Hi all, new to the site. I have a 63 Riviera project I'm working on. When I got it, it had no engine or tranny. Not sure where they went since the rod and custom shop I bought it from only had it a year and didn't have a lot of info for me. So I have an old rusted out 69 wildcat that had a 73 455 in it and turbo 400. So I pulled the engine and tranny out of the wildcat and intend to put it in the riv. I am having trouble finding nailheads that are decent and affordable. Is it possible to put a 455 in a 63 riv? I've read on some other forms that are heavily nailhead biased, that it is a bad idea and will be a nightmare. Has anyone here done it? Keep in mind my brother is a professional welder and machinist with a CNC machine in his shop. Thanks in advance.
You need to pick one of those for an engine that hasn't been available since the 1966 production year!(decent OR affordable) Anyway, with the access to your brother, that is if in he is willing to help with his background sounds like it would be a piece of cake to get that done. There's going to be a bit of mocking it up(engine in and out) to figure out the motor mounts and trans mounts, after that everything else shouldn't be that bad? The MAJOR concern I would have with a swap like this is how much wider the 455 is compared to the Nailhead. You should probably take a few measurements of the width of the engine you have before even attempting it to see if you can make it work. You more than likely if the engine looks like it will fit from taking some measurements, you will have to run ex. manifolds unless you get a set of stage 2 heads but then you'll probably need to make custom headers. That was the deal with the Nailhead engines, they were narrower than most larger displacement engines of the time so the train drivers could make the car bodies narrower because of it. The '63 Riv has an X frame like the Impalas of the same year(not sure if the frames were the same for both cars though) so exhaust routing may also be challenging even to connect to the 455 manifolds? So here what you do; Measure to see if it will physically fit in the engine compartment, if it does, just go for it and set it in there and take some more measurements to see what needs to be done to make it one with the car, then do that. TADA, you now have a 455 in a '63 Riv and can say you're the pioneer of that swap. GL
Oh yeah, TA sells '67 and up A-body frame pads, those might work for motor mounts? Probably see if you can use the frame pads and mounts from the '69 the engine is coming out of first though to help keep costs down. Keep pads bolted to mounts bolted to engine when lowing into car.
Well my goal is not to be a pioneer, that's why I'm seeking the knowledge of people on this forum. This could be an epic fail. I really love the 455 and it is available to me for nothing. I just don't want to screw the car up. The 1st generation Riv is me and my wife's favorite car of all time. We truly feel blessed to own one. My next project will be to put the fender wells and fenders ba on and measure. If anyone know the measurements of a 401 nailhead that info would be greatly appreciated. I would feel horrible if the 455 won't work because my brother already tore it down to the block so it can be bored and cleaned up.
I'm a rookie still so i can't help you much . But your right about the Nailheads costing alot. The 455/th400 is a very respectable set up and have seen 63-65 riviera online with that combo so I know it can be done. Have fun
Is that a pic of the car with the front end off of it? If so it would be SO easy to test fit that way! You can bolt the oil pan on, bolt on heads, bolt on intake, bolt on motor mounts that are bolted to the frame pads, bolt on timing cover to the block, now its good enough for mocking up purposes. You don't even need to use all the bolts, 3 or 4 per part being bolted on block is enough for mock up. It should only take less than a half hour to bolt all of that on the block, so not like it will be all that time consuming to do. Then bolt the trans to the engine and set in place. Now do all of the inspection and measuring to see if this will be a doable swap or will it be to much for you. If you can't do even this, I would say to not even attempt the swap if you're not willing to do a simple mock up. This is just setting the engine and trans in the Riv's engine compartment still connected to the engine crane for inspection. This will tell you more than advise on this forum. Sorry but I looked for a step by step thread for this swap and couldn't find anything either. So if you're really interested in doing it, just do it. Its either going to work or its not. Not sure where your from but if in you were close by I would love to help mock it up with you to get a game plan to make it happen. You could set it in there and post some pics and we can help from there. A video would probably be better show around the engine set in the car.
Sweet! Looks like it would be super easy to test fit the engine like that! Once its up on the crane, looks like a 5 minute job to set the engine and trans assembly in there for inspection and measuring. Like I was thinking though, looks like the exhaust might be a bit challenging to run through the X frame? But on the bright side it will be lit up nicely with very few obstructions to see where any interferences could be. You can even set the inner and outer fenders on with the engine still held up by the crane to check for interferences in those areas. As far as I know, there is no paint by numbers instructions for this swap so if you're still interested in doing it you'll have to just do it and cowboy through it.
The Riv frame was basically the same from 63-67. The 67 had a 430/ST400 from the factory. The 430 and 455 are externally the same. So, anything from a 67 Riv going to be golden for your application. Cheryl
Oh boy! I have done this and abandoned it after years and years and lots of dollars. Yes it will fit but it will appear to sit kind of high in the engine compartment. A few custom pieces you will need. 1 driveshaft. Go with a 1 piece and eliminate that carrier bearing, you will break it anyway. 2 exhaust. At least the down pipes if the rest is good and there is like 36’ of pipes under there. 3 power steering hose. You are mating a power steering pump and box that were never meant to be together. Go to a good hydraulic place and have one made. My first one was cheap and blew at a gas station. 4 motor mounts obviously,as mentioned. 5 radiator, the 455 and nailhead have different ins n outs so to speak. Don’t skimp here! The Riviera radiator is tiny compared to a 455. 6 short shaft water pump. Without one it is almost impossible to fit a clutch fan, or you could go electric fans. 7 shroud, I had to make my own for a clutch fan but if you went electric be sure it comes with a full shroud. 8 shifter, the linkage on a 63 riv is for a Dynaflow not th400 And is on the wrong side. Plus you will be going from a 2 speed to a 3 speed. 9 crossmember/tranny mount, I’m not sure exactly what was done here as I paid someone else to do it but I believe relocating the crossmember and installing a different mount. I am sure I am missing some things but it’s all I can think of at the moment. Good luck Cliff
There was a guy on this site that put a "Nail" in a '67 Riv. When his original 430 went south he had access to a "Nail". Don't forget '66 & '67 Rivs are basically the same. Basically engine compartments are somewhat basically the same from '63. If I remember correctly he went by "Nail (or NailHead) in a '67. This was BEFORE this site was hacked yrs. ago so it may be lost in siber space.
From some of the comments I'm reading it sounds like a ton of mods. This is a special car. If it was the 69 wildcat I wouldn't be reluctant to hack it up. Maybe I will keep looking for the right nailhead. My brother is gung ho on doing the 455 and he wants to make it a screamer but that's not what these cars are. Sure I can make it plenty powerful still but wouldn't want to do something to hurt the car. My brother doesn't understand what these cars are. He's a Ford guy. If anyone knows of good places to find the nailhead, please let me know. I'm not saying no to the 455 and I still want to do it, just weighing the options. Also, can I put a 3 speed tranny up to a nailhead. I'm not interested in the power glide.
You need a 65 or 66 425 preferably so a TH400 will mate without the need for mods. Buicks never used a Powerglide. Through the 63 model year they used a Dynaflow trans.
I have a '66 401 already .60 over, heads done, all new pistons on rods, crank ready, timing chain, lifters, poston cam, $750 pickup near Flint MI, more stuff could be available too!
