to handle that kind of power? r200? What year was his 280z? Roughly how much did his 280z weigh after the swap do you think. I know the caddy 500 weighs about 610 and is the most light bb of the time but i'm not so sure how much the olds 455 wieghed and how much the 280z weighs. I'm going to talk to a buddy of mine and see if this makes more sense to him. Anyhow keep me posted after talking with that friend of yours. I will probably have the rest of the questions becasue at this point I'm not quite sure what to ask yet, and I know my friend will he is the "god of the car". Thanks for the help so far, it is greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vega Posted November 5, 2004 Author Share Posted November 5, 2004 Also could you ask him if i could grab his email? That would be great if you could! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Magnum Rockwilder Posted November 5, 2004 Share Posted November 5, 2004 He's not an email kinda guy. He's an older guy that runs a metal fabrication shop. He wouldn't even give me his phone number... he just told me to stop by any Saturday if I wanted to pick his brain. You're right about all you have to do is install the Olds crossmember, but understand that it's not s straight bolt-in. He said he used a torch and cut the crossmember so that it would fit on top of the Z frame rails, then he bolted it to the engine, lowered th whole assembly into place, and welded the crossmember on. He said he met a guy "years ago" that bought Scarab style mounts and bolted in an Olds motor, but he wasn't clear on exatly how he accomplished it. He mentioned the pickup truck with the Olds engine, but I don't know any more details and neither does he. He used a 4.11 gear in his stock rear end. It was a '76 280 2 + 2, and he said it gained about 200lbs with the 455. You can find the Hooker mounts on Holley.com. Go to the Hooker header section and you'll see the motor swap mounts and headers. Listen, it seems to me that you don't have a lot of fabricating experience. Do you have a friend with a torch, grinder, and drill press? If so, that's all you need. You just bolt 1/2" steel plates to your motor mounts, lower the engine until the plates are touching the frame mounts, then mark where to drill holes. Then you drill the holes and cut off extra uneeded plate, and bolt it in. It's that easy. If you're new to this, you either need to stick with a SBC kit, or get a friend to help out. I'll be pretty tied up all day tomorrow, so I probably won't be able to talk to the guy then. So your saying all I need to do is buy the old - Olds cossmember that has the motor mounts on it and replace the old crossmeber with that? That is after I take out the engine of course. "Scarab mounts from Hooker and the Chevy truck w/ Olds diesel mounts" Or did he combine the two of these so it will work??? I'm a little confused. Or is the kit not even nessisary? I know that it is better to have it back and low though. What is the "Hooker" website? Could this be done with the JTR kit instead? What rear end did he use to handle that kind of power? r200? What year was his 280z? Roughly how much did his 280z weigh after the swap do you think. I know the caddy 500 weighs about 610 and is the most light bb of the time but i'm not so sure how much the olds 455 wieghed and how much the 280z weighs. I'm going to talk to a buddy of mine and see if this makes more sense to him. Anyhow keep me posted after talking with that friend of yours. I will probably have the rest of the questions becasue at this point I'm not quite sure what to ask yet' date=' and I know my friend will he is the "god of the car". Thanks for the help so far, it is greatly appreciated.[/quote'] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad-ManQ45 Posted November 27, 2004 Share Posted November 27, 2004 From what I remember from my youth, Chevelles and GTOs and Gran Sports and Cutlasses all had the same chassis, just sheetmetal/interior/exterior and suspension/drivetrain changes. All you had to do to put another GM motor in was to use the appropriate motor mounts. Everyone was putting small and big block Chevy's in their cars because they were cheaper to build. Same thing between Cmaros and Firebirds Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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