Gentlemen, It's been too many years since I've spent time in my garage. I have a '70 GS 455 that is very tired. I also have a Olds 400 out of a '68 442 sitting in my garage. I built the motor ten years ago and know it's awesome. What I want to do is remove my 455 and send it to the shop. At the same time I'd like to throw in the olds motor as a temporary solution to keep the car on the road. Will I hit problems with motor mount placement, transmission hook up, driveshaft length, etc.??? If this is a simple swap I'm all over it. If I'll live to regret it I can moth ball the car for a year or so. Thanks for any help, guidance, recommendations, etc. Mike
I hope somebody responds to this thread instead of the usual why are you asking a Buick guy how to swap an Olds. I'm going to be putting an Olds 455 into my 72 Skylark. Not because that's what I necessarily want to do but that's what I have. I'll eventually put a BBB in it or maybe even a turbo six. Good luck with the swap. Mike
Where are the distributor, fuel pump, and starter? If I remember correctly the only real problem is the motor mounts. I did the reverse swap 30 years ago and the motor mounts were the only thing that required major changes.
Olds motors have everything opposite of the buick. left side starter and distrib in the rear so all the wires will need to be moved
I have 3 Olds Cutlass Supreme models. As stated previously, the problems will be: Olds has alternator, starter on the driver's side. You will need a different torque converter cover. Wiring will have to be re-routed Throttle cable for Buick is different than Olds. All brkts will need to be for the Olds. Buick brkts won't work on the Olds. You will need new exh pipes since Olds manifolds exit in a different location. For the amount of time and effort to remove the Buick, install the Olds and then remove the Olds and reinstall the Buick. I think you are better off waiting for your Buick455 to be rebuilt unless you have a lot of free time.
Mothball it is.... Thanks guys. I think you just saved me a few months of scratching my head and stringing a long list of foul words together. By the way I wrote this really late last night and got it backwards...I have a '68 442 with a 400 sitting in the garage and a spare Buick 455 waiting. I owned buicks ten years ago and loved them, the 442 landed in my lap and that was it. Honestly the '70 GS 455 was a better looking car, had an edge. The 442 doesn't have the ball busting qualities yet it's nice to look at. I think I'll find something to do while the car sits. Thanks again for all the help!
