I have not posted any dumb, stupid, or naive question in a few weeks. Time to break the drought. Can I put a 455 in a 62 Skylark without cutting up the fire wall? I don't want to even type this but a small block chevy may be an easier fit. (I just heard a shell get jacked into a shot gun) I sold my 70 Skylark as a roller and want to use the motor in the 62. Once the 62 got here and I popped the hood with the 455 on the stand next to it I thought maybe have made a mistake. The car is going to be bunch of work, the sheet metal is great. The interior is bad and nasty. I plan to back-half the car and put a cage in it. I will have put a second thread about front suspension.
Time for the tape measure! May be easier to go full chassis by the time you get done. But, I've never tried that swap.
No u cant. I had 2 63 cutlass.. and they share the same y body. Your screwed brother. Big time. You'll have to swap your whole front end, preferably a mustang2 or nova independent front suspension. Transmission tunnel, swap the rear end with a gbody, or a Ford Expo from the late 80's. Custom driveshaft. Then u got to reinforce your frame or lack Thier of. The 455 has so much balls it will twist that y body like playdoe. The only thing that will just drop In with no jazz is the 215v8 or a buick 300. That's all. I've waisted many nights trying to figure all this out. I ended up selling my y body for an A Body. Go to classic oldsmOldsmobile forum. You will see a 455 in a 62 cutlass, watch all he had to do, and he quit In the middle. Some swaps aren't cost effective. I've spoke with a man who put an LS 6.0 in a 63 cutlass but he told me he put 35,000 Into the swap. Funk that
Your main enemy is the stearing pump, no aftermarket, weak rear end, and unibody setup.. The 455 weighs double the 215. You'll need to get stiffer shocks. When your all done u might as well be looking at another car.
If you want to just use the shell and build a complete tube chassis for race only, you will spend a lot of money which by now you have already decided to do. Why don't you just look for a complete roller (chevy nova) that your 62 body will fit on and put all the money you saved into the motor. Maybe use my new Super Wildcat heads!!!
I planned on swapping the rear-end. I figured the front suspension was going to go. The unibody will need tied together via cage. Hmmmmmmmmmmm
I feel like that at time, just breathe. Replan and you'll be good. Smokey and Ken make good points. I imagine many have had the y body blues.
With a '64 to '67 A-body chassis with a new aftermarket '64 to '67 A-body floor with some creative fabricating to marry the 2 to the '62 car, it should work without to many hassles. You may have to remove the '62 floor/frame and modify a '64 to '67 A-body floor to fit the '62, then do the corresponding mods to the A-body chassis to make them bolt together and you'll have a sturdy foundation for a BBB 455! Would take a WHOLE LOT more time and effort to try and make the week uni-body handle that engine! If in its in the budget with this car, they sell sweet aftermarket '64 to '67 A-body chassis setup in various configurations like drag race or corner craver for your project. And the whole spot welded floor pan is also available for the '64 to '67 car that can be altered to fit the '62 car and bolt to the altered chassis. If the budget isn't quite that much, a used '64 to '67 rolling chassis go up for sale all the time and the welded or the piece together floors are always available for now. If in I were to do this kind of build, the full frame would make the most sense to me and by altering a factory frame to fit the '62 wheel base and width of the car with using the corresponding floor pan welded in is definitely the way I would tackle this job. The new floor pan would correct the tunnel so a real trans would fit underneath and the frame would help hold the car together with a BBB 455 and all of its torque is installed in it! Sounds like a cool project, I wish I had the time and the car to do what I just mapped out! I love the looks of those early 60s Skylarks but don't really care for the uni-body its built on. Derek
Full tube chassis. I'd buy a kit from Art Morrison. They fit the best. Then have a reputable chassis shop install it. Friend of mine did a '63 Tempest, BBC. Came out badass!
Derek I may not have the room. I should have asked a bunch of question before I went down this road. I never do anything with out asking a 1000 questions. Except this time. LOL I was thinking that the back half and cage would do the job of tightening things up. I don't want to cut the fire wall but will have to. A rolling chassis with body makes sense to me. I will call Art Morrison Monday. Note I plan to make a street strip car, so that may be problematic
You can do the buy a kit and throw $$ at it by paying someone else to install it to get it done. Or you can hone those fab and welding skills by doing the job yourself? Being that you want a street/strip car I'm not sure you need a cage? You don't need anything until the car is faster than 11.50 in the QM. Only a roll bar is needed to go to IIRC 9.90 and any faster than that then you'll need a full cage. So........... what kind of work was done to the 455? Will it be faster than 11.50 in the QM? Or eventually faster than that in the QM? Me and a friend took a hit S-10 Blazer that still ran really good and stripped it down to the frame while maintaining its ability to be driven! We tie strapped one of those metal folding chairs for something to sit on when driving it! LOL The thing did awesome doughnuts in the snow! Then we took one of those late '80s Raider 4x4 little trucks that kind of look like a Rover 4x4, and took it off of its frame because the 4 banger in it sucked arse, no power couldn't get out of its own way type of drive train. The Blazer frame was bent all the way to where the engine was bolted in so that's where we cut it off and welded the Raider frame to the remaining Blazer frame. Swapped in the Blazer axle in the rear on the bottom of the springs, had to move the engine back IIRC 8" and fabricated new motor mount frame pads we welded on. Even the Blazer steering wheel and gauge cluster was installed in the Blaider! We found some Corvette rims that now have 33X12.50s mounted on them and on the now called Blaider after the body went back on. The front didn't need any lifting at all, it just seemed to sit higher welded to the Raider frame. Worked out great with the rear axle bolted to the bottom of the springs with no further lifting needed to fit the 33s under it! The engine looks factory installed when you open the hood and the 4.3L and 700R4 gives it that little extra balls it needed! The thing looks and drives GREAT! As if the General himself made it. Love using what's sitting around to make something with! One of the many fun garage projects I was involved with that's still terrorizing the roads and sand dunes! Wasn't aware of any pre-fabbed kits out there specifically that fits that year Skylark? What fun is pre-fabbed anyway? Derek
Unless you have a tubing bender, a kit works best. Also, if you farm it to a chassis shop, they usually save money there as well. I have a Morrison full cage in my Camaro and an 8 point in my Buick. Longtime friend owns GoFast Productions here in west Michigan. The Camaro back half was fabricated. The kits served as 'starting points' and were altered and added to. IF you go to a shop, ask the first, before buying a kit. If you do it yourself, set up a jig. Everything must be level to build off of, if you want to go straight and your body panels to fit correctly. CH]
